Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Feb. 11, 1993, edition 1 / Page 19
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Old Colored Schools and Old Colored Men: (K The Unsung Heroes Of 'African American History Editor's Snip: Rill Turner nn _ the sociology faculty at WSSU, lias written a special feature for African American History Month It reviews the joys and pains of grow ing up in a coalmining family in Harlan County, Kentucky, where Lynch Colored Schools, like many such institutions during the era of segre gation in the South . was the center of community life for African Ameri cans. When I was a boy of 13, I thought the old man was so igno rant and I didn't listen too closely to him. When I returned to talk to him when I was 21, 1 was surprised to see how much the old man had * learned. ? Adapted from Mark Twain I'm glad that 7 never 'considered an Old Man I knew to be ignorant. I wish that my two boys had among ^ their teachers a man like Charles Montague "Chief Cross, janitor at Lynch Colored School from 1926 1964. Lynch was home to the "World's Largest Coal,Tripple." Chief taught at The School in Harlan County. Kentucky. The School was red brick, single-build ing, first rate, primary-through senior year academy that had been provided -- like everything else ? by the town's owner/patron: The United States Steel Company of Pittsburgh. The company built a larger, cut stone facility, simply called Lynch School, two miles away (for the children of white coal miners). Lynch Colored School, along with dozens of other colored schools that dotted the hollows of Appalachian jfoaltowns, as reown for its modern facility, its winning athletic teams and for producing excellent students ? ^even 'though the books and fur nishings were often handdowns from Lynch School. The outstand ing faculty of LCS (the best mone\ Bennie McBride "See, me, Bennie McBride for the best price and the best service on any new Chevy, Geo or Used Car." .^Chevrolet ? G?o tMm* st 4STPA IVN CORPORATION BORROW BUY OR BROWSE 282K UNIVERSITY PARKWAY COLLEGE P1?AZA ( 'ENTER IMNOAY -SATURDAY ? 9-9 - SUNOAV r~~25^ OFF"""1 ON ANY AM()i:NT()F dry Cleaning Present This Coupon When Dropping OfT Your Dr> (.'leaning And Receive 25^ OfT Your Ticket Total. 2-I)ay Turnaround Order must be picked up within 10 days of drop ofT to qualify for discount. Kxclude* Wedding Dresses, Furs, leathers. Suedes & Draperies. COUPON EXPIRES February 17, 1993 could .enuce to ihc backwoodsof Kentucky) had taken degrees from Fisk, Hampton, Tuskegee, and Wilberforce universities. Kentucky State; and, among others, Knoxville College. Through the years, many of LCS', graduates studied at those same colleges and achieved stations in life far beyond what is typically "known about black people from Harlan County. Though far from the mainstreams of life, it was all we knew and loved. In 1958. when he was 59, Chief handed me a crisp SI bill, reminding me that "you can always say that a colored man gave you yo' first money-eamin' job!" AJ/" 12, I had become Chief s assistant at The School, where he was also the most respected "teacher". Teachers, the principal, and parents respected him. Nothing "important" in the run ning of The School or the lives of the students was done without con sulting him. the School, where we went when The Colored Churches ? also provided by the Company ? were not in session, was the center of the community: childreft were highly treasured and the authority and opinions of teachfers were respected almost unquestionably. Chief literally knew everybody and their business and they him and his. He was the elder and a diplo-. mat. He had the vantage point of a spider in the web of mutuality among the colored folks. He con nected the sometimes fragile rela tions between the educated sector of the community and the common colored working folk, most of whom, like he, had little or no for mal education. I knew him all of my life because he and his wife, Miss Annie Belle, and my maternal grandparents ? Miss Ran and Shootdaddy ? (a.k.a., Minnie Lee and E.J. Randolph) ? were very close friends, separated only by a 10-foot yard between their compa ny-owned liuuses. They shared in ? nor "tVMtcV imw... They too. had the raising of my Mother. ("Punkirf ") and her two sisters, who. the Cross Boys ("Junebug": Charles Montague, Jr., Bill, and Tom) attended the school. Chief arifo ShootDa^dy were drinking buddies who also enhanced their inadequate wages as co-managers of the varied and sundry (variously sordid?) human services of running Granny's boarding house. A 22-year old miner transplanted from Matewan. their trash, and. after all. he was the janitor and all-seeing/all-knowing garbage man. He never affirmed idle talk or tattle. He simply taught me (and countless others) the ins and outs of life in the mountains. Like others. I was drawn instinctively to him because he shared so much in common with the people I loved. He was positive about (he human condition and did not dwell on the underside of life. GUEST COLUMN By DR. WILLIAM H. TURNER WV in 1939 was steered by Chief to live in Granny's boarding house. He took Punkin in marriage a year later (she was 15). Chief hosted the nup tial celebration and was Godfather to their ten children.That Chief s life had been no crystal stair, but he was still so trusted by others because of his craftiness and compassion was the mark Qf his equal standing among the educated teachers and preachers No doubt, the themes from Chief s version of Life's Little Instruction Book had entries that the college-educated teachers could never have had or been inclined to tell anybody about. Chjef, a master storyteller, took hi*^topy^?JT>m the folktales,- gossip jrjjHjpJ&dJ^he truth" of the regjj||^ruffians and the upright, (both colored and white). Without putting anyone down, he put everybody on equal (moral) grounds. In the lingo. Chief knew "the real deal," especially on those matters pertaining to the pecu liar status of colored people. It was he who taught that while others might appear "better off", they were though he knew it well: sharecrop ping in Tennessee and working on the railroads of Alabama. The saga of the Scottsboro Boys was not something he read about. His stories took me w ith him on the adventures between 1880 and 1930 that had transported my people from the fields of the Upland South and the mines and steel rriiils of Birming ham and Bessemer. We shined shoes ("hustlin" n' make-do") in Chattanooga in 1908. pulled coke from th(? hot and dangerous ovens of Big Stone Gap, Virginia and came over Black Mountain to Bloody Harlan in 1926. There were no books on this stuff. Often, while cleaning The School. Chief would tell me about "...how rough as a cobb it was to be without. ..(an educa tion."). It seemed as though the famous colored people like Booker TI3Vashington. WEB DuBois, Ida Wells Barnett. Frederick Douglass, and George Washington Carver, whose photos peered down from the hallways, spoke to me ? through Chief Classroom instruction in all inibjects vras painted on the canvas of the endurance and perservance of our people. Negro History Week was evejffday at the school. As Chief s surrogate son I became one he chose to push to achieve, as Bill and Tom had been forced by cir cumstances to quit school (both at 17 leaving home to work in a foundry in Cleveland). They left just after Chief had almost "ice-picked to death" a white vegetable-truck vendor who dared slap him in front of his wife and children in 1940. Everybody, even the (white) school superintendent arrived at the Com pany-run jail to insist on Chiefs release Seems that the merchant ras cal and whacked". ..a pillar in the community.. .a man who represented the "salt of the earth!"- Chief never spoke of it. Nobody did! He weathered - in the worst way ? the untimely death of Miss Annie Belle in 1950 and June's death in a mine explosion in 1952. Granny Ran often prepared meals for Him then, he became a boarder in the 1iome of a deacon in our cWbrch. Th^y closed the School after my junior year. I was in this Brave New ' World. I didn't see him during the day. He began to get a bit distant. The mountains began to move to town, reclaiming, almost without notice, the spaces where the homes of many big (happy families ? now continuously displaced ? used to be rooted. Men were replaced wholesale in the mines by machines. Thousands of Bills and Toms left Black Mountain for the Promise lands. Chief, even as he had pushed me to work for advancement of col ored people, hated school integra tion ? as he understood it and pre dicted its unfolding. On my last working day in 1963, he divulged his view that "this integration is gonna be worse on Negroes than moonshine and homebrew... you just ~W4ich!" In hindsight ? "in many ways ? 1 know now that he was at least partly right. Most of our excel lent colored teachers were not hired under the consolidated system. He too was devastated: they xfidn't need two janitors The college going rate of black kids declined precipitously. They had no Chief! Only white heroes (former Company and Lynch School officials) peered eerily down from the framed portraits at this strange place the older colored peo ple called "The White School" Chief's Stalwart sons, both now retired from the International Har vest Foundry in Chicago, came "...and got the old man" in 1965. In spite of his long tenure at the school (where his highest salary was $160 per month), no social security pay ments were ever deducted, he had no health care; but, Bill and Tom took good care of him. He shortly died after going to Chicago; they brought his remains "home". I came from Notre Dame to the funeral, having entered graduate school there, after having worked my way through the University of Kentucky as a part-time janitor. I turned 21 that year. Grannie Ran is still in Lynch, nearing 100 this year. She - still tends a collard patch that she and Miss Annie Bell worked. The Cross boys came home each Memo rial Day and we tend the gravesites of their family and my father, who put 45 years in Black Mountain's coal pits. Momma Punk ? now 70 ? feeds us and plays Amazing Grace. We laugh and cry with the same fervor about The Old Man. I quietly excuse myself and take my boys over to the ghost of the Lynch Colored School building and look for signs of Chief. I owe him some thing and I have a whole new set of questions. I hope my boys are look ing and listening and not thinking that 1 am being an ignorant old man. Community A'*: How to Schedule Your Events: Send your information, con cisely and neatly printed or typed, to the Chronicle Calendar, 617 N. Liberty St., Winston-Salem, N.C. 27102, before 5:00 p.m., the Monday preceding the week in which your event will occur. Our FAX number is (919) 723-9173. ?tidiiiti? hail! i n ' il li ii THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11 6 p.m. ? The Arts Council of Winston Salem and Forsyth County cordially invites you to the Fourth Annual Triad Black Artists Invita tional1 Art Exhibition at the Milton Rhodes Gallery. Sawtooth Building, 226 N. Marshall St. Music will be provided by the Joe Robinson Quartet. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12 8 a.m. ? The Winston-Salem Urban League will hold a conference on the African-American family, Feb. 12-13, at the Holiday Inn North, -3050 University Pkwy. The conference will address education initiatives, male/female rela tionships, historical perspectives. Rites of Pas sage, parenting, economic development and the church in the African-American community. Registration is required. For information, contact the Urban League 725-5614. 6 p.m. ? Diggs Gallery at Winston-Salem State University will hold an opening reception of "Ashe: ImpFOvisation& Recycling in African American Visionary Art." The reception is open to the public. Ashe Festival will celebrate the art on exhibit by hosting three artist lectures and talks by three art historians on Saturday, Feb. 13, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Preregistration is required. A southern barbecue and African drumming will round out the day. For more information or to prereeister. call Brooke Anderson at 750-2458. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13 9 a.m. ? A workshop for men, "Men's Responsibilities to Men, Women and Society." wfll be held at Winston-Salem State University until 5 p.m. in the Anderson Center. The work shop will be led by Frederick M. Whitmeyer. a professional teacher and business consultant. For information, call the Office of Continuing Educa tion at 750-2630. 9 a.m. ? An organizational meeting Tor an" adult basketball league for men 35 years old and over will be held at the Winston Lake Family YMCA. A second meeting will be held Feb. 20 at 9 a.m. An entry fee is required League play begins March 20. The co-sponsor is R.H. Bar ringer Distributing Co. Inc. For information, call James Segers at 724-9205. 2 p.m. ? Winston-Salem State University is offering a GMAT preparatory course for prospec tive business school applicants. The five week session will be hetcTuntil 6 p.m. Saturdays, on Feb. 13, 20" and 27 and March 6 and 13. A fee vf ch arged. For more information, call the Office of Continuing Education at 750-2630. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16 5:30 p.m. ? The Winston-Salem Urban League will address the subject "The Right of Passage." Delores "D" Smith will be the speaker. For information, call 727-2975. 7 p.m. ? The East Winston Branch Library presents a fashion show entitled "From Africa to America." The show will feature clothing designs to show the African dress in comparison to con temporary American dress. The library is located at 1 1 10 E. Seventh St. For more information, c;\Ji 727-2202. 7 p.m. ? The Speas Elementary School PTA presents "Family Math Night" in the school gym. Nancy Crouch, director of the Math and Science Alliance at Wake Forest University, will be the guest speaker. There will be hands-on activities for parents to experience what their children are learning. Parents can also view sci ence fair proie^tv, These- events will follow a short business meeting. ONGOING EVENTS ? Piano lessons will be offered at the William C. Sims Recreation Center, 1201 Alder St., every Wednesday. One class will meet from 3:30-4:30 p.m. and another will meet from 4:30-5:30 p.m. The instructor is Dr. James A. Basta. For infor mation, call 727-2837. ? The Central YMCA of Winston-Salem now features a senior citizens activity, "The Prime Timers Club." This program meets for fun, fitness and fellowship every Tuesday from 1-2 p.m. and is free of charge. Swimming, strength training and aerobics are included in activities. A special-interest program is held every second Tuesday of the month. Seniors should bring a bagged lunch, and the YMCA will provide a bev erage. All senior citizens are welcome to attend. For information, call Anne Walker at 721-2055. ? Diggs Gallery at Winston-Salem State Uni versity hosts "Ashe: Improvisation & Recycling in African-American Visionary Art," including sculptures and paintings^y self-taught artists from the South. The exhibit is on view through March 29. ? Diggs Gallery at Winston-Salem State Uni versity features an installation, "The Crawl Space," by African- American artist Glenda Wharton-Little, through March 29. For informa tion, call 750-2458. UPCOMING ? The Winston-Salem District AME Zion invites you to its annual Sweetheart's Ball on Fri day, Feb. 12. at the M.C. Benton Convention Center. The highlight of the evening will be the crowning of Miss Winston-Salem District. The semi-formal, alcohol-free affair will include live music by Illusions, featuring Jackie Sinclair.! There is a fee for admission. For info, call 744 0964. inA?ip?3yir?/Hi Styled in comfort by the finest hair designer in town. Appointments save disappointments Hours: Tues.-Frl. - 9 a.m. -6 p.m. Sat. 7 a.m. - 1 p.m. New Location: 3601 Sellwood Rd. (Ebony Hlll^) Diversified Investigative .. ... , ? ? ( nndOdrntial ? Services, Inc. ? tended ? l>i\CH!C ? Insured ? Professional V - - ? ? 24-Hmrr Scrvirr ? NC l.krnso #1269 IOOI S Mnrxhntt Strrrt V Ultt I W mxion ? Salrm Vf .''/0/ (919) V m< Trruntinn ? Prt% In* Profr??m I L-J-J li \ <1 North Carolina South Carolina Virginia Conrad's Hair Oesign We look forward to the opportunity of serving you. 3088 New Walkertown Road Winston-Salem, NC 27105 Call 725-3074 for these February Specials Wash & Set Blow Dry Curls Relaxers Retouches Hair Designer* Dwight J one* & Mary Garrett Operators Wanted E's SALON Flrvt tn Fl?f *nce it Hair Perfection ? Total Salon ? Appointment! Only 1111 R. Si a* Creek Pkwy. Winston -Salem, N.C. 27127 Edith Williams Owner ? Designer (?It) 724-1M1
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Feb. 11, 1993, edition 1
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