PreservationNation

Following emancipation during and after the Civil War, African Americans in the South created new communities anchored by churches and schools. During the century that preceded the Civil Rights movement, black schools educated and nurtured generations of children in spite of severely unequal public resources. Today, preservationists and grassroots activists are restoring African American schools and interpreting them to a wide audience. These schools include Rosenwald Schools, constructed by philanthropist Julius Rosenwald and educator Booker T. Washington, and other community schools, such as the Cemetery School described below by Leonora “Boe” Washington.

Written by Leonora “Boe” Washington

Cemetery School

At the age of five in the early 1950s, I enrolled at Cemetery Elementary School in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Cemetery, in Rutherford County near the Stones River Battlefield and National Cemetery, was developed after the Civil War by newly-freed people . During the postwar period, Cemetery became one of the county’s 44 schools for African Americans.

This two-room concrete block structure, located across from my house, replaced a one-room frame structure in about 1945. One teacher was responsible for approximately 25-30 students, in grades one through eight.  I was the only student in my class for six years. Each student received individual attention in all subjects.

I was the only child born to Anderson and Queen Washington, educator-principals who worked at other schools in Rutherford County. My mother taught grades one through eight at Silver Spring Elementary School for several years. Once this school was consolidated, she was transferred to Smyrna Rosenwald to teach second grade. There were five teachers at Smyrna Rosenwald, which was the largest school for African Americans in Rutherford County. My father was the principal, and taught seventh and eighth grade there. He was a renowned musician and carpenter. His motto was “Take what you have and make what you want.” Neither parent wanted me to attend their school for different reasons.

Children at Cemetery School learn about a clean teeth chart as part of the county’s Child Health Development program in the 1920s. (Tennessee Historical Society Collection, courtesy of the Center for Historic Preservation)

All my fellow students lived in the community, and they walked or were transported by car to Cemetery. School began at 8:00 a.m. and dismissed at 3:00 p.m. Occasionally, parents provided hot lunches in the kitchen as they did in previous years. Most students brought their lunch in bags and lunch boxes; however, I went home for a meal prepared by my sitter.

There was no indoor plumbing, running water, or air conditioning at Cemetery. We drank water from a well with a pump and six openings for a water fountain. Two outdoor toilets were available, one for boys and one for girls. I soon became very disciplined in selecting convenient times to “pause for the cause,” and would go home or wait until school was out to use the bathroom. I was not accustomed to using outdoor toilets. A huge coal stove supplied the heat. Older students took turns cleaning out ashes, filling coal buckets, and gathering wood for the stove.

A 30-minute recess was the highlight of the day. We played softball, hide & seek, jacks, checkers, hopscotch, Little Sally Walker, Ring Around the Roses, Red Rover, etc. All African American schools united bi-monthly for a community sing, for displaying their musical talents and fellowship. In May, all schools attended in the Mid-State Colored Fair, where they participated in the arts and crafts exhibit. Awards were presented to winners. My teacher taught Home Economics, sewing, crocheting, weaving, and knitting.

Boe Washington in the Cemetery School doorway.

My fondest memories occurred at Cemetery Elementary School. Our educational foundation was laid by using second-hand books thrown away by schools of Caucasian students. Racial integration was not the norm or tradition at that time. I am extremely grateful for the love, patience, endurance, intelligence, and quality time I received from my two elementary teachers but most of all, for the values, morals, determination to succeed, independence, and zest for education instilled in me by my parents.

Cemetery School closed its doors in 1962 at the recommendation of a George Peabody College for Teachers’ report on public schools. It, too, was consolidated with the Smyrna Rosenwald School. Currently, I am the proud owner of Cemetery Elementary School.

Leonora E. Washington attended the Cemetery School and has taught 1st grade at Smyrna Primary School for 37 yrs.

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This entry was posted on Friday, September 11th, 2009 at 11:30 am and is filed under african-american heritage, rosenwald schools, southern office. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.