Between the Pews by Sylvia Edmondson-Holt

Author:Sylvia Edmondson-Holt [Edmondson-Holt, Sylvia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781524514709
Publisher: Xlibris US
Published: 2016-07-29T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

Comes August/Back to School

Come August, everyone’s mind returned to Tennessee. For two very important reasons, we had to return to Tennessee. One was for Helen and me to get back to school, and two, the famous Charlotte Picnic. Depending on how the days ran sometime, we made it in time to register on time, and sometimes we were late. But no matter what, “it was a known fact that the Charlotte Picnic was an unofficial holiday in Dickson County.

In less than three months, we would have acquired this Northern accent that was copied from the Northern children we played with that summer. It didn’t take long to lose it. I would say right about the time we crossed the Ohio River from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Kentucky, it was about gone. But we would struggle to keep it a few days after we returned home until we got laughed at and realized how ridiculous it sounded.

The inevitable finally happened, and our beloved Promise Land School doors were closing forever. I would be going to the eighth grade that year and would have to ride the bus for the first time to get to Hampton High School in Dickson about ten miles away. My mother worked at Charlotte High School in Charlotte, Tennessee, about three miles away. It never entered my mind that I should or could go to the nearest school which was Charlotte Elementary.

Dickson County School System was still segregated, and to my knowledge, everyone was OK with that. It was part of that old “everyone staying in their place” theory, “separate but equal” jargon. I was safe and happy in my own little world. My parents had been active in both the Promise Land and Hampton High School activities since they had children who went to both places.

My eldest sister entered first grade at Promise Land School. She attended the first grade through eighth grade there and freshman through graduation at Hampton High School. She attended twelve consecutive years without missing a day. Her story was published in the Dickson Herald. She was also the first black student in Dickson County to receive a scholarship from Gov. Frank G. Clement Scholarship (attended Tennessee A&I, now TSU). She also received the Dockie Weems Scholarship. Her highest level of education is a master’s plus degree from Memphis State. She became a reading specialist and a music instructor during her career. Now she is retired but teaches music and is active with two sororities.

Having learned the most valuable lesson in the Promise Land School from Ms. Ollie Huddleston, I was confident that I would not have any problem transitioning to Hampton. I studied and did the best that I could in school and participated in extracurricular activities. I loved singing in the school chorus, and as soon as the marching band was formed, I began practicing and became the head majorette under Mrs. Goggin and later Prof. Harold Gilbert, instructors of the band. I thought I looked like hot stuff in my majorette outfit.

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