Audio
Oral History Interview with Leola Ragin Parks Pt. 1
Transcript
Oloye Adeyemon: Brown versus Board oral history collection, Clarendon, South Carolina school segregation, desegregation interviews. Interview one, Mrs.—Ms. Leola Reagan 00:34 Parks conducted on July 11th, 2001 at the Clarendon School District Number One administrative office in Summerton, South Carolina. These interviews are made possible through Brown versus Board Oral History Research Project funded for the summer of 2001 by the National Park Service as part of the Brown versus Board of Education National Historic Site Oral History Project. Interviewee, Mrs. Leola Rea—Ms. Leola Reagan Parks, interviewer Oloye Adeyemon for the National Park Service. Mrs. Parks, what is your full name?
Leola Parks: Leola May Reagan Parks.
Oloye Adeyemon: What is your birth date?
Leola Parks: June 14, 1953.
Oloye Adeyemon: And what was your—were- were you born here in Summerton, South Carolina?
Leola Parks: Uh, born, yes.
Oloye Adeyemon: And have you been a lifelong resident [unintelligible 01:55]?
Leola Parks: Yes, I have.
Oloye Adeyemon: What is your occupation?
Leola Parks: I am the executive assistant [unintelligible 02:00] Clarendon School District.
Oloye Adeyemon: How long have you been in that position?
Leola Parks: Um, I've been in the district 31 years. I served as a teacher assistant for five years. I served as the secretary to the s—administrator for special education for approximately seven years, and the rest of the time has been the superintendent's office.
Oloye Adeyemon: You also are with a- a group interested in the development—redevelopment of, uh, the business district of Summerton. Is that correct?
Leola Parks: That's correct.
Oloye Adeyemon: What is the name of that organization?
Leola Parks: That is the Summerton Downtown Development Association, and we are under the Summerton Town Council.
Oloye Adeyemon: And what is your position with them?
Leola Parks: I presently serve as the chairperson of that organization.
Oloye Adeyemon: And what are some of the goals of that organization?
Leola Parks: The main goal of that organization is to revitalize, uh, the downtown Summerton area and to focus on the Summerton community as a whole. Our goal is to restore the businesses and bring in the traffic from the interstate to, uh, add to the economic development of our area.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm. W—are there any other boards that you serve on?
Leola Parks: I also serve with the Briggs DeLaine Pearson organization. I serve as secretary for them. Uh, I also organize and chair the, um, Clarendon County Association of Educational Office Professionals here at Clarendon One.
Oloye Adeyemon: Explain to me what the name Briggs DeLaine, uh, Pearson refers to.
Leola Parks: Briggs DeLaine Pearson are the last names of key players in the Briggs versus Elliott court case.
Oloye Adeyemon: Were they also involved in other, uh, desegregation efforts?
Leola Parks: Yes. Um, Mr. Pearson especially is one of the first people, uh, by trying to get a bus or to use an old bus to get kids to school, because at that time Black kids were not allowed to ride the school buses. So Mr. Briggs and his—Mr. Pearson—I'm sorry—and his brother, uh, worked together with their families to try to do this. And the court case came about because they went to the school district and asked first for gas, or first for a bus, because white kids were riding a bus and they felt that Black should—kids should have the same opportunity. And when denied that, they asked for gas, and they were also denied that. So they did that until the old bus broke down, and, uh, then, uh, Reverend DeLaine served as one of the leaders, uh, to bring about the court case. And because Mr. Briggs was a petitioner, and alphabetically he was the first, therefore the court case was named Briggs v. Elliott.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm. Now the building here is- is where your office is.
Leola Parks: This is the old Summerton High School and, uh, this school was built and belonged to Clarendon School District One. Uh, after Dr. McCass 05:13 came it's been renovated. We've been in here since November of 2000, uh, into an administrative office.
Oloye Adeyemon: What's left of the old building?
Leola Parks: Um, when you say old building, what are you talking about?
Oloye Adeyemon: When it was re—it was- it was rev—it was renovated—
Leola Parks: Renovated. Okay.
Oloye Adeyemon: - on the same- same spot, but it was a new building?
Leola Parks: This building—yes. This building is a historical site. It's listed with the, um, historical society. Therefore there were very few changes we could make to the building, to especially the outside of the building. They asked that we maintain certain, uh, uh, landmarks on the inside of the building also, but the building has been completely renovated and, um, it serves now as our administrative office.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm.
Leola Parks: The old gym is a cultural arts center that seats 515 people.
Oloye Adeyemon: As a result of the, uh, Supreme Court decision in 1954, uh, there was a, uh, freedom of choice that was implemented in Sumter, uh—
Leola Parks: Summerton.
Oloye Adeyemon: Sum- Sum- Su- Summerton here in Clarendon County.
Leola Parks: Right.
Oloye Adeyemon: In 1964, and that involved, uh, Black children electing to attend Summerton High School.
Leola Parks: That's correct.
Oloye Adeyemon: Approximately how many attended that first year?
Leola Parks: The first year it was approximately four.
Oloye Adeyemon: And what was the total student population, the white student population?
Leola Parks: I'm thinking it was b—approximately 250, maybe between 200 and 300. Um, it housed the first through twelfth grade.
Oloye Adeyemon: Now, these four children, how did they get to school?
Leola Parks: Some were either brought to school or they rode the school bus.
Oloye Adeyemon: So the school buses were provided to them—
Leola Parks: Right. Yeah.
Oloye Adeyemon: - for transportation for those. Because this- this high school would have served half the county. Is that correct?
Leola Parks: Uh—
Oloye Adeyemon: At that time.
Leola Parks: A third of the county. Well—
Oloye Adeyemon: A third of the county.
Leola Parks: Yeah, a third of the county, because I think we s—we—at that time it was Clarendon One, Two, and Three—
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: - also.
Oloye Adeyemon: And they graduated when?
Leola Parks: I—
Oloye Adeyemon: W- when was the first graduating class?
Leola Parks: I think the first—I'm not positive. I graduated in 1970, so I think they might have graduated in 1969.
Oloye Adeyemon: Right, and they were entering at eighth grade. Is that correct?
Leola Parks: Not—
Oloye Adeyemon: Or was it ninth?
Leola Parks: I'm not positive.
Oloye Adeyemon: Well, may- may have entered at different grades, but the—
Leola Parks: At different grades.
Oloye Adeyemon: - school was eight through twelve.
Leola Parks: Um, the high school w—
Oloye Adeyemon: At that time.
Leola Parks: The high school was nine through twelve.
Oloye Adeyemon: Nine through twelve.
Leola Parks: But this school housed, um, first through twelfth.
Oloye Adeyemon: So some of these students that were coming at that time may have been eighth graders.
Leola Parks: Or younger.
Oloye Adeyemon: Or younger.
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Oloye Adeyemon: And the second year of that freedom of choice, you came to this school.
Leola Parks: That's correct.
Oloye Adeyemon: What grade were you in when you came to this school?
Leola Parks: Ninth.
Oloye Adeyemon: So you started the ninth grade, uh, in 1965 and you—
Leola Parks: Or '66.
Oloye Adeyemon: '66.
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: And you started at what had been up until '65 the segregated white high school.
Leola Parks: That's correct.
Oloye Adeyemon: And it was Sum—it was at that time called Summerton High.
Leola Parks: Summerton High School [crosstalk 08:16].
Oloye Adeyemon: What- what high school would you have gone to had you not come here?
Leola Parks: Scotts Branch High.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm. Does that school still exist as well?
Leola Parks: The school, uh, still exists. We've built a new high school, but the old school maintains now as the Summerton Elementary/Middle School.
Oloye Adeyemon: Okay. When you came to school that first day—
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: - you came by bus or- or did you walk?
Leola Parks: No, we came by bus. We lived in the country.
Oloye Adeyemon: Okay. And when you came, where did the bus bring you?
Leola Parks: Bus comes in here and, um, they all park along what you have here, and we were unloaded in the front.
Oloye Adeyemon: So you had ridden the bus with other children, Black children that were attending the school from the county, from out—
Leola Parks: That's correct.
Oloye Adeyemon: Were there any whites on your bus?
Leola Parks: Oh, yes.
Oloye Adeyemon: So you were riding an integrated bus.
Leola Parks: That's correct.
Oloye Adeyemon: Was that the first time as far as school was concerned that you had experienced such a thing?
Leola Parks: Yes.
Oloye Adeyemon: What was it like, both in how you felt—were you apprehensive—and what was the chil—like what was the reaction of the white children?
Leola Parks: I was extremely apprehensive. Uh, didn't know what was going to happen. Of course we knew that we had the support of our parents. Um, the white kids looked and stared but—
Oloye Adeyemon: On the bus.
Leola Parks: - they—yeah. Yeah. They looked and stared and they laughed and snickered, but they did not bother us normally.
Oloye Adeyemon: Since there was so much violence against Blacks during that period from even other children—
Leola Parks: Watch your step.
Oloye Adeyemon: - what was your—were you surprised? 'Cause I- I find that surprising. In the north when they integrated, even in Boston, there was extreme violence by both parents and students in some cases—
Leola Parks: Right.
Oloye Adeyemon: - against Black students in that situation. What do you attribute the- the fact that there was—that they- that they may have stared, but that there was no violence or name calling, people throwing rocks or any type of thing? What do you attribute it to?
Leola Parks: Well, first of all, the Blacks were, uh, extremely religious, so it wasn't in our nature to be violent. Secondly—
Oloye Adeyemon: No, no. I'm saying the whites that were on the bus.
Leola Parks: - with the whites—
Oloye Adeyemon: Right.
Leola Parks: - I think it was just, um, they were not violent. They were not really cruel. It—I don't think it was the intention to be mean to- to Blacks. I just think it was something different that they did not want to accept. Um, they—just hoping it would go away. But it was no violence, and I- I really don't think that it was in their nature, the school.
Oloye Adeyemon: [Clears throat] So when you came into the school, you got off the bus and walked into the school, what was the reaction of the teachers and the students inside the building, and were there parents as well [unintelligible 11:27]?
Leola Parks: I don't think there were parents. I don't remember parents.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: Uh, the kids were—they stood away like they were afraid of us. They stood in their own little corners. Uh, they talked to themselves. They didn't say much to us at all. The teachers tried to be as cordial as they could. We had some that we knew, you know, were trying to pretend and could not even do that. But, uh, overall it was just a- an atmosphere of we don't know what this is. We don't want this. But, uh, you know, it can happen, you know. Uh, there were no real anger or anything like that.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: Um, we did have small incidents but, you know, it's nothing—
Oloye Adeyemon: Such as?
Leola Parks: Uh, I recall, um, drawing a picture and a young lady was trying extremely hard now to show her l- love and affection to us.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: A white young lady, Mary Louise Miller 12:39.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: Told the principal that I was drawing a picture of her.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: So we were taken to the office. The principal was extremely nervous. He was a nervous type. You know, he kept picking up paper and—
Oloye Adeyemon: I guess there were a lot of eyes on you and the school—
Leola Parks: Oh, yes. Yes.
Oloye Adeyemon: - from around the country.
Leola Parks: Extremely.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: And, um, he said, "Did you draw this picture of Mary Louise?" And I said, "I drew the picture." And he says, uh, "Mary Louise said you drew the picture of her," and I says, "I didn't know I was that good." You know, and that was my comment to them. And nothing came of it but, uh, little things like that that they- they tried to pick up. But, uh—
Oloye Adeyemon: How would you—and I guess it's difficult to say what it would have been like in high school, but how did the experience coming here differ from what you were used to? Was there any difference in- in the atmosphere or the teachers or the instruction?
Leola Parks: It was a lot of difference in the instruction. Um, we have a lot more resources here. The teachers, uh, taught a different style than the teachers that we had. Um, and I attended St. Paul Elementary School at that time through eighth grade. Um, the teachers at St. Paul taught us well, but it was a whole different style. And all of my interim reports—and- and you know the interim reports came about a lot later in the Black schools. We weren't getting that before coming here. But my interim reports would say "not prepared for the lessons," which means that we did not have the background. The background was not afforded for the subjects being taught and the level of the subjects that were being taught here.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm.
Leola Parks: So the instruction was completely different. Of course, uh, the experience of being with, um, students, um, of a different race was extremely beneficial to me.
Oloye Adeyemon: In what way?
Leola Parks: Uh, we learned to be shrewd. We learned to be, uh, business people. In order to—
Oloye Adeyemon: And how did you—how do you—in what way?
Leola Parks: In order to get a person elected for any type positions, we had to think. We set—you know, you have, uh, 15 kids in a class, 10 to 15, uh, so they would nominate everybody four or five people. We nominated one at the end. Okay? They had to vote for their people. We all voted for our one, so we were able to get people in positions.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: We even got a young lady, uh, Diane Bell 15:19, to serve in a beauty pageant.
Oloye Adeyemon: Really?
Leola Parks: Yes.
Oloye Adeyemon: Uh—
Leola Parks: By doing it that way. Uh-huh.
Oloye Adeyemon: And how many students would have voted in that election, and how many Blacks would have voted? Total students—
Leola Parks: It may have been four or five Blacks.
Oloye Adeyemon: And how many total were there?
Leola Parks: Um, maybe 15, but see once they've nominated their four, you know, they—somebody had to vote for—
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: You know? [Laughter] Those people. And I would like to think that they weren't thinking as far enough ahead.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: You know, to say that, you know, I'm not gonna vote for that person even though I nominated him.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: You know.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: But, uh, anyway.
Oloye Adeyemon: So you mentioned that there was a difference in the instruction. Did I understand you to say there were classes that you'd never had that they had been taking in preparation for classes in high school?
Leola Parks: After coming here we noticed that they were exposed to foreign language and—
Oloye Adeyemon: Which ones?
Leola Parks: Uh, the elementary children?
Oloye Adeyemon: Yes.
Leola Parks: Uh, we were not afforded that opportunity because I came in ninth grade.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: But we knew that they had, uh, some courses in the lower grades that we did not have.
Oloye Adeyemon: Language classes.
Leola Parks: Language, uh—
Oloye Adeyemon: Such as?
Leola Parks: Uh, I think it was Spanish or French at that time. I'm not sure what it was. But those kids were exposed to, uh—
Oloye Adeyemon: So there were- there were some other courses as well—
Leola Parks: Uh, yeah. I—
Oloye Adeyemon: - that they- they had that—you know.
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: Now, the courses that you had taken, was there a difference in the way—you said a different style.
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: What- what was the difference in the style?
Leola Parks: The teachers did more lecturing. Uh, we had to do a lot of note taking and we weren't prepared for that.
Oloye Adeyemon: What had you been used to?
Leola Parks: Uh, being given materials or being shown where it is in the textbooks, and then going home and reinforcing, uh, but note taking was a whole different style for us. And that's good because it prepared for higher learning, you know, uh, uh, early.
Oloye Adeyemon: Now but there had been graduates from the Summerton schools when they were still segregated that gone on in some cases to historically Black colleges. How did—how had—'cause I- I understand that the Summerton schools, even when they were segregated, there were people that went on and did very well. How do you think that those coming out of the Summer schools that weren't used to a lecture, taking notes—
Leola Parks: Oh.
Oloye Adeyemon: - did well when they went off, not just to historically Black schools but even other schools? How did—how would they accomplish that?
Leola Parks: The—in the Black schools they were exposed to it, but a little later than what we did. Apparently coming here in the ninth grade from the eighth grade, they had some experience in the lower grades.
Oloye Adeyemon: With it already.
Leola Parks: Yeah.
Oloye Adeyemon: In the higher grades—
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: - they—you would have gotten exposed had you gone to Scotts Branch High School.
Leola Parks: Right. In- in the- in the—that's correct.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm. So the style of teaching—
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: - changed more for Black students in the segregated school going from primary to secondary than it did for the white students. For the white students some of that preparation—
Leola Parks: Right. Right.
Oloye Adeyemon: Okay. Uh, many of the parents of children at that time in the county that were Black might not have been able to read and write well. Is that true?
Leola Parks: That's correct.
Oloye Adeyemon: So that would also be a factor because many of the white children may have been read to, may have been encouraged—
Leola Parks: That's—
Oloye Adeyemon: - to read at home.
Leola Parks: Right. Right.
Oloye Adeyemon: And had book and paper—newspapers and things like that around the house.
Leola Parks: That's correct, and we did not have those books and—now, uh, the parent that read to me, uh, Mary Smythe 18:53, um, she was educated.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: You know, I'm sure she went as far as- as schools allowed at that time, uh, the public schools. Uh, but, uh, she just wanted more for us.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm. Did I understand you were raised by your great aunt?
Leola Parks: Uh-huh. Grand aunt.
Oloye Adeyemon: Grand aunt.
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: And what was her name?
Leola Parks: Mary Smythe.
Oloye Adeyemon: And what was her husband's name?
Leola Parks: Thomas Smythe.
Oloye Adeyemon: What was her maiden name?
Leola Parks: Uh, James. Mary James.
Oloye Adeyemon: And they also were lifetime—lifelong residents of—
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm. That's correct.
Oloye Adeyemon: - of, um, Clarendon County.
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: What was the area of Clarendon County that you lived in called?
Leola Parks: Um, oh, goodness. It was just Summerton. We just lived on the outskirts and—
Oloye Adeyemon: Outskirts of Summerton.
Leola Parks: Uh-huh. Now, while attending the school, because my grand aunt moved, you know, moved away and I was staying with my grandmother, Margaret James, uh, I would catch the bus at St. Paul.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm. Now, by that time you were already coming to Summerton High.
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm. That's correct.
Oloye Adeyemon: And did your grandmother live in the same area that your grand aunt did?
Leola Parks: No. No.
Oloye Adeyemon: What area was that in?
Leola Parks: My grandmother lived—
Oloye Adeyemon: Where your grandmother—
Leola Parks: - uh, in St. Paul.
Oloye Adeyemon: And St. Paul is a rural area?
Leola Parks: It's a rural area, and that's where our primary school was located. Yeah.
Oloye Adeyemon: Was St. Paul the name of a church?
Leola Parks: Uh, there was a church that was called St. Paul.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm. What type of church?
Leola Parks: The school that I attended—I think it's a Holiness church. The school that I attended, um, first through eighth grade was St. Paul Elementary.
Oloye Adeyemon: Was it connected in some—historically connected to the church?
Leola Parks: The, uh, school?
Oloye Adeyemon: St. Paul school and St. Paul church.
Leola Parks: Um, not to my knowledge. I really don't know.
Oloye Adeyemon: They were—
Leola Parks: Now—
Oloye Adeyemon: Were they close together?
Leola Parks: Yeah. Mm-hmm. They were close.
Oloye Adeyemon: Um, I understand—
Leola Parks: I attended Liberty Hill, which is—
Oloye Adeyemon: You were- you were a member of Liberty Hill church. Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: And it is in the St. Paul community.
Oloye Adeyemon: Right. Liberty—there was a Liberty Hill school.
Leola Parks: Liberty Hill AME church. There was a Liberty Hill school. I remember the old building there. I don't remember—you know.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm. I was wondering. I was told by several people that at one time, uh, Liberty Hill church, uh, played a very active role in education of children at Liberty Hill school, and that that was a common thing in the South.
Leola Parks: Right.
Oloye Adeyemon: For Black schools during the segregation era, and that—I was wondering if the St. Paul church and St. Paul school had a similar relationship to each other.
Leola Parks: I'm not sure about that.
Oloye Adeyemon: So you came to S- Summerton High in sixty—
Leola Parks: Six.
Oloye Adeyemon: - six.
Leola Parks: Uh-huh.
Oloye Adeyemon: And so you would have been in the second integrated graduating class?
Leola Parks: I think I was, yes.
Oloye Adeyemon: And how many Black students were in that graduating class?
Leola Parks: Two.
Oloye Adeyemon: Yourself and?
Leola Parks: Sandra Guess 21:44.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm. And again how many students came to the school with you, integrated in '66?
Leola Parks: I think the largest group came in '66. I don't know, um, for sure how many exactly, but it was, uh, 10 to 15 of us attending at that time.
Oloye Adeyemon: And in '65 how many came during the first group that was—
Leola Parks: It may have been three to four.
Oloye Adeyemon: Okay. Did those three to four students continue to attend the high school along with those that came in '65?
Leola Parks: Um, I know two graduating.
Oloye Adeyemon: That's—
Leola Parks: Rita McDonald 22:24 and—
Oloye Adeyemon: - in '65.
Leola Parks: Uh-huh.
Oloye Adeyemon: Or in '64.
Leola Parks: They graduated, uh—
Oloye Adeyemon: They were seniors when they came, you're saying?
Leola Parks: I'm not positive. I- I- I've been trying to remember when they started, uh, here. Uh, but I do know that two graduated ahead of me. I think they were attending while I was here.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm. So we're- we're- we're then talking about very, very small group of—
Leola Parks: That's correct. Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: - you know, um, African-American st—and total population I think you said was around 250—
Leola Parks: Yeah.
Oloye Adeyemon: - of the school at that time?
Leola Parks: Yeah. It wasn't [crosstalk 22:59]—
Oloye Adeyemon: Now there were three high schools at that time in Clarendon County?
Leola Parks: Uh, in Clarendon County there may have been—
Oloye Adeyemon: Some- some—
Leola Parks: - more than three.
Oloye Adeyemon: Okay.
Leola Parks: Because, see, you had two in Summerton.
Oloye Adeyemon: Okay.
Leola Parks: Summerton High School and Scotts Branch High.
Oloye Adeyemon: Yes, I—but I mean three—I'm sorry. Three previously segregated white high schools that were being integrated at that time.
Leola Parks: Yeah. You had Summerton High, Manning High, and I don't remember what the Turbeville high school—
Oloye Adeyemon: But there was—there were three of those.
Leola Parks: I'm sure it was.
Oloye Adeyemon: Okay. And did the other two go through a similar process, the other two high schools, at the same time Summerton was?
Leola Parks: Uh, they went through a similar process. Uh, Summerton and Turbeville may have, uh, undergone the- the- the most strain as—or- or whatever word I want to use, uh, the most difficult times. Manning was a little better, and that was because of the leadership that they had there. The- the people that stood their ground as far as, uh—and they had whites that, um, chose to, uh, remain with the public schools.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm. Uh, do you remember any of those people there that in Manning that might have contributed to [unintelligible 24:18]?
Leola Parks: Well, I do know and I've learned, uh, recently that Senator and- and Mrs. Marie Land 24:24 chose to—
Oloye Adeyemon: He's a state senator?
Leola Parks: That's correct.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: Chose to, uh, keep their children in the public schools, uh, and several whites joined them—
Oloye Adeyemon: After their—
Leola Parks: - after that. And then when they elected to build a new high school in Manning, and you know when taxes go up, even though you- you don't want to- to contribute—to be contributed to that, um, several kids, several white kids returned to the public schools. Uh, and one of the private schools was forced to close, because they had two private schools in Manning, Laurence Manning and Christian Academy.
Oloye Adeyemon: These schools were there before the integration of the schools? Or were these open to prevent white children from having to attend—
Leola Parks: That I don't—
Oloye Adeyemon: - integrated schools?
Leola Parks: I'm not positive. Uh—
Oloye Adeyemon: But there was a- there was a big increase in the number of white students enrolled in private schools—
Leola Parks: Once integration—yeah. Yeah.
Oloye Adeyemon: Once integration occurred.
Leola Parks: Yeah. Yeah.
Oloye Adeyemon: Did that occur during the stage that you were involved, and I think you refer to it as, uh, freedom of choice?
Leola Parks: Uh-huh.
Oloye Adeyemon: Or did it occur during the later stage that I think you referred to in our earlier convers—
Leola Parks: [Crosstalk 25:44]. Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: Where did- where did- where did the- the- the real big increase in the white enrollment in private schools occur, during which stage?
Leola Parks: Zoning.
Oloye Adeyemon: Okay, and when did that occur?
Leola Parks: Uh, the year I graduated, 1970, the next year, the next school year, '70 - '71, is when the zoning act was going to take place.
Oloye Adeyemon: And what exactly was the zoning act?
Leola Parks: That means that a school bus, the kids on a school bus did not pass a school that they qualify for to attend another school.
Oloye Adeyemon: Other than grade, what was the qual—what—were they special schools? When you say qualify for—
Leola Parks: The grade level.
Oloye Adeyemon: The grade level.
Leola Parks: Grade level. If this was a high school and I was on a school bus, rather than pass this high school and I lived on this side of town, then I would have to be bused to this school.
Oloye Adeyemon: Which school was closer to you, Scotts Branch or this one?
Leola Parks: Summerton High.
Oloye Adeyemon: Were there whites who would have been closer to Scotts Branch?
Leola Parks: Sure. I mean I don't, uh—
Oloye Adeyemon: So- so during the freedom of choice there were some Blacks that chose to come to all-white Summerton High.
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: But there were no whites that chose to go to all-Black—
Leola Parks: That's correct.
Oloye Adeyemon: - Scotts Branch.
Leola Parks: No.
Oloye Adeyemon: When this zoning came into existence, white students would have been forced to go to Scotts Branch.
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: I, you know, think that you had said that that was one of the contributing factors to the flight of whites from the system, from the school system.
Leola Parks: That's correct. Yeah.
Oloye Adeyemon: So—
Leola Parks: The- there would have been a flux of Blacks to the white school—
Oloye Adeyemon: And whites going to—
Leola Parks: - and whites should have attended Scotts Branch.
Oloye Adeyemon: Now, to understand I guess what that would have meant, uh, in terms of the schools, what percentage of the students approximately during the period of mid-1960s would have been Black or what percentage would have been white in terms of the school children in this county?
Leola Parks: If, um, the zoning would have worked the way they wanted it? Is that what you're talking about?
Oloye Adeyemon: Well, no, just population-wise, school age children in the county. What percentage approximately in '65 would have been Black and what percentage would have been white?
Leola Parks: In—
Oloye Adeyemon: Just a rough estimate.
Leola Parks: - '65 in the public schools?
Oloye Adeyemon: St—school age children.
Leola Parks: Okay. Now—
Oloye Adeyemon: In the county.
Leola Parks: - you gotta realize that, um, when the zoning took place there was still the white school and the Black school.
Oloye Adeyemon: I understand.
Leola Parks: Now, in the white school it may have been—
Oloye Adeyemon: Total. Total in the county. Not- not so much any particular school or- or district.
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: But just in the p—I'm trying to get an idea—
Leola Parks: Right.
Oloye Adeyemon: - of how, uh, the—what the proportion of whites—
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: - and Blacks, children—
Leola Parks: In the county.
Oloye Adeyemon: - was in the county at the time.
Leola Parks: Okay. Um, uh, I'm thinking 40/60.
Oloye Adeyemon: Okay. Majority Black?
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: So that would have meant that in all likelihood every school in the county would have been majority Black.
Leola Parks: Mm-hm-mmm, unless—
Oloye Adeyemon: There may have been some districts where there might have been a heavier concentration of whites—
Leola Parks: Right.
Oloye Adeyemon: - or a heavier concentration of Black—
Leola Parks: Depending on the location of the s—
Oloye Adeyemon: But generally speaking—
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: - one would have expected all the schools to be—
Leola Parks: Be integrated.
Oloye Adeyemon: - very much integrated.
Leola Parks: That's correct.
Oloye Adeyemon: Um, so given that those are the kinds of percentages that you would have expected to see, would- would expect to see if everything had been done, you know, without anyone leaving the system, now what were the percentages actually? Uh, a- as of '70 or- or- or during that school year when that's what would have been forced, what was the percentages of Blacks in the school system—
Leola Parks: When the zoning would have enforced—
Oloye Adeyemon: When the zoning was enforced.
Leola Parks: - um, in Clarendon School District One—
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: - it was 100 percent Black in the public schools.
Oloye Adeyemon: And—
Leola Parks: Okay.
Oloye Adeyemon: - in the other two school systems?
Leola Parks: I am not positive. I did not follow that as closely. I don't know whether they took the flight of- of- of integration as early as we did. Um—
Oloye Adeyemon: But it still would have been a majority of Black [crosstalk 30:06]—
Leola Parks: Oh, yes, of course. Yeah.
Oloye Adeyemon: So all of the county schools became majority Black at that point, public schools.
Leola Parks: Oh, yes. Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: But in Clarendon County we're talking close to 100 percent.
Leola Parks: A hundred percent, yes.
Oloye Adeyemon: Now, in- in- in previous interview with, uh, Mr. Jessie Pearson and Mr. Joseph A. DeLaine, they indicated that, uh, when the Supreme—when the—actually in the federal case that was, uh, held in district court, uh, in Charleston—
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: - was being put together, that Thurgood Marshall preferred Summerton. But had it not been for a student protest, it might not have gotten support here because people were very reluctant.
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: And after thinking about it, they both felt that it might have been because, um, the conditions in Summerton were a little bit more repressive than another area of the county. And could that have been a contributing factor to why there was such a low participation or n- none at all among whites in Summerton, that in fact the racial attitudes or the- the- the views about segregation, those kinds of things were just much stronger in Summerton, and if so why? Why was Summerton a little bit more extreme than some of areas of the county?
Leola Parks: Um, from what I'm hearing, uh, at that time, um, we were not involved, so to speak. I'm- I'm sure there were meetings going on but I'm- I'm—you know, we were kinda laid back. But it's my opinion that, um, this is the South.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: A group of Black people chose in Summerton, South Carolina—
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: - to start this fight. Okay?
Oloye Adeyemon: Well, what I was asking was, uh, I understood the Pearsons could not be involved in the case.
Leola Parks: Right. Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: And when Thurgood Marshall said that he wanted to use Summerton as a test case because the school buildings that Blacks were attending, there was even a bigger contrast—
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm. That's right.
Oloye Adeyemon: - between them and the white schools—
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: - than in other communities.
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: Uh, at that time they already had quite a number of petitioners—
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: - but they didn't have many from Summerton, and people that they had would have to come from the Summerton school district.
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: From what I understand, until there was a student protest at- at south—uh, Scotts Branch High School—
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: - that they were having very little success in getting people to sign a petition. But it wasn't because they didn't want to. It was because they were afraid.
Leola Parks: That's right.
Oloye Adeyemon: And they were saying that the people in Summerton were more reluctant to get involved in the things that had been d—going on, and that the NAACP involvement in Summerton was very secretive because the people who it was known were involved, there w- there were various forms of intimidation used—
Leola Parks: Right.
Oloye Adeyemon: - to an ex—to a greater extent than in other areas of the county. And so my question I guess is, if that's correct—
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: - in your understanding, one, would—did that—was that borne out or w- was the- was the fact that almost—well, not almost—all the whites left the school system, was that—and didn't in other areas of the county—does that suggest that in fact for some reason there was a higher degree of discrimination and prejudice, and if so have you any idea what might have contributed to it here in Summerton?
Leola Parks: Um, first of all the, um, whites, um, were, um, fairly well-to-do people. They owned a lot of property.
Oloye Adeyemon: In Summerton.
Leola Parks: They were large farmers. Yeah. So they were able to support the whites who were not as well-to-do. As a matter of fact, it's my understanding that at that time what was called the Bank of Summerton, there was an account set up for whites to, uh, borrow money or get money in whatever way to send their kids to the private school. So the feelings of the white community leaders in Summerton were so strong that they were, uh, um—their main goal was to keep all whites out of the school.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm.
Leola Parks: It wasn't the goal of the individual whites, but the pressure was on them.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm.
Leola Parks: Now they—the Blacks, uh, had to be almost handpicked to the point where very few of us were landowners at that time or self-supporting. Okay? We worked for somebody else, so we had to—and it's my understanding that there was a first petition. Then there was a second petition. After the first petition it was sought out as to who would sign the petition, the husband, the wife.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: You know, who had the job, who would get fired.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: Uh, there were in some cases people that signed anyway, you know, for whatever—
Oloye Adeyemon: But there may have been repercussions.
Leola Parks: Yeah, that's correct.
Oloye Adeyemon: 'Cause I understand a lot of people—
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm. Lost their jobs and- and- and something—
Oloye Adeyemon: - went through very tough times. Lost land and houses.
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm. That's correct, but, um, there was some thought as to whether it would be the husband or the wife or, you know, both or, uh, whether it would be this family or that family.
Oloye Adeyemon: Based on—
Leola Parks: Uh, based on family structure.
Oloye Adeyemon: - who would weather the storm the best.
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm. That's right.
Oloye Adeyemon: Because they knew there was gonna be intimidation.
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm. That's correct. But I think the reason for the full flight to the private school of the whites was because they had the support of the community.
Oloye Adeyemon: So even if they could not afford private school—
Leola Parks: Even if they could not afford it, they were given—
Oloye Adeyemon: - they were allowed to g—you know, through the businesses—
Leola Parks: Whatever sources, yeah.
Oloye Adeyemon: Yeah. I understand that there was a lot of wealth one time—uh, uh, at one time there was a lot of wealth concentrated in Summerton. Because is it correct that Summerton was even more so than Manning and other places the stop on 301 for people coming from New York State going to Miami and other places?
Leola Parks: That's correct. And Summerton at one time was called Summer Town—
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: - because it was a resort area for people coming out of Charleston. Um, this was the late or the- the, um, the, you know, the- the summer homes.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm. Was that still the case after your birth? I understand that's—that was the case for quite a while going—
Leola Parks: Um, I don't remember too much about it. Uh, that's a possibility but—
Oloye Adeyemon: W- what w—
Leola Parks: - we did not—uh, I really, other than the store owners or the people that I had to deal with—
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: - um, we just did not associate with white people.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm. When as a person working with Summerton, uh, downtown, uh, s—government association, um, what have you all found to be the approximate date when that—it seems to me from what I've understood—and correct me if I'm wrong—that there were kind of two stages in the decline business-wise of Summerton. The first was when the tourists stopped coming, and then the second was when the school—not just the schools but the school district itself with the administration and everyone becoming, uh, Black, and then people moving. Businessmen abandoned the city. So when was the end of that era where this was a resort area? W- what period—when, uh, approximately when did that end, and when it ended where did the tourists that—tourism shift to from Summerton?
Leola Parks: Um, I remember the town being a thriving, uh, um, town or, uh, the businesses when I was in high school, so—
Oloye Adeyemon: Was it still tourism? Was- was it other things? Was it still a resort city at that time?
Leola Parks: No. I don't remember the resort portion of it.
Oloye Adeyemon: You heard about it.
Leola Parks: I heard about it. Uh-huh.
Oloye Adeyemon: Did you—did the people that talk about it give you any idea that would allow you to say approximately when that period might have ended?
Leola Parks: No. No.
Oloye Adeyemon: But in your lifetime it was not a resort city.
Leola Parks: I don't remember it being a resort area.
Oloye Adeyemon: But it was still thriving.
Leola Parks: Yeah. Uh-huh. It was—
Oloye Adeyemon: Was it at that time a more important commercial center in the county than Manning? Manning was the county seat. Is that correct?
Leola Parks: Yeah. No, I don't think it was as important. Of course we did have a- a clothing store, a food store, things that we need in Summerton, and—
Oloye Adeyemon: But during the resort area, Summerton is probably even as far as wealth is concerned, wealthier than the county seat.
Leola Parks: I'm not—
Oloye Adeyemon: And Manning- Manning was not a resort city. Is that correct?
Leola Parks: Not to my knowledge—
Oloye Adeyemon: No.
Leola Parks: - but I really do not remember.
Oloye Adeyemon: Okay. So there was an economic impact on the city as a result of the zoning rule in the desegregation case.
Leola Parks: That's- that's correct.
Oloye Adeyemon: So one of the outcomes of this was a not only Black schools and white s—you know, segregated Black schools and white schools, but an entire school system that was segregated and entirely Black. Well, at least for Summerton that was the outcome.
Leola Parks: That's correct.
Oloye Adeyemon: There were no longer any white schools. Did you continue to have white teachers during that period?
Leola Parks: A very few.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm. So we're even talking about Black teachers.
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: So in some ways what resulted from this was not a segregated school in the Summerton district, but an entirely Black segregated school district.
Leola Parks: System. That's correct.
Oloye Adeyemon: Now, where—
Leola Parks: We did maintain a few white administrators.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: Um—
Oloye Adeyemon: Where did the white students go initially? I understand they went to some private schools. What were some of the private schools that were set up?
Leola Parks: In Summerton it was Clarendon Hall.
Oloye Adeyemon: That was the main one?
Leola Parks: That was the main one for this area, yeah.
Oloye Adeyemon: So—
Leola Parks: We had, um, Laurence Manning Academy and, uh, Christian Academy in Manning, and I'm sure some might have gone. But, um, the majority of our white students I think, um, shortly after that attended other public schools.
Oloye Adeyemon: The ones that were less heavily—uh, less, uh, less heavy concentration of Blacks.
Leola Parks: Um, no, not the school system. The public school systems?
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: No, it's just that they had a larger population of whites.
Oloye Adeyemon: So there's a—there's—
Leola Parks: So they felt more comfortable or—and- and- and I think it was a statement, and I've heard it over and over again, that one of the whites said that once, um, they left the school, that they would never set foot back into the system again.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: And that's, uh, even though the older people are dying out, and hopefully the—it's kinda rooted into the kids, you know, as—
Oloye Adeyemon: You're saying hopefully there'll be changes.
Leola Parks: Hopefully there'll be changes as, uh, as years go by.
Oloye Adeyemon: Now, in these other systems, given the background the white students had and given that there would have been college preparatory classes, uh, is it the case that there was a great deal of segregation of classes even in the integrated schools in the county during that time?
Leola Parks: Um, no. I don't think the classes would have been as much segregated as the success.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: You know, there may have been a- a- a lower rate of success of Blacks and whites, uh—
Oloye Adeyemon: So they wouldn't—would not have had classes that were designed specifically for students that were doing poorly because they didn't have certain things [crosstalk 42:39]—
Leola Parks: Well, at that time they did not have college prep.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: I don't think it was much special education.
Oloye Adeyemon: Okay.
Leola Parks: You know, I don't think the classifications played a- a large part, um, then, as opposed to foreign language, you know. A- a lot of people stay away from certain, um, certain courses anyway.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm, would you say that the fact that there were whites in those school systems—well, d- do you think that had any impact on the education that everybody was receiving in the other parts—in- in the other two school districts in, uh, Clarendon County?
Leola Parks: Yeah. I- I really do believe, uh, um, the literacy rates of Blacks even now are much lower—
Oloye Adeyemon: Here in Summerton.
Leola Parks: - or- or the litera—illiteracy is much higher in the Blacks than whites even now in almost any community. So the Blacks were not educated to the point where they could go into the schools, ask questions—
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: - see what's not right there, as opposed to the more educated person, Black or white.
Oloye Adeyemon: I guess my question is in the Summerton schools, given it had become an entirely Black school district—
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: - was there attempt to change rapidly, uh, the way in which Black children would be taught so that they would be more prepared? 'Cause I guess in many cases during the earlier years, uh, even among Blacks there may not have been expectations of then going to college, so that it was more technical oriented type of thing. So was there, uh, any difference in Summerton? W—did the situation, uh, represent a challenge where the Black administrators and Black teachers were attempting to give the Black children the same opportunities that were happening in classes—let me back up. Would there have been a higher percentage of white teachers in the other two school districts, given there was a higher percentage of white students?
Leola Parks: A higher percent—
Oloye Adeyemon: In Summerton there were very few white teachers left.
Leola Parks: If any, yes. Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: In the other two districts where they were—where there was integration, was there a higher percentage of white teachers?
Leola Parks: Yes, I'm sure it was.
Oloye Adeyemon: Was there an attempt therefore, since Blacks were attending those classes, to make sure that, given that they were not separating whites into more advanced classes, and given that the parent—the white parents would have been looking closely to make sure their children were getting the type of education that they would have gotten anyhow, did Blacks benefit from that? And were Black teachers successful in Summerton despite the odds of bringing the Black students here into that way of thinking about education that Blacks might have been able to better see and understand [unintelligible 46:05] equal with white students?
Leola Parks: Okay. Um, because, uh—
Oloye Adeyemon: Where are you at?
Male Voice: Right where she stopped. [Laughter]
Leola Parks: [Laughter]
Oloye Adeyemon: Well, how many minutes?
Male Voice: Uh, 46.
Oloye Adeyemon: Okay. Let's—okay.
Description
This interview presents information from the perspective of an African American student during the time of forced integration of public schools in Clarendon County. Quite a bit of information is also shared regarding the economics of segregation and integration to the communities located in Clarendon County.
Credit
NPS
Date Created
07/11/2001
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