O.C. Stonestreet | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

I would have been just beginning to attend Mooresville Junior High in 1960 — not middle school, but Mooresville Junior High, a watered-down version of what high school might be like, with team sports, changing classrooms, etc. We had no police officers or guidance counselors at MJHS. Mr. Smawley and the teachers didn’t need any.

I walked or later rode a bike to school where Mitchell Community College now has its Mooresville Extension. I took physical education and attended basketball games and dances in the gym that still stands.

Black children in Mooresville all went to what was then called Dunbar School, now N.F. Woods Technology & Arts Center on West McLelland Avenue.
While I don’t recall seeing any “Colored” or “Whites Only” signs on drinking fountains or over bathrooms, nonetheless, the town was, from my point of view at least, segregated.

When I went to the State Theater, blacks sat in the balcony. They even had a separate entrance into the show on the left side of the ticket booth. There were taxi companies run by blacks, mostly serving black patrons.

Mooresville High integrated my senior year, 1966. We had one black student, a brave girl named Priscilla, in our class.

Comments

Leave a Comment

Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.

All comments are moderated before publication.
For more information, see our terms and conditions.