The circumstances in which students at the old May’s Lick Negro School were taught could hardly measure up to today’s standard classroom.
For many years, there wasn’t even a cafeteria at the school, and students brought their lunch, or paid a few cents at a local store for something to eat.
The library where students conducted their research was no more than a set of encyclopedias.
Students had never heard of a snow day, and didn’t have playground equipment for recess. Instead, they played ball with hedge apples, since they did not have a baseball. They jumped rope and played hopscotch, and never questioned that white children at other schools nearby had playground equipment, because that was just the way things were.
But despite any hardships the students may have endured, they remember their time at the school fondly.
They remember the annual plays students took part in, the various and inspirational graduation speakers, the morning devotionals.
And though there were eight different classes for the four teachers employed at the school, former teacher Gwendolyn French said that did not hurt the student’s education. Instead, it likely helped, because the younger students were exposed to the older student’s lessons, and often retained the information.
For those former teachers and students of May’s Lick Negro School, the renovation efforts by May’s Lick Community Development is something they are appreciative of.
“It’s a part of history,” said C.H. Williams, who was not a student at the school, though he had family who attended the school. “(We) need to realize where we’ve been to know where we’re going.”
The school was built in 1921, and opened that September as the first consolidated elementary school for African-American children, according to information provided by Bob DeVoe, who has been involved in the renovation efforts.
The school cost a total of $17,500 to build, with the majority of that money coming from individual contributions, some from public funds and a fraction from the Rosenwald Foundation. Julius Rosenwald, president of Sears Roebuck, was responsible for providing financial support for 158 schools and other buildings in Kentucky related to the education of African-Americans from 1917 to 1932, according to the information from DeVoe.
May’s Lick Negro School served the May’s Lick, Helena, Wedonia and Lewisburg areas until it closed in the early 1960s with the advent of integration.
The building was purchased by Bill Kachler soon after the school closed, and offices built onto it.
It was later bought by Oak Hills Banks, which donated it to the May’s Lick Community Development when the organization was searching for a location for a community center and firehouse. Those two buildings will be constructed on the same property as the school, but will be located a short distance from the school, according to information from DeVoe and Robyn Jones, president of May’s Lick Community Development.
The school itself will be a museum, and showcase artifacts from the school, but will not simply be a museum. Jones said it will be functional as well.
Work has been ongoing on the school, and some of the additions have been removed.
While the entire project will be completed in phases, and will likely not be completely finished for a couple of years, Jones said a school reunion is planned for sometime in 2008. During that reunion, Jones said she hopes to have some of the alumni share oral histories of their time at the school.
Some of those stories will likely echo those of French, and students Rita Mobley, William Grant Ramsey and his wife, Norma Ramsey.
As each of them shared stories about the days at the school, more memories were evoked. Each recalled how education was so important at the school, and how each student had a desire to learn. And they recalled the discipline of the school — sometime far different than the way discipline is meted out in schools now.
“I think we got a good education out here,” said William Ramsey.
“All the children were well-disciplined,” added French.
French said each teacher was responsible for the discipline of their students, and the rod was not always spared, though another form of discipline included keeping the students in at recess.
Mobley was a student at the school just a year before integration occurred. She remembers the change as a frightening one.
“Second grade wasn’t one of my best years,” she said. “Kids can be cruel.”
Mobley said her new classmates were intimidating, and she was not certain what kind of behavior was expected of her, and whether what she had been taught at the May’s Lick school would be the same at her new school.
While it was a big adjustment, Mobley said the difficulties only made her “stronger.”
Jones is asking anyone with pictures, old school books, desks or any artifacts relating to the May’s Lick School to contact May’s Lick Community Development. Also, anyone who would like to be a part of the May’s Lick School Committee can call Jones at 763-6823 or C.H. Williams at 407-0287.
Contact Misty Maynard at misty.maynard@lee.net or 606-564-9091, ext. 274.
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