By Bill Lee
[This column covers a period in Dillon County history when there were at least 25 or more school districts throughout the county; today there are three. There were once segregated schools in nearly every community such as Hamer, Oakland, Pleasant Hill, Carolina, Union, Floyd Dale and others. While interest in this column would likely be directed towards Hamer residents; still most of the early students and descendants in the other county school districts would have had similar experiences as listed here.]
I have written several columns over the years about the grammar school I attended at Hamer in grades 1-7. Here are some recollections that come to mind as I type this. The punctuation is free-lance. As a reader of this column, if you were a student there, you could add many more since we all see things differently and remember in seemingly inconsistent patterns reflecting our diverse personalities and backgrounds. Keep in mind the word “random.”
Big and little recesses, seven grades and a school population of around 150 native born students, coal stove heaters, window shades, slat-mounted desks in sets, ink wells, individual marking on the desk tops, the big hand bell used by the principal for schedule changes such as the end of the school day, the names of teachers: Miss Maggie McEachern, Miss Bessie Weatherly, Miss Allie Hasty, Miss Clara Cousar, Miss Sara Herring who also was my piano teacher, (Every lady was addressed as Miss.), principals Mr. Earl Alford, Mr. Carl Lennon (We hardly ever had ‘new’ teachers back then.), separate playgrounds for boys and girls, outdoor conveniences, blackboards/chalk trays, the upstairs auditorium and the noisy gang seats there that were not stationary, the oil used on the floors to keep the dust down along with the unique smell, the two flights of stairs, segregated, double grade classes (3/4-5/6), the sand table/blocks in the first grade and the
oversized Baby Ray reading charts, the fact that the building was generally unlocked yet vandalism was never an important issue. There was little graffiti except for an occasional pencil mark, the time the hypnotist came with his “singing” dog who howled when the accordion was played, the traveling stage play, “Rebecca at Sunnybrook Farm,” the paddle used for misbehavior, the reading by Miss Cousar of the children’s classic “Dr. Dolittle,” the memorizing of the poem “If You First Don’t Succeed,” the free samples of Lifebuoy soap given to students (much needed), a school project of Lincoln’s log cabin, head lice inspections, group class pictures, the uniform of the day for boys: bib overalls and denim shirts worn for a full week, cake walk at the end of school along with a “fishing” game in the auditorium, school breaking/awards, diplomas (end of school) with evening assembly, the annual school “operetta,” getting out of
school weeks early one year because of the polio scare, the school had a Board of Trustees who helped make certain local decisions, report cards to be signed by a parent with grades of conduct and effort given, school buses driven mostly by high school students bringing students from the Oakland communities, Hamer Mill students walking to school rain or shine, no ”safety patrol” at US 301 intersection or at the ACL railroad crossing, brown paper sacks with lunches brought from home-lunch was eaten during big recess out of doors, the ‘rhythm’ band conducted by Miss Herring (I played the sticks.), teachers making copies with a hectograph, pop the whip-forbidden game, playground games but unsupervised and organized by students themselves, Friday assembly with Miss Herring playing the piano for assembly and dismissal, group singing out of the paperback song book – THE ONE HUNDRED AND ONE BEST SONGS, singing rounds,- “Merrily, Merrily”
– “Three Blind Mice” – “Row, Row Your Boat,” making homemade Valentines (Each classroom had a Valentine box.), pushing up the classroom windows when the weather was hot, wanting Stacy Griffin on your side for any sports’ activity, students making fires in the classroom heaters in the COLD mornings before school began, no janitors, going to Evan’s Pharmacy when school began to buy new textbooks-there were no ‘free’ textbooks, pencil sharpeners, Blue Horse composition books, practicing making letters and numbers in the first grade, handwriting drills, failing a grade a possibility, there was no PTA, the school library consisted of a book case in each room whose books came from the county library, schoolyard disputes were usually settled by students themselves. There were no standardized tests. Classes were self contained with one teacher teaching all subjects. The same teachers taught your older brothers and sisters. Your first
grade teacher lived in the community and could have been your Sunday school teacher. Dusting erasers gave you a chance to get outdoors. We had a little recess, about 15 minutes, and a longer big recess for lunch. When recess was over, we lined up by grade at the school entrance and marched into the building. The boards were black slate and the chalk was white. When I was attending the school, the only male teacher was the principal. When the weather was warm, we went barefooted to school. I don’t remember any school ”bully.” The school playground (baseball diamond) was used by the Hamer Mill teams. We often made our own baseballs and when necessary, bats. There was no baseball equipment such as gloves. There were no student lockers; you kept up with your own books. There were ‘cloak’ rooms in the building sometimes used for isolation of rare behavior problems. The two story brick building had 3 entrances but no fire escape from
the second floor. Teachers were respected back then! The school building I attended opened in 1917. It was demolished when the “new” Hamer School opened after WWII. The heavily windowed auditorium had a stage with a heavy navy blue curtain that could be drawn. The stage background was a painted canvas with the names of local businesses as I recall. There was no school nurse. The original name of the school was Hamer-Kentyre. It was a consolidation of the first school behind the old Hamer Post office and the early school in the Kentyre community. The landscaping consisted of a scraggy bush or two at the entrances. I don’t remember having fire drills although perhaps they were held. My second grade teacher, Miss Bessie Weatherly, who lived in the Minturn community, was later a resident at the Pines where I visited her. My Uncle D.J. Lee bought the remains of the building after it was demolished and Alton McLellan purchased the school
site. One of my household treasures is one of the original desks from the school. The late Floyd Griffin gave me some old class records he saved when the building was being razed. They along with a collection of photographs of old Dillon County Schools are now located in the Main Dillon County Library.
Going to high school in Dillon was like entering another world. There was Miss Owens’ 8th grade English class for instance waiting along with algebra. But on balance, just call us lucky! By the way, to get a general idea of what the Hamer School might have looked like back then, drive over to the Oakland United Methodist Church. The building in its previous life was the Oakland Grammar School.
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‘Billy’ Lee, PO Box 128, Hamer, SC 29547