162 25 35718 https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/9908b220454b23f8ae84fa7f9124f3a9.jpg 632af73e0ad51a73d6e1a7523455a1b3 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Black & White Photograph Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Virginia Cooley Subject The topic of the resource Shenandoah County Memorial Hospital (Va) Nurses-Virginia-Woodstock Women-Virginia-Woodstock Hospitals-Virginia-Woodstock Cooley, Virginia Description An account of the resource Photograph showing nurse Virginia Cooley seated at a desk at the Shenandoah County Memorial Hospital in Woodstock Virginia. The photograph is dated April 1967. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Unknown Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Sleeve 2.13, Nurse at Hospital, Unidentified, April 1967, Susan Holsinger Collection, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource April 1967 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 20-0305-004 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Identification by Shirley Golladay. Hospitals Nurses Shenandoah County Virginia https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/80b0ff492d4d4c201491bad60a7d8f74.jpg 70749e7d7fdf2a63d6f03745b2229fcc Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Black & White Photograph Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Unidentified Teen Girl Subject The topic of the resource Woman-Virginia-Shenandoah County Description An account of the resource Photograph of an unidentified teen girl. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Unknown Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Sleeve 2.48, Unidentified Female Adolescent, Susan Holsinger Collection, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Undated Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 20-0305-005 Shenandoah County Virginia Women https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/8d53bf25b48cd5c8211f1d33f53a8b98.jpg 7edea6a14f5f54e6456ff1ddf47fddc7 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Black & White Photograph Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource African American Women Photograph Strip Subject The topic of the resource Women-Virginia-Shenandoah County Description An account of the resource Scan of a photograph strip with five images showing two different African American women. Both the women and the creator of the photographs are unknown. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Unknown Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Folder 1.1 Unidentified Photograph Studio Strips, undated 1 of 2, Ben Ritter Collection, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Undated Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 20-0305-006 African Americans Shenandoah County Virginia Women https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/8c5e822c09fee505991d9fd8f92da646.jpg 6847eb118f5241a1bc61fd507e141b4c Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Black & White Photograph Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Unidentified Women Photographic Strip Subject The topic of the resource Women-Virginia-Shenandoah County Description An account of the resource Scan of a photograph strip with five images showing two different women. Both the women and the creator of the photographs are unknown. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Unknown Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Folder 1.1 Unidentified Photograph Studio Strips, undated 1 of 2, Ben Ritter Collection, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Undated Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 20-0305-007 Shenandoah County Virginia Women https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/6b0e4ec05cbe0aae9178847c6c73a2d8.jpg 8234dc52de993bc8f42fbc65d708fbdc Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Black & White Photograph Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Girl with Dog Subject The topic of the resource Girls-Virginia-Shenandoah County Dogs-Virginia-Shenandoah County Description An account of the resource Scan of a photograph strip with five images showing a girl holding a dog in various poses. Both the girl and the creator of the photographs are unknown. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Unknown Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Folder 1.1 Unidentified Photograph Studio Strips, undated 1 of 2, Ben Ritter Collection, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Undated Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 20-0305-008 Dogs Shenandoah County Virginia Women https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/ec64283abf876617142fd6b93ed667c4.jpg 9580841a53b3c53e87fced12fb20b148 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photographic Print Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "Wagonner Shed" Subject The topic of the resource Edinburg (Va) Wagon Shed-Virginia-Edinburg Transportation facilities-Virginia-Edinburg Description An account of the resource This photograph shows a portion of the "wagonner shed" that was located along the Valley Turnpike (US Route 11) in Edinburg Virginia. The shed was used by crews operating freight wagons on the Valley Turnpike. These wagons carried produce and other local export items to ports and larger markets, typically Alexandria or Baltimore. This shed was a stopping point where crews could rest themselves and their teams over night. During the Civil War it was used to house Federal Troops. The structure was originally located in front of the house located at 211 S. Main Street in Edinburg. At the time of its construction, this property was owned by Phillip Grandstaff whose children Mary and Press lived in the house that still stands on the site. Later the shed was moved to the rear of the house which now houses Edinburg Trucks Hobby Shop and no longer stands. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Unknown Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Edinburg Photographs, Historic and Old Time Festival, ca.1900-1995, Edinburg Series, Mary Ann Williamson Collection, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Undated Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) Type The nature or genre of the resource 20-0309-001 Edinburg Shenandoah County Virginia https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/92e535f2d89ad1534c560732baf201bd.jpg 1de59f727b435674a35fe43c3626ae81 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Unidentified Wedding Photograph Description An account of the resource Photograph of an unidentified wedding party ca. 1942. The photograph is taken inside Emanuel Lutheran Church in Woodstock Virginia. The only two identified persons are Daniel S. Hottel, front row second from right, and Rev. John Perry Derrick, front row far right. Alfred Holsinger Sr. is in the back row, to the right of the groom. The photograph was produced by Morrison Studios of Woodstock Virginia. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Morrison Studios (Woodstock Va) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Folder 1.1: Wedding, Emanuel Lutheran Church, Woodstock Virginia, ca. 1942, Susan Holsinger Collection, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource ca. 1942 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2020-0603-003 Subject The topic of the resource Holsinger, Alfred Franklin, Sr. (1915-1978) Hottel, Daniel S. (1925-2019) Derrick, John Perry (1890-1949) Churches Shenandoah County Virginia Weddings Woodstock https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/d358ba7921a8678fdc5b61c7b787e6a9.jpg 18c72d63f1c3512fe47dcd2680bc64ed https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/076310b7d367860fdde2526395932209.jpg 28aaa85e1e98cf61bba772be6cd346d7 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photographic Print Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Columbia Furnace Cemetery Photograph and Letter Subject The topic of the resource Columbia Furnace (Va) Campbell, Angeline (1857-1935) Hickman, Margaret "Daisy" (1876-1968) Cemeteries-Virginia-Shenandoah County Coffman, Charles Kessler (1883-1951) Description An account of the resource Photograph and letter sent to Margaret "Daisy" Hickman from Charles Kessler Coffman in reference to a rose bush Charles had placed on the grave of Margaret's mother Angeline Campbell. Angeline's grave is located in the "Old" Columbia Furnace Union Church cemetery along State Route 42. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Charles Kessler Coffman Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Folder 9.15, Letter to Charles Coffman about Columbia Furnace Cemetery, Mary Ann Williamson Collection, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 9, 1944 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2020-0603-001 2020-0603-002 Campbell Cemetery Churches Coffman Columbia Furnace Hickman Letters Shenandoah County Virginia https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/5c4714098a9b326c25a4e4a256ad8734.jpg ed86082ee4b4de0ba261763850700513 https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/00bae5fdd6dc2c8850e96051882fbc0e.jpg 8cd97f87337f8580f6d46b46e2969641 https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/1433d95b821f916ca4f7c0e02c1a2fa8.jpg 4c8539ce2ad0524465e2ee1b11bac9ef https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/f21a3d493a307b7bcea6945f97225cd8.jpg 29c5ca7a29996415a0f51bbf163ae194 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Manuscript Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Report of M.M. Campbell Receiver of Liberty Iron Company Subject The topic of the resource Campbell, M.M. Liberty Iron Company (Shenandoah County Va) Iron industry-Virginia-Shenandoah County Shenandoah County (Va) Liberty Furnace (Va) Description An account of the resource Four page report of "M.M. Campbell" who was the court appointed receiver for the Liberty Iron Company between June 1891 and August 1892. Campbell was appointed receiver of the company by the US District Court while there was a case pending concerning the ownership of the property. In 1891 he managed the court ordered sale of the furnace to an investment group from Philadelphia. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource M.M. Campbell Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Folder 7.6 Report of M.M. Campbell Receiver of Liberty Iron Company, Receipts and Expenditures, June 24 1891-August 1, 1892, Series VI: Documents, Samuel G. Clark Liberty Iron Furnace Collection, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 24 1891-August 1 1892 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 20-0611-001 20-0611-002 20-0611-003 20-0611-004 Furnaces Iron Liberty Shenandoah County Virginia https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/61e35f7ef78b00d346ba0e6e4e8a94e3.jpg 58d9d6a01366cabd1a257fee4a5244b2 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Tax stamps Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource W. J. Homan "Retail Dealer in Wines and Malt Liquors" Tax Stamp Subject The topic of the resource Homan, W.J. Strasburg (Va) Bills Place (Strasburg Va) Taxes-Virginia-Strasburg Description An account of the resource Federal Internal Revenue Service Special Tax Stamp issued to W.J. Homan to be a retail dealer in Wines and Malt Liquors in July 1947. W.J. Homan operated "Bills Place" on King Street in Strasburg. Evidence indicates this business operated at least in 1947 and 1948 and also had coin operated amusement machines. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Internal Revenue Service Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Folder 1.8: W.J. Homan Liquor and Amusement Tax Receipts, Bill’s Place, Strasburg Virginia, 1944-1947, G.H. Ritenour Collection, Trubn Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 1947 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 20-0617-001 Alcohol Shenandoah County Strasburg Taxes Virginia https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/11f2b848533b83fbdb0fcb826d16ddcc.jpg 33c21b3fdbf477c809c007f4100a6da2 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photomechanical Print Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "Woodstock Recreation Park-Pool" Dedication Subject The topic of the resource Woodstock (Va) Bathhouses-Virginia-Woodstock Swimming pools-Virginia-Woodstock Riley, W.O. Description An account of the resource Photomechanical print showing Woodstock Mayor Web O. Riley speaking to a crowd from atop the bathhouse at the Woodstock Pool at the time the pool and new recreation park was dedicated. The image was printed on July 9, 1954 and the dedication ceremony occurred on July 4th of that year. Accounts indicate over 800 people were in attendance at the ceremony. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Shenandoah Herald Newspaper Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Shenandoah Herald, January 1-December 31 1954 Volume, Shenandoah-Valley Herald Collection, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Printed July 9, 1954 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource COPYRIGHT NOT EVALUATED Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 20-0701-001 Parks Pools Shenandoah County Virginia Woodstock https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/e68ba5d400a1d1e4f6e32f4d41f58412.jpg 7cc73a786b65dfab4547a5b094b627f0 https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/49cd625d0f4d4eadc0f9bdc29bf56438.jpg 885f3ed8fdb43ded90e7e5cc8348d5c3 https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/d5a3a0a78e86b2f79dcc0a4d383397b3.jpg b96d0f0db4679042d9b3c88eaeb8a10a https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/7af6988329494c1d23bf0d357d65e597.jpg 7cb220574d384050fd9f822be1e717fe Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document ENVELOPE Mrs Charlotte Sheetz Box 47 Edinburg Virginia USA ____ Mary Jane Noel ___ des Gilets Vaucouleurs Meuse France LETTER Vaucouleurs on the 2nd May 1919 Dear friend, I had a real pleasure the other day on receiving your letter and knowing your son’s arriving home. Have no doubt that merrily will, you live now, for Don sure personifies mirth. Please give him the best regards from the whole family and say that he forget us not and that I go to America perhaps before very long. My mother participates in your joy. Do you think that peace will soon be made what do they say about it in your country? A great many americans are leaving France and we will soon see no more; it will be painful, for most of the French soldiers have been killed. Write me soon a letter a thousand pages in length and kindly accept a big kiss. As ever I remain Your little friend Mary Jane Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Correspondance Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "Dear Friend" Mary Jane Noel to Charlotte Sheetz Subject The topic of the resource Sheetz, Charlotte (1880-1924) Noel, Mary Jane Sheetz, Don L. (1900-?) Edinburg (Va) World War (1914-1918) Vaucouleurs, Meuse Description An account of the resource Letter from Mary Jane Noel of Vaucouleurs, Meuse, France, to Charlotte Sheetz of Edinburg, Virginia, USA. The letter discusses the war and Charlotte's son Don L. Sheetz who had become acquainted with Mary Jane Noel while serving in France. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Noel, Mary Jane Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Folder 13.4 Letter to Charlotte Sheetz from Mary Jane concerns Don Sheetz, France, May 1919, Document Series, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource May 2, 1919 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 20-0714-001 20-0714-002 20-0714-003 20-0714-004 Edinburg Letters Shenandoah County Virginia WWI https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/e7a8e2c0219d7d4595c2696929b0162e.jpg e71fc723658cf55616f73597361b084a https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/cc24f7c0e0144e6a595f3df485240def.jpg 4cbe1e7fc91f9386442185c97aa98728 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Ephemera Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Massanutten Baseball- Schedule 1917 Subject The topic of the resource Baseball-Virginia-Woodstock Massanutten Military Academy (Va) Woodstock (Va) Private Schools-Virginia-Woodstock Crawn, John Heller (1896-1920) Kerr, Alexander, C. Mahikoa, James Morgan, Arthur Description An account of the resource 1917 varsity baseball schedule for Massanutten Academy, now Massanutten Military Academy, in Woodstock Virginia. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Massanutten Academy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Folder 1.1: Baseball Schedule, 1917, Massanutten Military Academy Collection, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1917 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 20-0716-001 20-0716-002 Relation A related resource James "Jimmy" Mahikoa appears in Morrison Studio Collection images 000929, 002564, 003641, 09241, 020140, and 020288. Baseball MMA Shenandoah County Sports Virginia Woodstock https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/0d1e4741dc436b18baadd7d528804c7e.jpg f4b251c5bbbbb81e95444c34c900ac38 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Fliers (Printed matter) Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "As The Sands Through The Hour-Glass" Subject The topic of the resource Valley Pike - Shenandoah Valley Description An account of the resource Flier describing the Valley Pike or Lee-Jackson Highway (US Route 11) which runs through the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. It includes a map of towns and attractions and description of the road. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Unknown Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived FOLDER 2.46: Valley Pike Publication, undated., Shenandoah County History Series, Herb Parker Collection, Shenandoah County Library, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Undated Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource COPYRIGHT NOT EVALUATED Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 20-0730-001 Shenandoah County Shenandoah Valley Virginia https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/c92cebe71ca9d885ebaf6b6c9955c1d2.pdf 19b078740f2ddd28662829dd7504c414 PDF Text Text Oral History Transcript 16-0004 Interviewee: Laura Marquetta Mitchell & Willy Mitchell Interviewer: Zach Hottel Subject: Integration, Segregation, Strasburg (Va); Shenandoah County Public Schools (Va) February 9, 2016 Zach: This is Zach Hottel. It is February 9th. I am here to do an oral history interview on integration and segregation. Marquetta: My name is Marquetta Mitchell. I always like to say Laura Marquetta Mitchell and Zach is in our home here with my husband and me to talk about segregation and integration. We welcome him in our home and we glad for the opportunity. Zach: Thank you. Willy: My name Wilbert "Willy" Mitchell. I was born on August 3, 1948. Went to Sunset Hill Elementary School and shortly after graduation went to Strasburg High School. Marquetta: I actually was born in Greenville, Tennessee. I always say that because my mother happened to be in Greenville at the time and that was her hometown. I call Strasburg my home though. I attended Sunset Hills School until I graduated from the seventh grade. When I graduated from the seventh grade that was when the segregated schools here, that was the last year of the segregated school. So I was in the first class that was officially went over to what was then called the white school which was high school for me which was 8th grade. Although there were other Black students there before I got there that had matriculated into the system before it was really official. Zach: Just to clarify when did you finish at Sunset Hill? Willy: I believe it was 1963. Marquetta: I was 1964 wasn't I? Willy: Must have been. I was the first Black male to go to Straburg High School. Prior to that Fay Mitchell, my sister, Gloria Hess, Priscilla and Angela Alsberry were the first from Strasburg to go to high school. Zach: I found in the records that 1962 was the first year there were any African-American students there and then a few more in 1963 and finally in 1964. Willy: I believe that is right. Marquetta: I know the history. Let me call Susie Gaynor? and I can put my hands on it. If you want there is a whole story about it. Zach: About this? �Marquetta: Her children. Would you like to get a copy? Zach: That would be great. Marquetta: It’s in the closet upstairs. Was it 64? Graduated 69 in 12th. 68 in 11th grade. 67 in 10th grade. 66 in the 9th grade. 65 in the 8th grade. Willy: Because the years, my mind. I started school late because we lived out in the outer part of the county in Lebanon Church. My father worked on a farm. My mom worked on the farm also. We weren't allowed to ride the buses and so I ended up being moved to Strasburg to live with my grandparents, Turner ? and Letha Mitchell, down on B Street. So I stayed there and lived with them and went to school until, seemed like it was. I was at school at Sunset Hills and then we moved to Strasburg I think it was 1956 we moved into town. Zach: I am curious about Strasburg. I know in Woodstock there was a geographic place where most of the African-Americans community lived. But then in Mount Jackson, New Market that was not the case. Was that the case in Strasburg? Willy: Yes. Predominantly was B Street, now it is Branch Street. But it is known now as Alsberry Street was what we called it here up on the hill. That was where Sunset Hills School was. There were Black families up there. Zach: So that area the hill up there around the school was predominantly Black. Willy: With us we lived on A Street which is now Ash Street. It was like 3 families, 3 Black families we lived beside each other there and that was about it. Wasn't too many. Most all the Blacks lived between Branch Street and D Street and what was Alsberry Street. Zach: Now can you talk the restaurants and the theater which I assume were segregated in Strasburg. Talk a little bit about in general about some of your experiences with those. Willy: There were several restaurants in Strasburg at that time of course they were all segregated. But the one that we went to most of the time was Virginia Restaurant. Sager Realty is there now on the corner. But we had to go in the back in the kitchen area and that is where my mother worked as a cook. They had several booths back there and that is where we ate and were served. It wasn't until years later that we allowed to go out front. We were washing windows out front and stuff like that but as far as sitting down and eating we weren't allowed to go out front. And other place was the Tastee Freeze, that was after when integration started we were allowed to go to the Tastee Freeze. But as a young person I really didn't go to any of the other restaurants in town other than that. As far as the theater, we could go to the theater we could go to the theater but you had to sit up in the balcony which was great. We thought it was great! You set and the screen was right in front of you and it was nice. If that was punishment--. The thing was you didn't have the option. But then again we couldn't afford to go to the theater that much. Most of the time it was at Christmas when First Bank used to have Santa Claus and they would give you �a, you would go in and sit on Santa's lap and tell him what you want, and get a bag of hard candy and an orange and a ticket to go to Home Theater. Marquetta: I can't find it. I got to get that stuff together for a Virginia Tech reunion. Zach: I talked to Gloria Stickley and she said something about you all having to start a reunion. I am curious a little bit if you could talk about-- I know you said you were born in Greenville. How did you end up moving from there to Strasburg? Marquetta: Well, long story short, my mother and father, actually my father lived at the time in Washington DC. My mother worked for my father's parents, cleaning their house and that kind of stuff. And so my mother was from Greenville, Tennessee. She had moved from Greenville to Washington DC cleaning homes and doing what was called "days work". In Washington DC "days work", and I did" days work. It was basically Black folks working for white folks cleaning their house. And so my mother basically worked for my grandparents cleaning their house. And so I came along. So my grandparents had property here. The Witheralls, I am a Witherall that is my maiden name. The Witheralls go way back, way, way, back. The family Bible is over there. In Shenandoah County it is spelled three different ways. We are working on that. Because my parents had issues. My grandparents took all of us and brought us here to Strasburg because they had property in Strasburg that was on B Street which is Branch Street now. They used to rent it out to people. I t was like a rental property. So they came here and brought us here and raised us here. That is how Strasburg became my home. And Willy lived in the county and he moved to Strasburg in order to go to school. So that is how I got here. But the Witherall name was already here. Willy: We found out, doing, Marquetta more so than me, with research and everything and talking to the Alsberrys, one of the main reasons that they moved here from the Rappahannock County was so their children could get an education. And because in that particular area they might have to have gone to Manassas. Marquetta: Miles and miles. My dad went to school had to leave here to go to Charlottesville and Manassas to go to school. That was that generation, But now my grandparents were retired teachers of the colored school when they moved here. So that is how we had to do good in school. My grandfather was the schoolteacher, before the Sunset Hill School that was the school over on Queen Street. Pigtail Alley. And then my Auntie, I don't if, I can't remember if Auntie taught at Sunset Hills because she was one of the teachers at Woodstock, at Creekside. I can't confirm Creekside, I just remember Woodstock school. And I think she did do some subbing at _____ Sunset School. But Poppy, my grandfather was the one that taught here, and I know my grandmother subbed here, taught here at Sunset Hills school because they were already retired teachers. Zach: Now talk a little bit about what Sunset Hills Schools was like. I know it was a one room school but I guess just give a description of what the classes were like, if you liked you teachers and just kind of a general overview. �Marquetta: It was a one room school. Coal stove. It was, I won't say it was always warm in terms of temperature though, physical temperature. It was a class divided up in rows by class and what I remember was Mrs. Payne was my teacher. Willy: Dora H. Payne. Marquetta: Dora H. Payne and her sister Mrs. McClain taught in Woodstock. She, I remember so well, because the teachers lived at different houses and ours was the main house. So I remember very well. We hated it. When you had to be at school and then Mrs. Payne followed you home. So the classroom. I liked school. I didn't know how to compare it to any other school. I liked school. I enjoyed school. I excelled in school. So the kids that excelled or did well they taught other kids. I liked that, I liked teaching other kids. So I wasn't the only one. So all the kids that did very well sort of became teacher’s aids in how to teach the other classes which I liked. And then if you really did, it was a really big deal for Mrs. Payne the teacher to take you home to her home in West Virginia for the weekend. So that was like a really big deal so everybody wanted to go home with Mrs. Payne, you know. I liked that. I liked the discipline of learning. The teachers were for me really good. There were some kids who got in trouble or they might not have been but I was one of those kids who was a pretty decent student and I did fine. I enjoyed school. School was fun. We had recess outside. We sang, started every morning with prayer, said the pledge of allegiance to the flag, we sang songs. We sang songs where you moved, we had plays. We had talent shows. My brother and I we had dance talent shows. We had speaking talent shows and I liked it. There was not anything I didn't like about school. But really the part that I did not like, I was like a year ahead of kids my age, because my grandmother did that and I didn't like it because it left me very isolated. I didn't have a clique or group. I knew they liked me and I liked them but I wasn't ever a part of a girlfriend group or that kind of stuff. That is the part I didn't like. I liked going home for lunch. His brother Ray, after school, everybody when run and jump on his bike, he must have sometimes it seemed like he had six kids on his bike, that is an over-exaggeration. But he would stand up, someone would be on the seat, someone would be on the fender, and someone would be on the handle bars. And we would come down that hill, pop the tracks but my grandmother never knew about that. There was a bully in school. was Raymond. He used to chase us home every day. Not every day but often enough for my grandmother to come out of the house with a broom and chase him down the street. I enjoyed school and I looked forward to going to Frederick Douglas school because the kids who were older than me they caught the bus right down the street at Mrs. Riffey's(?) house on Bragg Street and I used to watch the teenage girls with their pretty skirts, and their oxford shoes and their transistor radios. And sometimes they would be dancing all the new dances before they got on the bus and I could not wait to be a part of that. Mrs. Payne always would say, "I am going to get you ready to go to the white school. You have to get you ready to go to the white school. And you are going to learn this. Because I don't want to be bad-mouthed when you get to the white school. And I remember that. I remember that was her thing. And my grandmother was there too. I wasn't looking forward to going to the white school; I was looking forward to going to Frederick Douglas where all the other Black kids went. But I enjoyed school. I liked being a student. I was happy in school. Even when I looked back today I think we got a better education than those most kids today. And we got extra when we got home because I lived with teachers. We had to go upstairs. Everybody got an extra dose of education. My grandfather was an invalid who was a teacher also. He taught history. So after we ate dinner, Poppy had to go over our �lessons from school. He would always teach us something different, extra multiplication tables, addition, subtraction tables, all of the stuff. I so when I think about kids today, education, it is just real different. But I got a good education. It may have been in a secondary school. It may have been with books that were thrown in the trash can at the end of school. They were. We knew that. I may have been with tiny pieces of chalk but the discipline was there and the hunger for a good education was there. There wasn't a parent that I knew that didn't want that for any of their kids. Would you agree with that? Willy: Yes Marquetta; Very serious about education. Willy: She was. Marquetta: But most parents were. There were some kids that didn't go astray. You got the strap on your hand. You had to hold out your hand. Willy: It was a ruler. Marquetta: Yes but Mrs. Payne used a strap too. Willy: That wasn't on your hand that was on your back. Marquetta: No. Mrs. Payne used a strap on my sister. Willy: She used it on my buttocks. Marquetta: Yes but she used a strap on my sister's hands. I never will forget that. Anyway, so that is my experience. Willy: You went through a lot when you were a kid. Basically when I started school I always felt, "why am I here". I got an education but I don't think I got what I should have. I think my father was a better teacher on things like math. My father only had a sixth grade education but if you would say Dad what is 6 x 9 plus 4 plus 3 he would have it for you. And I look at the math that we did and the math that these children are doing now and we had it really easy. But even the math that we had was not as simple as the math that my father had. Everything was simplified. My experience in school it really was not that bad. They did away with the coal stove and got an oil stove. The oil tank was in the back at one of the ends and it was an old stove. When I was in the seventh grade I got the job as being the stoky??. So I had to be there early in the morning and make sure the fire was going. That was a lot of responsibility. I had to make sure the fire was going, the door was open and the lights were on. I got paid by the county $12 a month. And sometimes in the evening we had this oil that would come in these 5 gallon cans and we had to mop it on the floors to keep all the dust down so I used to have to do that and get some of the guys to help me. Make sure that the chalkboard was all cleaned. I think about the rainy days when we couldn't go out. We had like shuffleboard and horseshoes and things like that. At times like Christmas I believe the kids from, I don't �remember if it was from the high school or the middle school and they would bring us textbooks that they were finished with them and we still have some with their names in them. Because some of those books were just tossed and just like the guys down at Morrison's??. I found with Marquetta's name in it and my brother. We had one bully and I beat the bully. Yeah, I stopped that. He became one of my best friends. It was a lot of --it was the first place I had ever met a Puerto Rican. They moved in to our community, we don't know where they moved from, so they had to go to our school also. So that was very cool. And I think that even today I like to meet people from different cultures. It is really interesting. But when graduation night came I was the only one who graduated. It wasn't but one person in that class that graduated because I started late and I might have been back a little bit. But I was the only one who received a diploma that time. I remember my father meetings downtown with the school board, I remember vaguely sketches of that. Getting things ____ and going thru a lot of arguments and discussions about us children integrating the school. Marquetta: Mongolizing. They didn't want their kids mongolizing. Willy: That was my father. My father was told that, "you know, Wilbur, your son and my daughter, they are young and they might mongolize." Well my father said, "My son is not a dog and neither is your daughter and they will be just fine." My dad was very calm type person, but my mother was a little fiery. But my dad was very calm type guy in the essence of "we can talk about this." But his mind was set that we were going to Strasburg High School. But Sunset Hill it was good. But I look at education now, some of the things, the tutors, and I believe if I would have had access to something like that I would have made out much better. But I haven't done bad. Marquetta: No. You haven't. But you know our parents did not want us to go to Frederick Douglas at all. At all. And like his parents were involved in that movement. My grandparents were involved in that movement for integration. I don't know, I don't remember I was just a kid. I don't remember any parent wanting their kid to get on that bus to Frederick Douglas. I didn't because of all the teenage girls________. Sometimes you want to have that bus______ to Winchester because sometimes you had to tie the door closed with rope. Zach: Yes, I have heard something about that. In fact, it wasn't the bus that went to Frederick Douglas but I have talked to a guy that rode the bus to Lucy Sims in Harrisonburg and he had some pretty vivid descriptions about the bus. Marquetta: Now my grandmother taught at Lucy Sims in Harrisonburg. She was in Rockingham County before she came here. Our parents generally, it was a move, an initiative, by the Black folks in this town they not be segregated, that they go to the so-called white schools in this town. Zach: Now what do you all think was the big push for that movement because and I think that was unique because both the people from the South end of the county in Woodstock have told me that they don't remember there being a movement to get-- they have told that they were sent to Central because their parents--it was more of a personal reason. �Marquetta & Willy: Yes. Same thing. It wasn't like Warren County. That was not Shenandoah County. Marquetta: I would agree with the lower end of Shenandoah County. It was more of parents getting together as parents taking a personal responsibility to verbalize that their kids are going. Willy: It took courage. With all the turmoil that was going around in the United States at that time. Marquetta: Civil Rights Movement. Willy: And all that stuff. A lot of the parents, my dad and mom, with 5th and 6th grade educations, work for the rest of your life, all your life, but they did have a lot of common sense. And just kind of pulling everything together. But the thing also, when you had the PTA meetings parents were there. The teachers and the parents they had a communication. My parents would go the school and set down or Ms. Payne would come to the house, or Ms Trusdale, and set down or take them out to dinner. There was a respect there, it was almost like family. They watched out more for each other, a community type thing. Our parents did. Marquetta: I think what really helped with that, all the teachers from the different sections of Shenandoah County, we imported our own teachers you see. And so all the teachers lived with the parents of the students in the community so they got to be a part of the community. I like I said most of the time it was at my house, Mrs. Payne. Mrs. Trusdale I don't know where she stayed. Willey: She stayed over at Mrs.Hilda Mormon's?? house. Marquetta: That's right. I can't remember where Ms. Bremitt?? stayed. Willey: I think it was all in the same place. Marquetta: But it was all in the same community. If they stayed for the weekend they would, most of the time they didn't, they went home except for the ones, Ms.Trudale and Ms. Burge were from North Carolina and South Carolina. So if they stayed for the weekend they would go to our church. So they were in our churches, they were in our schools, they were in our communities. And the community you have to remember we were a very small Black community so everybody knew everybody. So they became a part of our family, they were like family and they were treated very well. Now at our house we had to give up a whole room and there were five kids in our house. Some of us had to sleep downstairs. But a room was given up in our house for that teacher. And so the teachers at that time were very lofty in terms of their position in those communities. So the definition of a teacher is very different than a definition of a teacher today. There was so much respect and so much reverence. They weren't God but they were up there. Okay. So that made a big difference. Everybody was involved in making sure these kids were ready for the white school. It was a drive without saying it was a drive. It was a move without defining it as a move. It just happened because of all the lives that just melded together. �Willey: But there were meetings with the Board of Education and some of the town leaders also and things of that nature also. Marquetta: And sometimes those things were pretty trying. Willey: Yes but it wasn't to the point where they were burning crosses in the yard, killing cattle and stuff like that. Marquetta: One of the reasons why it didn't happen. I don't know all the reasons. I know the first day of school was very scary. The schools were segregated but we were on a Black bus. I remember a teacher standing up there and saying "We don't want to teach you". I never will forget that. I never will forget that. And so I was scared most of my school year. I talked to my colleagues, my high school people. They forget that I didn't start-- most of them, who were white they forget that I wasn't in elementary school with them. But I was afraid most of the time in high school. All it had to do with braces a lot of it did but I was just a tiny little. But when I graduated I only weighted 95 and I was just extremely shy. And then with everything that was going on around Front Royal and the Civil Rights stuff was just scary but I didn't know these white kids. But some of the white kids were just as scared as I was because they didn't know these Black kids. You know I was scared. I was_____.People thought I was shy that is true but I appeared more shy because I did not open my mouth but I was scared. You didn't know_______with what you were seeing on TV. Daddy was scared for us. So I never really thought about that until Willey just said. It took a lot of courage for our parents to push us to go to that school because nobody knew what was going to happen. I never thought about that before. But I know Daddy was scared. I remember seeing the look on his face. I knew he was scared. Willey: I remember the first time they, they being Mom & Dad, took me to Strasburg High School. It was before school and we met with Mr. Stanley Dellinger and he gave us tour and I was in awe of it. It was so big. And the gym. I told Daddy it was the biggest gym I had ever seen. He said, Where have you ever seen a gym before?" I still remember that. But my only thing was after I started school at Strasburg High School it was lot of times by yourself especially in the 8th grade, it was just like people didn't talk that much to you. Teachers seemed like they were kind of offish. Some of them were. So I just kind of muddled thru. And one day I was, I guess I was in the 9th grade and I was putting something in my locker and Larry Bright came up to me and said,"Hey man want to play football?" And I said I don't know I never played football before. He said why don't you come out and try, what the heck? And I said "Sure". Marquetta: I didn't know that. Willey: I call Doc Bright today. But then athletes that is a different, whole different thing, you earned their respect. It was really good to me because that way I could put a whole lot of negative energy into the football thing, and later on track. I was on the first wrestling team. Marquetta: You weren't the "Big Star". �Willey: I was just an athlete. Marquetta: He is so modest. Willey: But to me it was just like you could really get rid of a lot of stuff, stress by just channeling it differently and that is just what I did. I just channeled it all into the next play and that just keeps down a whole lot of anger and stuff like that. But even looking back now, with hormones running wild when you are fourteen, fifteen, sixteen. I don't see how Mr. Proctor?? put up with it. But you know what I am saying. It was good. Sports was good. I have always said they are three men my life that have made me the man I am today. That was Jesus Christ, Wibert Mitchell, and Glenn Proctor. In that order. Zach: And do you think that being on the sports teams helped you be accepted by the student population better? Willey: Yes. Just like my dear, little wife there, she was on the debating team. Marquetta: I didn't have a sports bone in my body. Willey: But everyone doesn't do sports. I have been doing a little debating but you know ________. She was on it. What she did was challenge all hers to education. Me I wished I would have done more education. But it all worked out. But yes, but you know the thing that gets me today. It's just like two months ago I had a young man come up to me, well he's in his forties now I guess, and you never know what impression you give, you never know how people are going to read you. And he comes up to me and he said, “Brother I want to tell you something." And I said,” what’s that?" He said," You were always my hero". And I said,” Your hero, how is that?" He said I like the way you always carried yourself. You never got angry or mad. You never did things that would cause embarrassment to your family or school. He said, 'That's the way I wanted to be. I wanted to be just like that. So the way you carried yourself that is the way I carried myself. So I went Wow. And that is when I was in the 11th or 12th grade. And when you hear a full grown man tell you that. And he was the second one that told me that. And me I am going Wow! And I just treat people like I wanted to be treated with respect. Zach: Now I am curious for both of you when you went to the all white or predominantly white schools, how did, first of all how did the students react, were there any issues there? And how did the teachers and administrators react? You talked a little bit about that. But I have quite a variety of stories on both those types of populations and I wanted to get your reactions were. Willey: Her class had a different well it's like what Marquetta said, it was all 30 or 40 children just went to the middle school and the high school then. Marquetta: My father had a real hard time at the middle school. Did he go to the middle school? He had a hard time. Willey: I hear that. But when I went to the high school I didn't. The only thing I ran into was people would not talk to you. Which I was somewhat a loner. I always hunted and fished and �was off to myself. But all that changed. Just like I had a young kid come up to me and say I want to ask you something. And I said, "Yeah what?' He said, "Do you all carry knives' and I said, "No, I don't carry a knife, do you?" And he said, "No, but my mommy and daddy said that all you people all carry knives." I said, “No, not all of us carry knives." But it just with me it was a feeling out of each other. You know what this kid is different. I think by the 9th grade by me doing hunting and fishing and doing sports and doing stuff like that that fit right in with everyone. Zach: With what everybody else did. Willey: Still do, except the hunting part I don't still do that just fish. But as far as fights, I have never been in a fight, cursing and hollering and all that stuff. Other than encouraging someone in football camp or something like that we never had to go thru that. I hear Marquetta’s brother Robert saying this and that. They used to have a lot of fights and things of that nature. One on one type thing. But I never was involved in anything like that. Marquetta: You knew who----. I know my father was a fighter. I was not a fighter. I was always quiet. Willey: Negotiator: Marquetta: Well I feel in negotiating, I just watched. But my brothers had a hard time. Very difficult time. But I could sense things, a very acute sense of things, I knew who didn't want to deal with me and I really didn't care. I take that back, I really did. But I knew because of elementary school ______hear you talk. Because in elementary school I really was not in with a group so I wasn't missing a group. You know how some girls and boys have a clique. I was never in a clique so I never missed a clique. And I didn't have a need. I wished I was. I wished I had a best friend and all that. I really wanted that but I was used to not having that. And with the circumstances I was in I never looked for it. Zach: OK Marquetta: So it was very, very lonely. I couldn't play sports. I tried to play sports. I tried to play basketball. I loved volleyball. Because it worked for Willey. It worked for Edgar. Edgar was in my class. He was another sports star. I mean everybody loved Edgar, everybody loved Russell, everybody loved Willey. The boys they had the sorts. but I didn't have anything. There were some girls that spoke to me, Pat ________? She really liked me and I really liked her. People did seem like they didn't know what to do with me. I wouldn't say there was anybody really nasty to me because I was too shy I really was. Kind of like invisible. As far a relationship with a teacher, Mr. Proctor came from West Virginia. His whole thing about integration/segregation was way different than the way Virginia treated it. And I don't know why but to this day he is one of my best friends. But he would come to me almost every day. I guess he felt sorry for me. I was this tiny, little thing, I looked like I had Ricketts I was so skinny. I must have looked so sick. So I was this invisible, quiet, kind of smart of kid and he could come. But I was so shy. My name was Marquetta Witherall. So some people would come up to me and they would say,” What’s your name?" Huh? I couldn’t even say my own full name. I was too shy to say my own full name. �And he would always check on my every day and he is the one that made me feel like you are going to be Ok. That was Glenn Proctor. He always checked on me. And when I graduated and went to college and would come back home I always sought out Glenn Proctor. There was something about that man. He was just a good man and he understood Black students. I am going to say it like it is. He understood it because he couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. I guess that was how he saw me and to this day he hasn't told me. I need to ask him that when I see him. He took an interest in me but he did. And so he always would check on me. Now the Principal made me feel safe. Mr. Dellinger was our first principal and the reason why stuff didn't pop off at Strasburg High School is because he threw the media out. Willey: He would not allow them in. Marquetta: They were not allowed in. He would not allow them to come in and interview us because that is what the media wanted to do. He said no. He kept the lid on. And so when we had our first reunion at Strasburg Museum we asked him to come and speak with Glenn Proctor. He spoke with the Superintendent of Schools and all that to recognize for the first time in this county that they did exist and you need to honor them. And all our graduates, the wonderful people that taught and the wonderful students that came out of that school. And he spoke about that. So that was my experience. My personality was too shy to start any trouble. But I knew that there was a little trouble in river city with the Cooper boys, my cousins. You don't remember that. Willey: I was gone. Marquetta: You were gone. That was a little bit later. They were my cousins and they were wild but they didn't take any stuff. So whenever stuff happens, up in the mountains and in the hills and the police would_____?. And that is all I am going to say. Willey: The thing that I think about with Mr. Proctor is when we were supposed to play John Mosby. Mr. Proctor got a call from the coach at Mosby and said we will not play you all with the Black players on the team. And Mr. Proctor said then we will just not play you at all. And that is where Mr. Proctor almost lost his job because him and Stanley Dellinger had it out then because Stanley said," Glenn we have a contract. We won't play them next year." I got two young men who are my two of my key players and you are not going to let them go because of these people? It ended up we didn't go but he had to go. And he had to but they lost too. I don't know if it would have made any difference if we were there. Marquetta: You mean the two Black players could not go. Willey: Yes. Leonard Alsberry and myself were not allowed on their field. It was kind of sad. But that side of that county was a whole different mentality. I mean because we played Turner Ashby, Montevideo, Elkton, Stonewall, Central. Marquetta: Warren County was real different. Willey: Yes it was. �Zach: I get that sense especially, get a sense with the different newspapers in the county. The Northern Virginia Daily because they cover Warren County and so I get the sense there completely different than the way the other two papers in the county at that time covered things. Willey: That is the first and last time I have ever been spit on in my life was when we played Warren County in Bing Crosby Stadium. I said I couldn't believe this. It was sad. Really sad. It is hate is what it amounts to. And it is really sad but I looked at it then as I look at it now. You have an option. You could go out there and fight and bust your knuckles and use all that stuff. Or just play duck and let it roll off your back and just play the game. Keep yourself straight, follow the rules and just play the game. Zach: I am curious a little bit about kind of the difference in how people, I don't really want to say the different classes treated you but the different backgrounds. And the reason I say this is one of the things I have gotten is this theme, the more educated people who lived in town treated African-Americans differently than the people who lived like out in the country. And you mentioned that about something happening out in the hills. Did you all have that experience, something similar to that or was it kind of a generic white people treated you? Willey: I think I understand what you are saying. But with me I didn't, it wasn't any different. I can't say there was any difference. Because the guys who lived out in Coal Mine, Star Tannery, Lebanon Church, we all squirrel hunted, target practiced, and groundhog hunted and played football. So it was like we had so much in common. With me it goes back to respect thing. Then again I looked up to guys who were straight A students or on the track team or in class with. Let's say on the track team for example, "Willey, just do what you need to do, you need to work on your start, you need to get in your box this way." It was positive. In my mind I can't think of negative stuff. No matter A student or straight B student. That was with me. Marquetta: I have never really thought about that way. In high school. Willey: Let's see you had your valedictorian. ?? Marquetta: It was Marcy who was white and the valedictorian. I had this conversation with her 5 or 6 years ago. I used to say to her ", Marcy do you ever notice that when you look at those class pictures that I was always somewhere around you not just because you were________?? It was because you were supposed to be the smartest so I was always watching you because I wanted to beat you at everything you did", and I told her that. She said, “I didn't know that". I just wanted to beat her, but I know that I had to work 3 times as hard as she did to get the grade and I knew that. And I considered myself a good student but I wanted to be a great student. I wanted to show her, really what it was. It wasn't about her personally what I wanted to do and how lonely it was. She cried, we had lunch together; we are in the same industry. I said, "What's the matter?" And she said,"Marquetta, I was just as lonely as you were. I was a teenage kid without friends. She was. The smartest girl in school. A lot of people were jealous of her, didn't want to be around her. And I understood her, and for the first time I understood her. And so we had a good cry and lunch. But I understood that. So for me I never thought about it like that in high school. And only having an adult perspective on it, not a high school perspective. And my adult perspective, when I look back over my adult years I would say if I were to look at it like that in terms of grades of �people like you say. I would say there is no difference. Racism is racism. If you have an education you think you had it better were high fancy words. If you don't have the fancy words or haven't learned them it is pretty__________which is what I appreciate about it. Where an education will teach you how to practice racism like this. At the same time you are doing like this. Where we are now, "I don't like you_____OK. It is the same thing. That is my adult perspective. My high school perspective, I don't know that I thought about it. I was just trying to survive. Willey: But I see what you were doing. See where I was using sports, you were using education. You just said, Marcy was good at this, this and this and I can do this too. It is like channeling. Marquetta: It is. That is what I was doing. If I think of it now, I felt you know I can do exactly what she is doing. For a while there I thought I couldn't but I watched her. And Joe_______, he is a sweetie pie, but Marcy I didn't get, but she was like the smartest kid, and there was that female thing going on. Willey: Oh yeah! Marquetta: You have to realize I could do what she did but I had to study real hard. And I would never go to school without having anything unanswered. If I had to stay home my grandma would have to make me go to bed. And sometimes I would not get the last answer but I would get up in the morning real early because I would never go to school without having all my answers done. I am still am that way. But that was me. And I couldn't participate in a lot of after school activities because there were five of us and I had to help my grandparents take care of my brothers and sisters. My dad______. I wasn't involved in a whole lot of social stuff. But I was always envious, not jealous, but envious that other kids like Willey and Edgar could do that and I didn't. I didn't have a social life. It's true. Willey: I was going to the Tastee-Freeze, eating 15 of them quarter hamburgers and drinking a milkshake. Marquetta: You see we were never allowed. I could go to the Tastee-Freeze with permission but we never allowed to go with a group of kids anywhere like that. We were pretty protective in our family. They didn't let us, you couldn’t get in a car and go someplace and nobody knew where you were. First of all we didn't have a car to get in. So we were not allowed to roan like that. Willey: Not like we were. Marquetta: That's right. You all roamed. We were kind of protected. Zach: Now I am kind of curious. You mentioned about the principal not letting the media in. From your perspective what was the media trying to accomplish? Because I have read the newspaper accounts of integration and things and they didn't do very much coverage of any of Shenandoah County and mean there were short articles like on Page 2. What were they trying to accomplish with that do you think? �Willey: Well I think personally, it would have been other areas and how everything was put on the tube, on the radio and some of the newspapers. They wanted to keep all the drama down and put a lid on it. "We are going to do this but without all the drama". Marquetta: Like Front Royal was having. Willey: Or other places. _______, we don't want to do that here. We think we can just keep it down. Keep these kids going to school. Not going to have a bunch of pictures taken and all that stuff. Keep it low key. Marquetta: Violence. Willey: And I think that what it was. And it was a transition. I can remember it just like yesterday, Lawrence, I can't remember Lawrence's last name. I remember getting off the school bus, and walking in the school. I was just like the first day was just like all the other days. It was nobody hardly speaking to you. But it was just like walk on in. Try to find my locker and my classes. You know it was nobody saying anything. Every once in a while someone would say good morning. But everything was just-- and that transition was just smooth and that was what Mr. Dellinger wanted. Marquetta: He didn’t want any trouble. Willey: He thought the media might have wanted-Marquetta: To stir it up. Willey: Inadvertently maybe but some people. Sometimes when I look on the television, I try not to watch too much news but some of it can really get you riled up. Keep it down. Not put it out there for people but keep it at a lower roar. Marquetta: Because there are people enough around to stir a pot. He was just doing his, he was just keeping it down. He was doing his job. He was protecting his students. And he took it a step further. And a lot of people don't know about this. He said it for the first time when we had that celebration at the Museum. People don't know he came up to Sunset Hills School. He didn't have to do that. And he talked to those teachers and knew how he could make the transition smoother for us. He didn't have to do that. That how the visits started, pre-school, making sure that we kids could have a chance to go over to the school before the school started so we could have a chance to see what a locker is. We didn't know what a locker is. What's a cafeteria? What are you talking about? Willey: And a gym? Marquetta: Do you really get in a line with a tray for lunch? Willey: You don't have to bring a bag?? �Marquetta: You don't have to bring a bag! He made sure that happened. For him to have that foresight, in that day and that time. That was a heck of a thing to do to have the forethought for kids who know nothing about a locker and a cafeteria and how to matriculate into classes. And then we had two floors! We had one room school first with a water fountain on the outside that froze in the winter. Willey: Yeah but they moved it inside. Marquetta: Then we had an add on and there was a bathroom, one for girls and one boys. We were like in heaven then. Willey: No johnnies! Marquetta: That's right! So to go to a school with two floors and showers in the locker room. So he came to the school and worked out a plan with the teachers to make sure we were afforded that. So to me that was protecting and taking care of your kids. Not just the boys the boys in trouble but helping us thru the transition. Zach: That's interesting because the same year that you started at Strasburg I talked to a student who started at Stonewall the same year and she gave a completely different story of her first day. She said when they got there the media was there. She said they had police there and there was a lot of excitement and a lot of drama. So that is a very interesting contrast. Marquetta: You see I remember the teachers saying we don't want _______? You see his memory of it is different from mine. He wasn't on my bus. Willey: I was on a whole different set-up. Remember I started before you did. Marquetta. It makes a difference. Willey:But also, we were talking about this last week. Some of the teachers that used to snub us. Not really be very friendly. Or some of them that we see now are some of our best friends. It is awesome. Marquetta: My first client that they gave me, called me at my house on a Saturday. Willey: You want to say where you work? Marquetta: Oh, I am a financial advisor with _________. My office is right downtown. My first $350,000 check OK, I am thinking, ______?? First of all it is a production thing, especially the first one. You got to make money. And so I know that they have money but I know who he is. One of the biggest racists in town. Because everybody in Strasburg at the time was a racist. So I called him, Mr. So & So. I said, "This is what I'm doing. I know you know me because you know we know we know each other and we don't have to go any further, but this is what I'm �doing. He let me in his house. Which shocked me. These kids used to call us "N" words and we used to call them "C" words. I was never a fighter. My brothers and sisters, they would be fighting going to school, fighting coming home from school. So I talked to him a good six months. But I am persistent and quiet. So one day he called me here at this house and said," May I come to your office?" And I said well of course I will open for you. How much is your check? He said, "$350,000." First of all I was shaking all the way down to the office. And I to this day I can't tell you why he gave me that check or why he trusted me. Willey: Maybe it is because he trusted you. Marquetta: Yes. But what I am saying is that he was one of the worst. And that was _______?_. And his daughter was in my class and we had a few "nice" words. I didn't let people run over me. I didn't have a nasty mouth. I didn't curse. But by the time I got finished with you, you knew you were cursed out by the time you got home. Because my grandmother taught me how to do that. Willey: Nancy Nice. Marquetta: Nice Nancy. Because she taught us nice, you know, that you had to stand up. You don't pick a fight. You walk away. Every time we did.______________? Here's what you say. And she's even very nice. And so you know I still remember him handing me that check. It was almost like he didn't know what he was doing. So I took the check and put it in his account. That was my first real big account. And when that happened to me I knew I was going to be okay in Strasburg. As long as I truly respect people. If you don't respect me that's your issue. But I am going to respect you, and if you don't respect me then we don't have any business together. And that was a turning point for me, a good turning point for my business as an adult. I knew that I could handle Strasburg, I do all right in Strasburg. And so he was not a very nice person. Truly he was not. So anyway that's one of my adult stories coming from a child in school with his daughter, who taught his kids how to do the "N" word. I know he did. So that is how people can change. If he can change, anybody can change. Zach: Now I am curious you knew one of them I guess, the teachers at the Black Schools. Number one I can't figure out what happened to them after the Black schools. Willey: That's a good question! Marquetta: We are still looking. Willey: I know one Mrs. Eudora H. Payne (?) went back to Ranson, West Virgina and she had two daughters and that is where she lived until she passed. Which hasn't been too awful many years ago. Marquetta: Now we don't know what happened to her daughters. Willey: George Heller. �Marquetta: I had a crush on George Heller(?) Willey: George Heller and then Mrs. Burbidge(?) We have been trying to see if we can find them. But we have had people try to see if they can find them. From what we understand, the county they don't keep records but for a certain amount of time. And someone brought us some stuff that had been throwed out in the trash. Marquetta: It was Judy Jackson. It was at John-Manville? In the trash. It was Mr. Howard's attendance book and it had my name and all my sisters and brothers name in it. Where he was from, his address in Roanoke and everything. We had not been able to find him. He went to Virginia State College where I went. Of course years before and I find it in the college book, but he has probably passed away. Willey: But those three we been trying to locate, Richmond, all those things trying to locate them. Marquetta: And one minister, Rev. Greer (?) he was your relative, but that was before our time. That was Sunset Hills School before our time. But we have a list of teachers that we have accumulated thru the older citizens that were there thru the younger citizens that were there. And as much information as we were able to get but we are still working on it. Willey: It is at the museum. Marquetta: I know we have it upstairs. Zach: I was curious they were working for the county as teachers and then the schools integrated and I am sure, and this is the case almost everywhere, that they are just no longer teachers here in the county. Even at the time you couldn't have a Black teacher teaching the white kids. You know. So what happened to them? Willey: That's a good question. We wondered that too. But think back when we made that transition, all our focus was on the now and never even thought about what happened to the teachers. But we were kids. But as adults we wanted to look up and find out where they went and what happened to them. But the only one we know of was Mrs. Payne. Marquetta: It was there focus. They were so focused on us doing well at the white school when you get there. That was the push. I want you to do well. I want you to show them. That was the push and then they just left. Zach: There was one and I forget her name now was the teacher at Creekside. Marquetta: Mrs. McClain, that was Mrs. Payne's sister. Zach: The Church there in Woodstock, Mt Zion, they know where she is buried. She went back to West Virginia. But I don't know anything about the ones that were the teachers in Strasburg. �Willey: We were hoping but people just trashed their records. That is so sad. So much history just trashed. Marquetta: We made a copy of George Heller's (?) book that was found. It is there. It looks like the original. We did a real good job. I never thought about it like that. That is an excellent question. I feel guilty we didn't think about the teachers but we were kids. Willey: And then there was that push. Get out of school. What are you going to do when you get out of school? Some of you are going to go in the military; some of you are going to college. That was a chaotic time in a sense. Marquetta: It was a traumatic time. Willey: But I look at now and I look back at then. That isn’t too bad compared to some of the stuff that goes on now. Marquetta: Even with all that stuff I think we were focused. We were a lot more focused. And then at the same time there were things motivating you. There was the Civil Rights, there were leaders, and there were people there to guide you in your community. The community mobilized where there was a local mobilization. There was the push. There is not that anymore. We knew that education or something beyond high school you were going to need, vocational school, college, military. But I don't know I think our focus was more simple. Do you know what I mean than what the kids are experiencing today? Maybe I am wrong I don't know. Zach: And then looking after integration, after the schools integrated, I guess maybe we can do it like we did at the beginning where I ask you to talk for a minute or so about how things were kind of focusing on Strasburg after integration progressed. Racism continues but you know what, how has that change maybe, what the community was like and how that changed a little bit in terms of how people dealt with race and things like that. Were there any bad instances after integration comes at the schools? I hope that makes sense. Willey: All I can say is that at schools, then again, I think some of the guys from what I understand after the school was started after all that you did have some fights. You have boys or some girls you are going to have conflicts no matter what. But it seemed like it was somewhat of an acceptance of what we had come thru as a community. but yet as some of the ladies in the church used to say, you still got some of the ______?? in the back thinking the old ways and that is on both sides of the race. “We shouldn't be over there or we shouldn't be at that school and of course the swimming pool thing. Some of the Black people won’t let their children go to the swimming pool today. Because of something that happened back then. We weren't allowed to go then. But sometimes you got to move on a little bit because hate begets hate. My thinking is I have a granddaughter that goes to the pool. We have a granddaughter that goes to the pool. I would not allow her to swim in the river. I had a ball. All my friends were there because the poor white families couldn't afford $100 a summer couldn't afford that. So we were swimming at that river together and having a ball. But maybe that answers a part of your question. �Zach: I think it does. You know that was the kind of what I was looking for the overall. Willey: You still got hate in there. You still got, you will for a long time. Marquetta: That is an excellent question because I was asked that question and had an opportunity to answer that question by someone white just the other day. And here is how I answered that question. Well the question was proposed a little bit differently. Is there still racism? The person had had a conversation with someone Black in the community and felt _______? wasn't done because of racism. Do you still think that exists in Strasburg? Well of course. Well really? If you, in order for you to mention that to me because I am Black then you know it must be something like that. You are an intelligent person I know that and I like you. I don't know you that well, but in order for you to ask me that question you know there must be. But the person wasn't quite sure how to deal with it. And I said this," Couple of things you do not want to do. Do not appoint a person in Strasburg who is Black to deal with Black stuff. Do not do that. Because there you are ______? it. But you know it happened here and I know you do because you asked me about it. Look at it as an opportunity to say to the person, "Do you think is racism?" Don't be afraid to say the word race or racism. You need to understand that anybody past 50 or 60 or so in this town had had to deal with that and that is part of who they are. And so because it is part of who they are it is going to affect how they respond to certain things. And so if you really want to do a great job don't deny what they are thinking. They are opening up an invitation for you to talk about it. It is just a dialogue in and of itself. It is a step forward. You must take the step forward. You must take the step forward. It's okay to talk about race. Let us not pretend that it is insignificant and it does not exist. And when you take that step, you are taking that step forward every time even if you still end up disagreeing about the issue you are talking about. But to deny is the worst mistake you could ever make. There is racism just like Willey said was a part of many white folk here. Racism was a part of many Black folk here not that there is a whole bunch of Black folk. But there is. And we can only take a step forward when we are in dialogue together. If I can be of any help, I will be glad to be of any help to anyone who wants to have a conversation but I don't represent Black people. And that is where a lot of white people make a mistake. And so that was an excellent question you asked and that is my answer to that. Willey: And you are sticking to it. Zach: There is one last question and I am glad you brought this up. The Strasburg pool. I know the story of the Woodstock pool integrating. Do you all know anything in relation to the Strasburg pool and segregation and integration? Willey: Only thing I know was you had to pay a fee. Marquetta: It was to keep us out. And riffraff too. You know what I mean. That was the way it was seen. Willey: Well that was the way it was set up too. Every time I think about that I think about a story that Glenn Proctor told. It was this young boy named Carter Alsberry. He used to play with Glenn's children okay. One day Glenn was going to take his boys to the pool. Carter asked, �"Coach Mr. Proctor you going to the pool?' Coach said, " Oh no, we just, it is time for you to go home and we are going to take these boys for a walk etc." Because coach didn't want to break his heart to tell because he was going to take his boys to the pool and he wasn't allowed to go. So that being said time went on. But right down the road on Battlefield, Gypsy Falls, Carter with some other boys was down there swimming when he drowned. And that haunted Mr. Proctor for so long. Here he is one of the leaders in his community, wanting to do the right thing and get along and here is this young man who his sons played with and he thought a lot of drowned because there was no other place really with a lifeguard or something like that for him o go to. So I think he withdrawed his children from it then. But that being said it got to the point where as people where not supporting it and it was getting into disrepair so ended up having to open up everything and we got to get this thing fixed or we are going to have to shut down. Marquetta: And then they started letting the riffraff and the Blacks in. Willey: No, anyone that wanted to go there they were allowed in. Marquetta: Daddy didn't let us go. But I really wasn't interested in because I was not a swimmer. So it didn't bother me at all. But for a long time, I was very angry about that because there were a lot of Black people who needed to learn how to swim and wanted to swim and weren't allowed. So as a young woman who went to a Black college specifically and my Daddy hated it. I was coming back with like A's_________________. I really did. My dad was so afraid. And I remember being very angry about that. But you know you get over stuff. But I don't like the history. I was in the pool with Bree honey. I was in the pool with Bree. Willey: This woman can't swim a bit. But she went to college and took a class on swimming and passed. Marquetta: It was only 2 credits. I went off the board and everything. Willey: But then all of a sudden it is like "I can't swim. Marquetta: But then I go to the park because I helped paint the park and it is not right for me not to go to the park when I want my family to go to the park. And so we had our first reunion of _______school, Queen Street in the park and you know it was so neat, everybody in town came and it wasn't just a Black reunion. It was a Strasburg thing. Willey: And that is the way it is supposed to be. Marquetta: And that is where dialogue like yours with different people and dialogue with each other would happen. Dialogue changes things because it gets you to know you a bit better."Oh yeah well he is an Okay guy. Things grow and change. But we have a thing at the Museum. It was the largest attendance. And was the thing to celebrate the Black schools. It was the largest attendance of any event in the museum. Because it was dialogue. And people had a chance to cry with us. We weren't the only people crying. Strasburg cried. That is why I am here in Strasburg now. It is not the most perfect place. �Willey: There is no perfect place. Marquetta: There is no perfect place. Willey: Maybe Myrtle Beach. Outer Banks. Zach: Maybe perfect weather. Marquetta: Strasburg is what it is. It does not pretend to be something it is not. When it is time to rally, it rallies. And good people in it. And for the most part, when there is a dialogue even if it comes to fist-fighting sometime, we dialogue. Or the town council does sometimes. Willey: The thing that amazes me is, see where do you live? Zach: Woodstock. Willey: Woodstock, Edinburg, Mount Jackson, Strasburg, all of them are so different. So different. You know I mean. It is amazing. Even Maurertown, Toms Brook. We are all right here in the same sock, but we don't fit the same shoe. But we are all so different and that is what makes it so unique in my opinion. Marquetta: It has been quite a journey and we are all allright with it. Zach: That's good. Willey: But one of the things I didn't like about the swimming pool thing. After I went into the Navy and we did all this swimming stuff. It's chlorine! Now of course we thought the river was the greatest thing since sliced bread, now we find out it is so polluted. It's awful. Marquetta and I have been blessed to live through all that we have gone thru and we look back and just think about some of the things that we have seen. Some of the players that have been in this drama that we lived and it has been pretty unique. One of the things I would change is I would take a typing class my last year. (Laughter follows) Zach: I get a lot of people that say that and they are usually guys. � Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Zachary Hottel Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Willy Mitchell Marquetta Mitchell Location The location of the interview Strasburg VA Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound Oral History Transcript 16-0004 Interviewee: Laura Marquetta Mitchell & Willy Mitchell Interviewer: Zach Hottel Subject: Integration, Segregation, Strasburg (Va); Shenandoah County Public Schools (Va) February 9, 2016 Zach: This is Zach Hottel. It is February 9th. I am here to do an oral history interview on integration and segregation. Marquetta: My name is Marquetta Mitchell. I always like to say Laura Marquetta Mitchell and Zach is in our home here with my husband and me to talk about segregation and integration. We welcome him in our home and we glad for the opportunity. Zach: Thank you. Willy: My name Wilbert "Willy" Mitchell. I was born on August 3, 1948. Went to Sunset Hill Elementary School and shortly after graduation went to Strasburg High School. Marquetta: I actually was born in Greenville, Tennessee. I always say that because my mother happened to be in Greenville at the time and that was her hometown. I call Strasburg my home though. I attended Sunset Hills School until I graduated from the seventh grade. When I graduated from the seventh grade that was when the segregated schools here, that was the last year of the segregated school. So I was in the first class that was officially went over to what was then called the white school which was high school for me which was 8th grade. Although there were other Black students there before I got there that had matriculated into the system before it was really official. Zach: Just to clarify when did you finish at Sunset Hill? Willy: I believe it was 1963. Marquetta: I was 1964 wasn't I? Willy: Must have been. I was the first Black male to go to Straburg High School. Prior to that Fay Mitchell, my sister, Gloria Hess, Priscilla and Angela Alsberry were the first from Strasburg to go to high school. Zach: I found in the records that 1962 was the first year there were any African-American students there and then a few more in 1963 and finally in 1964. Willy: I believe that is right. Marquetta: I know the history. Let me call Susie Gaynor? and I can put my hands on it. If you want there is a whole story about it. Zach: About this? Marquetta: Her children. Would you like to get a copy? Zach: That would be great. Marquetta: It’s in the closet upstairs. Was it 64? Graduated 69 in 12th. 68 in 11th grade. 67 in 10th grade. 66 in the 9th grade. 65 in the 8th grade. Willy: Because the years, my mind. I started school late because we lived out in the outer part of the county in Lebanon Church. My father worked on a farm. My mom worked on the farm also. We weren't allowed to ride the buses and so I ended up being moved to Strasburg to live with my grandparents, Turner ? and Letha Mitchell, down on B Street. So I stayed there and lived with them and went to school until, seemed like it was. I was at school at Sunset Hills and then we moved to Strasburg I think it was 1956 we moved into town. Zach: I am curious about Strasburg. I know in Woodstock there was a geographic place where most of the African-Americans community lived. But then in Mount Jackson, New Market that was not the case. Was that the case in Strasburg? Willy: Yes. Predominantly was B Street, now it is Branch Street. But it is known now as Alsberry Street was what we called it here up on the hill. That was where Sunset Hills School was. There were Black families up there. Zach: So that area the hill up there around the school was predominantly Black. Willy: With us we lived on A Street which is now Ash Street. It was like 3 families, 3 Black families we lived beside each other there and that was about it. Wasn't too many. Most all the Blacks lived between Branch Street and D Street and what was Alsberry Street. Zach: Now can you talk the restaurants and the theater which I assume were segregated in Strasburg. Talk a little bit about in general about some of your experiences with those. Willy: There were several restaurants in Strasburg at that time of course they were all segregated. But the one that we went to most of the time was Virginia Restaurant. Sager Realty is there now on the corner. But we had to go in the back in the kitchen area and that is where my mother worked as a cook. They had several booths back there and that is where we ate and were served. It wasn't until years later that we allowed to go out front. We were washing windows out front and stuff like that but as far as sitting down and eating we weren't allowed to go out front. And other place was the Tastee Freeze, that was after when integration started we were allowed to go to the Tastee Freeze. But as a young person I really didn't go to any of the other restaurants in town other than that. As far as the theater, we could go to the theater we could go to the theater but you had to sit up in the balcony which was great. We thought it was great! You set and the screen was right in front of you and it was nice. If that was punishment--. The thing was you didn't have the option. But then again we couldn't afford to go to the theater that much. Most of the time it was at Christmas when First Bank used to have Santa Claus and they would give you a, you would go in and sit on Santa's lap and tell him what you want, and get a bag of hard candy and an orange and a ticket to go to Home Theater. Marquetta: I can't find it. I got to get that stuff together for a Virginia Tech reunion. Zach: I talked to Gloria Stickley and she said something about you all having to start a reunion. I am curious a little bit if you could talk about-- I know you said you were born in Greenville. How did you end up moving from there to Strasburg? Marquetta: Well, long story short, my mother and father, actually my father lived at the time in Washington DC. My mother worked for my father's parents, cleaning their house and that kind of stuff. And so my mother was from Greenville, Tennessee. She had moved from Greenville to Washington DC cleaning homes and doing what was called "days work". In Washington DC "days work", and I did" days work. It was basically Black folks working for white folks cleaning their house. And so my mother basically worked for my grandparents cleaning their house. And so I came along. So my grandparents had property here. The Witheralls, I am a Witherall that is my maiden name. The Witheralls go way back, way, way, back. The family Bible is over there. In Shenandoah County it is spelled three different ways. We are working on that. Because my parents had issues. My grandparents took all of us and brought us here to Strasburg because they had property in Strasburg that was on B Street which is Branch Street now. They used to rent it out to people. I t was like a rental property. So they came here and brought us here and raised us here. That is how Strasburg became my home. And Willy lived in the county and he moved to Strasburg in order to go to school. So that is how I got here. But the Witherall name was already here. Willy: We found out, doing, Marquetta more so than me, with research and everything and talking to the Alsberrys, one of the main reasons that they moved here from the Rappahannock County was so their children could get an education. And because in that particular area they might have to have gone to Manassas. Marquetta: Miles and miles. My dad went to school had to leave here to go to Charlottesville and Manassas to go to school. That was that generation, But now my grandparents were retired teachers of the colored school when they moved here. So that is how we had to do good in school. My grandfather was the schoolteacher, before the Sunset Hill School that was the school over on Queen Street. Pigtail Alley. And then my Auntie, I don't if, I can't remember if Auntie taught at Sunset Hills because she was one of the teachers at Woodstock, at Creekside. I can't confirm Creekside, I just remember Woodstock school. And I think she did do some subbing at _____ Sunset School. But Poppy, my grandfather was the one that taught here, and I know my grandmother subbed here, taught here at Sunset Hills school because they were already retired teachers. Zach: Now talk a little bit about what Sunset Hills Schools was like. I know it was a one room school but I guess just give a description of what the classes were like, if you liked you teachers and just kind of a general overview. Marquetta: It was a one room school. Coal stove. It was, I won't say it was always warm in terms of temperature though, physical temperature. It was a class divided up in rows by class and what I remember was Mrs. Payne was my teacher. Willy: Dora H. Payne. Marquetta: Dora H. Payne and her sister Mrs. McClain taught in Woodstock. She, I remember so well, because the teachers lived at different houses and ours was the main house. So I remember very well. We hated it. When you had to be at school and then Mrs. Payne followed you home. So the classroom. I liked school. I didn't know how to compare it to any other school. I liked school. I enjoyed school. I excelled in school. So the kids that excelled or did well they taught other kids. I liked that, I liked teaching other kids. So I wasn't the only one. So all the kids that did very well sort of became teacher’s aids in how to teach the other classes which I liked. And then if you really did, it was a really big deal for Mrs. Payne the teacher to take you home to her home in West Virginia for the weekend. So that was like a really big deal so everybody wanted to go home with Mrs. Payne, you know. I liked that. I liked the discipline of learning. The teachers were for me really good. There were some kids who got in trouble or they might not have been but I was one of those kids who was a pretty decent student and I did fine. I enjoyed school. School was fun. We had recess outside. We sang, started every morning with prayer, said the pledge of allegiance to the flag, we sang songs. We sang songs where you moved, we had plays. We had talent shows. My brother and I we had dance talent shows. We had speaking talent shows and I liked it. There was not anything I didn't like about school. But really the part that I did not like, I was like a year ahead of kids my age, because my grandmother did that and I didn't like it because it left me very isolated. I didn't have a clique or group. I knew they liked me and I liked them but I wasn't ever a part of a girlfriend group or that kind of stuff. That is the part I didn't like. I liked going home for lunch. His brother Ray, after school, everybody when run and jump on his bike, he must have sometimes it seemed like he had six kids on his bike, that is an over-exaggeration. But he would stand up, someone would be on the seat, someone would be on the fender, and someone would be on the handle bars. And we would come down that hill, pop the tracks but my grandmother never knew about that. There was a bully in school. was Raymond. He used to chase us home every day. Not every day but often enough for my grandmother to come out of the house with a broom and chase him down the street. I enjoyed school and I looked forward to going to Frederick Douglas school because the kids who were older than me they caught the bus right down the street at Mrs. Riffey's(?) house on Bragg Street and I used to watch the teenage girls with their pretty skirts, and their oxford shoes and their transistor radios. And sometimes they would be dancing all the new dances before they got on the bus and I could not wait to be a part of that. Mrs. Payne always would say, "I am going to get you ready to go to the white school. You have to get you ready to go to the white school. And you are going to learn this. Because I don't want to be bad-mouthed when you get to the white school. And I remember that. I remember that was her thing. And my grandmother was there too. I wasn't looking forward to going to the white school; I was looking forward to going to Frederick Douglas where all the other Black kids went. But I enjoyed school. I liked being a student. I was happy in school. Even when I looked back today I think we got a better education than those most kids today. And we got extra when we got home because I lived with teachers. We had to go upstairs. Everybody got an extra dose of education. My grandfather was an invalid who was a teacher also. He taught history. So after we ate dinner, Poppy had to go over our lessons from school. He would always teach us something different, extra multiplication tables, addition, subtraction tables, all of the stuff. I so when I think about kids today, education, it is just real different. But I got a good education. It may have been in a secondary school. It may have been with books that were thrown in the trash can at the end of school. They were. We knew that. I may have been with tiny pieces of chalk but the discipline was there and the hunger for a good education was there. There wasn't a parent that I knew that didn't want that for any of their kids. Would you agree with that? Willy: Yes Marquetta; Very serious about education. Willy: She was. Marquetta: But most parents were. There were some kids that didn't go astray. You got the strap on your hand. You had to hold out your hand. Willy: It was a ruler. Marquetta: Yes but Mrs. Payne used a strap too. Willy: That wasn't on your hand that was on your back. Marquetta: No. Mrs. Payne used a strap on my sister. Willy: She used it on my buttocks. Marquetta: Yes but she used a strap on my sister's hands. I never will forget that. Anyway, so that is my experience. Willy: You went through a lot when you were a kid. Basically when I started school I always felt, "why am I here". I got an education but I don't think I got what I should have. I think my father was a better teacher on things like math. My father only had a sixth grade education but if you would say Dad what is 6 x 9 plus 4 plus 3 he would have it for you. And I look at the math that we did and the math that these children are doing now and we had it really easy. But even the math that we had was not as simple as the math that my father had. Everything was simplified. My experience in school it really was not that bad. They did away with the coal stove and got an oil stove. The oil tank was in the back at one of the ends and it was an old stove. When I was in the seventh grade I got the job as being the stoky??. So I had to be there early in the morning and make sure the fire was going. That was a lot of responsibility. I had to make sure the fire was going, the door was open and the lights were on. I got paid by the county $12 a month. And sometimes in the evening we had this oil that would come in these 5 gallon cans and we had to mop it on the floors to keep all the dust down so I used to have to do that and get some of the guys to help me. Make sure that the chalkboard was all cleaned. I think about the rainy days when we couldn't go out. We had like shuffleboard and horseshoes and things like that. At times like Christmas I believe the kids from, I don't remember if it was from the high school or the middle school and they would bring us textbooks that they were finished with them and we still have some with their names in them. Because some of those books were just tossed and just like the guys down at Morrison's??. I found with Marquetta's name in it and my brother. We had one bully and I beat the bully. Yeah, I stopped that. He became one of my best friends. It was a lot of --it was the first place I had ever met a Puerto Rican. They moved in to our community, we don't know where they moved from, so they had to go to our school also. So that was very cool. And I think that even today I like to meet people from different cultures. It is really interesting. But when graduation night came I was the only one who graduated. It wasn't but one person in that class that graduated because I started late and I might have been back a little bit. But I was the only one who received a diploma that time. I remember my father meetings downtown with the school board, I remember vaguely sketches of that. Getting things ____ and going thru a lot of arguments and discussions about us children integrating the school. Marquetta: Mongolizing. They didn't want their kids mongolizing. Willy: That was my father. My father was told that, "you know, Wilbur, your son and my daughter, they are young and they might mongolize." Well my father said, "My son is not a dog and neither is your daughter and they will be just fine." My dad was very calm type person, but my mother was a little fiery. But my dad was very calm type guy in the essence of "we can talk about this." But his mind was set that we were going to Strasburg High School. But Sunset Hill it was good. But I look at education now, some of the things, the tutors, and I believe if I would have had access to something like that I would have made out much better. But I haven't done bad. Marquetta: No. You haven't. But you know our parents did not want us to go to Frederick Douglas at all. At all. And like his parents were involved in that movement. My grandparents were involved in that movement for integration. I don't know, I don't remember I was just a kid. I don't remember any parent wanting their kid to get on that bus to Frederick Douglas. I didn't because of all the teenage girls________. Sometimes you want to have that bus______ to Winchester because sometimes you had to tie the door closed with rope. Zach: Yes, I have heard something about that. In fact, it wasn't the bus that went to Frederick Douglas but I have talked to a guy that rode the bus to Lucy Sims in Harrisonburg and he had some pretty vivid descriptions about the bus. Marquetta: Now my grandmother taught at Lucy Sims in Harrisonburg. She was in Rockingham County before she came here. Our parents generally, it was a move, an initiative, by the Black folks in this town they not be segregated, that they go to the so-called white schools in this town. Zach: Now what do you all think was the big push for that movement because and I think that was unique because both the people from the South end of the county in Woodstock have told me that they don't remember there being a movement to get-- they have told that they were sent to Central because their parents--it was more of a personal reason. Marquetta & Willy: Yes. Same thing. It wasn't like Warren County. That was not Shenandoah County. Marquetta: I would agree with the lower end of Shenandoah County. It was more of parents getting together as parents taking a personal responsibility to verbalize that their kids are going. Willy: It took courage. With all the turmoil that was going around in the United States at that time. Marquetta: Civil Rights Movement. Willy: And all that stuff. A lot of the parents, my dad and mom, with 5th and 6th grade educations, work for the rest of your life, all your life, but they did have a lot of common sense. And just kind of pulling everything together. But the thing also, when you had the PTA meetings parents were there. The teachers and the parents they had a communication. My parents would go the school and set down or Ms. Payne would come to the house, or Ms Trusdale, and set down or take them out to dinner. There was a respect there, it was almost like family. They watched out more for each other, a community type thing. Our parents did. Marquetta: I think what really helped with that, all the teachers from the different sections of Shenandoah County, we imported our own teachers you see. And so all the teachers lived with the parents of the students in the community so they got to be a part of the community. I like I said most of the time it was at my house, Mrs. Payne. Mrs. Trusdale I don't know where she stayed. Willey: She stayed over at Mrs.Hilda Mormon's?? house. Marquetta: That's right. I can't remember where Ms. Bremitt?? stayed. Willey: I think it was all in the same place. Marquetta: But it was all in the same community. If they stayed for the weekend they would, most of the time they didn't, they went home except for the ones, Ms.Trudale and Ms. Burge were from North Carolina and South Carolina. So if they stayed for the weekend they would go to our church. So they were in our churches, they were in our schools, they were in our communities. And the community you have to remember we were a very small Black community so everybody knew everybody. So they became a part of our family, they were like family and they were treated very well. Now at our house we had to give up a whole room and there were five kids in our house. Some of us had to sleep downstairs. But a room was given up in our house for that teacher. And so the teachers at that time were very lofty in terms of their position in those communities. So the definition of a teacher is very different than a definition of a teacher today. There was so much respect and so much reverence. They weren't God but they were up there. Okay. So that made a big difference. Everybody was involved in making sure these kids were ready for the white school. It was a drive without saying it was a drive. It was a move without defining it as a move. It just happened because of all the lives that just melded together. Willey: But there were meetings with the Board of Education and some of the town leaders also and things of that nature also. Marquetta: And sometimes those things were pretty trying. Willey: Yes but it wasn't to the point where they were burning crosses in the yard, killing cattle and stuff like that. Marquetta: One of the reasons why it didn't happen. I don't know all the reasons. I know the first day of school was very scary. The schools were segregated but we were on a Black bus. I remember a teacher standing up there and saying "We don't want to teach you". I never will forget that. I never will forget that. And so I was scared most of my school year. I talked to my colleagues, my high school people. They forget that I didn't start-- most of them, who were white they forget that I wasn't in elementary school with them. But I was afraid most of the time in high school. All it had to do with braces a lot of it did but I was just a tiny little. But when I graduated I only weighted 95 and I was just extremely shy. And then with everything that was going on around Front Royal and the Civil Rights stuff was just scary but I didn't know these white kids. But some of the white kids were just as scared as I was because they didn't know these Black kids. You know I was scared. I was_____.People thought I was shy that is true but I appeared more shy because I did not open my mouth but I was scared. You didn't know_______with what you were seeing on TV. Daddy was scared for us. So I never really thought about that until Willey just said. It took a lot of courage for our parents to push us to go to that school because nobody knew what was going to happen. I never thought about that before. But I know Daddy was scared. I remember seeing the look on his face. I knew he was scared. Willey: I remember the first time they, they being Mom & Dad, took me to Strasburg High School. It was before school and we met with Mr. Stanley Dellinger and he gave us tour and I was in awe of it. It was so big. And the gym. I told Daddy it was the biggest gym I had ever seen. He said, Where have you ever seen a gym before?" I still remember that. But my only thing was after I started school at Strasburg High School it was lot of times by yourself especially in the 8th grade, it was just like people didn't talk that much to you. Teachers seemed like they were kind of offish. Some of them were. So I just kind of muddled thru. And one day I was, I guess I was in the 9th grade and I was putting something in my locker and Larry Bright came up to me and said,"Hey man want to play football?" And I said I don't know I never played football before. He said why don't you come out and try, what the heck? And I said "Sure". Marquetta: I didn't know that. Willey: I call Doc Bright today. But then athletes that is a different, whole different thing, you earned their respect. It was really good to me because that way I could put a whole lot of negative energy into the football thing, and later on track. I was on the first wrestling team. Marquetta: You weren't the "Big Star". Willey: I was just an athlete. Marquetta: He is so modest. Willey: But to me it was just like you could really get rid of a lot of stuff, stress by just channeling it differently and that is just what I did. I just channeled it all into the next play and that just keeps down a whole lot of anger and stuff like that. But even looking back now, with hormones running wild when you are fourteen, fifteen, sixteen. I don't see how Mr. Proctor?? put up with it. But you know what I am saying. It was good. Sports was good. I have always said they are three men my life that have made me the man I am today. That was Jesus Christ, Wibert Mitchell, and Glenn Proctor. In that order. Zach: And do you think that being on the sports teams helped you be accepted by the student population better? Willey: Yes. Just like my dear, little wife there, she was on the debating team. Marquetta: I didn't have a sports bone in my body. Willey: But everyone doesn't do sports. I have been doing a little debating but you know ________. She was on it. What she did was challenge all hers to education. Me I wished I would have done more education. But it all worked out. But yes, but you know the thing that gets me today. It's just like two months ago I had a young man come up to me, well he's in his forties now I guess, and you never know what impression you give, you never know how people are going to read you. And he comes up to me and he said, “Brother I want to tell you something." And I said,” what’s that?" He said," You were always my hero". And I said,” Your hero, how is that?" He said I like the way you always carried yourself. You never got angry or mad. You never did things that would cause embarrassment to your family or school. He said, 'That's the way I wanted to be. I wanted to be just like that. So the way you carried yourself that is the way I carried myself. So I went Wow. And that is when I was in the 11th or 12th grade. And when you hear a full grown man tell you that. And he was the second one that told me that. And me I am going Wow! And I just treat people like I wanted to be treated with respect. Zach: Now I am curious for both of you when you went to the all white or predominantly white schools, how did, first of all how did the students react, were there any issues there? And how did the teachers and administrators react? You talked a little bit about that. But I have quite a variety of stories on both those types of populations and I wanted to get your reactions were. Willey: Her class had a different well it's like what Marquetta said, it was all 30 or 40 children just went to the middle school and the high school then. Marquetta: My father had a real hard time at the middle school. Did he go to the middle school? He had a hard time. Willey: I hear that. But when I went to the high school I didn't. The only thing I ran into was people would not talk to you. Which I was somewhat a loner. I always hunted and fished and was off to myself. But all that changed. Just like I had a young kid come up to me and say I want to ask you something. And I said, "Yeah what?' He said, "Do you all carry knives' and I said, "No, I don't carry a knife, do you?" And he said, "No, but my mommy and daddy said that all you people all carry knives." I said, “No, not all of us carry knives." But it just with me it was a feeling out of each other. You know what this kid is different. I think by the 9th grade by me doing hunting and fishing and doing sports and doing stuff like that that fit right in with everyone. Zach: With what everybody else did. Willey: Still do, except the hunting part I don't still do that just fish. But as far as fights, I have never been in a fight, cursing and hollering and all that stuff. Other than encouraging someone in football camp or something like that we never had to go thru that. I hear Marquetta’s brother Robert saying this and that. They used to have a lot of fights and things of that nature. One on one type thing. But I never was involved in anything like that. Marquetta: You knew who----. I know my father was a fighter. I was not a fighter. I was always quiet. Willey: Negotiator: Marquetta: Well I feel in negotiating, I just watched. But my brothers had a hard time. Very difficult time. But I could sense things, a very acute sense of things, I knew who didn't want to deal with me and I really didn't care. I take that back, I really did. But I knew because of elementary school ______hear you talk. Because in elementary school I really was not in with a group so I wasn't missing a group. You know how some girls and boys have a clique. I was never in a clique so I never missed a clique. And I didn't have a need. I wished I was. I wished I had a best friend and all that. I really wanted that but I was used to not having that. And with the circumstances I was in I never looked for it. Zach: OK Marquetta: So it was very, very lonely. I couldn't play sports. I tried to play sports. I tried to play basketball. I loved volleyball. Because it worked for Willey. It worked for Edgar. Edgar was in my class. He was another sports star. I mean everybody loved Edgar, everybody loved Russell, everybody loved Willey. The boys they had the sorts. but I didn't have anything. There were some girls that spoke to me, Pat ________? She really liked me and I really liked her. People did seem like they didn't know what to do with me. I wouldn't say there was anybody really nasty to me because I was too shy I really was. Kind of like invisible. As far a relationship with a teacher, Mr. Proctor came from West Virginia. His whole thing about integration/segregation was way different than the way Virginia treated it. And I don't know why but to this day he is one of my best friends. But he would come to me almost every day. I guess he felt sorry for me. I was this tiny, little thing, I looked like I had Ricketts I was so skinny. I must have looked so sick. So I was this invisible, quiet, kind of smart of kid and he could come. But I was so shy. My name was Marquetta Witherall. So some people would come up to me and they would say,” What’s your name?" Huh? I couldn’t even say my own full name. I was too shy to say my own full name. And he would always check on my every day and he is the one that made me feel like you are going to be Ok. That was Glenn Proctor. He always checked on me. And when I graduated and went to college and would come back home I always sought out Glenn Proctor. There was something about that man. He was just a good man and he understood Black students. I am going to say it like it is. He understood it because he couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. I guess that was how he saw me and to this day he hasn't told me. I need to ask him that when I see him. He took an interest in me but he did. And so he always would check on me. Now the Principal made me feel safe. Mr. Dellinger was our first principal and the reason why stuff didn't pop off at Strasburg High School is because he threw the media out. Willey: He would not allow them in. Marquetta: They were not allowed in. He would not allow them to come in and interview us because that is what the media wanted to do. He said no. He kept the lid on. And so when we had our first reunion at Strasburg Museum we asked him to come and speak with Glenn Proctor. He spoke with the Superintendent of Schools and all that to recognize for the first time in this county that they did exist and you need to honor them. And all our graduates, the wonderful people that taught and the wonderful students that came out of that school. And he spoke about that. So that was my experience. My personality was too shy to start any trouble. But I knew that there was a little trouble in river city with the Cooper boys, my cousins. You don't remember that. Willey: I was gone. Marquetta: You were gone. That was a little bit later. They were my cousins and they were wild but they didn't take any stuff. So whenever stuff happens, up in the mountains and in the hills and the police would_____?. And that is all I am going to say. Willey: The thing that I think about with Mr. Proctor is when we were supposed to play John Mosby. Mr. Proctor got a call from the coach at Mosby and said we will not play you all with the Black players on the team. And Mr. Proctor said then we will just not play you at all. And that is where Mr. Proctor almost lost his job because him and Stanley Dellinger had it out then because Stanley said," Glenn we have a contract. We won't play them next year." I got two young men who are my two of my key players and you are not going to let them go because of these people? It ended up we didn't go but he had to go. And he had to but they lost too. I don't know if it would have made any difference if we were there. Marquetta: You mean the two Black players could not go. Willey: Yes. Leonard Alsberry and myself were not allowed on their field. It was kind of sad. But that side of that county was a whole different mentality. I mean because we played Turner Ashby, Montevideo, Elkton, Stonewall, Central. Marquetta: Warren County was real different. Willey: Yes it was. Zach: I get that sense especially, get a sense with the different newspapers in the county. The Northern Virginia Daily because they cover Warren County and so I get the sense there completely different than the way the other two papers in the county at that time covered things. Willey: That is the first and last time I have ever been spit on in my life was when we played Warren County in Bing Crosby Stadium. I said I couldn't believe this. It was sad. Really sad. It is hate is what it amounts to. And it is really sad but I looked at it then as I look at it now. You have an option. You could go out there and fight and bust your knuckles and use all that stuff. Or just play duck and let it roll off your back and just play the game. Keep yourself straight, follow the rules and just play the game. Zach: I am curious a little bit about kind of the difference in how people, I don't really want to say the different classes treated you but the different backgrounds. And the reason I say this is one of the things I have gotten is this theme, the more educated people who lived in town treated African-Americans differently than the people who lived like out in the country. And you mentioned that about something happening out in the hills. Did you all have that experience, something similar to that or was it kind of a generic white people treated you? Willey: I think I understand what you are saying. But with me I didn't, it wasn't any different. I can't say there was any difference. Because the guys who lived out in Coal Mine, Star Tannery, Lebanon Church, we all squirrel hunted, target practiced, and groundhog hunted and played football. So it was like we had so much in common. With me it goes back to respect thing. Then again I looked up to guys who were straight A students or on the track team or in class with. Let's say on the track team for example, "Willey, just do what you need to do, you need to work on your start, you need to get in your box this way." It was positive. In my mind I can't think of negative stuff. No matter A student or straight B student. That was with me. Marquetta: I have never really thought about that way. In high school. Willey: Let's see you had your valedictorian. ?? Marquetta: It was Marcy who was white and the valedictorian. I had this conversation with her 5 or 6 years ago. I used to say to her ", Marcy do you ever notice that when you look at those class pictures that I was always somewhere around you not just because you were________?? It was because you were supposed to be the smartest so I was always watching you because I wanted to beat you at everything you did", and I told her that. She said, “I didn't know that". I just wanted to beat her, but I know that I had to work 3 times as hard as she did to get the grade and I knew that. And I considered myself a good student but I wanted to be a great student. I wanted to show her, really what it was. It wasn't about her personally what I wanted to do and how lonely it was. She cried, we had lunch together; we are in the same industry. I said, "What's the matter?" And she said,"Marquetta, I was just as lonely as you were. I was a teenage kid without friends. She was. The smartest girl in school. A lot of people were jealous of her, didn't want to be around her. And I understood her, and for the first time I understood her. And so we had a good cry and lunch. But I understood that. So for me I never thought about it like that in high school. And only having an adult perspective on it, not a high school perspective. And my adult perspective, when I look back over my adult years I would say if I were to look at it like that in terms of grades of people like you say. I would say there is no difference. Racism is racism. If you have an education you think you had it better were high fancy words. If you don't have the fancy words or haven't learned them it is pretty__________which is what I appreciate about it. Where an education will teach you how to practice racism like this. At the same time you are doing like this. Where we are now, "I don't like you_____OK. It is the same thing. That is my adult perspective. My high school perspective, I don't know that I thought about it. I was just trying to survive. Willey: But I see what you were doing. See where I was using sports, you were using education. You just said, Marcy was good at this, this and this and I can do this too. It is like channeling. Marquetta: It is. That is what I was doing. If I think of it now, I felt you know I can do exactly what she is doing. For a while there I thought I couldn't but I watched her. And Joe_______, he is a sweetie pie, but Marcy I didn't get, but she was like the smartest kid, and there was that female thing going on. Willey: Oh yeah! Marquetta: You have to realize I could do what she did but I had to study real hard. And I would never go to school without having anything unanswered. If I had to stay home my grandma would have to make me go to bed. And sometimes I would not get the last answer but I would get up in the morning real early because I would never go to school without having all my answers done. I am still am that way. But that was me. And I couldn't participate in a lot of after school activities because there were five of us and I had to help my grandparents take care of my brothers and sisters. My dad______. I wasn't involved in a whole lot of social stuff. But I was always envious, not jealous, but envious that other kids like Willey and Edgar could do that and I didn't. I didn't have a social life. It's true. Willey: I was going to the Tastee-Freeze, eating 15 of them quarter hamburgers and drinking a milkshake. Marquetta: You see we were never allowed. I could go to the Tastee-Freeze with permission but we never allowed to go with a group of kids anywhere like that. We were pretty protective in our family. They didn't let us, you couldn’t get in a car and go someplace and nobody knew where you were. First of all we didn't have a car to get in. So we were not allowed to roan like that. Willey: Not like we were. Marquetta: That's right. You all roamed. We were kind of protected. Zach: Now I am kind of curious. You mentioned about the principal not letting the media in. From your perspective what was the media trying to accomplish? Because I have read the newspaper accounts of integration and things and they didn't do very much coverage of any of Shenandoah County and mean there were short articles like on Page 2. What were they trying to accomplish with that do you think? Willey: Well I think personally, it would have been other areas and how everything was put on the tube, on the radio and some of the newspapers. They wanted to keep all the drama down and put a lid on it. "We are going to do this but without all the drama". Marquetta: Like Front Royal was having. Willey: Or other places. _______, we don't want to do that here. We think we can just keep it down. Keep these kids going to school. Not going to have a bunch of pictures taken and all that stuff. Keep it low key. Marquetta: Violence. Willey: And I think that what it was. And it was a transition. I can remember it just like yesterday, Lawrence, I can't remember Lawrence's last name. I remember getting off the school bus, and walking in the school. I was just like the first day was just like all the other days. It was nobody hardly speaking to you. But it was just like walk on in. Try to find my locker and my classes. You know it was nobody saying anything. Every once in a while someone would say good morning. But everything was just-- and that transition was just smooth and that was what Mr. Dellinger wanted. Marquetta: He didn’t want any trouble. Willey: He thought the media might have wanted-- Marquetta: To stir it up. Willey: Inadvertently maybe but some people. Sometimes when I look on the television, I try not to watch too much news but some of it can really get you riled up. Keep it down. Not put it out there for people but keep it at a lower roar. Marquetta: Because there are people enough around to stir a pot. He was just doing his, he was just keeping it down. He was doing his job. He was protecting his students. And he took it a step further. And a lot of people don't know about this. He said it for the first time when we had that celebration at the Museum. People don't know he came up to Sunset Hills School. He didn't have to do that. And he talked to those teachers and knew how he could make the transition smoother for us. He didn't have to do that. That how the visits started, pre-school, making sure that we kids could have a chance to go over to the school before the school started so we could have a chance to see what a locker is. We didn't know what a locker is. What's a cafeteria? What are you talking about? Willey: And a gym? Marquetta: Do you really get in a line with a tray for lunch? Willey: You don't have to bring a bag?? Marquetta: You don't have to bring a bag! He made sure that happened. For him to have that foresight, in that day and that time. That was a heck of a thing to do to have the forethought for kids who know nothing about a locker and a cafeteria and how to matriculate into classes. And then we had two floors! We had one room school first with a water fountain on the outside that froze in the winter. Willey: Yeah but they moved it inside. Marquetta: Then we had an add on and there was a bathroom, one for girls and one boys. We were like in heaven then. Willey: No johnnies! Marquetta: That's right! So to go to a school with two floors and showers in the locker room. So he came to the school and worked out a plan with the teachers to make sure we were afforded that. So to me that was protecting and taking care of your kids. Not just the boys the boys in trouble but helping us thru the transition. Zach: That's interesting because the same year that you started at Strasburg I talked to a student who started at Stonewall the same year and she gave a completely different story of her first day. She said when they got there the media was there. She said they had police there and there was a lot of excitement and a lot of drama. So that is a very interesting contrast. Marquetta: You see I remember the teachers saying we don't want _______? You see his memory of it is different from mine. He wasn't on my bus. Willey: I was on a whole different set-up. Remember I started before you did. Marquetta. It makes a difference. Willey:But also, we were talking about this last week. Some of the teachers that used to snub us. Not really be very friendly. Or some of them that we see now are some of our best friends. It is awesome. Marquetta: My first client that they gave me, called me at my house on a Saturday. Willey: You want to say where you work? Marquetta: Oh, I am a financial advisor with _________. My office is right downtown. My first $350,000 check OK, I am thinking, ______?? First of all it is a production thing, especially the first one. You got to make money. And so I know that they have money but I know who he is. One of the biggest racists in town. Because everybody in Strasburg at the time was a racist. So I called him, Mr. So & So. I said, "This is what I'm doing. I know you know me because you know we know we know each other and we don't have to go any further, but this is what I'm doing. He let me in his house. Which shocked me. These kids used to call us "N" words and we used to call them "C" words. I was never a fighter. My brothers and sisters, they would be fighting going to school, fighting coming home from school. So I talked to him a good six months. But I am persistent and quiet. So one day he called me here at this house and said," May I come to your office?" And I said well of course I will open for you. How much is your check? He said, "$350,000." First of all I was shaking all the way down to the office. And I to this day I can't tell you why he gave me that check or why he trusted me. Willey: Maybe it is because he trusted you. Marquetta: Yes. But what I am saying is that he was one of the worst. And that was _______?_. And his daughter was in my class and we had a few "nice" words. I didn't let people run over me. I didn't have a nasty mouth. I didn't curse. But by the time I got finished with you, you knew you were cursed out by the time you got home. Because my grandmother taught me how to do that. Willey: Nancy Nice. Marquetta: Nice Nancy. Because she taught us nice, you know, that you had to stand up. You don't pick a fight. You walk away. Every time we did.______________? Here's what you say. And she's even very nice. And so you know I still remember him handing me that check. It was almost like he didn't know what he was doing. So I took the check and put it in his account. That was my first real big account. And when that happened to me I knew I was going to be okay in Strasburg. As long as I truly respect people. If you don't respect me that's your issue. But I am going to respect you, and if you don't respect me then we don't have any business together. And that was a turning point for me, a good turning point for my business as an adult. I knew that I could handle Strasburg, I do all right in Strasburg. And so he was not a very nice person. Truly he was not. So anyway that's one of my adult stories coming from a child in school with his daughter, who taught his kids how to do the "N" word. I know he did. So that is how people can change. If he can change, anybody can change. Zach: Now I am curious you knew one of them I guess, the teachers at the Black Schools. Number one I can't figure out what happened to them after the Black schools. Willey: That's a good question! Marquetta: We are still looking. Willey: I know one Mrs. Eudora H. Payne (?) went back to Ranson, West Virgina and she had two daughters and that is where she lived until she passed. Which hasn't been too awful many years ago. Marquetta: Now we don't know what happened to her daughters. Willey: George Heller. Marquetta: I had a crush on George Heller(?) Willey: George Heller and then Mrs. Burbidge(?) We have been trying to see if we can find them. But we have had people try to see if they can find them. From what we understand, the county they don't keep records but for a certain amount of time. And someone brought us some stuff that had been throwed out in the trash. Marquetta: It was Judy Jackson. It was at John-Manville? In the trash. It was Mr. Howard's attendance book and it had my name and all my sisters and brothers name in it. Where he was from, his address in Roanoke and everything. We had not been able to find him. He went to Virginia State College where I went. Of course years before and I find it in the college book, but he has probably passed away. Willey: But those three we been trying to locate, Richmond, all those things trying to locate them. Marquetta: And one minister, Rev. Greer (?) he was your relative, but that was before our time. That was Sunset Hills School before our time. But we have a list of teachers that we have accumulated thru the older citizens that were there thru the younger citizens that were there. And as much information as we were able to get but we are still working on it. Willey: It is at the museum. Marquetta: I know we have it upstairs. Zach: I was curious they were working for the county as teachers and then the schools integrated and I am sure, and this is the case almost everywhere, that they are just no longer teachers here in the county. Even at the time you couldn't have a Black teacher teaching the white kids. You know. So what happened to them? Willey: That's a good question. We wondered that too. But think back when we made that transition, all our focus was on the now and never even thought about what happened to the teachers. But we were kids. But as adults we wanted to look up and find out where they went and what happened to them. But the only one we know of was Mrs. Payne. Marquetta: It was there focus. They were so focused on us doing well at the white school when you get there. That was the push. I want you to do well. I want you to show them. That was the push and then they just left. Zach: There was one and I forget her name now was the teacher at Creekside. Marquetta: Mrs. McClain, that was Mrs. Payne's sister. Zach: The Church there in Woodstock, Mt Zion, they know where she is buried. She went back to West Virginia. But I don't know anything about the ones that were the teachers in Strasburg. Willey: We were hoping but people just trashed their records. That is so sad. So much history just trashed. Marquetta: We made a copy of George Heller's (?) book that was found. It is there. It looks like the original. We did a real good job. I never thought about it like that. That is an excellent question. I feel guilty we didn't think about the teachers but we were kids. Willey: And then there was that push. Get out of school. What are you going to do when you get out of school? Some of you are going to go in the military; some of you are going to college. That was a chaotic time in a sense. Marquetta: It was a traumatic time. Willey: But I look at now and I look back at then. That isn’t too bad compared to some of the stuff that goes on now. Marquetta: Even with all that stuff I think we were focused. We were a lot more focused. And then at the same time there were things motivating you. There was the Civil Rights, there were leaders, and there were people there to guide you in your community. The community mobilized where there was a local mobilization. There was the push. There is not that anymore. We knew that education or something beyond high school you were going to need, vocational school, college, military. But I don't know I think our focus was more simple. Do you know what I mean than what the kids are experiencing today? Maybe I am wrong I don't know. Zach: And then looking after integration, after the schools integrated, I guess maybe we can do it like we did at the beginning where I ask you to talk for a minute or so about how things were kind of focusing on Strasburg after integration progressed. Racism continues but you know what, how has that change maybe, what the community was like and how that changed a little bit in terms of how people dealt with race and things like that. Were there any bad instances after integration comes at the schools? I hope that makes sense. Willey: All I can say is that at schools, then again, I think some of the guys from what I understand after the school was started after all that you did have some fights. You have boys or some girls you are going to have conflicts no matter what. But it seemed like it was somewhat of an acceptance of what we had come thru as a community. but yet as some of the ladies in the church used to say, you still got some of the ______?? in the back thinking the old ways and that is on both sides of the race. “We shouldn't be over there or we shouldn't be at that school and of course the swimming pool thing. Some of the Black people won’t let their children go to the swimming pool today. Because of something that happened back then. We weren't allowed to go then. But sometimes you got to move on a little bit because hate begets hate. My thinking is I have a granddaughter that goes to the pool. We have a granddaughter that goes to the pool. I would not allow her to swim in the river. I had a ball. All my friends were there because the poor white families couldn't afford $100 a summer couldn't afford that. So we were swimming at that river together and having a ball. But maybe that answers a part of your question. Zach: I think it does. You know that was the kind of what I was looking for the overall. Willey: You still got hate in there. You still got, you will for a long time. Marquetta: That is an excellent question because I was asked that question and had an opportunity to answer that question by someone white just the other day. And here is how I answered that question. Well the question was proposed a little bit differently. Is there still racism? The person had had a conversation with someone Black in the community and felt _______? wasn't done because of racism. Do you still think that exists in Strasburg? Well of course. Well really? If you, in order for you to mention that to me because I am Black then you know it must be something like that. You are an intelligent person I know that and I like you. I don't know you that well, but in order for you to ask me that question you know there must be. But the person wasn't quite sure how to deal with it. And I said this," Couple of things you do not want to do. Do not appoint a person in Strasburg who is Black to deal with Black stuff. Do not do that. Because there you are ______? it. But you know it happened here and I know you do because you asked me about it. Look at it as an opportunity to say to the person, "Do you think is racism?" Don't be afraid to say the word race or racism. You need to understand that anybody past 50 or 60 or so in this town had had to deal with that and that is part of who they are. And so because it is part of who they are it is going to affect how they respond to certain things. And so if you really want to do a great job don't deny what they are thinking. They are opening up an invitation for you to talk about it. It is just a dialogue in and of itself. It is a step forward. You must take the step forward. You must take the step forward. It's okay to talk about race. Let us not pretend that it is insignificant and it does not exist. And when you take that step, you are taking that step forward every time even if you still end up disagreeing about the issue you are talking about. But to deny is the worst mistake you could ever make. There is racism just like Willey said was a part of many white folk here. Racism was a part of many Black folk here not that there is a whole bunch of Black folk. But there is. And we can only take a step forward when we are in dialogue together. If I can be of any help, I will be glad to be of any help to anyone who wants to have a conversation but I don't represent Black people. And that is where a lot of white people make a mistake. And so that was an excellent question you asked and that is my answer to that. Willey: And you are sticking to it. Zach: There is one last question and I am glad you brought this up. The Strasburg pool. I know the story of the Woodstock pool integrating. Do you all know anything in relation to the Strasburg pool and segregation and integration? Willey: Only thing I know was you had to pay a fee. Marquetta: It was to keep us out. And riffraff too. You know what I mean. That was the way it was seen. Willey: Well that was the way it was set up too. Every time I think about that I think about a story that Glenn Proctor told. It was this young boy named Carter Alsberry. He used to play with Glenn's children okay. One day Glenn was going to take his boys to the pool. Carter asked, "Coach Mr. Proctor you going to the pool?' Coach said, " Oh no, we just, it is time for you to go home and we are going to take these boys for a walk etc." Because coach didn't want to break his heart to tell because he was going to take his boys to the pool and he wasn't allowed to go. So that being said time went on. But right down the road on Battlefield, Gypsy Falls, Carter with some other boys was down there swimming when he drowned. And that haunted Mr. Proctor for so long. Here he is one of the leaders in his community, wanting to do the right thing and get along and here is this young man who his sons played with and he thought a lot of drowned because there was no other place really with a lifeguard or something like that for him o go to. So I think he withdrawed his children from it then. But that being said it got to the point where as people where not supporting it and it was getting into disrepair so ended up having to open up everything and we got to get this thing fixed or we are going to have to shut down. Marquetta: And then they started letting the riffraff and the Blacks in. Willey: No, anyone that wanted to go there they were allowed in. Marquetta: Daddy didn't let us go. But I really wasn't interested in because I was not a swimmer. So it didn't bother me at all. But for a long time, I was very angry about that because there were a lot of Black people who needed to learn how to swim and wanted to swim and weren't allowed. So as a young woman who went to a Black college specifically and my Daddy hated it. I was coming back with like A's_________________. I really did. My dad was so afraid. And I remember being very angry about that. But you know you get over stuff. But I don't like the history. I was in the pool with Bree honey. I was in the pool with Bree. Willey: This woman can't swim a bit. But she went to college and took a class on swimming and passed. Marquetta: It was only 2 credits. I went off the board and everything. Willey: But then all of a sudden it is like "I can't swim. Marquetta: But then I go to the park because I helped paint the park and it is not right for me not to go to the park when I want my family to go to the park. And so we had our first reunion of _______school, Queen Street in the park and you know it was so neat, everybody in town came and it wasn't just a Black reunion. It was a Strasburg thing. Willey: And that is the way it is supposed to be. Marquetta: And that is where dialogue like yours with different people and dialogue with each other would happen. Dialogue changes things because it gets you to know you a bit better."Oh yeah well he is an Okay guy. Things grow and change. But we have a thing at the Museum. It was the largest attendance. And was the thing to celebrate the Black schools. It was the largest attendance of any event in the museum. Because it was dialogue. And people had a chance to cry with us. We weren't the only people crying. Strasburg cried. That is why I am here in Strasburg now. It is not the most perfect place. Willey: There is no perfect place. Marquetta: There is no perfect place. Willey: Maybe Myrtle Beach. Outer Banks. Zach: Maybe perfect weather. Marquetta: Strasburg is what it is. It does not pretend to be something it is not. When it is time to rally, it rallies. And good people in it. And for the most part, when there is a dialogue even if it comes to fist-fighting sometime, we dialogue. Or the town council does sometimes. Willey: The thing that amazes me is, see where do you live? Zach: Woodstock. Willey: Woodstock, Edinburg, Mount Jackson, Strasburg, all of them are so different. So different. You know I mean. It is amazing. Even Maurertown, Toms Brook. We are all right here in the same sock, but we don't fit the same shoe. But we are all so different and that is what makes it so unique in my opinion. Marquetta: It has been quite a journey and we are all allright with it. Zach: That's good. Willey: But one of the things I didn't like about the swimming pool thing. After I went into the Navy and we did all this swimming stuff. It's chlorine! Now of course we thought the river was the greatest thing since sliced bread, now we find out it is so polluted. It's awful. Marquetta and I have been blessed to live through all that we have gone thru and we look back and just think about some of the things that we have seen. Some of the players that have been in this drama that we lived and it has been pretty unique. One of the things I would change is I would take a typing class my last year. (Laughter follows) Zach: I get a lot of people that say that and they are usually guys. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource WILLY AND MARQUETTA MITCHELL ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW Subject The topic of the resource Strasburg (Va) Public Schools-Virginia-Strasburg School Integration-Virginia-Strasburg Description An account of the resource Oral history interview featuring Willy and Marquetta Mitchell conducted on February 4, 2016 for the Shenandoah County Library's Black History Month Program. Willy and Marquetta were the first two African American students to attend Strasburg High School. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Zachary Hottel Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Shenandoah Voices Oral History Collection <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_UKlORbjhi4" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource February, 4 2016 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource MP3 File Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Recording Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 16-0004 African Americans Integration Schools Segregation Shenandoah County Virginia https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/fe9bd4cc663c91181eb340a24bac4446.jpg eaf12cf09c7559151e1dadbe34a72b7d Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Invoice Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource H.A. Whissen & Bro. Invoice Subject The topic of the resource Edinburg (Va) H.A. Whissen & Brothers (Va) Mills-virginia-Edinburg Description An account of the resource Invoice issued to the "Corporation of Edinburg" by H.A. Whissen & Brothers, manufacturers of flour, feel, and meal. The invoice is dated September 6, 1906 and is for $5.35 worth of items purchased between December 1905 and August 1906. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource H.A. Whissen & Brothers Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived FOLDER 31: Edinburg and Whissen Mill Receipts, 1906, Saum Collection, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September 6 1906 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 20-0813-001 Edinburg Mill Shenandoah County Virginia https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/de2dee06c3ef8eeac08f95fb036f10bb.jpg 977e3fab78ae7991f3425da739b920c4 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photographic Print Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 8x10 inches Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Moyers Motor Company Subject The topic of the resource New Market (Va) Automobile Dealerships-Virginia-New Market Garber, William Hoyle Description An account of the resource Photograph of Moyers Motor Company in New Market Virginia. The company was a Ford dealership located on Congress Street in New Market. They also operated an Esso Service Station and sold GE appliances. Based on the license plates of the vehicles present, the photograph was taken in 1948. It was taken by local photographer William Hoyle Garber. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource William Hoyle Garber Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Folder 1.8: New Market Photos, undated, Shenandoah County Photograph Collection, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1948 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 20-0820-001 Business Cars Ford New Market Shenandoah County Virginia https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/c18fdb5065e750127c7d5038b845dbf2.jpg a6c0f17c62d9373cb879de050e497f36 https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/9e39380629e294eb6e3bb23786cb2d69.jpg 531aea609989da45a91e7989fe260354 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Periodical Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "The Record" March 1912 Subject The topic of the resource Woodstock (Va) Reformed (Reformed Church) Reformed churches-Virginia-Woodstock Periodicals-Virginia-Woodstock Description An account of the resource "The Record," a publication produced monthly by the Woodstock Reformed Church Charge. This edition is Volume II, Number 9 and is dated March 1912. It includes information about services, financial transactions, and church groups. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource "Reformed Church, Woodstock Charge" Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Folder 3.6 "The Record" Newsletter, Reformed Church, Woodstock Charge, March-June 1912, Series II: Documents, Margaret Hoffman Collection, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1912 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 20-0827-001 20-0827-002 Churches Shenandoah County Virginia Woodstock https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/9e06dea497810c006136ccfb8fe27f6c.jpg aad85f7d13d387c38df90c816eaca28b https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/612c5296780c60f95a1ef3024d58fe80.jpg 1914b21fd9b0bc472aecb655d5657226 https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/202feb0a508885479ea9452ba19c5a64.jpg 49efd6485b59b71d6834c87a1820f7d2 https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/2c0d2eadc914a55e3b4fa3a28f3b7aff.jpg b7e6c21c03491fddece7185fafa25092 https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/8fcb85e2c9212985c20db65032167c51.jpg 8483e3c6e612403f93d7266793f39adf https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/4962098f7a9599747695c2868fb4c8d6.jpg aca8a18824e73e0241acc80d7dc2c67b Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Programs Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Shenandoah County Library Building Dedication Pamphlet Subject The topic of the resource Shenandoah County Library (Va) Shenandoah County (Va) Public Libraries-Virginia-Shenandoah County Description An account of the resource Program published for the dedication of the Shenandoah County Library Building dated September 10, 2000. The program features a history of the library system, overview of the building, schedule for the dedication ceremony, and list of donors. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Shenandoah County Library Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Folder 3.2: Shenandoah County Building Dedication, 2000, Series III: 2000-2009, Shenandoah County Library System Collection, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September 10, 2000 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2020-0910-001 2020-0910-002 2020-0910-003 2020-0910-004 2020-0910-005 2020-0910-006 Edinburg Libraries Shenandoah County Virginia https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/efe1ccd01338b56099bf28928fdd9877.jpg 686027ac60f927e48ff8c472e8e2c498 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource MacKenzie Grimes Collection Subject The topic of the resource Toms Brook (Va) Woodstock (Va) Description An account of the resource A collection of photographs, scrap books, and documents collected by Josephine Miller Lynn of Woodstock Virginia. The bulk of the photographs show members of her family including the Millers of Woodstock Virginia and the Miley family of Toms Brook Virginia. Many include views of both towns, the railroad, and postal related items. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Josephine Miller Lynn Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived MacKenzie Grimes Collection, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia, USA. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1887-1950 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photographic Print Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. Peter's Lutheran Church Congregation Subject The topic of the resource Toms Brook (Va) Lutheran Churches-Virginia-Toms Brook Description An account of the resource Photograph showing the congregation of St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Toms Brook Virginia. The photograph is undated and unlabeled. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Unknown Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Folder 1.30: St. Peter's Lutheran Church Congregation Photograph, Toms Brook Virginia, undated, Mackenzie Grimes Collection, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Undated Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 20-0917-001 Churches Lutheran Shenandoah County Toms Brook Virginia https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/238379813e892dff17bf96c1cddb0f45.jpg 21d6afd826080f1880c2988ef886cfc1 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Advertisements Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Daily Arrival Advertisement Subject The topic of the resource Woodstock (Va) Richey, Thomas B. General Stores-Virginia-Woodstock Description An account of the resource Advertisement for the "Daily Arrival" at T.B. Richey's store. The advertisement was printed in 1896 in an unknown newspaper. It lists underwear, produce, hardware, and groceries as items for sale. The store was located on Main Street in Woodstock Virginia near the intersection with Court Street. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Unknown Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Folder 2.33 T. B. Richey Hardware and Grocery Store, advertisement, 1896, Series II: General Business, Valley Business Collection, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1896 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource COPYRIGHT NOT EVALUATED Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 20-1001-01 Advertisements Shenandoah County Stores Virginia Woodstock https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/2695755be3476bd75ead5f1370f8b504.jpg e72397b35490425f003d97f899874c19 https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/304e7c4b08cb45a8b433c0c88512abbd.jpg 86dd227802738c46534acd5c498f7026 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Portrait Photograph Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Laura Pence Funkhouser Subject The topic of the resource Funkhouser, Laura Catherine Pence (1872-1949) Shenandoah County (Va) Pleasant Valley (Va) Women-Virginia-Shenandoah County Description An account of the resource Portrait photograph of Laura Catherine Pence Funkhouser. Laura lived in the Pleasant Valley community of Shenandoah County which is approximately 2 miles west of Mt. Jackson Virginia. She married Joseph Funkhouser on March 26, 1896 and had 5 children. He was a farmer, and Laura was listed as a housewife in 1930. She is buried at Cedar Grove Church. This portrait photograph was taken by William Dean, a photographer in Harrisonburg Virginia. While it is undated, it was located in a album with other images dated 1892 so it likely dates to that period. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource William Dean, Harrisonburg Virginia Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Folder 2.1 Identified Photographs from ca. 1892 Album, Series I: Documents and Photographs, Moses Getz Collection, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource ca. 1892 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource COPYRIGHT NOT EVALUATED Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 20-1008-001 20-1008-002 Photograph Shenandoah County Virginia Women https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/bb6e9523fb5d7fd464e0f16a5628e752.jpg 19a582694529dbbc83cb07489fbafd31 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photographic Print Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Men Harvesting with Steam Traction Engine Subject The topic of the resource Men-Virginia-Shenandoah County Traction Engine-Virginia-Shenandoah County Steam engines-Virginia-Shenandoah County Agricultural equipment-Virginia-Shenandoah County Harvesting machinery-Virginia-Shenandoah County Description An account of the resource Photographic print showing four men atop a steam traction engine and other machinery. They appear to be harvesting corn. The photograph is undated. A label in the left hand corner bearing the word "Engine" followed by an illegible second word is present. It was taken by an unknown photographer somewhere in Shenandoah County. While undated, the scene shown would have occurred during the latter part of the 19th century or early part of the 20th century. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Unidentified Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Folder 2.7: Unlabeled Photographs, undated 1 of 5, Series I Documents and Photographs, Moses Getz Collection, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Libaray Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Undated Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource COPYRIGHT NOT EVALUATED Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 20-1008-003 Agriculture Farms Shenandoah County Virginia https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/17471be72b35d8a3067bdda9d303fa59.tif 01e141b2855f2fbe51c409d7fd319d65 https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/b2c4a7125ba023269ecef5c28eee0322.jpg 73d91dc2710809298da16c4bd0bc2c0e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource George William Smith Collection Subject The topic of the resource Smith, George William (1900-2000) Woodstock (Va) Description An account of the resource Digitized photographs from the collection of George William Smith of Woodstock Virginia. George William Smith (1900-2000) was an African American citizen of the town of Woodstock who was noted for his collections, including many items rescued from the trash. He lived on Water Street and attended Mt. Zion Methodist Church in Woodstock. Smith is buried at the Riverview Cemetery in Woodstock. Two hundred and seventy nine of the rescued photographs that are part of this collection were taken and/or processed by Woodstock photographer Hugh Morrison. An amateur photographer, George Smith took hundreds of photographs of the town during the 1980s and early 1990s for his amusement. These images are available at the Shenandoah County Library but have not yet been digitized. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived George William Smith Collection, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Color Photographs Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Demolition Building Corner of Commerce and Court Streets Subject The topic of the resource Woodstock (Va) Buildings-Virginia-Woodstock Abandoned Buildings-Virginia-Woodstock Demolition-Virginia-Woodstock Description An account of the resource Photograph showing the demolition of a building located at the intersection of Court and Commerce Streets in Woodstock Virginia. The photograph was taken by Woodstock resident George W. Smith and is dated 1985. This building was constructed sometime between 1885 and 1899. It served as a warehouse and was later abandoned before being demolished to make way for a parking lot. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource George W. Smith Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Sleeve 1.37: Demolition Building Corner of Commerce and Court Streets Woodstock Virginia 1985, Series I: Snapshots, George William Smith Collection, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1985 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 20-1022-001 20-1022-002 Buildings Shenandoah County Virginia Woodstock https://archives.countylib.org/files/original/f28c8d4809bd5b54912340dbdac71768.jpg 31cf682e8cbaca59088bac400636aae2 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photographic Print Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Residence of Mr. Silas Funk, Strasburg, VA Subject The topic of the resource Strasburg (Va) Funk, Silas Mortimer (1849-1930) Houses-Virginia-Strasburg Description An account of the resource Photograph labeled "Residence of Mr. Silas Funk, Strasburg, VA" and contained within the photograph album "Our Trip to Strasburg." The album was complied by Ellen Bowman and is dated 1901. The Silas Funk referred to is most likely Silas Mortimer Funk (1849-1930) who lived on Washington Street in Strasburg Virginia. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Unknown. Contained within a scrapbook created by Ellen Bowman Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Folder 1.35 "Our Trip to Strasburg," Shenandoah County Photograph Collection, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Shenandoah County Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1901 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 20-1029-001 Houses Shenandoah County Strasburg Virginia