Sounds Like Home: Growing Up Black and Deaf in the South

2. Iron Mine School Days

2 I RON MIN E had a two-room wooden schoolhouse out on the highway beside our church. First and second grades were taught in one room, third to seventh in the other. After that, the children were either through school or had to find someone in town to live with in order to be able go to school in town and graduate from the eleventh grade. Only one school bus traveled to town and that was for Whites. Children started to school when their parents felt they were old enough. I think I was about five and went because my brothers and sister were going and I wanted to go too. On my first day, we met two teachers along the road who proceeded to get acquainted with their future pupils. After hearing the names of the rest of the children, one patted my head and asked my name. "Big Bud," I answered proudly. My hair was very short and curly and I was a sturdy, plump little girl. My papa must have wanted another boy because he bought me bib overalls and shirts right along with my brothers, so I was known as "Big Bud" or "Skeeter." I wasn't officially enrolled my first year of school and did not attend regularly. 18 Iron Mine School Days 19 After Cousin Beulah, the next two teachers to live with us were Misses Staten and Beaty. One night, Mama, Sam, and I were at the old house (Mama's childhood home). Papa came by in the truck and stopped. I ran to get in and ride home. Two strange women were looking me in the eye. I jumped back down, not knowing anything better to do. When we got home, the teachers were shown to their room, or rather my and Eunice's room. Mama proceeded to get supper for them and I sat myself where I had a good view of the door to the bedroom to catch a glimpse of them each time it was opened. They came out when Mama called out in her best company voice that supper was ready. Miss Staten was small with tiny feet (size three or four), very cute, and dimpled. She was from Brooklyn, New York, and it was a pleasure to listen to her talk; her voice was sweet and musical. I'd never heard anyone talk like that before. She'd often wear a pale yellow dress with black polka dots. Miss Beaty came from the opposite direction: South Carolina. She was "our kind ofpeople," from a farm, and I felt at home with her. They settled into our family life like they had known us forever, even calling Papa and Mama, "Dad" and "Mama." The teachers' room and board was fifteen dollars per month. I guess for each one. I don't know, and I didn't worry about money in those days as long as I could get a penny from Papa for a pencil and ten cents for a tablet with "slick" paper; the five-cent paper was rough. I started school in earnest. Naturally, I was overjoyed when it turned out Miss Staten was my teacher. She had first and second grades-there was no Head Start or kindergarten in those days. We had to jump right in and sink or swim. Miss Beaty had grades three through seven and the larger of the two rooms. The little schoolhouse needed lots of things done to it. All Miss Staten had to do was smile, dimple up prettily, and ask any man or boy, and they'd fall over themselves getting it done. The 20 A BOUQUET OF ROSES Miss Staten, one of my teachers at Iron Mine School. She boarded with us for several years. schoolhouse was repaired, new heaters were put in, and wood was cut and stacked up. The big girls in Miss Beaty's room washed windows and made curtains from white flour sacks brought from home and trimmed them in bright prints. A table to hold the water buckets and dipper was set up in a front corner. Miss Staten gave a lecture on hygiene and each child had to bring a glass from home and put his or her name on it. No drinking from each other's glasses. We also had to leave our lunch bags, buckets, or boxes up there after the teacher caught several students...