[Granville-Hough] 20 Aug 2009 - Schools 10

[Trustees for Granville W. Hough]

Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 06:52:02 -0700
From: Granville W Hough <gwhough at oakapple.net>
Subject: Schools 10 - 20 Aug 2009

  Charlie Stringer as County Superintent of Education (1928-1932).

I think this must have been one of the Stringers from Taylorsville. I do 
not remember ever hearing his name. It is recorded that he consolidated 
some schools during his term, and that he placed ten sets of ComptonÆs 
Encyclopedia in schools of the county. Possibly that is true, but I 
never heard of nor saw a ComptonÆs Encyclopedia in Smith County. In 
truth, I never saw any library book in Smith County. In 1932, at the end 
of his term, I suppose we were about as far down the educational ladder 
as we could go. It wasnÆt all his fault. But I never heard that Mr. 
Stringer failed to draw his salary of $190.00 per month.
I know that we had functioning school busses and full time teachers. It 
was during this Depression period that school books became such a 
financial burden to parents. We used old texts which could be bought 
cheaply second-hand. We learned not to make marks in our books as this 
would reduce their resale value. We learned to loan books during recess 
and noon break to classmates who had no books. They would quickly read 
whatever lessons were coming up.
I was in the 4th or 5th grade when we had a light snow. For most of us, 
it was a great event for snowballs and fun. But not for the two Hester 
girls in my class. They had no shoes and no coats. We rearranged our 
seating so they were next to the stove. They kept their feet warm by 
sitting on one foot for awhile, then sitting on the other foot. 
Fortunately, the snow was soon gone, and being barefooted was not noticed.
Our classrooms were in a U-shape around our auditorium. We had a large 
space heater in the back. I was one of those designated to start a fire 
in this heater on days when we had chapel. I had learned to start fires 
in our kitchen stove for my mother when she and we were working in the 
fields. About 11 am I would be sent to start the fire in the stove, and 
sometimes set a pot of vegetables on the burner to begin cooking. So 
starting a fire in the big space heater at school was no problem for me.
It was about 1932 that my brother, Rudolph Hough, was President of the 
High School graduating class. No one believed they could afford 
traditional graduation gowns. So my brother negotiated a deal with Mize 
merchant Cousin Fate Walker to get overalls and shirts at cost for the 
boys and gingham dresses for the girls; and those were their graduation 
uniforms. This class had great pride in later life and led in school 
reunions. My brother Rudolph and our neighbor granddaughter of "Wild 
Bill" Sullivan, Daisy (Bryant) Yelverton were leaders for their 
respective classes in the school reunions.
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Carol DeMars Collins has a fine quote from Dr Seuss: "You have brains in 
your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any 
direction you choose"
I don't think Dr. Seuss could visualize barefooted Hester children going 
to school in the snow.