I appreciated the Sept. 6 front-page article, "School integration enters its 50th year." As I read, I recalled memories of that time. I taught elementary grades in the Norfolk, Va., schools from 1957 until 1960 and saw schools integrate there in 1959 with many hardships and much despair. The high schools closed the first semester of that year. Makeshift schools hurriedly opened in churches, homes and other places. The senior class of 1959 became known as "the Lost Class of 1959." Many could not find a place to finish their senior year. They went to work, joined the service or lived with relatives and friends in places where they could attend high school.
When my husband and I moved to Raleigh in December 1960, I applied for a teaching position with the Raleigh City Schools. Assistant Superintendent Conrad Hooper interviewed me for a position. During the interview, he asked whether I would teach in an integrated school. I related my experiences in Norfolk and replied, "That would be no problem for me." He assigned me to first grade at Murphey School, where Bill Campbell and Terry Sanford Jr. were enrolled. I taught there four years.
Since 1964 I have lived in Goldsboro and Wayne County where I taught and retired after 30 years in education. I have watched as Wake County has grown and prospered while developing a school system that is not perfect but inclusive.
