African American Alliance Host Black History Month Speakers

(L-R) Prof . Brandon Simpson, Patsy Simpson, Lula B. Youngs, Helen Bluford, Dr. Schafer, and Za’Kyah Jeter-Walton

On Feb. 21, the USC Union African American Alliance hosted three speakers for Black History Month. Patsy Simpson, Helen Bluford, and Lula B. Young shared memories from childhood, experiences with segregation and integration, and changes that they have seen in their lifetimes.

On Childhood

Mrs. Helen Bluford, 90, of Cross Hill, SC remembers that she and most of the people she knew growing up lived in “old, run down houses” with no running water or electricity. “We had to get water from a well or a spring,” she said. “But we always had plenty of food – eggs from chickens, milk from cows, hogs and other livestock.” Her father was a sharecropper and she remembers helping him plant corn and cotton, walking behind him as he plowed with a mule. She remembers that her mother could cook or bake anything without ever reading a recipe.

Bluford and Lula B. Young, 78, of Mountville, SC, both remember that they always had to go to church on Sunday and that they had to walk unless a neighbor picked them up in a wagon.

On School

Patsy Simpson, 75, of Cross Hill, remembers having to walk to school while white students rode the school bus. “The bus would pass and knock mud on us while we were walking,” she said. She went to a one room schoolhouse, where the only heat came from a woodstove. “The teacher would start a fire, and by the time it warmed up, it was time to go,” she said.  She attended Bell Street School in Clinton, now the home of the USC Union Laurens Location, for high school. “We had a great time at Bell Street,” she said. “I loved going to school, the teachers were nice. I met my husband there.” All three women said that they were not encouraged to go to college, but had classes like Typing, Shop, and Home Economics to prepare them for the workforce.

On Marriage and Children

Simpson and Bluford did not have “weddings” as we think of them now, but simply went to the courthouse and got married. Young was married at her mother’s house. Young worked in a mill for 31 years and was there when it closed. Bluford’s first job was cleaning houses for only $1.25 an hour. She later got a job at GLEAMNS Human Resources Commission, where she worked until she retired. Simpson was a homemaker while her husband worked.

Bluford says that she had her first child at home. “It was bad,” she said. “The baby weighed 12 lbs and I only weighed 98 lbs.”

On Segregation, Integration, and Changes Over Time

Simpson remembers when black people could not go into restaurants in Clinton. “We had to go up and get our food from the window,” she said. “But all the cooks working there were black.” She also described a time when she went into a drug store with her sister to get a soda, and tried to sit on one of the stools at the counter. “My sister told me to get down, that we couldn’t do that,” she said. “I asked why, and she said that black people weren’t allowed to sit at the counter.” Simpson described how one of her aunts was sent to upstate New York by the family because she was being threatened by a white man in the area. “She never came back to South Carolina,” she said. She also remembers her father sharing an encounter with the Ku Klux Klan. “He said he was walking home and heard them coming behind him, so he ran off the road and laid down in the creek so they couldn’t find him,” she said. Simpson says it wasn’t until after she had her first child that restaurants and public spaces were integrated. “We were all excited about integration, we just all sort of said ‘We’ll see where it goes,’” she said. “It is much better now, but we still have a long way to go.”

Bluford says that she has had good experiences with white employers and doctors. “There have been a lot of changes for the better,” she said. “But it is still hard for black people to get opportunities.”

Young remembers talking with her grandfather about the possibility of integration when she was young. “He said ‘I won’t remember it’ [won’t be around to see it], but you will,’” she said. “Every word he said has come true.”

Bluford, Simpson, and Young all agree that changes from when they grew up, like more advanced technology, are for the better. “It is good because you can communicate better with phones and computers,” said Bluford.  While Young said, “It is easier to purchase cars and get around.”