Speakers-Velma Childers, Yolanda Harrell

Audio Quality-Good

Location-Westminster, SC

Cassette 1

Side 1

00:09--Velma Childers was born on November 6, 1900 in Seneca, SC. Her parents were Thomas G. and Fanny Scott Gideon. They were both born sometime in the late 1800's. Her father was originally from Georgia, while her mother was from Oconee County, SC. Her grandparents on her mother's side were George and Fanny Jones Scott. They were both from Oconee County.

1:40--Her grandfather Scott was racially mixed. He was born as a result of a relationship between his mother [house slave] and her master. He was twelve years old when slavery was abolished.

6:38--As a child, Mrs. Childers cannot remember the family owning a home. Her father worked with public works, and her grandfather was a sharecropper on a "three-fourths" farm under a man named Asbury Edwards.

9:34--Mrs. Childers mentions that blacks were allowed to worship at the Old Stone Church, though blacks had to sit upstairs during services.

10:16--Whites didn't initially want blacks to worship, but they did in their own way, and would sing songs like Swing Low Sweet Chariot while working in the fields.

11:27--It seems her Grandfather Scott didn't have to work the fields. He was apparently educated by the slave master's wife.

12:36--Mrs. Childers' relatives worked as slaves under the Glen family. There were tensions between the racially mixed Mr. Scott and his natural father, so after Emancipation, he opted not to take the surname Glen.

13:44--Many of the older members of Mrs. Childers' family are buried at St. Paul's.

14:18--When funerals occurred in the black community, everyone stopped work and did what they could to help and conducted themselves very reverently.

15:35--Mrs. Childers' father was a minister, so she was also witness to many wedding ceremonies.

17:00--The Childers family in which she married into is also racially mixed.

19:45--Her grandfather was a Trustee and an early founder of the Seneca Institute.

20:48--In addition to being a minister, her father was a local farmer. Her mother did domestic work and helped local doctors with house calls.

24:50--Mrs. Childers recalls some of her siblings. Her oldest brother George had many responsibilities, as her parent's ministry often kept them from home. She had one sister who taught school in Georgia.

28:07--Some of her family migrated north; her brother George went to Georgia to work on the railroad.

31:40--Audio ends.

Cassette 1

Side 2

00:11--Mrs. Childers continues discussing some of her siblings, and their accomplishments.

2:00--Her grandfather had a very large home built on Highway 123. He later sold it to the Clinkscale family. He also owned land in the area known as "Scott-Land."

7:20--When she was a youth, mail was delivered by buggy. There were initially no mailboxes; mail was delivered personally.

9:05--Her Uncle B.F. (mother's brother) worked on the railroad as a mail clerk; he was also a local carpenter who helped built her grandfather Scott's large house on 123.

11:13--Black men usually did common labor work. There were no formal jobs available to black women; they often were involved with domestic help for whites. Young people were allowed to work, but had to give whatever earnings they made to the family.

14:11--Her family did shopping at the community general store in Westminster. Items were essentially bought by barter. Goods they acquired through farming were exchanged for things in the store. Virtually all local stores were owned by whites. Establishments owned by blacks were usually restaurants. Her grandfather Scott owned a restaurant in Seneca that he opened in the 1910s.

18:56--Clothes were handmade. Shoes and overalls could be bought, however. Underwear was made from the cloth of cattle feed. Her mother usually made the cloths and did quilting for friends, family, and local whites.

22:56--Local black families raised their own crops and animals for food.

24:30--Mrs. Childers briefly discusses family furniture.

27:50--Her family was musically inclined. Her sister was a music teacher in Georgia and her father could compose music. Indeed, her father established the "Thomas Gideon Singing Convention" locally. The convention usually met three times a year.

31:42--Audio ends.

Cassette 2

Side 1

00:09--The subject of singing conventions continues. Singing conventions remained popular for about twenty years after they were first introduced to the local area. Mrs. Childers cannot remember when they were first introduced, however. The conventions invited all age groups, both male and female to sing. Both church and family affiliated vocal groups attended. The songs were religious in nature; content often involved a better life in Heaven. Slaves composed many spirituals; these songs often contained codes or secret messages as a means of communication between different slave communities.

8:00--The main talents of her family were singing, ministry, needlework, and crafts.

11:15--She can remember the flu epidemic that broke out around the time of World War I. Her family was largely spared, though some families in the community were virtually wiped out.

12:00--Both her brother Fletcher and her husband served in World War I. Fletcher was sent to France, while her husband became disabled while training up north.

14:39--Church--Mrs. Childers's immediate family attended St. Paul's Baptist Church, though her sister attended the local Methodist Church. Her father was a preacher. In preparation for his ministry, he traveled to many conventions and studied carefully, though he never attended a theological school. Baptisms were held either in local creeks or in specially built pools in the churchyards. The local Methodists seemed to have the most camp meetings where singing, preaching, and feasting often lasted two or three days. Members of various church denominations worshipped together. Whites and blacks usually did not attend regular services together, but did attend the same funerals and revivals.

30:20--School--She attended a school in the Oakway community, which was not far from her home. There was one teacher at the school. There were perhaps seven grades, which ages ranging from six to thirteen. Her parents made private tutorship available to the family as well.

31:42--Audio ends.

Cassette 2

Side 2

00:07--Mrs. Childers attended school in a one-room wood building in the Oakway community. The school year was divided into short summer and winter terms that lasted a few months each. The school day lasted from 8am-4pm. The teachers usually boarded with local families. Cora Jenkins was one of her favorite early teachers. Her teachers were educated at Benedict, etc. Her grandfather was instrumental in the establishment of the Seneca Institute. The Institute gathered perhaps three to four hundred students from SC and neighboring states. Seneca Institute became Seneca Junior College when a two-year college was added onto the high school. Neither her parents nor her grandparents attended school. All of the girls in her family attended colleges such as Benedict, Spellman, and Morris. Her brother Fletcher attended a trade school at Morris before World War I interrupted his studies. Her parents made sure that books, magazines, and newspapers were available to the family to read. There was not much "black history" taught at her school, other than issues involving the Underground Railroad and Booker T. Washington. She met George Washington Carver when he spoke at the Seneca Institute.

18:30--Mrs. Childers' father was a freemason. He attained the rank of Worshipful Master while attending Blue Ridge Lodge no. 95 in Westminster, SC. Although freemasons were secretive, they made many positive contributions to the community.

20:12--Politics--her father voted, and was quite politically involved. He would often delight in arguments over party affiliations and issues of the day. He would encourage as many as possible to get registered to vote.

27:00--The subject of the treatment of slaves by whites is brought up. Mrs. Childers states that her older relatives rarely talked about their treatment, but one story of cruelty did stick in Mrs. Childers mind. On the weekends--for fun--whites would place a black individual in a barrel, roll it down a hill, and attempt to strike the individual on the face as he rolled by.

30:28--Her family never had any trouble with local law enforcement.

31:41--Audio ends.

Cassette 3

Side 1

00:35--Race--mulattos were often treated differently; it was difficult for this community to truly identify themselves as either white or black. There is some Native American blood in her family, and her husband's family was quite racially mixed with whites.

8:50--Her family often went to Anderson in order to attend the County Fair. They traveled by horse and buggy. Mrs. Childers describes events at the Fair.

11:39--Celebrations, holidays, and entertainment in the black community--during Fourth of July festivities people shot fireworks, played baseball, and attended picnics and dances. During Christmas, a friend of the family would dress up as Santa Claus to surprise the children. Local churches would sponsor plays. Birthdays were recognized and celebrated. Black and white children played together. Mrs. Childers names various childhood games, and recites rhymes and songs that were popular.

27:17--Her sister Lulabell was the first black woman in Oconee County to be named a Home Demonstration Agent. She had lived in Washington, DC, and during the Depression was appointed to the position by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. She taught home economics classes and demonstrated ways to preserve food.

29:00--On a follow-up question, Harrell asks the name of the local casket maker. He was Jim Singleton, a local carpenter skilled at building houses, caskets, and baskets.

31:41--Audio ends.

Cassette 3

Side 2

00:14--Mrs. Childers describes the process of making homemade butter.

2:05--Her mother's favorite hobbies were cooking and sewing.

2:44--She mentions some of her favorite relatives and her happiest childhood memories.

5:30--She shares her feelings on growing up as a black in the South. She really didn't think much about it until she was around ten years old. It was at this time that she started asking questions why whites had certain advantages such as riding on a bus to school as opposed to walking, etc.

10:14--If she could have changed anything about her life, she would have rather lived in a place where there were better opportunities for blacks.

12:00--Mrs. Childers taught school for 36 years in such schools as Oakway, Westminster, and Fairplay. She retired in 1966.

18:30--She was married in March of 1928.

19:00--She and her husband bought 14 acres of land for $300 and built a house on the property.

26:45--Mrs. Childers gives closing remarks.

28:08--Harrell thanks her for the interview.

28:14--Audio ends.