Progress School - 8th Grade Class - 1950s

Progress High School was located in Lincoln County, Mississippi, near the Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Seated: Fred Henry Roberts, Lillie Mae Truvillion, Donis Cain, Mary Louise Henderson, Emma Jean Littleton, Augustine Adams, Anita Doris Beard

Second Row: Dorothy Jean Robinson, Mary Frances McCall, Augustine Hunter, Sadie Mae Collins, Mary Bryant, J B Littleton, Elnore Merchant, Clara Mae Roundtree

Third Row: Lonnie B Shannon, Maxie Johnson, J E Robinson, James Edward Truvillion, John Robinson, Alford Lee Lloyd, Clarence Tillman, Jessie B Adams

Teacher: Mrs Sophie Paige. She was the mother of Roderick Paige, Secretary of Education under President George W Bush's administration.

Photograph Courtesy of Nathaniel Thomas
Thank you, Eddie Beard, for identifying the members of this class

Preston Franklin Flowers Educator

Preston "Prett" was born between 1872 and 1875 to George and Martha Allen Flowers in Lincoln County, Mississippi. He received his BA degree from Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He was teacher and principal at Search Light School, a school sponsored by the Galilee AME Church. He, also, taught and was principal of other schools in Lincoln County.

Cousins remember him well. He taught the regular curriculum and he also taught music. He was a gifted singer and pianist. Cousins remember him lodging in the homes of his students. He was a hearty eater and the families would prepare a lunch for him to take the next morning.

He died July 20, 1971, and is buried at the Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Beloved Father
Preston F Flowers
Died
July 20, 1971
Its but the casket lies here. The gem that filled it sparkles yet.
Ebenezer AME Church Cemetery

Wordless Wednesday - Poplar Hill School

The school was established about 1880, classes first held in the Poplar Hill African Methodist Episcopal Church. The two room school was built about 1923.

Read more about the school's history and see additional pictures here.
Photograph courtesy of Toni Stewart.

Sisters Teachers

Sisters Alice Markham Marshall b. 1891, and Mattie Markham Vaughn b. 1892, taught school in rural Lincoln County, Mississippi. Alice's teaching career ended when she married in her late 30s. She wanted to return but a working wife was not the plans of her husband. Mattie continue to teach until the eight babies started arriving in rapid succession.

Photograph courtesy of Linda Rudd.

Mount Pisgah AME Church

Although the above picture is not the original building, Mount Pisgah AME Church was one of many African Methodist Episcopal Churches that educated African American children in Caseyville, a rural community in Lincoln County, Mississippi.

A worker of the Works Progress Administration, WPA, described the building as a small unpainted building with a seating capacity of fifty people, and the church was supported entirely by efforts of the membership. According to this record, the church was established about 1872.

The church school was one of the first schools Cousin Allie Moncrief attended.

Photograph courtesy of Cousin Nathaniel Thomas.

First Day of School - 1916

Allie and John Henry Moncrief
Cousin Allie Markham Moncrief started school when she was four years old at the Mount Carmel African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1916. She remembers her first day of school well. Her mother had taught her to memorize the alphabet which she could not identify. Once the teacher cousin Ollie Hilliard McClain discovered Allie could not identify her alphabets, she requested Allie stay inside during dinner recess. Allie disobeyed, eager to eat her dinner of spare ribs, biscuits, cookies, and sweet potatoes. Once Miss Ollie discovered Allie was missing, she called her back. Crying, snot running, Allie obeyed and learned to identify her alphabets to the satisfaction of her teacher. She did eat her dinner after the other children had returned to the class.

Allie's received her first eight years of schooling in one room churches, Mount Carmel, Mount Pisgah and the Galilee sponsored Search Light one room school. All of the churches were African Methodist Episcopal Churches.

Mount Carmel AME Church no longer exists. The church cemetery is where Allie's first teacher Ollie McClain is buried.

Photograph courtesy of Allie Markham Moncrief

Allie's Education - Getting the Sheep Skin

Cousin Allie received all the education she could in Caseyville. She finished the 8th grade, repeating the grade twice, not from necessity but because she loved school. Allie wanted more education, she knew she didn’t want to stare behind the rump of a mule for a good portion of her life. Anxious to leave the “sticks of Caseyville,” she asked her father for his prayers and his permission because that was all he had to give.

Getting those eight years was difficult. Allie was sickly, sometimes too ill to attend school. Her father had asthma which got worse the older he became. Allie and her siblings had to help with the farm duties which contributed to them not being able to regularly attend school. They persevered. All of her siblings completed high school with the exception of one brother who left school to financially support the family. Two out of the seven obtained master degrees.

After receiving her father’s prayers and permission, Allie moved to the nearest town with a high school, Brookhaven, MS, where she lived with her Uncle Willie and Aunt-Cousin Fredonia, sharing a bed with their daughters Joyce and Willie Mae. Allie would arise every morning to bake a pan of biscuits, fry meat and put on hot coffee. Aunt Fredonia “took in laundry” and Allie would help Fredonia, earning an occasional 25 cents. She was not asked to perform these chores. She came with no money to pay for their hospitality, so, this was her way to give back.

Offered a job to do housekeeping and cooking for a family who had a general store, Allie accepted the position having spent two years with her family. Although it was in the sewing room, Allie had a bed of her own. She was pleased.

The family she worked for was kind to her; they provided what her family could not. The lady of the house would give her “piece goods.” Allie would take the fabrics to her sister Evie who was an excellent seamstress. The pieces of fabrics would be turned into slips, underwear, blouses and skirts. The family not only provided a job, shelter and clothing but they also encourage her to continue with her education.

Allie graduated from high school during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. She would continue on to receive two years of college education through a program of FDR.

Allie’s story continues…

Allie's Birth