Reginald Scott

INTERVIEWER: [00:00] We’re going to be— Okay (mic noises) this is going to be an interview. Could you state your name, please?

SCOTT: Reginald Scott. 

INTERVIEWER: [00:15] Well, I want to thank you for doing this interview. I just need to ask you, what years did you go to this school? (pause) A lot of them I can probably help you out with, because I knew you were here the first year it opened up.

SCOTT: Yeah, I was here the first year it ever opened up. Yeah. 

INTERVIEWER: 1959, yeah.

SCOTT: 1959.

INTERVIEWER: 1959. Until you went to Burley.

SCOTT: Until I went to Burley, yes. Great day, man. I went to Burley in ’67. 

INTERVIEWER: [00:50] No, you had to be at Burley—You graduated from Burley, didn’t you? 

SCOTT: Yeah, about—(thump) Man. I failed a few times, but yeah, ’67, about ’67—‘67, yeah.

INTERVIEWER: [01:13] Mm-hm. Okay. All right. So who was the principal when you were here? 

SCOTT: Mr. Gant.

INTERVIEWER: [01:25] Yeah. You remember that first principal, though?

SCOTT: Mr. Faulkner was the first principal when I was here, yeah. Faulkner. 

INTERVIEWER: [01:35] What do you remember about Mr. Gant?

SCOTT: (laughs) He was a hard man, I know that. Yeah, he was a hard man. He didn’t play, man.

INTERVIEWER: He did not.

SCOTT: Yeah. 

INTERVIEWER: [01:54] So what was it like for you to go to school here? 

SCOTT: It was good. Great. You know, I enjoyed it. Back then, I figured they—They really tried to do their job. They worked with the kids. Yes. Which was a good thing.

INTERVIEWER: [02:16] Were they different than what they do now?

SCOTT: Yes. Different, because they made sure you—made sure you got your learning. And then sometimes—I never had a day off. (thumping) They gave you homework, you better bring that homework in. You better bring that homework in. And they have you reading. And they taught you how to read, and if you get to some word you don’t know—sometimes they’ll maybe crack you on your hand to make sure you recall that word. (laughs) To make sure you pronounce that word. Yes.

INTERVIEWER: Mm. That’s true.

SCOTT: Yes, yes. Yes, they taught. They definitely taught. 

INTERVIEWER: [03:05] Any particular teachers you remember? 

SCOTT: Starting out from just Yancey? Or back to the old school? I started at that old school there, before the buildings, before the buildings—

INTERVIEWER: [03:19] What was the old school like? 

SCOTT: The old school, it was the high school. That’s when I started out there, before they built this. And my first-grade teacher in the old school was Miss Walker. It was Miss Walker. And then my second-grade teacher was Miss Gardner, it was. She had a twin sister—only one Gardner, she was a Gardner. And then they had Miss Lee. Miss Lee, Miss Carter.

INTERVIEWER: I remember Miss Lee.

SCOTT: Miss Carter, you remember Miss Lee and Miss Carter? Miss Price—I know you remember Miss Price. 

INTERVIEWER: [04:00] Oh, Flossie?

SCOTT: Yeah! (laughter) 

INTERVIEWER: Yeah, okay.

SCOTT: And then Gene Hires. And they had another one from the north—she was a Sanders.

INTERVIEWER: [04:14] How many rooms were in the old school?

SCOTT: Well, we had the first grade and the second grade, but they had the big door, the divider—the big door that opened up. But they can divide the room if they want. First grade, second grade, third grade. Yes, seven: it went up to the seventh grade. 

INTERVIEWER: [04:36] And these all could be made into separate rooms? 

SCOTT: Yes, could all be made into separate rooms. It had these walls—they pulled these doors and they closed them off. It was seventh grade, went up to the seventh grade. 

INTERVIEWER: [04:53] And it gave you some privacy in those rooms?

SCOTT: Yes, privacy.

INTERVIEWER: [04:58] Where was the school located?

SCOTT: It was on the opposite side of this school, right where those trailers—right where they had some trailers, back there on the opposite side of the school. Because I remember they were building, they started building school on the opposite side of the old school. Because we were still going to the old school until they got this school built. Yes. Yes, I remember this.

INTERVIEWER: [05:29] How long did it take to build this one? 

SCOTT: Man. I’m not lying to you, I know—A year, a couple years. I don’t know.

INTERVIEW: [05:47] Do you remember why they built it? 

SCOTT: They built it because that school was old. It was old. They were burning coal. They heated it with coal, so they put it in the stove. So I guess they needed a change. 

INTERVIEWER: [06:11] When the times were kind of rough there.

SCOTT: The times were very rough. They were very rough, back then in the old days. Yeah, and that’s when they built the school, to get it more modern. 

INTERVIEWER: [06:23] So, do you remember what it was like the first year, the first day they opened up this building? How was it, since you were in the old building?

SCOTT: It was better than being in the old building. It was a new experience. We had the inside—Back in the old school, we had the outside bathroom. But in this school we had the inside. Yes. It was great. 

INTERVIEWER: [06:56] So you had the outhouses at the old school?

SCOTT: Yes. Yeah, at the old school. Yes. But then they moved them in here. Which was very great. 

INTERVIEW: [07:09] So this was better for sure.

SCOTT: Better, yes. Yes, yes.

INTERVIEWER: It was nice, a cafeteria and everything.

SCOTT: Cafeteria, nice and warm, with the electric heat. Nice and warm.

INTERVIEWER: [07:24] How did you get fed at the old school? 

SCOTT: Most kids brought their lunch in. Most kids brought their lunches to school. But they had a kitchen, a little kitchen, back there in the old school, and they served hot soup and crackers, stuff like that at the old school. But most kids brought their lunch. I remember my first-grade—I told you my first-grade teacher back there was Miss Walker, yeah.

INTERVIEWER: [07:53] So what grade were you in when the new school opened? (coughs)

SCOTT: Third.

INTERVIEWER: [07:58] You were in third grade? 

SCOTT: Third grade. I was in the third grade. Third or fourth, when the new school opened. 

INTERVIEWER: [08:06] That was Miss Lee?

SCOTT: Miss Lee was in third, and Miss Carter had the fourth. Yeah, Miss Lee.

INTERVIEWER: I remember that idea.

SCOTT: Yeah. She was—She was a hard teacher, too. Miss Lee, they—Like I said, those teachers back then, (thumping) they really worked with you to get you to learn. To get you to learn. They wanted to beat it in, to get you to learn. 

INTERVIEWER: [08:43] That was a good thing?

SCOTT: That was a good thing. A very good thing. Yes. 

INTERVIEWER: [08:51] Is that different from—?

SCOTT: From now, the way I see them teaching, to now.

INTERVIEWER: [08:59] You had kids that went to this school, too, didn’t you? 

SCOTT: My youngest son went to this school, but my other kids went to school in town. Yes.

INTERVIEWER: [09:10] And was the experience for them the same as what you went through? 

SCOTT: (thumping) My youngest son, who went to this school, he always give—Fannon, I think he had Fannon, Miss Hilson. I’m trying to think of what he had. But, him—He’ll come down and I’ll talk to him sometimes, and he’ll mention learning. He always gave Sister Ballentine and Sister Fannon. Big praying men, though. We’re talking about how they taught them, man. And they learned a lot from Fannon and Sister Ballentine.

INTERVIEWER: [10:01] So they were good teachers?

SCOTT: They were good teachers to them, yeah. Yeah.

INTERVIEWER: [10:10] How do you think the school was to the point—So you were here almost at the end, just before they integrated?

SCOTT: Right before it integrated, yeah. Yeah, right before. 

INTERVIEWER: [10:24] And do you think that changed the school any?

SCOTT: I think it did.

INTERVIEWER: [10:35] In what way? What do you think?

SCOTT: I think it changed the school, yeah. 

INTERVIEWER: [10:42] For the good? For the better—?

SCOTT: For the worse, I believe. I don’t think for the good, unh-hm.

INTERVIEWER: [10:47] Why do you think it’s worse? (pause) Did it have to do with the kids? Teachers? Education? 

SCOTT: I think it had more to do with the teachers than anything. Yes. 

INTERVIEWER: [11:09] But no particular thing you can peg on it? You just feel it was worse.

SCOTT: Yes. 

INTERVIEWER: [11:16] Hm. Okay. Any great big event that happened during this time that you were at Yancey that you can remember that stood out for you? (pause) Anything particular that you remember? Things we did? 

SCOTT: I really enjoyed when they had what they called May Day. 

INTERVIEWER: Ha! Okay. 

SCOTT: That was a big day, May Day. May Day was a big joyful time. When they had the May Day, we did everything! And the kids really enjoyed it. But see, and then they added them on, and that sort of faded out. They may have had May Day, but it wasn’t like it was back then. 

INTERVIEWER: [12:11] Does the community show up for May Day?

SCOTT: Oh! (huffs) Full. A lot of people showed up for May Day. That was the big day, the big time of the year, May Day. At the school, they all kind of came, played softball. It was amazing. Everybody looked forward to May Day. And the community, the community—man. A joyful time. Lasted all day long. (laughs)

INTERVIEWER: I remember that.

SCOTT: You remember that? Yes!

INTERVIEWER: [12:45] Mm-hm. Okay, you got any—Okay, do you think that segregation and integration of the school, there was a difference between the two times that there was? Do you think segregation was a bad time for the school? Or do you almost think after integration—you said it got worse. Was it because of the integration? Do you think that was—?

SCOTT: I think, I think a lot of the kids that—(thumping) I just don’t think the teachers, back when they integrated, I don’t think they were going to work with the kids the way they should. There was no pushing them to learn. It really didn’t—That’s my point, that’s the way I see it. Yes.

INTERVIEWER: [14:00] Okay, sounds good. All right. Got anything else that you remember? (pause) Hm?

SCOTT: (laughs) I remember that old Fleming, he—that Fleming.

INTERVIEWER: Oh, Lord. (laughter) 

SCOTT: You had no way to get over Fleming. No you didn’t!

INTERVIEWER: He had those three welded yardsticks—

SCOTT: Yeah, yardsticks taped together!

INTERVIEWER: Taped together.

SCOTT: Yes! Yes, sir! (laughs)

INTERVIEWER: I was telling him in the interview about that. 

SCOTT: Damn, he was going to bust you open, man!

INTERVIEWER: I always remember—I never forget—the definition of “theory.” 

SCOTT: This man—tall, big joker—coming out in the hall. Had heel taps all the way around his shoes, man, walking all (imitates hard clicking). That joker beat me one day, man. I had a ring on—I had a ring. The first two licks and your hand—the first two licks, your hand is numb. It’s numb. And he probably give you four or five licks, man, in your hand. But those first two (claps) licks, your hand is numb. The other licks he gave you, if it’s five, you hear him hitting it, but your hand is so numb you’re not going to feel it. So after he beat me, I was sitting there, I feel something tight on my finger. That joker had bent that ring up on my finger, man. (claps; laughs) Had bent it! 

INTERVIEWER: [15:59] Good dang. What did you do? 

SCOTT: Man, you didn’t have to do nothing! (laughs) He would beat the hell out of you.

INTERVIEWER: [16:10] Oh, he was just beating you for nothing? 

SCOTT: No, he didn’t beat me for nothing. What happened is somebody did for him to—He didn’t only beat me. (laughs) He’d beat the whole class of everyone. If he left out of that classroom—If he left out of that classroom and he said, “You’re supposed to be studying. You ain’t supposed to be fooling around and playing. You’re supposed to be studying.” And if he came back, and he heard noise in that classroom, he was going to beat the whole class. 

INTERVIEWER: It’s when he had that class in that trailer, too.

SCOTT: In that trailer. And he would beat the whole class, man. (laughs) That’s what I was saying, but he (unclear) That’s what I was saying. Those teachers back then, man, trying to beat that learning in you because you’ve got to learn. You can’t even fool around. They want you to learn. And what I liked about it, they knew there will come a time, as you go in life, that you are going to need that education. And they had it. They already got theirs, and now they’re teaching us to get it.

INTERVIEWER: That’s good.

SCOTT: Hm?

INTERVIEWER: That was good.

SCOTT: Yes. They were teaching us, building that—

INTERVIEWER: But it did hurt. You learned—

SCOTT: You learned! You better learn! (laughter) 

INTERVIEWER: You learned not to get hit. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Definitely. 

SCOTT: Yeah. That guy though. And, also I remember (unclear) If he hit on me, then, if he hit—See, sometimes the teachers, they have a little small meeting. Here’s the teachers, gym: we would have him during gym class. Outside, “Why didn’t you tell me he’s (unclear)” Or “Go ahead and take the class until I come out of this meeting.” That mean I had the kids doing jumping jacks. I had them working: I’m in charge. He let me be in charge, yes. I remember one evening, Benny Gain—do you remember Benny Gain?

INTERVIEWER: Mm-hm.

SCOTT: Little Benny Gain, (unclear) at him. I made the rest of the kids doing what I wanted them to do: jumping jacks, sides, drill, hop, all kind of exercises I gave them. Irving, he’s hardheaded, you know? Little Benny Gain, “Man, I ain’t got time for this.” He ran out to the other side of the school, talking to Mr. Curd. In the meantime, Mr. Fleming came outside having finished the meeting. And he looked around and he said, “Where’s Gain?” (laughs) I said, “He wouldn’t come; he’s behind the building somewhere.” And then right out (unclear), I was like “He’s was hiding behind the corner of the school.” He was supposed to be in line doing exercises. He got that yardstick, them feet, had that long—and he was in real trouble then: “Come out Alan!” He told Alan to bend over, told Irving to bend over, and when Irving bent over, he took that—(laughs) And hit him on the butt with that yardstick—“pow!” Went off like a rifle. (laughs) 

That joker took off, man. That pain made it like a bullet out of a gun, man. Bam! He was gone. And went behind the school, and there’s Gain. I didn’t see it, but anyway, Mr. Curd said Fleming came behind that. And Gain, he had a little—(laughs) He had a little razorblade in his hand, thinking he was going to do something to Fleming. Fleming grabbed that rascal—(laughing) Razorblade went one way and he went the other. And then he said to Mr. Curd (unclear) grab Gain, man. Threw him, “Go on right in that school!” Fleming didn’t play, man. You didn’t play with Fleming, man. (laughs)

INTERVIEWER: Uhn-hm. No.

SCOTT: But he would, but he—(thumping) Teaching the kid to be obedient. Teaching you: you got to do what you’re supposed to do. This ain’t no playing time. You’ve got to learn. You’ve got to learn. 

INTERVIEWER: You couldn’t do like that today. 

SCOTT: Huh?

INTERVIEWER: You couldn’t do like that today.

SCOTT: No, you can’t do it today because you’ll go to jail. (laughs) 

INTERVIEWER: That’s true.

SCOTT: You’ll go to jail. So you’ve got to learn. But it was nice, man. That’s a blessing, too.

INTERVIEWER: Indeed. Indeed, I remember him. He was—And I had to deal with him when I went to Scottsville at the end of the year. He was rough then. He couldn’t hit nobody then, but—

SCOTT: He just made you run. Yeah, you couldn’t hit them. 

INTERVIEWER: He was still rough though.

SCOTT: He was rough though. He was rough though. Yeah. He was rough, man.

INTERVIEWER: He was rough, yeah. 

SCOTT: Fleming, man. He’d been teaching there for a long time. He even has my son. Like less, but he even had our kids, man. 

INTERVIEWER: Mm-hm. Yeah, I went to his funeral. 

SCOTT: Yeah, I was there.

INTERVIEWER: Oh, okay.

SCOTT: I was there. Yeah. But no, man—(exhales)

INTERVIEWER: [21:49] Got anything else? 

SCOTT: That’s about it.

INTERVIEWER: It was really good, even though you know how mean he was, and I know my hand has hurt many times because of him, but I had a lot of respect for that man.

SCOTT: Respect. Respect, I had respect for him. I told him, though—I even told him when I’d seen him, my wife and I used to be at Walmart. I mean, I’d say—I’ve seen and say to him a few times in my years, and I told him, I said, “Man, I really appreciated you when I was in school, man. (thumping) Because I knew you were hard, but I knew what you were doing was trying to get us to learn. Because there comes a time you’re going to need it. And that’s what you did.” He said, “Oh, yeah, you all were so hardheaded!” (laughs) But he did tell me, he said to me—He told me, “But I’m going to tell you something. Of all of the guys in the class you really all turned out well.” That’s what he told me: “You turned out well.” I said, “Well, thank you.” Thank you. Man. (laughs) That’s what he told me when I’d seen him at Sam’s Club. He said, “You turned out real well.”

INTERVIEWER: That’s good.

SCOTT: Yes!

INTERVIEWER: (unclear)

SCOTT: I know.

INTERVIEWER: [23:26] Got anything else for me, sir?

SCOTT: That’s about it. 

INTERVIEWER: Okay. Well, thank you.

SCOTT: Thank you. Okay, bye. (mic noise)

INTERVIEWER: Okay, just closing out, this is an interview with Reginald Scott, on October 27th. And I thank you with talking with me on that pint, sir. 

SCOTT: Thank you. Thank you.

INTERVIEWER: All right. (mic noises)

END OF TAPE [23:51]