Hattie Brice, Thelmer Cook, & Mattie Squirewell
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@ University of South Carolina. Department of Oral History, University Libraries
Description
Hattie Brice, Thelmer Cook and Mattie Squirewell all attended Fairfield High School in Winnsboro, South Carolina. Hattie Brice's parents farmed, and she attended the University of South Carolina to pursue a career in nursing. Thelmer Cook served as principal of Geiger Elemtary School in Ridgeway, South Carolina and later became the first black magistrate in Fairfield since Reconstruction. Mattie Squirewell was a school dietician, her father a Baptist minister and sharecropper. This interview with Hattie Brice, Thelmer Cook, and Mattie Squirewell on October 26, 2017 includes discussion of growing up in Fairfield County, South Carolina, family recollections, attending segregated schools, societal segregation of public transportation, walking to school, a typical day at school, race relations in Fairfield County, Mattie Squirewell's house fire, race relations in South Carolina versus in the North, segregated movie theaters, societal changes since integration, and the importance of religion in the lives of the interviewees.
Sound
Oral Histories
Lee Hunt (Interviewer)
University of South Carolina. The transcript and audio are provided for individual research purposes only; for all other uses, including publication, reproduction, and quotation beyond fair use, permission must be obtained in writing from: Department of Oral History, University Libraries, University of South Carolina.