Williams, Lucille, September 25, 1984
Scope and Contents
The Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture Oral History Project contains 44 oral history interviews arranged in three series based on the corresponding project or scope of the oral histories. The majority of the oral histories were conducted or coordinated by Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture members with the exception of Phase 2 of the Avery Normal Institute Oral History Project which was conducted by the Avery Research Center. Within each series, the oral histories are arranged alphabetically by last name. Greater details about the contents of each oral history can be found at the file level abstract of each interview. Each oral history, when available, includes a transcript and any supporting documentation like questions, notes, tape logs, and interview release forms. Transcripts do not currently exist for every interview and work to create them is ongoing.
Series I: Avery Normal Institute Oral History Project, 1980-1996 contains oral histories with former students, teachers, principals, and community members of the Avery Normal Institute discussing their attendance at the school including classes, teachers, extracurricular activities as well as perceptions of the school in the larger African American Charleston community and perceived reasons for why the school was closed. 12 of these oral histories are accessible on the Lowcountry Digital Library including the interviews with Ruby Cornwell, Julia Craft DeCosta, Marcellus Forrest, Dr. Joseph Hoffman, Felder Hutchinson, Anna D. Kelly, Louise Mouzon, Peter Poinsette, and both interviews with J. Michael Graves and Eugene C. Hunt.
Series II: Laing School oral histories, 1981 contains two oral histories with former students of the Laing School in which they discuss their time attending the school, their lives after graduation, and their impressions of the Avery Normal Institute.
Series III: Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture oral histories, 1983-1995 contains seven oral histories with members of the Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture discussing the founding of the organization and its grassroots efforts to acquire and preserve the Avery Normal Institute school buildings. There are also oral histories in this series with former students of the Avery Normal Institute and Immaculate Conception discussing their attendance at both institutions.
Dates
- Creation: September 25, 1984
Creator
- From the Collection: Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture (Organization)
Access Restrictions
There are no restrictions to this collection; however, a cassette player is required to listen to the audiocassette tapes. A cassette player will be made available to researchers in our reading room.
Full Extent
From the Collection: .834 linear feet (2 Hollinger boxes, 79 audiocassettes, and 27.7 gigabytes (audio and transcripts))
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Abstract
Lucille Williams (1918-?), a native Charlestonian, attended Immaculate Conception School before she enrolled at Avery in 1935. In the beginning of the interview, Williams recounts her family history. Following in her mother’s footsteps, who was also a former Averyite and teacher, Williams worked at a three-teacher school in Dorchester County after completing Avery’s normal program in 1938. She recalls several subjects she took at Avery, as well as being taught by Mr. Charles H. Nicholas and William E. Bluford. In 1941, the Jenkins Orphanage employed her for a year before she left to attend Agricultural and Technical College in Greensboro, NC where she received her B.A. in 1944. Williams then elaborates on how she obtained a position at Avery with the help of Geneva P. Singleton to teach in the kindergarten and lower grades. She was later shifted as Avery shed its lower grades under principal John F. Potts in the late ‘40s. The interview also discusses Avery’s curricula requirements, such as the rhetoricals. Williams refers to several of Avery’s cultural programs as well as the importance of teaching African American History. The second part of the interview focuses in depth on the transition of Avery’s students and faculty to Burke High School upon Avery’s closing in 1954. Williams mentions several difficulties of integrating the student body with varying socio-demographic backgrounds and the pre-existing rivalry between the two schools. Williams stayed at Burke until her retirement in 1976. The interview then inquires about the distinction and discrimination within Charleston’s African American community between light- and dark-skinned folks. Lastly, Williams recalls the involvement of several former Averyites in the Civil Rights Movement, in particular Alfred Frazier.
The oral history is conducted by Dr. Edmund Drago.
Repository Details
Part of the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture Repository
125 Bull Street
Charleston South Carolina 29424 United States
843-953-7608
averyresearchcenter@cofc.edu