Logan Erdner, student at South Park Middle School in South Park, Pa., took home the grand prize in this year's Eyewitness to History Contest. His interview with his grandfather about the Korean War appeared in issue 25 of Current Events. We received hundreds of interesting interviews—thank you to all who entered. Three students were this year’s runners-up: Ashlee Spencer of South Park, Pa., Benjamin Nace of Savage, Md., and Zachary Ayee of Cliffside Park, N.J. Here are their interviews.
First Steps
Ashlee Spencer of South Park, Pa., interviewed her Sunday school teacher, Elmore Lockley, about what it was like to be one of the first black students integrated into an all-white school in Virginia.
Ashlee Spencer: What
is your name?
Elmore Lockley: Elmore Lockley.
AS: What historical
event did you witness?
EL: The integration of the Yorktown Elementary School in my hometown, Yorktown, Virginia.
AS: Can you
elaborate?
EL: Before the 1960s, public schools in the South were segregated, which means that black [children] and white children did not attend school together. In fact, the Supreme Court decided Brown v. Board of Education in the 1950s, but it took a number of years for the schools in my state to comply. Therefore, my two older sisters attended segregated schools throughout their entire school years. However, I was the first in my family to attend a desegregated school.
AS: What year did
you enter the desegregated classroom?
EL: Sixth grade.
AS: What do you
remember about the first five grades when you were in a segregated school?
EL: I remember that
the school was small and crowded but the teachers were kind and lived in my
community. Therefore, they knew my mother and father and had no trouble
correcting children. I remember that the principal seemed overworked and always
concerned about the building and the lack of books and other supplies. We used
to ride the school bus and pass by the “white school” and wonder why we didn’t
have the same playground equipment or the same paved sidewalks.
AS: How did the
Yorktown Elementary School become desegregated?
EL: The Yorktown local NAACP [National Association for the Advancement of Colored People] were asked by the white town leaders to carefully select six “colored” girls and three “colored” boys who were well behaved to attend the white elementary school in 1966.
AS: How were you
chosen?
EL: My parents told me that members of the NAACP came to our home one evening and asked my parents if their son, “junior,” would be willing to attend Yorktown Elementary in the fall and represent our community. They were proud to help further the cause of equal education for all children and immediately said yes.
AS: How did you feel
about being chosen?
EL: I had mixed feelings. I knew I would miss going to the sixth grade with my other black friends. I also was scared of the new experience of attending a white school, but I did not want to disappoint my parents, so I kept most of my negative feelings to myself.
AS: What was the
first day of school like in Yorktown Elementary?
EL: All the teachers were friendly, and they easily remembered my first name. Most of the white students simply stared at me and the other black students. During recess and lunch, all of the black students stayed together. Unfortunately, we were not able to sit together during class. My first negative incident occurred when I reached down for my books, which were under my desk, and a white student put his foot on my head. My first reaction was to hit him, but I remembered my pledge to my parents to be good in school. So instead I asked the white student why did he place his foot on my head. He said because he thought it was a Brillo pad. I did not report this to the teacher because I did not want to get in trouble.
AS: How did you
become friends with white students?
EL: In one of my classes, I became friends with the student who sat in front of me. He then invited me to sit with him and his white friends during the lunch period. I was the first black to sit with white students during lunch. None of the white students seemed to mind, but the teachers in the lunchroom were visibly alarmed and wanted to know why I was sitting with white students. To my white friends’ credit, they spoke up and said that they invited me to sit with them. It was the first time that I truly felt welcomed at the school.
AS: How were your
grades?
EL: All of my subjects were very difficult. As a result, I had to spend many hours doing homework, and at times I felt that I was missing out on having fun. Toward the middle of the school year, I excelled in all subjects.
AS: What made your
experience unique to you?
EL: I had the opportunity to answer a lot of questions from the white students about what it means to be black. The white students became very interested in my home life, church life, and community. At times I felt like the black expert on all subjects.
Learn more about desegregation in the United States.
Photo: African American girls head to a newly integrated school in September 1960 (Ed Clark/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)
Space Race
Benjamin Nace of Savage, Md., interviewed Archie Ashley, who tested key equipment during the space race, an intensely competitive period between the United States and the Soviet Union to make achievements in space. Ashley worked on an important centrifuge—a machine that simulates rocket launches. Here is Benjamin’s interview.
Benjamin Nace: Where
were you born?
Archie Ashley: In Edenton, North Carolina.
BN: When and why did
you join the Navy?
AA: At that time, it was World War II, and it seemed the thing to do. So I joined the Navy and went to boot camp in San Diego, California. It’s what I wanted to do.
BN: How did you get
involved in the space program?
AA: In the Navy, I
was in the medical core and went through aviation medical school. As soon as
the space program began, we opened the human centrifuge at Johnsville, Pennsylvania. At that time, it was the largest centrifuge in the world. It was built
expressly to train the Mercury, Apollo, and Gemini astronauts.
BN: What years were
you involved in the space program?
AA: From 1951 to 1963.
BN: What did you do?
AA: I was the same size as [astronaut] Gus Grissom, and I ran all of his programs before he showed up at the centrifuge, getting all the bugs out of the system. When he showed up, all he had to do was ride it, and then tell us how it felt.
BN: How did you feel
when you learned about the launch of Sputnik?
AA: Like everyone else in the space program: We were way behind.
BN: How did you feel
when Alan Shepard and John Glenn were
launched?
AA: Ecstatic! I knew both of them, and they had a thing going about who would be the first [American] in space.
BN: What is your
most memorable moment with the space program?
AA: Surviving riding the centrifuge prior to the astronauts. We rode it sometimes for 24 hours a day. Other days we’d make one run, but it was well worthwhile.
BN: Which astronauts did you meet?
AA: All the Mercury Seven, all of the Gemini, and most of the Apollo astronauts.
BN: Of all of the
astronauts that you met, which was your favorite and why?
AA: John Glenn,
because he was a gentleman.
Learn more about the Johnsville centrifuge.
Photo: An astronaut gets out of a machine that simulates rocket launches (Bettmann Corbis)
My Interview With Omaira Hernandez
Zachary Ayee of Cliffside Park, N.J., interviewed his grandmother about what it was like to live through the tumult of the Cuban Revolution of 1959, when Cuba became a Communist country. Here’s Zachary’s winning interview.
Zachary Ayee: What
is your name?
Omaira Hernandez: My name is Omaira Hernandez.
ZA: Where were you
born?
OH: I was born in San Nicolás de Bari, provincia de Habana, Cuba.
ZA: How long did you
live there?
OH: I lived there for 34 years.
ZA: Which event of
the Cuban Revolution did you witness?
OH: I saw the policemen and town officials in San Nicholás change on July 26.
ZA: How did this
event change your life?
OH: I was a sixth-grade teacher. Everything I taught changed terribly. All the teachers had to talk about Castro and the Revolution. I was able to resign from teaching because I had a baby. … My husband was taken out of his job because he wanted to go to the United States.
ZA: How did your
life in Cuba change after the Revolution?
OH: Castro became
the owner of every industry and every business. No one owned anything. On TV,
there were only programs about Castro and the Revolution. Before the
Revolution, my family employed people to cook, clean, and shop. This stopped.
Two of my brothers left Cuba to go to the United States. One sister stayed in
Cuba because she loved life there and didn’t have a problem with the
government.
ZA: Did you support
the Revolution?
OH: No! Why? I don’t like Castro and how he ruled the country.
ZA: Did anybody in your family lose property or possessions after the Revolution?
OH: My father lost two farms and three houses. He only had his own house that he lived in and the government could take at any time. No one owned anything.
ZA: How did the
Revolution change the country’s economy?
OH: The value of Cuban money changed. The banks only gave you 80 cents for every one dollar. Food was rationed.
ZA: Why did you
decide to leave Cuba and migrate to the United States?
OH: I wanted to live in freedom—free to travel when I wanted to, free to speak about anything, including criticizing the government.
ZA: Was it difficult
to leave Cuba?
OH: Yes. We were a
family of four, but we could only take one suitcase when we got permission to
leave. We couldn’t take any furniture or money. We could not take any
silverware, crockery, or paintings. My baby was sick, and I left the
prescription at home and wasn’t allowed to go back and get it.
ZA: Would you ever go back to Cuba?
OH: No, because I don’t want to be restricted in traveling about Cuba. I would be afraid to speak freely. The government [of Cuba] does not like people who migrated to the United States, and I might not be able to leave freely.
Learn more about the Cuban Revolution.
Photo: Fidel Castro waves to a crowd during the Cuban Revolution of 1959 (Rolls Press/Popperfoto/Getty Images)
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