schoolbus

Report on the condition of schools.

Among other things, a committee formed to inspect county property reported on the condition of schools. Most were found to be in good condition, but, unsurprisingly, schools serving black students had more serious deficits.

The most common problems were lack of heat shields under heaters, broken window panes, leaky roofs, crumbling pillars, and “bad” toilets. Saratoga School was in good condition, and Penders was very good. On the other hand, Wilson High School was crowded and, at Lover’s Lane, the “building [was] about to fall down” and had “no water, no toilet.”

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Wilson Daily Times, 11 February 1933.

The article went on to report the condition of the school system’s 41 buses, which delivered students to and from ten schools across the county — all serving white students. Black children walked to school in rain, snow, and blazing heat — often to the jeers and curses of their counterparts riding past.

Begrudgingly, Wilson County schools get two more buses.

Per the 17 February 1941 Greensboro Daily News, when confronted with the drastic overcrowding of rural school buses for Black children, a Wilson County commissioner snapped that they were only “going to school in large numbers because of the novelty of the new school, but this will wear off in a month or two and when it does attendance will decrease.”

A month later, though:

Greensboro Daily News, 16 March 1941.

Appeal for bus for Daniel Hill.

Wilson Daily Times, 16 October 1948.

Daniel Hill parents formed Daniel Hill Educational Club in September 1948 and by December 1949 were able to buy a school bus for the community’s children.

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  • Moses Haskins — in the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 405 West Spruce Street, Moses Haskins, 42, “works on the machines” at tobacco redrying plant; wife Minnie W., 41, babysitting; daughter Gloria, 16; daughter Doris H. Jones, 24.
  • Mattie Randolph — in the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 405 West Spruce Street, Paul Randolph, 51, automobile dealer mechanic; wife Mattie B., 50, practical nurse in private home; and daughter Betty L., 9.
  • Best Stewart — in the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 407 West Spruce Street, retail grocery store proprietor Best Stewart, 39; wife Marjorie F., 32, sales lady in retail grocery; children Best Jr., 12, James A., 10, Elemia, 7, Shirley A., 4, Jimmy L., 3, and Constance B., 1; and mother Ellen McCoy Best, 85, widow.
  • William Powell — in the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 405 Warren Street, William Powell, 61, janitor in body factory; wife Margaret, 45; and children Willie M., 16, babysitting, Joe L., 14, William T., 10, Betty J., 9, Jessie G., 7, James A., 5, Margaret A., 4, and Maud R., 2.
  • Jesse Stewart — in the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 701 Walnut Street, Edna Stewart, 52, domestic worker; nephew Jessie, 37, retail grocery store proprietor; and niece Annie, 35, grocery store saleswoman.
  • Rev. J.L. Murphy
  • L.H. Lewis