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Pearl High School as Family and Community “Revisionist historical accounts have shown that many of the school environments maintained by black educators during de jure segregation were ones in which institutional and interpersonal caring permeated the climate, despite the oppressive learning environments forced upon them by local school boards. With strong community support and professional educators whose training (by 1954) in many Southern states exceeded that of their white counterparts, African American children often were buffered in their schools from the negative societal messages about their potential and encouraged to believe in what they were capable of achieving.” |
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Throughout the conversations with Pearl High teachers and students from the 1940s, two very dominant themes came forth: “the place of the school as an integral part of the community” and “a unique wonderful spirit of the school.” Often mentioned was the general feeling that the teachers were neighbors and many taught the students' parents. Justine Pincham described how her parents would be aware of her day’s performance before she would return home from school. The school was connected to her home, “with a good relationship between our parents and the teachers who were their friends.” Parents were involved in their children’s education with teachers being in close contact as members of the community. |
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 Justine Pincham, a Pearl High graduate |
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Other teachers and students always noted that generations of families had been taught at Pearl High School and that teachers accepted in loco parentis roles within the communities—appearing at church, shops, cultural activities—while they were consciously attempting to ascertain the needs of their students. As is often mentioned within this context, a strong principal establishes the demeanour of a school, and Principal J. A. Galloway was consistently identified as the individual who set the tone for the Pearl community—establishing a sense of family and a strict-yet-caring atmosphere for the school. |
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“Mr. Galloway was a strict disciplinarian, but the students knew that he had a love and passion for them. He was strict and he would call parents immediately to come to get students. But the compassion was there.” Dorothy Gupton, teacher at Pearl High School from 1954-1961 “Mr. Galloway protected us; he allowed us to do our work." Callisto F. Bell who began teaching in 1938 “He taught math, lovingly and patiently, with fatherly characteristics.” Novella Bass, a 1927 Pearl High graduate |
 J. A. Galloway, Pearl High Principal |
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“He never told our children to put on their Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes. He would just mention that a group would be coming by. Mr. Galloway knew he could always find good order in my room so that whenever guests would come in unexpectedly, he would come in and throw open the door.” Callisto F. Bell |
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The Pearl High Community: Reflections from Teachers |
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“I began teaching at Pearl High in 1938 with teachers who taught me and I later taught with teachers who were my students; even later I taught with a younger wave of African American teachers, this was all before integration; I don’t quite know how to explain this, but all of the teachers seemed to have what we called the Pearl High Spirit. The teachers all seemed to grasp the spirit: the students got it and the teachers had it. I can’t put my finger on just what it was, but you knew it was there.” Callisto F. Bell |
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 Miss Ella Thompson, a 1928 graduate, who began teaching home economics at Pearl High School in 1950 |
“I enjoyed Pearl High School because of the peace that was there. I am allergic to confusion. Pearl was always so peaceful. The teachers were wonderful and we were sincerely interested in the students. You weren’t just a child; you were my child. I started teaching in 1950 and stayed there twenty-two and a half beautiful years. Students were students and teachers were teachers; peace was there. We worked together; we attended workshops. The faculty members did not have confusion among themselves; they were like my sisters and my brothers.” Ella Thompson |
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 Novella Bass |
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“Kids were respectful then, very respectful. They didn’t tell the teacher to wait or tell the principal that they would come in a while. They came immediately; and probably came with a bit of fear in the heart for having left the schools groups. Kids were very respectful then.” Novella Bass |
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“My time at Pearl High School was like a pearl, a pearl of all things. There was an atmosphere of family; we worked with parents who wanted more for their children than they had for themselves. There was a feeling of family-parents, teachers, and students. We were there to help each other and we were there to learn. We grew as teachers; we learned from each other. The teachers learned from the community and from the students we taught. So there was a total growth program always there. The years I spent at Pearl I would not trade for anything.” |
 Dorothy Gupton who began teaching at Pearl in 1954 |
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