- Collection:
- Fairfield High School Oral History Collection
- Title:
- Margaret Holmes
- Contributor to Resource:
- Mary Alexander
- Publisher:
- Columbia, S.C. : University of South Carolina. Department of Oral History, University Libraries
- Date of Original:
- 2017-10-26
- Subject:
- Fairfield High School (Fairfield, S.C.)--Alumni and alumnae--Interviews
Students--South Carolina--Fairfield County (S.C.)--Social life and customs
Segregation in education--South Carolina--History - Location:
- United States, South Carolina, Fairfield County, 34.39511, -81.12123
- Medium:
- oral histories (literary works)
- Type:
- Sound
- Format:
- audio/mp3
- Description:
- Margaret Holmes was born in Winnsboro, South Carolina, spent several years in Maryland where her parents moved the family due to better job opportunities as well as to escape the kind of racism they faced in the segregated south. When Margaret was seven years old, the family moved back to Fairfield County, where the children attended public schools, including Fairfield High School. Margaret remembers with great fondness, her teachers at the school, and her classmates. She is involved in the preservation efforts for the building that housed her former high school. This oral history interview with Margaret Holmes on October 26, 2017 includes discussion of growing up in Winnsboro, South Carolina, attending Fairfield High School, segregation as a child, Mt. Zion School in Winnsboro, integration of Fairfield County Schools, becoming the first black secretary at Fairfield High School, growing up in a close-knit community, the teachers at Fairfield High School, stories of ancestors who could 'pass' in white society, the family dynamic in her home while she was growing up, her parents' education and stories of their growing up in Fairfield County, jobs her parents held while she was growing up, the differences in segregation in rural vs urban settings (Winnsboro v. Columbia, South Carolina), the over-crowding of schools leading to half-days for African American students, the Summer Community Organization for Political Education project (SCOPE), moving to Washington D.C., her son's experiences with education in Washington D.C., her job opportunities and employment in the D.C. area in government and education, the differences in Winnsboro from the time she left for D.C. to the time she returned, the driving force behind the success of her and her classmates, andher thoughts on moving forward with race relations in the future.
- Metadata URL:
- https://digital.library.sc.edu/exhibits/fairfieldhighschool/margaret-holmes
- Language:
- eng
- Additional Rights Information:
- 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.
- Extent:
- 1:03:46
- Original Collection:
- Accession # EDLP 012
Fairfield High School Oral History Collection - Contributing Institution:
- South Caroliniana Library
- Rights:
-
