- Collection:
- Fairfield High School Oral History Collection
- Title:
- Willie E. Thompson
- Contributor to Resource:
- Shelley Dempsey
- 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:
- Willie Earl Thompson was born in Winnsboro, South Carolina in 1933. He started school in rural Fairfield County Schools, which he referred to as 'country schools', and later attended Fairfield High School. Willie remembers instances of racism, both during his school years as well as later, when he was an adult, due to segregation in the south, and he also recounts Winnsboro from the 1950s to today, and the changes that have occurred in the county. This oral history interview with Willie E. Thompson on October 26, 2017 includes discussion of growing up in Ridgeway, South Carolina during segregation, educational experiences, students dropping out of school to go to work or join the Army during World War II, parents moving their families North for better opportunities, school integration during his junior and senior years of high school, not being able to participate in after-school activities, going back to college on the G.I. Bill, race relations in the county during the 1970s, the movie theater in Winnsboro closing after integration, V.C. Summer Nuclear Plant, concern for this generation of black youth in regard to education, and his feelings when he walks around his old school.
- Metadata URL:
- https://digital.library.sc.edu/exhibits/fairfieldhighschool/willie-e-thompson
- 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:
- 1:08:20
- Original Collection:
- Accession # EDLP 026
Fairfield High School Oral History Collection - Contributing Institution:
- South Caroliniana Library
- Rights:
-
