The Cost of Crossing the Color Barrier
Hattie Humphrey wanted the summer of 1965 to last forever. And in some ways it has; it remains vivid in her mind. Humphrey was 17 and spending time in Chicago with her cousins.
“I was just having fun out everyday in the parks. We went to the wax museum, amusement parks; stuff like that,” Humphrey said.
Humphrey, now 71, remembers the life-like wax figure of Al Capone, trips on the L, and buses that took her back and forth to her aunt and uncle’s home on 81st street in Chicago.
“We were used to one bus, but this bus was running all day long. So we could go wherever we wanted to. I enjoyed it,” Humphrey said.
As the summer of 1965 continued into July, Humphrey had to face the reality of returning home to West Tennessee when her mother called.
“She told me I needed to come home so I could go to school. And I convinced her that I could go to South Side. I convinced her that that’s what I wanted to do,” Humphrey said.
Although Humphrey had lived in Bemis the majority of her life; less than a mile from South Side High School, she had to ride a bus 13 miles in the opposite direction to attend East High School. More than a decade after the United States Supreme Court had ruled racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional, Madison County still operated totally separate high schools for whites and African-American students at that time. The 1965-1966 school year was the first time African-American students in Bemis were allowed to attend the high school in their neighborhood.
South Side’s fall semester began five weeks later than East’s, so Humphrey’s summer in Chicago lasted a little longer.
“I know the other girls at East High kept telling us that we shouldn’t go because it was our senior year. But, you know, we went on anyway,” Humphrey said.
Humphrey, along with Minnie Pearson, Joyce McKnuckles, Shirley Wilbourn, and Gail “Smithe” Hill were among the first black students to ever attend South Side High School. Four African-American underclassmen joined them that year.
“We had to cross that busy highway and there were boys waiting on us,” McKnuckles recalls.
“We went past some of the young men and they folded together to block us; to keep us from coming through the door. This one teacher came out, and another teacher came out and said, ‘bust this up’,” McKnuckles said.
The boys dispersed.
“The first day was terrible,” Humphrey said.
This was not the first time Humphrey had attended school with white people. She had attended Central Elementary School in Bisbee, Arizona while her father was stationed in Cochise County with the US Army in 1958. The public school system was already integrated there. Humphrey said she had classes with whites, Mexicans, and other African-American children.
“They didn’t think nothing [of it],” said Humphrey.
Crossing the color barrier back home in Tennessee continued to be an unpleasant experience for Humphrey and her four friends.
“We didn’t get on any clubs or anything. I know a lot of things we should have done when you think back on it. When they told us we couldn’t do this or that, to know why we can’t, you know. But we had just took them at their word,” Humphrey said.
“They say if you can turn back the hands of time, there’s a lot of things I would have said,” Humphrey said.
Fifty-five years later Humphrey and McKnuckle still remember many of the names and faces of their classmates; those that made them feel welcome and those that made them regret leaving East High.
“That’s the one that stood in the school and told us we thought we was Abraham Lincoln’s children,” Humphrey said while looking at photos from the 1966 South Side High School yearbook.
“I remember her. Now she’s a very nice girl. She would have to sneak, but she would talk to us. Remember it was 1965 and they weren’t allowed to be around black kids,” McKnuckles said.
“After we made up our mind to go there, we tried to make the best of it,” Humphrey said.
McKnuckle said she attempted to return to East High near the end of that first semester, but the staff there told her she could not return because she was now registered in a different zone.
“I think they held it against us,” McKnuckles said.
More hurtful than any particular thing that was said to Humphrey is the fact that only one of the five African-American seniors at South Side that first year was allowed to graduate. Many of them had already purchased class rings, cap and gowns, and had taken their senior photos for the yearbook. Humphrey was told at graduation practice.
“Mr. Only, [the principal] he went to Mrs. Neisler and he said, ‘How could she make this on her test and not graduate?’ And how is it that she passed everybody else's class except her? And she said I missed too many days out of school,” Humphrey said.
As the eldest of 11 children, Humphrey recalls missing days from school to help her mother with the children, and to pick cotton - an activity that still provided a significant source of income for poorer families in Bemis in the 1960’s.
“This is how we made our living,” Humphrey said.
After returning to Chicago for a brief period, Humphrey returned home to Bemis and worked in manufacturing at International Paper.
“I didn’t graduate, I hate I didn’t. My life still turned out pretty good,” Humphrey said.
The difficult process of desegregation continued in Madison County through the 1970’s. East High is now East Elementary school. And by 1991 each of Humphrey’s six children would go on to attend South Side High School and graduate after participating in clubs and sports on campus.
“I thought about that a many days. Why didn’t I go back to the East?” Humphrey wonders.
McKnuckles, now 71, hasn’t been back at South Side since being told by the principal she wouldn’t graduate. Minnie Pearson, who now lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is the only African-American included on the 1966 class composite that hangs in the West Campus hallway at the school. Gail Hill resides in Illinois.
“All at once they told us everything was wrong. They told us we were failing. The day he told me I was falsified, I felt no need to go back,” McKnuckles said.
McKnuckles earned a certificate in welding in the decade following her experience at South Side and worked for several local manufacturers - including Consolidated Aluminum and Proctor and Gamble. She said she was never asked if she had a high school diploma.
“For fifty-five years we have prayed on this and talked about this. That one day it would come to the light. How can you say you had one black girl up there when you have five. I think we deserve our diplomas, too. I might be dead and gone, but watch God. He’ll do it,” McKnuckles said.
On Friday, February 28, 2020, the student body, staff, and guests of South Side High School honored the five girls who were the first African Americans seniors to attend South Side High School in 1965-1966. Tony White, deputy mayor of Madison County, presented a proclamation from Madison County Mayor Jimmy Harris stating that, February 28, 2020 is "Trailblazers of Freedom Day," in honor of those African-Americans who crossed the color barrier to attend their local school, South Side High School, in 1965. McKnuckles was in attendance.
Greg Hammond is a former television sportscaster who teaches broadcasting at South Side High School. Hammond started his own video production company, SBL Media, LLC, in 2016.