Stories of Athens Black History

Stories of Athens Black History To commemorate Black History Month, ODYSSEY Media Group reporters conducted interviews with Black Athenians.

They share their lived experiences of Black History.

Clarke Central High School substitute teacher Barbra Archibald stands in the media center at CCHS during fifth period on Jan. 29. Archibald's high school career, which took place during the time of racial segregation, taught her to value her education.“Ninth grade, I went to Burney Harris High School. It was predominately black, of course. We were not integrated in schools at that time. I remember getting old books from here, Athens High School, at the time, and they were torn and ripped--just really worn. We would receive the books after they had been used here (at Athens High),” Archibald said. “Not that it mattered what was in (the books), but it was a matter of what the teachers taught and what we learned. (The teachers) knew about the inequality and everything, but they taught us to try and overlook that and learn what we could, and that's what we did. We focused on education. It was of utmost importance.” Photo and story by Elena Webber

Former Cedar Shoals High School principal Charles Worthy, who currently serves on the Clarke County School District Board of Education representing District 6, sits in the Homer T. Edwards building on Feb. 7. Worthy grew up in the segregated South during the 1960s and as a high school student, he participated in a protest march with Dr. Martin Luther King. “That particular morning at Booker T. Washington High School, I will never forget: up and down the halls, every student in that school left,” Worthy said. “We marched all the way to the west side of town, and we met the Selma, Montgomery march along with Martin Luther King and his freedom marchers and marched right on up to St. Jude's Hospital. That was in my mind that, ‘Hey, segregation is not right. It was an experience, when I look back on it right now, it was an experience at that particular time. You look at 2019 where we are now, we have made much progress but there's still more to be done.” Photo by Kelly Fulford and story by Elena Webber

Clarke Central High School principal and 1991 CCHS graduate Dr. Swade Huff sits in a press conference on Jan. 31. Huff cites his experience being educated in Athens as one that celebrated community members of all races. “Being black as a kid, from an educational aspect, I can’t recall any time where I felt like I didn’t have an opportunity to be successful in school. When I was a student at Alps Road Elementary School, transferred to Burney-Harris-Lyons (Middle School) and then came to Clarke Central High School in 1987, I just remember a learning environment at Clarke Central where race was not an issue and every kid had the opportunity to learn. A lot of my friends, black, white, Hispanic, we keep in touch now, and I think we’re doing further well as students because of the foundation that was established at an early age,” Huff said. “I know we have some families who are more well-off than some of our other families. At the end of the day, I think the black experience is just the black experience. I feel like at the end of the day, black, white, brown, whatever the case may be, everybody's experience is equally important and we have to learn how to assemble and coexist with one another and not just use our pigmentation or melanin to separate us.” Photo by Krista Shumaker and story by Elena Webber

2017 Clarke Central High School graduate William “Herty” Killian stands outside the ceremonial entrance of CCHS on Jan 31.

Killian’s father, Archibald Killian, was the first black police officer in Athens. “My experiences (growing up) weren't as bad as I guess they could have been as others that I know, as my peers, because of who my father was. What my father did, it kind of helped me get away from most of the bad stuff when it comes to how black people are treated,” Killian said.

“He taught me everything that I know to this day. As far as being a man, as far as being a black man, while being a black man in Athens and also in America. Some of the stories (he would tell me) were he couldn't arrest white people. He (wasn’t) allowed to.” Photo and story by Elena Webber

Clarke Central High School math department teacher Dr. Elijah Swift, Jr. stands in the math hallway of CCHS before school on Jan. 31. Swift’s passion for mathematics education stemmed from an experience he had as a teenager. “I remember an episode in high school. One of my teachers, -- I was taking all honors courses -- and the teacher made a nice comment about my score. In fact, I got a perfect score, and then I got the two bonus questions and made 125 on the test. She announced to the class, ‘Elijah made the highest score, and I had to recheck his test several times to make sure it was right.’ And I was thinking, ‘What? Why would you say something like that?’” Swift said. “In that class, they were maybe about 30 students and three blacks. Just for her to say something like that, I was like, ‘Okay, interesting, interesting.’ That actually inspired me to become a math teacher.”

Photo and story by Elena Webber

Visual artist and community organizer Broderick Flanigan stands outside the ceremonial entrance of Clarke Central High School on Jan. 23. Flanigan, who grew up in public housing communities in Athens such as Rocksprings, Bethel Homes and Nellie B, feels his education experience and home life were divided.

“The fact that I was able to test into the gifted program as early as the third grade kind of gave me this experience of growing up in two different environments in Athens,” Flanigan said.

“One being the school environment of being in gifted classes where most of my peers don't look like me -- mostly white kids, white students from more affluent families. But then there is this home life I had that was in public housing projects where a lot of kids (looked) like me, and we were all on the same economic level, which was at the bottom of the barrel, so to speak.”

Photo and story by Elena Webber

Clarke Central High School band director Robert Lawrence poses in the band room on Jan. 31. Lawrence grew up in Selma, Alabama and feels his upbringing helped him personally connect to Black History.

“My grandmother was the granddaughter of a slave. She taught me a lot. She had a third-grade education -- she was one of the smartest women I’ve ever known in my life,” Lawrence said. “As I got older I'm like, ‘Hmm, a third-grade education. My grandmother was taught how to read out (of) The Bible. Oh my goodness, the stories she would tell.

She took me to the plantation where her grandfather and grandmother met -- eerie, eerie, eerie feeling.” Photo and story by Elena Webber

Clarke Central High School science department co-chair Valinda Miller stands in her classroom during lunch on Jan. 25. Miller grew up in South Carolina and feels she may have been less aware of instances of racism in her community due to the lack of social media prevalence. “When I was growing up, (racism and discrimination) wasn't as blatant, per se. I also think that I grew up in an era where everybody respected everybody. But I don't know if (the awareness of racism and discrimination) wasn't happening, because we didn't have cell phones or things like that.” Miller said. “I always tell my own sons that there are certain things that you can't do that your friends that are Caucasian can do. It's just a fact of life, and how society may judge you just on the color of your skin without even knowing your capabilities.” Photo and story by Elena Webber

Clarke Central High School assistant principal Reginald Thomas poses for a picture at a press conference at CCHS on Jan. 25. During his childhood, Thomas felt racial discrimination was prevalent in an educational setting.

“When I was in middle school, it was taboo for us to have interracial relationships. So at my middle school, we had a black male student who was dating a white female student, and when they walked from class to class, they would hold hands. (The) principal -- (a) black principal, by the way -- gets on the intercom one day and says, ‘We have a new policy. You're not allowed to hold hands in school,’” Thomas said.

“If anybody asks me, ‘What's unique about Clarke Central?’ ‘What do you like about Clarke Central?’ I'll always tell them, I have never detected a racial issue here.” Photo by Krista Shumaker and story by Elena Webber

Community activist and Athens High School graduate Barbara Barnett stands in the counseling office at CCHS on Jan. 30.

Prior to its integration and renaming as Clarke Central High School in 1970, Barnett attended Athens High School, a segregated, majority-white school where she and other black students were discriminated against. “I think (Athens) changed tremendously (from when I grew up), and I don't know if you know where the Varsity is on Broad Street, (but) there was a lot of marching in front of that. Ku Klux Klan is right there by us because they didn’t want any blacks in the Varsity. So, we had to demonstrate. You know, march, protest, so we can have a right to go into the Varsity,” Barnett said. “Everything at Athens back in the ‘60s was pretty much segregated, even the restaurants we went to. The stores, most of the salespeople were prejudiced. Didn't think we should be in a store, didn't think we was able to buy anything. A lot of time they would ask us to leave. So I've seen a lot of changes in Athens, but we still got a long way to go.”

Photo and story by Elena Webber

Compilation and layout by Elena Webber Cover photo by Krista Shumaker If you would like to tell your story of Athens, contact ewebber@odysseynewsmagazine.net