Interviewer: What kind of school did you have?
Elmer: Well the country school was just the two rooms, but that was just the
first 6 months. Then, in town, we went to was what called Pocomoke High
School. Of course, I was in primary. I started there in the first grade. It was
down on 4th and Walnut.
Interviewer: Was it real strict, school?
Elmer: You betcha. You towed the mark, or else.
Interviewer: What kind of activities did they have at the school? Like sports?
Elmer: Well, later on, well, we had annual field days. As long as I was in
school we had annual field days that were placed in different towns each
year: Berlin, Snow Hill, and Pocomoke, those 3 centers. Each school
competed in games of dodgeball, of course baseball was run in a separate
league, but on field day they had dashes and distance races and jumps and
relay races.
Interviewer: These were between schools?
Elmer: Yeah and medals were awarded for first, second, third for the school
making the most points. We trained 2 or 3 months for this field day, which
was near the end of the spring, before the spring break.
Interviewer: Did you golf when you were young? Was there a golf course in
Pocomoke?
Elmer: No, our golf course was built in 1939 or ’40. And it was the only course
except at Cape Charles and at the Elk’s in Salisbury.
Interviewer: What kind of subjects did you have at school?
Elmer: Well…you stayed in the 3rd or 2nd grade if you couldn’t pass, you
stayed 2 or 3 years. It didn’t make any difference to the teachers. Until you
learned.
Interviewer: What kind of subjects did you have?
Elmer: We started languages, Latin. And mathematics, such as algebra and so
forth, in high school, in the 8th grade.
Interviewer: You didn’t start math until 8th grade?
Elmer: Algebra. We had regular math, commercial problems and different
things. Of course, in grade school, you had long division. When you got up
into high school, you had Math I and Math II, and you had general science.
Then you had biology and chemistry and physics in the four year period. And
trigonometry and solid geometry.
Interviewer: Did you have calculus?
Elmer: No, no calculus. It wasn’t taught in high school.
Interviewer: You said trigonometry and solid geometry?
Elmer: Solid geometry and trigonometry. In senior year, usually. But
sometimes you could arrange, if your class schedule permitted, you could
take it in the junior year. And the Latin started in high school, 8th grade. And
then the second year you had Caesar and third year…I didn’t take the third
and fourth year.
Interviewer: When did high school start, in the 8th grade? 7th grade was the
last year in…
Elmer: 7th grade was the last year in elementary
Interviewer: And you went through the 11th grade? Or 12th?
Elmer: 11th. There was no 12th grade.
Interviewer: What kind of teachers did you have?
Elmer: Most of our teachers were well qualified. One of the better teacher we
had later went to State College, Dr. Thomas, Ida Belle Wilson Thomas, was
probably the best teacher we had. And Dr. Fontaine, he had a doctorate of
education ….(audio not clear)…Dr. Thomas later became one of
the top instructors at Salisbury State College. Dr. Fontaine, who for many
years was our principal and later became superintendent of schools, of high
schools, of the state of Maryland, he….We were fortunate in French we had a
woman French teacher who had been to France and studied for several years
at a university there and of course she was an excellent teacher. We only had
her one year and then we got a missionary out of Belgium or somewhere and
his French sounded like German. French is a beautiful language when it’s
spoken like French.
Interviewer: How long did you stay at school? Like when did you go in the
morning? And when did you get out?
Elmer: 9-3:30, the best I remember, all the way through. We never changed
that.
Interviewer: Even in high school, did you have recess or any kind of breaks?
Elmer: No, in the lower school we had a recess period, which we went out
more to get air and tear around a little bit. In the high schools there were
probably periods that if you didn’t have to study something, you could take
it. Sports and things came after school.
Interviewer: Did they have fall sports? Like football?
Elmer: We played soccer. We had no football. Football wasn’t allowed in
Maryland at that time, although, I think Salisbury started about the time I
finished high school. We were very fortunate in soccer. We had a coach who
had played in the Olympics out of England and he taught our soccer team to
play quite well. We played, at least 2 of the 3 years that I played, we played
the state championship.
Interviewer: So you went all the way to state?
Elmer: We didn’t win it, but we played for the state championship. We won the
Eastern Shore.
Interviewer: Did you have winter sports? Like basketball?
Elmer: Basketball we did not have. We only had outdoor courts. That’s what
the girls used to play on, but the men didn’t play it. There was baseball in the
spring and soccer in the fall and track which we practiced somewhat, 2 or 3
months before in the spring usually.
Interviewer: So you never had any basketball then?
Elmer: No, we never had any basketball courts.
Interviewer: So you didn’t play outside either?
Elmer: We did on the women’s courts. We just practiced. There was no league
or anything.
Interviewer: So you just practiced? You never played other schools?
Elmer: Never had been. We played basketball at the armory; that’s where I
played. I was company commander right after we moved in there, for about 3
or 4 years. That was the first basketball court.
(Continues next Saturday here at The Pocomoke Public Eye)
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