Recollections from generations past (Elmer A. Brittingham -4)

 

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT

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)