The Final Call

Remembering teachers' dedication at Blacks-only high school

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Henrietta Hilton, front left, daughter of tenant farmer William Hilton, and her fellow students, are seen in their ninth grade classroom in Summerton, S.C., June 4, 1954. The classroom is in a newly-built brick building that adjoins to the old wooden structure, which is the center of a controversy which led to one of four cases involving “separate but equal” facilities for Blacks and Whites. Others are not identified. Photo: AP/Wide World photos

Mr. Porche grew up in Houma when schools were segregated. He graduated as a valedictorian from Southdown High School, Terrebonne Parish’s lone Blacks-only high school, in 1962.

Now 72-years-old, he said it’s not the racism or barriers he remembers most but the effort of the teachers and administrators who fought to make a quality education available to him.

The Terrebonne Parish School Board recently announced its intent to honor the school with a historical marker.

Now an elementary school, its sign reads “Southdown School,” with a space where the word “High” used to be.

“So many young people don’t know the history of the country, the history of race relations in the country. Many even in Houma. So many people pass by that school and remember its history, and some of them maybe don’t even care,” Mr. Porche said during a phone call from his Nashville, N.C., residence.

Board members voted unanimously Nov. 18 to learn how to apply for the state’s historical marker program. Though several schools are under consideration, the school behind the motivation is Southdown.

“A constituent asked me to look into it because we have a lot of schools, especially Southdown, that have historical significance,” School Board member Greg Harding said. “Southdown was the only African-American high school in the parish.”

The Louisiana Historical Marker program commemorates “facts, persons, events and places prominently identified with the history of the nation, state or region.”

Mr. Porche said he wholeheartedly supports the board’s effort.

“I don’t know who the men and women were, but there were people working to get Southdown as an institution. Some people, in spite of the racism, worked to get something done in Terrebonne Parish. I’m proud of them and I thank God for them. Without their help, their involvement, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” Mr. Porsche said.

Mr. Porche’s first classroom was in a local church. Then Greenwood Elementary School was built across the street from his house. Southdown High was built a few years later. The books were secondhand, from White-only schools.

Despite racial discrimination and hand-me-down resources, Mr. Porche said his family emphasized education and self-discipline.

“One of the wonderful things about that period of time ... our parents so valued education. You didn’t dare come home with bad grades or sassing teachers. Teachers were so dedicated to educating us. We were all in it together, so to speak,” he said.

“You brought home the best grades you had; you didn’t trash the teachers. They could have found other things to do. They didn’t have to put up with sass.”

Racism, Mr. Porche said, was rampant when he was growing up. Black kids didn’t receive the same support as White kids, or as Mr. Porche describes, they weren’t on the same “starting blocks.”

When he and his classmates walked to high school, buses would pass carrying White students who would “throw things off the bus at us.’’

“Our teacher, she had her hands full with overcrowded kids, and let’s face it, not the best resources,” Mr. Porche said.

The teachers, Mr. Porche said, “imparted to us as much as they could under the circumstances.” Two, whose names he recalls only as Mrs. Verret and Mr. Douglas, left lifelong impressions on Mr. Porche.

Mrs. Verret “had an influence on me for having me get the best grade I could get,” he said. “I look back on how they, through their dedication, kept after you. They put in time with you, tried to get you enlightened to the value of an education.”

Mr. Douglas saw young Porche’s interest in math and “opened up my understanding of what math was about and how to apply it. I really appreciated what he did for me.”

Mr. Porche was an aerospace engineer for NASA during the Saturn V program. He also worked for GE.

But his fondest experiences, he said, were the “wonderful kids” and dedicated teachers at his school.

Mr. Porche said he is saddened by the recent vilification of teachers by some parents and politicians. If a student doesn’t apply himself and comes home with bad grades, “the teacher is blamed and the politicians bang the drum,” he said.

“It breaks my heart to see the teachers are maligned. That same education system they’re trashing is the one they grew up with,’’ he said. “I thought, coming up as a kid, that we were all trying to pull this country together. ... I don’t see that we’re helping people get the best education that we could.”

However, there remains hope in the educational system, he said, noting he doesn’t have to look far.

“I see teachers, like my daughter Danielle, and I see how much they care about their job and about their students. They remind me of the teachers I had at Southdown.” (AP)