Interview with Samuel Foster, Sr. - OH 142

Interviewee

Samuel Rufus Foster Sr.

Interviewer

Michael Gaither

Files

Streaming Media

Abstract

This interview is with Samuel Rufus Foster, Sr. (b. 1938). In this interview, Mr. Foster discusses his background including his upbringing and his education. He also discusses his motivation to get into working with kids at the elementary school level. He discusses the difficulties with school integrations and the current station blacks have in society. Mr. Foster also discusses his opinions on how the integration of schools should have occurred. More specifically, he discusses his belief that integration should not have started at the top (High School Level) where students had already “established their customs, their concerns, and their prejudices and expect them to get in there immediately begin to understand and like each other.” Mr. Foster felt that starting at the kindergarten and/or first grade level and then integrating one year at a time would have been more successful and seamless.

Mr. Foster was a Chester, SC native but has lived in Rock Hill, since 1958. He worked in public education before serving in the South Carolina General Assembly from 1980-1992. He also served on the South Carolina Employment Commission. Mr. Foster served as principal of Fairfield and Sunset Park Elementary before being appointed principal of the segregated Emmett Scott High School in 1968 where he oversaw the closing of Emmett Scott as Rock Hill Schools became fully integrated. He then became the first principal of Northwestern High School in 1971. For all his work as a “Local Hero”, Mr. Foster was recognized by the Rock Hill Freedom Walkway as an inductee in 2021.

Publication Date

4-24-1981

Unique Identifier

OH 142

Format

MP3; WAV;

Length

00:18:55

Restrictions

This interview is open for use.

Series

Integration

Disciplines

Oral History

Keywords

Presidents, Board of Trustees, higher education, public education, Winthrop history

Recommended Citation

Foster, Samuel Rufus Sr., "Interview with Samuel Foster, Sr. - OH 142" (1981). Winthrop University Oral History Program. OH 142.
https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/oralhistoryprogram/299

Notes

Additional interview date is April 11, 1981