Interviewer
Dr. George Garrison
Files
Abstract
This interview, featuring Eliza Walker Mills (1928-2018), was conducted by Dr. George Garrison, an Emmett Scott High School alumnus (1965) and scholar of African American studies. Mills, a 1945 graduate of Emmett Scott, was a longtime educator, Civil Rights activist, and former member of the Rock Hill Council on Human Relations. She earned Education degrees from Johnson C. Smith and New York University (M.Ed.). In the 1960s, Mills was one of the first African Americans educators to teach in select all-White schools in preparation for the desegregation of S.C. public schools; integration is a main talking point. During the interview, Mills recalls growing up in rural Catawba, South Carolina and her experience as an African American in York County, South Carolina. She also recounts her experience as both a pupil and teacher at Emmett Scott High School (1920-1970), Rock Hill’s all-Black high school named after the prominent Black educator and close aide to Booker T. Washington and President Woodrow Wilson, Emmett J. Scott (1873-1957). Mills reminisces on Emmett Scott faculty, alumni, and organizations like the band. In addition, she recalls her time at Friendship Junior College and as an instructor for Gullah-Geechee students in Beaufort, South Carolina. Class reunions and efforts to memorialize the grounds of Emmett Scott are also discussed throughout.
Publication Date
6-12-2003
Unique Identifier
OH 671
Format
MP3;
Length
01:34:03
Disciplines
Law
Recommended Citation
Mills, Eliza Walker; Emmett Scott High School; and Civil Rights, "Interview with Eliza Walker Mills - OH 671" (2003). Winthrop University Oral History Program. OH 671.
https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/oralhistoryprogram/558
