Interviewer
OH 606
Files
Abstract
On July 27, 1982, Ann Yarborough Evans and Doris L. Davidson interviewed Winthrop alumna and former faculty member Bessie Louise Garison (1892–1985). Born in Ridgeway, SC, Garison moved with her family to Rock Hill in 1895, the same year Winthrop relocated there from Columbia. In the interview, she recalls her childhood in Rock Hill, witnessing the construction of the Winthrop campus, and attending Winthrop’s kindergarten when it began in 1899 when she was 7 years old and the Model School (later the Winthrop Training School housed in the Withers/W.T.S. Building). Garison enrolled at Winthrop College in 1908 at age 16 years old and graduated in 1912. She later returned as an Instructor of Fine Arts, serving from 1937 to 1958. She reflects on student life during her college years, her experiences in the Model School, and her observations of campus buildings, uniforms, professors, and daily routines. Garison also shares insights into how Winthrop evolved between her time as a student and her later career as a faculty member.
Subjects include the Winthrop Kindergarten located at Tillman (Main Building), Mill Kindergarten, Minnie MacFeat visit to the Montessori school in Italy, Sarah Withers, the founding of the colleges, Winthrop Training School, the laying of the cornerstones at Tillman and Withers, the Little Chapel, uniforms, holidays, clubs, the Extension Department, and the Rural Schools Program
Publication Date
7-27-1982
Unique Identifier
OH 606
Format
1 Cassette; MP3; WAV;
Length
00:51:07
Restrictions
Open under the rules and regulations of the Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections at Winthrop University
Recommended Citation
Garison, Bessie Louise, "Interview with Bessie Louise Garison - OH 606" (1982). Winthrop University Oral History Program. OH 606.
https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/oralhistoryprogram/766