Integration

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  Interview with Samuel Foster, Sr. - OH 142

  Samuel Rufus Foster Sr.

  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.

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  Interview with Cynthia Plair Roddey - OH 62

  Cynthia Plair Roddey and Integration

  This interview, conducted on January 22, 1979, by Cynthia Wilson for The Johnsonian, the student newspaper of Winthrop University, documents the experiences of Cynthia Plair Roddey, the first African American student admitted to Winthrop College following desegregation.

  Roddey reflects on her decision to attend Winthrop in 1964, citing convenience, family responsibilities, and access to graduate coursework in library science as primary motivations. She recounts her arrival on campus, her desire to minimize attention and avoid publicity, and the precautions taken by college officials and local authorities to ensure her safety. She also describes the strong support she received from her family and local community.

  The interview details Roddey’s experiences as a student, including her academic work, her limited social interaction with other students, and her perception of being largely ignored rather than openly harassed. She contrasts these experiences with those at historically Black institutions and reflects on the challenges of balancing graduate study with family and professional responsibilities.

  Roddey further discusses her career following graduation, including her work as an educator and media specialist, and the difficulties she encountered in securing employment. She offers commentary on student activism, race relations, and the changing nature of student engagement in the post–Civil Rights era. Concluding with advice to students, Roddey emphasizes perseverance, discipline, and the importance of sustained effort in achieving academic and professional success.

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  Interview with Frontis Brooks - OH 041

  Frontis Brooks

  Former band director at Emmett Scott School (1941-1971) and former principal at Sunset Park Elementary, Frontis Brooks (1919-1989) discusses his childhood, family, educational experiences at South Carolina State College, new instruments that he learned, his years in the U.S. Army, work at Emmett Scott in Rock Hill, teaching band, working with the Senior Citizen Band, integration, religion, and his definition of creativity and life’s philosophy.

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  Interview with Arnetta Gladden Mackey - OH 17

  Arnetta Gladden Mackey

  This collection includes an interview with Arnetta Gladden Mackey (1948-2009) who, along with Delores Johnson Hurt, was one of the first two undergraduate students admitted to Winthrop in 1964. She graduated from Winthrop in 1967. Mrs. Mackey discusses her childhood and family, her feelings about attending college, receiving her scholarship to Winthrop, and her feelings about attending an all-white school. She also describes her experience living in the dorm, Rat Week, her social life, her experience with her white peers, and her experience with academics. Mrs. Mackey discusses her experience with the lack of Black churches in the area, the white church she initially attended (Oakland Baptist), and the Black church (Mt. Prospect Baptist Church) she attended once Oakland Baptist refused to let her in for worship. Mrs. Mackey also discusses the reaction she received from students, faculty, and members of the Rock Hill community, as well as her life and family after her graduation.