In 1973 when Mayor ProTem Jack Pournelle created the Million Pines Festival, a souvenir booklet was printed and sold for 50 cents per copy. The book was a project of J. Clayton Stephens, Jr., James T. Windsor, and William A. (Bill Ricks).
A different book was published each year for over 10 years. The 7th book in 1979 was devoted to the schools of Treutlen County. The content was mainly pictures.
The prints created for the book were donated to the J. Clayton Stephens Museum of Local History at the Fowler-Lawton House on South Second Street, diagonally from the Courthouse.
We are fortunate that a number of the educators and/or their children survive today, living in Treutlen County.
Mrs. Hayes Lawton - daughter of Mrs. James Fowler (second county supt.)
Mrs. Laurianne Pullen - niece of Mrs. Louise C. Thigpen (only person serving as teacher, superintendent, and chairman of the board of education. Mrs. Pullen's mother, Mrs. Laura Hall, was a teacher.
Mr. William J. (Will) Peterson, still active at age 90, who served on the board of education from 1966 to 1978. He, Superintendent Bobby Driggers, and Principal Augustus McArthur were responsible for the peaceful integration of Treutlen Schools, probably the most important event in school history.
In reviewing the book, it is obvious that only one black face appears, that of BOE member Timothy Spikes. This book was provided to a local committee which is working to publish the first history book of Treutlen County. We can be grateful that Mr. Franklin McArthur, Mr. Mac's son, has donated pictures and other items to the County Library's Local History Room.
I'm age 66, and I attended the Soperton school from 1950 to 1961. I remember the hookworm tests, small pox vaccinations, Salk and Sabin vaccines for polio. State-paid textbooks were a new thing. I remember the black school buildings - remnants from the CCC camp near Fairground Circle, foundations still exist. The black school looked similar to the pictures of Rosemont School. The WPA built brick buildings at the white school (today's primary school). We have come a long way.
Bill Ricks, September 6, 2009 - Posted on blog May 13, 2020
http://billricksofsoperton.blogspot.com
Technical information on the scanned files
Original book printed 2-page up and trimmed. Scanned each page at 600 dpi, photo setting. Cropped at 600 dpi 7"x11" to fit 8.5"x11" standard sheet of paper for each page. - Reduced to 90 dpi for blog and picasa album.
The map (pages 20-21) is a much larger file 1200 dpi cropped to 17"x13"
I hope the files will work for printing or power-point. In viewing them, I used the zoom tool to make the picture clearer, to avoid the moire pattern. It comes from the halftone picture dots scanned in dots per inch (dpi).
Look for all pages of Souvenir Book 7 at:
William A. Ricks
1 comment:
Cecelia Yvonne Blume: I really enjoyed this.
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