Yes, I—the summer of 1919 when I finished Mary Potter, I went to
A&T University to summer school. One of the next-door neighbors
who grew up with me, Mrs. Ruth Hicks—she was Miss Ruth Hicks—she was a
winter student at Bennett College, but they had summer school at
A&T College. And I went to summer school the same summer. And,
as I said before, I had passed the examination that they gave at the end
of the session in Oxford.
And I—my mother consented and I was the only eight—I wasn't even eighteen
at that time, because that was in September and my birthday was in
November. So I went to [Badin], North Carolina. Mrs. Payne, who was Miss
Ruth Hicks, she had applied at [Badin] and also she was a student at
Bennett College in Greensboro, our Methodist church college. And she was
a—she had filed an application at [Badin] and also in Oxford. And she
got the—was accepted at both places.
So, my mother was in New Jersey visiting my older sisters at the time,
and I called my mother and asked permission. So, I went to [Badin] at
seventeen years old and started teaching. And today, I have friends
living in the Philadelphia area whose parents were living in the [Badin]
area at that time. [Badin] was near [Leachville], which was the
processing area for cotton goods and materials.