2nd of 4 stories
Established in the time of Jim Crow Laws, Shirley-Owens has a rich history. Students who had the honor of attending it appreciated it and could easily see where it started out and how it grew over the years.
“It started out in Pearlie Grove Church and added a grade a year until we got four grades. In 1947, we got the twelfth grade added to it,” recalled Darious Edmonson. “They got a grant and built a school over where the VOTEC is down on the lower campus. Then, later they built a brick building on the hill. The old frame building was the elementary school and the brick building was the high school. Then, they built a new building across the tracks, and that became the high school. The elementary was still on the highway. That last high school was the fourth one they had: first Pearlie Grove, then the framed building, then the brick building on the hill, and finally the building across the track.”
While the school started out at the church, its name was provided by a mixture of the white superintendent of the district and the principal of the school at the time. The school itself didn’t solely focus on academics but also placed an emphasis on vocational work.
“I believe they came up with the name Shirley-Owens High School because the superintendent’s name was Mr. Shirley, and he was a white man. There was a black man named Mr. Owens who was the principal. That’s how they named the school Shirley-Owens,” explained Charles Plummer. “Our school was a little vocational high school. It was actually called Shirley-Owens Vocational High School. For the vocational work that we did, we had prized animals like cows. We had a 4-H Club.”
While they enjoyed their time at the school, looking back, it is easy for them to see the obvious bias demonstrated in that time period.
“It was a great experience then. Looking back now, it was a horrible experience. When they built the building that I graduated from, at the dedication a speaker said that we had a nice brick building that was 40 years behind. I didn’t realize what he meant until after I graduated,” remembered Darious. “We had a new brick building with no running water inside and no cafeteria inside. All we had was classrooms. We had a water facet on the campus that had four facets and some concrete and a drain in the middle. That’s where you had to go to drink water, and any water you missed went down the drain in the middle. We had an outhouse on campus we could use. We had radiator heat but no air.”
Despite the lack of funds they received in that time period, they still treasured the education they received. They may have had a great deal of very young teachers, but they still saw themselves receiving a quality education from great teachers.
“In those days, we had homeroom teachers where we could take all our problems. We had qualified teachers even though when I first started high school my home teacher was only three years older than me. She had a BS in college for teaching. When I was in grade school, there was an eighth grade student teaching, so there were eighth grade graduates teaching school. One teacher had a ninth grade education,” recalled Charles. “If they had put more state and county money into our school, our school would’ve been greater. In those days, there wasn’t too much money around. It was separate lives in those days with separate races.”
Along with the memorable teachers, they can remember the ones in the leadership positions and some of the problems that were faced.
“We had some problems. We had a progressive minded principal, and he was terminated because of his progression,” declared Darious. “Afterwards, the superintendent campaigned for reelection because he owed the black community an apology because he had torn the school up. He terminated the principal who was pushing the football team. His name was James Brown. The principals we had was Tom Blakeney, then my granddaddy Samuel Owens, then J.R. Cole, then James Brown, and then C.W. Thompson. Mr. Thompson had it when integration came about.”
It didn’t matter to them that there were some problems, though; every school has its problems. They just felt blessed to attain a good education.
“I started high school in 1950, which was a brick building. Our colors were maroon and gold. I was surprised to learn that I was very much interested in going to a regular school,” Charles reminisced. “My first year of high school was nice. I felt very comfortable. I had lots of friends, and we did schoolwork together. It was some good years because we had a chance to get away from home and do stuff together. I remember our principal at the high school when I began, Mr. Thompson, was a very educated man. I was very happy about him being my principal. He knew so much about children and teachers. He was serious and never smiled. In the four years I was in high school, I never saw him smile one time. He didn’t play, and he meant business when he spoke.”
Although it was challenging to find transportation to get to school at first, they were able to witness improvements in how they could arrive to school each day.
“We did not have a school bus. I lived in Pachuta and had to be bussed to the school that first year in a colored pickup truck,” informed Charles. “After 1951, we were given a yellow school bus that transported three or four counties to Shirley-Owens High School. That was great. We had to drive about 10 miles and would relax and read our notes and books while the bus driver drove us to school every morning.”
They did get to experience and enjoy traditional high school events. Shirley-Owens hosted a prom each year.
“When I was in school, I went to prom all four years because girls would invite me,” stated Charles. “We had some good proms. We’d get all dressed up and dance.”
Shirley-Owens had some skilled athletes and offered as many sports as they could for its students.
“We started out with just a basketball team. Our guys could really play basketball. When we started basketball, we were playing on a dirt court. It was hard, packed out dirt. In 1953, the county decided to cement the court. It was outside because we had no gym,” recalled Charles. “The first three years I was there, we didn’t have a football team, only basketball. We all loved basketball. We had a baseball team later on around 1953. I ran track. I loved track. I was about the third fastest male student in the school. We ran fields day back then where we competed against other high schools.”
The school really wanted to add football to its list of sports, so they did everything they could to raise money to buy all the equipment they would need to have a football team.
“My final year in high school was in 1954. We were beginning to get supplies. We raised money and everything and was trying to buy some stuff for football,” expressed Charles. “We were given something by the superintendent of the school but not in great supplies that we needed for a football team. Professor Brown talked to some of the students about a football team, and we finally got the supplies and all.”
When they were finally able to make a team, Charles wasn’t interested in participating in the sport, much to the distress of the principal.
“Our first day, he watched our track and talked to me about being the quarterback. I told him I didn’t like football and didn’t want to play, but he told me I was. He was a man who didn’t smile and was strong and a little scary. He picked out some of the students that he thought was good at football. The only reason he picked me out is because I was fast,” remembered Charles. “I only weighed about 150 pounds, and there were a lot of huge guys attending our high school. He took us out to throw the football, and I could throw the football farther than anybody down there for tryouts. Our football field was down the hill, and the school was sitting on top of the hill. We took about an hour throwing the football, and he picked me out for the quarterback. The next two weeks, we were playing football against each other. I caught the ball on the first try and noticed some big husky guys running after me. I threw the football down and took off and didn’t go back again. Professor Brown was so mad, but I told him I didn’t like football and didn’t want to do it.”
Nonetheless, they started the team. They had the minimal requirements they needed to get started, and their first game was more of a learning curve for the team. They went on to play several teams and even saw some of the boys they played later on in college.
“We had a little framed building that we used for the dressing room for the athletes. The football players had a little building that was maybe 12x16,” explained Darious. “The first official game we had, we lost 21-12. When I got to college, the quarterback from that school was there on a scholarship. We played Waynesboro, Heidelberg, and some others.”
Starting up their football team wasn’t easy, and they were creative on developing some of their equipment. Instead of spending extra money on some things, they used the student talents to get things done. Although it was the first time some of the kids had ever had anything to do with football, they quickly learned that they could play it very well. Others also realized how good they were, and it caused them to have to relocate where they would play their games.
“The principal and teachers got together and formed a football team. We didn’t have anybody as a coach, but all of them worked an afternoon or some time on the football team. We were told we didn’t have any money in the county for football equipment, so we had to go out and collect donations to get uniforms and equipment for football. The uniforms we bought were plain white uniforms. I had somewhat of an artistic ability, and I had to put the numbers on them with a paintbrush,” Darious reminisced. “It was going pretty well, and they gave us permission to play at Zac Huggins on Thursday night and Zac Huggins would play on Friday night. We drew crowds on Thursday nights, so they stopped us. We had to go up where Family Life Church is now, and that’s where we played our games—with no goal posts. We had to run all of the extra points; there were no field goals. The first football game I ever saw, I was in it. I ran the first two touchdowns Shirley-Owens ever had in its history. I played both sides and missed one play in my high school football career. The only reason I missed that is that I got hit playing Waynesboro, and my nose was known to bleed. It started bleeding so much on that white uniform that they pulled me out. I patched my nose and went right back in.”
Darious was great enough playing football that he was offered a scholarship. He did go to college but chose to play a different sport there instead.
“I was offered a college scholarship for football when I got out of high school. I ended up playing baseball instead, but that’s what got me to Mississippi Valley and graduated from there,” stated Darious. “I had never been in a school with a cafeteria, bathroom, or water fountain inside of it until I got to college.”
Once he graduated from college, Darious chose to come back to Quitman and continue the excellence at Shirley-Owens. He became one of the teachers there to inspire future generations.
“I came back and taught. I taught fifth grade in the old building, and I taught math in the building across the track before coming to the high school,” proclaimed Darious. “I taught math in the junior high and pre-vocation in the high school.”
The students at Shirley-Owens were able to overcome any prejudices or biases they were faced with at the time. The school was determined to provide a quality education to all of its students, and it accomplished just that with the resources it was able to attain. The students who attended fondly recall the friendships and accomplishments made over the years. It is what allows them to recall and sing with devotion the official song of Shirley-Owens:
“Hail to thee dear Shirley-Owens, the school we love so well. We will ever tell the story that you have us tell. We will fight for the Maroon and Gold, Eagles we will always be. Let us pledge ourselves to none other but Shirley-Owens High School.”
