James Gaither discusses growing up in the rural Hemphill Heights community in Charlotte, North Carolina and his education at Rockwell Rosenwald School. He recounts living in a farming household that produced their own butter and grew much of their food. Mr. Gaither describes the three-room Rockwell School, which served students from the first through seventh grade in the Derita area of Charlotte. Other topics include Mr. Gaither's job at school to light the potbelly stoves for heat before class started, students' efforts to collect resources that could be reused during World War II, and the interconnectedness of school, church, and community. Mr. Gaither remarks that while schools and public places were segregated during his youth, he didn't feel demeaned because it was the only experience that he knew, and that despite segregation, white and black neighbors in his community had warm relations.
