William T. Alexander oral history interview 2, 1992 April 25

Description

In this second of three interviews, William T. Alexander describes his education and schooling in Mecklenburg County, Charlotte, and Chapel Hill, North Carolina during the early twentieth century. Mr. Alexander describes attending different schools in the 1910s-1920s, including a one-room school called Mallard Creek School from first grade to the seventh grade, Derita Elementary School, Newell High School, and Alexander Graham High School in Charlotte. He explains the activities that he participated in, including spelling bees and attending general lessons in math, English and geography. Mr. Alexander also recalls his teachers, getting whipped for fighting in school, and how he travelled to school each day. He began driving the school bus in 1920 and picked up students on unpaved roads. Mr. Alexander talks about attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he majored in history and government, and recounts failing English for making a comma mistake on a paper. Other topics include train transportation, college campus and dormitories, and leisure activities.