Visiting Winthrop College

In 1951, to a country girl, leaving for Rock Hill, S.C. was like leaving for a foreign country.

When I was fourteen, we moved from town to “the country.” I started to Pendleton High School, and I was fortunate enough to have teachers who mentored me and convinced me that I wanted be a teacher. I had always loved anything related to homemaking, so I decided to choose home economics as my major. Besides, the home economics teachers I had were good role models. No one in my family had ever gone beyond high school, and I knew that I had to go to college to reach my goal – so I did. It wasn’t easy for my family to sacrifice and help me attend Winthrop, but they did, and I worked every semester to help earn my way. By today’s standards, it was cheap! Total expenses were $350.00 per semester and books were provided by the college – free to the students. Travel and a small spending allowance was all I needed. I made most of my clothes and ate my meals in the dining room. And loved it all!

Winthrop was another world. I actually had led a rather sheltered life, and going away from home was an adventure. My expected roommate and I had gone through high school together, and we were sort of like sisters. That wasn’t to be a major adjustment. Getting ready to go was exciting. I thought I had to pack everything I owned. All of my worldly goods were sent by train to Rock Hill, and men at the college picked them up and took them to my assigned room--no “moving in.” That in itself is very different from what happens today. When it left the train station, I wasn’t sure I’d ever see that trunk again.

I had been informed that I couldn’t come home until Thanksgiving. That too, I thought, would be no big deal – but it was. I think my parents believed that if I came home, I wouldn’t go back – and I probably wouldn’t have! I was so homesick I thought I would die! But I adjusted .

The first year passed quickly. I made lots of friends. I was chosen sophomore class president, and I moved into Bancroft Hall. My life changed. My house manager in Bancroft (we had adults “in charge”) and I got together and sewed a lot. I learned to love her; we spent hours together. Then, one day she introduced me to her son, and after dating for four years and my graduation from Winthrop, we were married. I’ve always told him that I loved my mother-in-law long before I ever loved him!

I loved Winthrop: the library (so many books, so little time); the dining room (all food made from scratch, and quite delicious); professors calling students by name; the home economics building with its long extended labs and grueling home management courses; the smell of tea olive in the spring; the front fountain always flowing ; the long blue line (we wore navy blue and white uniforms); Baptist Student Union meetings and retreats; late night conversations with my roommate; popcorn smell on the hall; rushing to get in from a date before 11 p.m. curfew; tea time with Miss Jones (she tried to make us into ladies); majestic trees and old buildings; the smell of freshly waxed shiny floors; everybody saying “hello” to everybody; little sisters; dances; May Day. I loved it; it’s priceless mind travel!