Lane High School
Lane High School
Garwin DeBerry
“This is not right. But no one prepared us for that.”
Garwin DeBerry
“I was actually frightened to go into a class with all white kids.”
Garwin DeBerry
“We had a really good squad that year.”
Corlis Turner Anderson
“I was suspended from the squad.”
Corlis Turner Anderson
“They got all the good books, all the new books. We got the hand-me-downs.”
Garwin DeBerry
“Everybody else is the white sea all around us.”
Garwin DeBerry
Garwin DeBerry
Julia Shields
Julia Shields
“Now, do I have to show you everything in black and white?”
Julia Shields
“The Daily Progress called us the Lane Lonesome 11.”
Steve Helvin
Kent Merritt
“UVA had no Black football players. And then here I come and others.”
Kent Merritt
Kent Merritt
“A lot of it was based on fear and hatred.”
Kent Merritt
“They were in charge of everything at Burley before, and now they have nothing.”
Kent Merritt
Kent Merritt
Kent Merritt
“It was hard playing football for Tommy Theodose and Joe Bingler.”
David Sloan
“Student athletes socializing and hanging out together. I don’t recall that when I was at Lane.”
David Sloan
“I got up, I went out in the hall, and I boo-hooed and cried, in the tenth grade.”
James Bryant
“We went with a list of grievances.”
James Bryant
“She was on the field cheerleading, and they were just calling her the N-word.”
James Bryant
“There was just so much every day, it was just drama every day.”
James Bryant
“The incident caused the schools to shut down because of the racial tensions.”
James Bryant
“I don’t mean no harm or disrespect, but the band at Lane just sucked.”
James Bryant
“And it was organized, we weren’t screaming and hollering and cursing and using profanity.”
James Bryant
George Foussekis
“And we didn’t care about race or color, only if you could help the football team win.”
George Foussekis
“So they were gradually, you know, bringing transfers in from Burley, which I think was smart.”
George Foussekis
“As I’ve gotten older, I realized what they were going through.”
George Foussekis
“Lane was a wonderful school, but it was falling down compared to Burley.”
Dickie Tayloe
Dickie Tayloe
“I was considered a threat to the Virginia school system.”
Charles Alexander
“Eighth grade was awful because you couldn’t play sports.”
Frankie Allen
“It was a Black-and-white-type thing.”
Frankie Allen
Lloyd Snook
Lloyd Snook
Lloyd Snook
Lloyd Snook
Lloyd Snook
“There was a lot of ugliness going on. And that was just reality.”
Lloyd Snook
Lloyd Snook
“We were all there all the time. And it was a very positive bonding experience in that way.”
Lloyd Snook
“It was very traumatic for the poor kids that were there.”
Steve Runkle
“It was when movement was going on, going up the steps, and you had this going on, stuff like that.”
Steve Runkle
Rod Gentry
“And that was like culture shock, you know?”
Peyton Humphrey
William Redd
“I just never felt like I belonged. I didn’t feel like there was any group that welcomed me.”
Clare Rannigan
“It was really hard to get any sense of community.”
Clare Rannigan
“We had a fairly large Black team.”
Robert King
“We had to move on and do things right. Integrate schools.”
Robert King
“The only racist problem I had was that one year we was playing Albemarle High School.”
Veronica Jones
“The coaches would buy our cleats.”
Veronica Jones
“This is something that we have to do as a Black race.”
Veronica Jones
“I didn’t see any prejudice on the team.”
Byrd Leavell
“And that was a very difficult time for integration.”
Byrd Leavell
“I don’t remember any instances, but for some reason, I was wary.”
Byrd Leavell
Tommy Theodose
“I think we were still fairly successful, and after even losing the number of kids to Rock Hill.”
Tommy Theodose
“Burley had pretty good football teams, but we never played against each other.”
Tommy Theodose
“I was disappointed, because I wanted them to play for me, and the administration turned them down.”
Tommy Theodose
Tommy Theodose
“Integration, you know, far as they were concerned didn’t even exist.”
Tommy Theodose
“And far as the Black and White kids playing, they got along great.”
Tommy Theodose
“Didn’t know it then, but clearly it was racism that was a part of that.”
David Sloan
“If he were coaching today the way he coached then, he would be in jail.”
David Sloan
“We just all got along well I thought, but of course, I could have just been blind to it all.”
Keith Franklin
“And so it was always kind of a neat feeling that you got an apple.”
Keith Franklin
“The boys’ rooms were dens of iniquity.”
Wade Tremblay
Mark and Nancy Tramontin
“Poor kid tried like hell, but she would never ever ever acknowledge him.”
Mark and Nancy Tramontin
“There just were not many Black teachers there during my time.”
Bernadette Whitsett Hammond
“She was just a wonderful, wonderful individual to have as an instructor and as a role model.”
Bernadette Whitsett Hammond
“I don’t feel that this was right. I want to support.”
Bernadette Whitsett Hammond
“He could be in the band, but he could not perform with the band.”
Bernadette Whitsett Hammond
“How come we gotta go to Lane?”
Roland and Ronald Woodfolk
“When we went to Lane, the nurturing part was not there.”
Roland and Ronald Woodfolk
“I think sports did help overcome racial tensions.”
Roland and Ronald Woodfolk
“She was still teaching after we left, and she did the black students the same way, gave ‘em Es”
Roland and Ronald Woodfolk
“I’m always taught you should get the grade that was beholden to your effort.”
Roland and Ronald Woodfolk
“You guys just, were just tolerated.”