When the Time is Right, Move On
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Summerfield is a rural area in the northern section of Louisiana. The population was about 400 during the World War 1 and World War 11 timeline. The economy was poor. People farmed on a small scale and cut pulp wood. However, the above average White woman had a maid to help with house work. It was the Black woman who served as maid. The average family of six in a household raised three or four bales of cotton, corn, sweet potatoes, hogs, cows, farm animals-horses, mules, small domestic animals-chickens, dogs, cats. Etc. Many families had vegetable gardens and flower gardens. There were churches scattered around the area. My family attended Mt. Calm Baptist Church, Mt. Olive Baptist Church, and sometimes, on special occasions, Fellowship Baptist Church. There were schools for children in grades pre-primer through seventh grade for African Americans. The school consisted of one large room, one teacher with children in each grade. When children finished the seventh grade, they had to go to other communities for high school studies, even though, there was a high school in their community. It was restricted to Whites. Some of the children went to Fellowship High School, Bernice, and Homer High School. Many continued their education at Grambling State University and Southern University. Social activities were very limited. There were no museums, theaters, or recreational centers. However, there was a bar "across the creek", called "On the Hill", where some adults would go on Saturday nights, drink beer and listen to music by popular singers on the juke box. There were three very talented men in the community who could play excellent music with their harmonica, fiddle, and guitar. They were great entertainers at house parties. Instead of going "On the Hill", some people would go to house parties to listen to the harmonica, guitar, and fiddle players. Other forms of entertainment were baseball games and turkey shoots. The turkey was not actually shot. If an individual could hit the target, he would receive a turkey. There was one doctor in Summerfield. Dr. Algood would see patients in his office and he would also make house calls. Mrs. Ethel Raley served as a cab driver for many people in the community. She would take them places for a small fee. Thus, life in Summerfield continues today with many changes that were brought about through the years. Early history revealed that Summerfield was situated in the Northwestern portion of Clairborne Parish. It was settled by W. R. Kennedy in 1868, by the erection of a wood and blacksmith shop, and a business house. It had four stores dealing in general merchandise and plantation supplies, several drug stores, a saw and grist mill, and several mills in the vicinity run by steam. There were four churches, M.E. Church South, Methodist, Protestant, Missionary Baptist and Primitive Baptist. The town had a school building. Mail delivery was twice a week. The country surrounding Summerfield was in prosperous condition, with good water, pure air, and fertile soil. The land was well timbered, and could be purchased at a price of one to five dollars per acre.
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When The Time is Right, Move On
About the Author
Faye Evelyn Johnson Thomas, a retired schoolteacher, was born in Summerfield, Louisiana. She grew up in Cullen, Louisiana, a small paper mill town. She now resides in Middlesburg Heights, Ohio, a southwestern suburb of Cleveland. Her son, Dwayne, an educator in music, lives in St. Louis, Missouri. Faye graduated from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with a major in English and a minor in Social Studies. She was the recipient of a 1969-70 NDEA grant, which enabled her to obtain a MSE degree in Early Childhood Education for the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas. In 1979, she received a Master of Education degree in Curricular Foundation from Cleveland State University in Cleveland, Ohio. She was also a 1984-85 Jennings Scholar. Her autobiographical sketch is listed in Who’s Who in the Midwest, Who’s Who in American Education, Who’s Who in America, and The Biographical Roll of Honor. Her poetry has been included in the anthologies America at the Millennium and Poetry’s Elite. She is a member of Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland, and a CTM of Midpark Toastmasters.