Editor’s note: The winner of the Minden Press-Herald’s Black History Month essay contest In the 4th through 8th grade category is Taiteuna Rabb, a fifth grader from Doyline. There were no submissions in the 9th-12th grade category.
My older relatives often talk about how they walked many miles as students to their 3-Room Wooden School House. There was no indoor toilets and a preacher brought wood to the school in a horse-drawn wagon for the wood burning heaters and stove.
In 1956, a lot of black children from different communities rode buses to the new school named Union Elementary. They were so happy and surprise to see indoor toilets, running water, and no wood burning heaters and stove. They thought they were in heaven.
One of my aunts was Union’s first secretary, first kindergarten teacher and she later became the school’s principal.
I loved Union Elementary school. I met many friends and had great teachers.
Sadly, Union Elementary school is torn down. This school was a miracle to many black students, after the 3-Room Wooden School House.