Kindergarten

When I was five, in 1929, I went to a kindergarten operated by my great aunt Elizabeth Sims Smith in the upstairs area of my Uncle Hillyer's new house at the NW corner of Jefferson Street and Water Street. There were nine children in that kindergarten, including me; my cousin HillyerHarris Johnson, Jr., who lived there; my cousin Mary "Sister" Elizabeth Johnson, who lived next door to me; Lelis Sims Cheney; Adelaide Wood; Osborne McKendree Bounds; James Hines Blackmon, Jr.; Lucius "Jack" Jackson, Jr.; and Sarah Oslin. The school was in the big room upstairs. I don't remember learning much there. We used a lot of time making stuff out of clay and adding colors to it. I remember my aunt taking Adelaide's beret outside during a light snow to bring in samples of snowflakes. In April or May someone took a picture of us nine on the front steps. We stayed together until we graduated high school in May 1941.