R.D. and Euzelle Smith - On the history of Northside Elementary (clip)
Interviewed by Alexander Stephens and Alex Biggers on January 20, 2011
Alexander Stephens (AS): You said, where exactly was the Orange County Training School in relation to here?
Euzelle Smith (ES): It’s right up on the hill there, what is now Northside. That school was Orange County Training School when we came here, and then in the – well, I guess I came here in ‘43 ‘44, something like that– there was a movement in the town among the parents to change the name of the school because they didn't like their school children going to a training school. Training school has a negative connotation. And even when I would go back that first year or so and my friends would say, “Where are you working?” and I would say “Orange County Training Schoolm” and they’d say “Why in the world would you go to a training school to work.” So, then they changed it from Orange County Training School to Lincoln High School. And then they built the new Lincoln High School over there where Lincoln Center is now, and they changed it from Lincoln High to Northside. And the Northside was named because of this community, the Northside community.
AS: And could you describe the physical space of the Orange County Training School? I read that it's got some unique architecture and – or somewhat unusual architecture…
ES: Well, the front part of the school has been demolished. It was demolished years ago, and the front part had housed the elementary bridge. We had grades one through sixth, and that's all. And then there was an auditorium in the center of the building. And then at the back side was the high school from 7th through 11th grades. And I taught first grade.
