Marcellus Central High School - Marcellian Yearbook (Marcellus, NY)

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1954 PRIZE STORY THIS IS MY HOME by joan Kinyon My name is jim Cole The one big difference between you and me is that I m what most peo ple call a nigger I know there s others of my kind in this world but I guess I just feel it a little more You see I was born and brought up in an environment where people made a living My fath er worked his own little muck farm and sold his produce in town on Monday morning Our home was nice but not any too large for the seven members of our fam: ly We all p1 tched in and help ed Mom and Dad wi th the work It was hard and tedious but when we d sing songs and tell jokes it made the work seem a lot lighter The settlement we lived in was not too big so there was just a small country school There were only five other families whose children went there and they were all black like me Our teacher was the first white person I ever really knew She was nice to all of us and kept her patience even with the ones that were real slow to catch on the time she passed me to seventh grade she seemed no different to me than my own mother en whi te people would stop at our roadside stand I never even gave them a thought But then it all happened Dad was never too strong and I guess he had been working too hard An way he had a heart attack and soon after that he died Mom lost the mortgage on the place an we went to live with her brother in the big city We all felt terrible about leaving our home and friends but we had to have some place to live We kids were thrilled at the 1dea of living in the big c1ty so we d1dn't mind but Mom well I guess she knew what ir would be like and almost every day her eyes were all red Uncle George and Aunt Nell were nice to us but it was awful crowded for the ten of them and the six of us in a 5 room house When it came time to go to bed and since there were only two double beds the littlest ones were put in bed and when they were sound asleep they were hauled out and put in a corner It ended up wi th Aunt Nell and Uncle George in one bed and Ma and a couple of the girls in the other For the first time in my life I slept on the floor and had salt pork every morning for breakfast if I was lucky I started going to high school and that is where I got my first taste of the outside world and all its filth and cruelty In the streets runny nosed, quarreling youngsters squatted in filthy gutters playing with anything and everything they found handy Whining mongrels hopped around on three battered feet gy women were sprawled in rickety chairs on their front porches At school I was even more shocked and hurt when I found out for the first time in my li fe that I was di fferent from other people I wasn t even given a chance to join wi th the rest of the crowd At 16 I was only too ready to quit school to get away from the nasty taunts of the others Nigger' Dirty black nigger Don t ya ever wash yer face nigger boy? You re always so black ' Then something happened that shouldn t have been blamed on me but it was It was a cool Saturday night late in the surrmer and I was going to treat myself to a movie I warmed a pail of water, that I had gotten from the creek behind our home in the kerosene st ove and used a bar of Ma s precious yellow laundry soap and scrubbed myself clean Then I don ned my best suit of clothes my only suit and headed for the show on Main Street The usual gang was hanging around and I had made up my mind not to even notice them After a l wasn t I just as good as they were? Then it happened' The word that told me instinctively to fight' Nigger' Nigger' Niggert' My head began to pound wi th the stea chant For a long time I stood as if in a trance and I could feel the cold sweat running own my back When I felt the blood on my forehead where where a stone had been hurled I knew there was only one thing I had to do After that the only thing I remember is seeing the body sprawled there and wondering if he was dead I hadn t meant to hit him' I just wanted to prove I was as good as anyone' It was-1 t not my fault' All these things I shouted at the two policemen as they shoved me into the squad car Another fight caused by a filthy n1gger ' Y ah they ought t stay home where they bel0ng ' All these things they said in front of me, talking as though they thought I were a dumb an zmal and couldn t understand them We pulled away from the curb and with the shrieking siren going full blast we went through my section of town Then I saw la bent and tired looking in front of our home Ma had tried to bring Us UP fight and It wasn' f her fault Itwasn t mine either But in a way it was I shouldn t have been mingling with the di fferent people on lain Street I should have been home and this was my home . . . . . . - ,, . ,, ' . . . - Q . . ' . . . . . . . . 3 . . ' ' I ' I ' ' ' ' IC ll . . . . , . , , . , . . . . ' . , . . . l . I . . ' . 9 I n 1 . - . . T . , I - . . I , . ' ' ' - . . . . . I . . poking curious noses into garbage cans in search of some nourishment. Beer-bellied men and pud- . . . . ,, I . . . . . , . . . . Q . ' . : II ' ' ' I ll D ' I , . . . , . , . D - 0 - - . , . , . . l , ' ' . fa ' ' ' I , . , . . . 9 ,, . . . ' la e I O 1 ' I . . . . . . ' O ' ' 1 - 0 , . . . ' ,, - - . .

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1954 PRIZE ESSAY ONE EVENING by Catherlne Cook Am1dst the sound of bullets 1nd the exc1ted cr1es of Get that guy' I glanee at my w1teh and notxee th1t the t1me go1ng qu1Ckly The fateful hour IS drawlng near I me1n that 8 30 IS bedtzme for johnny and M1ry As soon as I get out of these ropes and get the g1g out of my mouth I w1ll m1ke them get re1dy for bed ohnny Mrry turn off the TV T1me for bed N He w1nt to w1tCh Hoppy You know Wh1t he did? He Q1ught 1 robber Ind I don t eare wh1t Hoppy dld Hurry 1nd get dressed for bed At l1st they 1re dressed 1nd rezdy for bedj W1ll you re1d us a story9 ust one? ' M1ry 1sks Well just 1 short one Then you have to go rzght to sleep I e1n 1lmost he1r th7f sllent lzugb but I proeeed to tell them 1bout some pxgs 1nd 1 wolf e fhlfd p1g 19 just 1sk1ng for brlgks to bulld hxs house when Mzry 1nterrupts I want 1 drlnk Why d1dh t you get a dr1nk before? I wasn t thlrsty before Mary 1nd I are IH the kltchen when there IS 1 loud cr1sh longer In bed I rush up the st11rs to 1nvest1p1te 1nd fxnd 1ble under 1 p11e of bedclothes I tr1ed to reach the l1ght to turn xt out Looks l1ke Why d1dn t you let me turn zt out 1fter I f1n1shed the UPSfl1fS App1rently johnny IS hxm on the floor only p1rtIy vxs 1t w1s too fir 1w1y story9 Now th1t s a good questlon By the way I don t lxke that story How 1bout rc1d1ng Tho Gun Theodore? ' After gett1ng them settled lglln I resume the story Two p1ges l1ter I look up ind see th1t they IFL f1n1l1y :sleep Off wzth the llghts 1nd d0WHSf71fS zn t1me to witch 1 good mys tery on TV The robber h1s just m1de bls get1w1y when I he1r footsteps Trying to fool me g71U, I t1kc off my shoes 1nd elzmb slowly 1nd s1lently up the sta1rs THYP on tic lxght ind fxnd ohnny wznderlng around in hxs room What IS wrong? ' I ask Are you sleepwalklngg ' No I wfs just try1ng to detxde whether to 1sk for 1 Roy Rogers gun and holster or a C1p taln Vldeo SPTLG helmet It s 1 bzg deelsl n you know All I fun szy IS th1t baby SIIIIHQ IS strenuous work Mlybe I just don t hlve the F1 t p pro 11 h ' ' ' ll II , . 1 . 1 1 IS , , ---- 1 : 1 . 1 , 1 1 . ll , ' II , 1 , . 1 . as r , A , , rl 0- f c 1 . 1 . 1 1 1 1 ----- ll I 1 ' II f C a I s 1 1 C 1 1 1 . lr ' A I 411 44 - 1 ar I ' f ' I o '1 1 ' 1 1 . 1 , N. 1 . :1 1 . Th . . 1 -- . . 1 .. cz , - as 1 . af ' D ' tt I ' II . 1 E 1 1. E . 1 UO 1 1 ' 11 1 , 1 -' f l I, . , , . . V fr , 1 1 1 1 . Il ' I ' ' ' 1 1 . . , . ' - ,- 11 1 1 u D I 0 K ,K I 1 1 , . , . 1 1 1 - 1 i ' 1 F' 1 ' - I -'f 7 I ' - '. , 1 ' s 1- . 2 1 . 1 , 1 1 1 . 'fl ' , ' . 1' 1 ' 2 ' 1 , 1 ' 1 . 1 , . 1 - f I 1 ' J 1 J . ll ' I ll ' I Il .. ' ' .' f n , I . I I K - - , n , - N- - nn . .1. 1 . . 1 . o , . -g ,- f -g . 1 . 1 gh 11 if .