Cape Girardeau woman remembers segregation

The devastating effects of racial segregation in the public school system are never far from the hearts and minds of one generation of Cape Girardeau area residents.

Until 1953, Cape Girardeau was home to one of Southeast Missouri's few black elementary and secondary schools -- John S. Cobb School, a three-story brick structure located at the intersection of Ellis and Merriwether.

Students such as Louise Duncan, who grew up on a farm 13 miles outside Cape Girardeau, traveled from all over the region to receive the only education available to them.

The 72-year-old Duncan looks back on her days at John S. Cobb School with a combination of fondness and sadness.

She recognizes the opportunities she would have missed had it not been for the all-black school, but she remembers with painful clarity the humiliation she and her classmates suffered at the hands of segregation.

Duncan said almost everything at John S. Cobb School was second-hand, including all of the teaching materials and classrooms furnishings.

"Some of the books were raggedy-tattered, but for being used, most of them weren't too bad," Duncan said.

In 1937, the district built a new basketball gymnasium at John S. Cobb School. Duncan said she can remember how upset she and her classmates were because white students from Central High School were allowed to practice in the new gym, but Cobb students weren't allowed to use CHS' facilities.

"Segregation was a fact of life back then. You didn't like it because you knew you weren't being treated equal. You more or less accepted it, but you hoped and prayed things would change," Duncan said.

No bus service

During her years in elementary school, Duncan and her younger brother, Silas Cardwell, lived with relatives in Cape Girardeau because there was no regular transportation between their parents' farm near Dutchtown, Mo., and the school.

"The situation was bad, but I was always just grateful we had parents who loved us enough to see we got the education we deserved," she said.

At the time Duncan attended John S. Cobb School, the then-segregated Central High School was located only a block away at the intersection of Pacific and Merriwether.

Duncan said it was difficult being in such close proximity with the white school. Central students would often cut across the John Cobb campus on their way to school. Although there were rarely any altercations, Duncan said it was a constant reminder of the unequal treatment she and her classmates received.

"We didn't have the best books and things. Almost everything was a hand-me-down from the white schools," Duncan said. "But we had very dedicated teachers who made sure we got a good education."

Combined grades

The school was set up similar to a one-room country school, with several grades combined. When Duncan reached high school, she was confronted with another form of segregation -- gender-based.

Only boys were allowed to take classes like mathematics and algebra, while Duncan other female students were forced to take home economics.

"Sometimes I think back to what I might have missed. I wonder how things might have been different if I'd gone to a white school where I would have had more opportunities," she said.

Despite the disadvantages, more than half of the 21 members of Duncan's 1949 graduating class went on to attend college. Duncan herself attended Lincoln University, an all-black college in Jefferson City.

"All in all, we did very well, considering the hardships of segregation. We managed to get the fundamentals which allowed us a chance to go to college," Duncan said.

After a year and a half at Lincoln University, Duncan returned to Cape Girardeau and worked as a live-in housekeeper for several local families.

Four years after Duncan graduated, John S. Cobb School was destroyed in a fire. The school was never rebuilt, and in September 1954, the district integrated.

"When I look back now, I see how horrible it all was," Duncan said. "I'm not bitter though. It costs too much to be bitter."

cclark@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128