Oral History
For my family history project, I chose to primarily focus on my grandfather and his journey through life. However, I got to spend time with and talk to both him and my grandmother.
I’ve always enjoyed talking to my grandparents, but this project gave me a reason for them to really open up about the past and discuss what their lives were like before I was around. I got the chance to ask about their college experience, including my grandfather’s degrees, his personal life growing up, and his career and experience working in education.
Growing up, my grandfather Ronnie Williams did not come from the best home. His father was an alcoholic, and was not around very often. His mother worked hard to provide for him and his two brothers. Because of his father’s condition, he had to turn to other different role models or father figures. These people included the parents of a childhood best friend growing up, who drove him to church every Sunday, opening his eyes to Jesus and allowing him to truly begin his religious faith, something he still keeps close to him today. Teachers in middle and high school instilled in him his love of English and inspired him to pursue a degree in English and later education. Other notable inspirations in his life include people working in education, specifically those who hired him at schools and gave him the chance to further develop his career. When asked about more personal inspirations, he responded, “On a personal level, I am grateful for my wife’s father, Perry Culpepper.” Perry is my great-grandfather who attended the University of Georgia in the 1930s. “Mr. Culpepper was like a father to me after I started dating Claire. Since my father was an alcoholic and was not around too much as I was growing up, Mr. Culpepper filled that void and set a great example for me as a husband, father and gentleman. I could continue speaking about my inspirations, but time does not permit. Suffice it to say that I was helped by a lot of good people and I thank God for all of the people who believed in me and helped me.”
I knew my grandfather had his doctorate degree, and was certified to teach given his career in education, but I did not know what his degrees were specifically. When I asked him, he explained, “I received a Bachelor of Science Degree in English Education from Valdosta State in 1970, it was a four-year degree that allowed me to teach English in grades 6–12 in Georgia. A Masters Degree in School Administration also from Valdosta State in 1973. It’s a five-year degree allowing me to serve as an administrator in any public school in Georgia. A Specialist Degree in School Administration from Valdosta State in 1975, this degree was a six-year degree which allowed me to serve as administrator in any public school in Georgia. Finally, a Doctoral Degree in School Leadership from Georgia State University in 1986. This degree is a terminal degree and is the highest degree one can hold. This degree enhanced my ability to serve as an administrator in any public school in Georgia as well as teach at the University level.” After learning about all of his degrees, it is much easier to see why he was able to hold high positions in multiple school systems, including superintendent.
Shifting the conversation to the subject of school, I asked him about his plans for college. He explained, “As a senior in high school, I contemplated going into pharmacy at the University of Georgia. I was accepted at Georgia, but at the last minute I decided what I really wanted to do was to teach and coach. Therefore, I decided to go to Valdosta State College and get a teaching degree in English which was my favorite subject. And in order to coach, you had to have a teaching job.” This was really interesting to me, because I did not know that he almost went to UGA or even applied before talking to him about it. I know several people in the pharmacy program here, and am aware of its history as one of the best programs in the area. When I asked him about extra-curricular activities while at Valdosta State, he explained, “My first two years of college, I really did not participate in any extra-curricular activities. My primary focus was on my studies and making good grades. I was on the Dean’s List my first two years of college. In my junior year, I became a charter member of a fraternity, Delta Chi. From that point forward I was very involved in intramural sports, the Black Key Honor Society, served as secretary and president of my fraternity and numerous other campus activities.” I had previously known about his role with Delta Chi, as he recently attended a reunion event at VSU, but was impressed when he mentioned how involved he was in Black Key and other activities related to the fraternity. Ronnie’s wife Claire also attended Valdosta State College for about the same time, and was in the Phi Mu sorority. I was more familiar with this information, because my mother was also a Phi Mu when she attended. However, I did not know that Claire had been the Delta Chi chapter sweetheart while my grandparents were dating in college. Though he was unable to find it, my grandfather has somewhere a picture of recently-crowned Claire as the Delta Chi sweetheart with Ronnie and the rest of the chapter. Claire retold a funny story about when they were competing in the intramural events. “There was this one event, where the fraternities would have their sweethearts in this kind of wooden chariot-like cart, and a couple of the brothers would have to pull it, and it was a race. Well since I was Delta Chi’s sweetheart, I had to sit in that little cart thing, and let me tell you I was nervous I was going to fly out! I told Ronnie and the rest of those boys, ‘Don’t you dare let me fall out, and we better win!’ I was screaming and hollering, ‘Go! Go! Go!’ And if you can believe it, we blew everyone else out of the water and Delta Chi ended up winning the whole cup.”
After some laughs and a short break for cookies, I asked about my grandfather’s teaching experiences. Regarding his first teaching position, “My first job in 1970 was teaching junior high English and coaching football, basketball and track at Carver Junior High School in the Dougherty County Schools in Albany, Georgia. It was a difficult experience because it was the first year that the school system was beginning to integrate schools. The school system’s first step in attempting integration was to send white teachers to all African-American schools. So I was part of a small group of white teachers hired to teach at Carver Junior High which had a 100% African-American student population. The school was located in a rough part of the community and we had a lot of intruders who would come on campus and cause trouble. The students were not a real problem, but it was a difficult year because the students had trouble adjusting to being taught by white teachers with very different social backgrounds.” Although it took some adjustment, he claims it was probably one of the best learning experiences for his career. Since Ronnie later served as superintendent at two school systems, I asked how that was. He explained, “I thoroughly enjoyed my 15 years serving as superintendent in Americus and Carrollton. I had supportive and caring school board members in both cities. I worked alongside some amazing professionals in both places, and parents and community members wanted nothing but the best for the schools in both situations. In hindsight, the job was difficult, but while I was doing it, it didn’t seem that hard. I think having been a high school principal for eight years prior to being superintendent made the job seem easier that what it was.” I was curious about what exactly the role of superintendent involves, and he happily (and lengthily) explained. “Since you work for the Board of Education, your first and primary responsibility is to serve the School Board as its Chief Executive Officer and carry out the Board’s directives and policies. At the same time, you have to exert leadership over the several hundred employees and several thousand students in the school system. The primary tasks I did were: develop and implement an effective and efficient fiscal budget, develop and implement a strong academic and extracurricular program for the students, hire, develop and nurture excellent employees who can make the system better with their talents and skills, communicate effectively with the School Board, staff, and community, and keep the schools safe and healthy for students and staff.” All of these responsibilities sounded very stressful to me, but I knew that if there was anyone who could handle it, my grandfather could. I have always known him as an organized, intelligent, and caring person, professionally and personally.
Since sports has been a big subject my family has bonded over, I asked him about Carrollton High School’s football state championship win. “Football is such an important sport in Carrollton. I knew there was a lot of pressure on Coach Ben Scott to win a state championship and people were always talking about whether he could win one or not. On a personal level, I had never been a part of a State Championship in football so I was extremely excited when we finally won in 1998. The best part of the State Championship to me was seeing Coach Scott and his son Joey, who was the center on the team, hugging at midfield after we won. Both men were crying with tears of joy and it made me feel good inside. It is more precious of a memory now because Coach Scott died a short time after this exciting event.” Coach Ben Scott was a very influential person in Carrollton, regarded as one of the best coaches CHS has ever had. Everyone who worked with and for him loved him, and the street Carrollton High School is on is now called Ben Scott Boulevard.
Finally, I asked Ronnie about his retirement. I remember going to his retirement party, surrounded by lots of people I had never seen before, but they had all seen me through Facebook or times when my grandfather couldn’t help but brag on his grandchildren. Every single person I remember talking to gave nothing but praise and good words about him. His retirement was bittersweet to him, “After 41 years of service in public education, I knew it was time for me to quit. I was tired of the commuting and was growing weary of all the budget cuts and personnel reductions. I felt good about my career and my positive contributions and felt it was the right time for me to retire completely. I do not regret the decision.” Though he felt confident about retirement, my grandfather’s only admitted regret about his career was how often he and his family had to move. He feels very sympathetic especially for his wife and children, who the moves were not always easy on. Now, Dr. Williams is living happily retired with Claire in Carrollton still. When they’re not home, they are at their Edgewater Beach Resort condo in Panama City Beach, Florida, or traveling with their friends to destinations like Hawaii, Europe, or a cross-country road trip out west. My grandmother’s recent slight decline in health has limited the frequency of their trips, but they still always have something exciting planned for the future.
Going off to college made me really appreciate every time I get to be with my family, specifically my grandparents. They have always been super supportive of me in all of my endeavors, and I can’t thank them enough. More specifically, this project has allowed me to understand how important it is to cherish every memory with people of older generations, because one day that’s all it will be: memories. So for the people who have been nothing but a perfect example of how to live life, I am grateful.
