PACOLET, S.C. —
Josephine McBeth and Mary Ruby's families were raised together in Pacolet, South Carolina.
We sat down for the first part of our interview inside Ruby's assisted-living facility.
"Here I am. I was in the first grade in 1947," McBeth says.
Ruby adds, "and here I am right here."
McBeth and Ruby, exchanging stories from their childhood, reflecting how education has molded them into the women they are today, in 2023.
They both attended Marysville School in Spartanburg County.
According to the town of Pacolet, in 1915 the Pacolet Manufacturing Company built the school to educate the children of Black families who worked the mills of that area. It was also created to keep Black workers and their families separate from white workers.
Hearst Owned
(1947) 1st grade students of Marysville School
"Even though we were Black and our education was second class, we still excelled and did well in school," Ruby says.
Josephine McBeth attended first grade in 1947.
Mary Ruby was there in the first grade in 1939, then again for third through seventh grade.
Ruby says up until college, all of the schools she attended were segregated.
"The kids now they have everything at hand, given to them. Our father bought our books, and a lot of times our books would come from the white schools. Many times our books where you'd be reading, and sometimes you'd be missing a page many of them would be torn out. Everything was second hand, even desks chairs," Ruby says.
"We'd walk to school, some kids would walk 3 or 4 miles.. I would walk just over 2 miles. The whites that'd ride to school, they'd throw things at us."
"It was very tough, going to school in the rain or cold weather. There were no janitors. Everything was inferior, but it didn't take from what was inside of you. It made you strive better to be better," Ruby adds.
Both women say adversities meant to keep them on the outside strengthened their friendship.
Ruby eventually moved to Detroit, Michigan, spending 63 years serving communities as the director of mental health in Wayne County.
She's now back in the upstate of South Carolina, near her children.
Ruby says, "material things can be removed. What you have here, your intelligence, no one can take that from you."
McBeth graduated from USC Upstate, then graduated from Webster University with a master's degree in counseling.
Since 2005, McBeth has been Mayor Pro Tem of the town of Pacolet, where she attends monthly council meetings.
She exclusively showed WYFF News 4 inside the school.
"We had one lady who cooked our lunch in the kitchen downstairs. Her name was Miss Littlejohn. She made food for the entire school. About 80 to 90 kids."
"It wasn't anything fancy, maybe pinto beans or slaw with a fruit cup some days. Or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with soup. And to drink, you'd have a choice of either milk or Kool-Aid, but ya'll may not know about the Kool-Aid, haha."
"Some days, we'd have chicken, not nuggets. Creamed potatoes and green beans. And something with chocolate and bread sometimes."
McBeth says, "music has been my thing all my life, you know, and I love music. I try to sing a little, but I do like music. And it's been a dream of mine ever since this building's been here. Everytime I drive up on the yard, I always say this needs a cultural center."
McBeth said when she was growing up, it cost 50 cents for music lessons.
She says her family didn't have the extra money for her to attend.
She says if Marysville School becomes a cultural center, she'd love for children to have more access than she did.
"Clean it up, and the flooring, and good lighting. You need good lighting. I would even keep the benches. I would clean them up and polish them up good."
She says, "when you bring something that you've never had, and make it grow, here I am. I'm going to make it happen."
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