Interview with Lora Smothers, May 20, 2022

Partial Transcript: Okay today is May the twentieth 2022.

Segment Synopsis: Smothers introduces herself and Breeding mentions things he hopes she will talk about in the interview.

Keywords: Black history; radio

Partial Transcript: Sure, so my parents are Kevin and Kathy Turner.

Segment Synopsis: Smothers recalls her parents, where they met, and the towns she lived in growing up. She explains that her mother had to push for her to be recognized as part of the gifted students, and once they moved to Suffolk, they were the targets for racial intimidation. Smothers shares that she suffered from racial trauma and recalls an experience with a history teacher as an example.

Keywords: Florence, Al.; Ku Klux Klan; Richmond, Va.; Suffolk, Va.; University of Tennessee; integration; racism; sports

Partial Transcript: From high school, I graduated and then I went to Emory University in Atlanta…

Segment Synopsis: Smothers elaborates on the new experiences she had when she went to college, including being able to study abroad in South Africa on a scholarship. She discusses her decision to get her master's and to be an educator. While in graduate school at UGA, she met her husband, and she shares that they now have two young children.

Keywords: University of Georgia; behavioral biology; gifted education; neuroscience

Partial Transcript: One of the things you mentioned about, uh - on the radio, you were talking about why.

Segment Synopsis: Smothers explains that she became disenchanted with education while she was in grad school and saw it in practice because of its inherently biased system and the way students are evaluated by race. Through her own research, she found an alternative kind of school for children in Athens, where she felt empowered to educate children in a more appropriate, effective, and involved way.

Keywords: Freedom to Grow Unschool; Katherine Brown; Teri Cole-Smith; childhood development; public education

Partial Transcript: But first, I had to get my teaching certificate, so what I did next was I left Freedom to Grow and went to teach at Athens Christian School.

Segment Synopsis: Smothers discusses the limited options for students, especially students of color. She explains how public schools are often underfunded and not adequately staffed, while private schools are expensive and predominantly white. She elaborates on her time teaching at Athens Christian School and the disparities she noticed. Once COVID-19 came to the area, she felt that she had to do something about the Black education crisis in Athens.

Keywords: 2010s; childhood development; institutionalized racism; life science; physical science

Partial Transcript: Part of the Oral History Project is to talk about the parts of Athens...

Segment Synopsis: Smothers recounts some of what she had learned in relation to the Black community in Athens and education. She emphasizes that integration, in reality, moved Black children from the communities they knew into schools that were unfamiliar with teachers they didn’t know. The Black culture that had been built around education was demolished, and so Smothers has dedicated a room in Joy Village to commemorate what these Black educators and elders did for their community.

Keywords: Athens High and Industrial; Chestnut Grove Schoolhouse; Jereul Academy; Joy Village School; Judia Jackson Harris; Knox Institute; Lindentown; Linnentown; Normaltown School; Reese Street School; The Settlement; integration; racism; segregation

Partial Transcript: Any other people that you can think of?

Segment Synopsis: Smothers recounts some of the experiences of Mary Frances Early, the first Black student to receive a degree from the University of Georgia. She uses Early’s experiences to highlight what she does not want to continue within the community, discussing the amount of mistrust in the town between and within races and the brushing off of the Black community. Smothers explains that this is why Black history is at the center of the curriculum at Joy Village, so that Black students are aware of their history and impact in Athens.

Keywords: Archibald Killian; Joy Village School; community relations; race relations

Partial Transcript: List some of the neighborhoods that were in existence that you were able to research and find something about.

Segment Synopsis: Smothers discusses predominantly Black neighborhoods that existed, especially along the Waterfront on the East Side, and how they have not survived. She laments that this history is being erased and speaks on the ways she is trying to raise awareness of this lost culture within Athens through social media.

Keywords: 1950s; 1960s; Lennintown; Lickskillet; Reese Street; community activism; gentrification; the Bottom; the Waterfront; urban renewal

Partial Transcript: Have you had any time periods where you just kind of had doubt?

Segment Synopsis: Smothers acknowledges the progressiveness of her position and the novelty of a school like Joy Village being in Athens. She says that the entire Black Athens community is chipping away at the Black education crisis in their own ways in different areas, and that the community is filled with incredible Black educators who have been restricted. The interview concludes with Smothers giving advice to her teenage self: “Who you are is exactly right.”

Keywords: 2010s; 2020s; Black history; community activism; education