James R Washington

Oral history with James R. Washington, recorded 10/27/18.

BUSH: [00:01] Let’s start this recording. So, greetings to you: my name is Douglas Bush, as you know.

WASHINGTON: Nice to meet you. (laughs)

BUSH: And I’m a volunteer with the Yancey History Day—Yancey Heritage and History Project. We’re really happy to have you here. Thank you so much for coming, Mr. Washington.

WASHINGTON: Thank you. 

BUSH: [00:25] What is your first name?

WASHINGTON: It’s James R. Washington.

BUSH: [00:27] “James R.,” okay. Esmont. We’re just identifying you for the sake there. So this is an agreement here, that states that you are being interviewed. Let’s see, what does it say here? So the objective of the project: we want to collect, as much as we can, oral history, artifacts, etc. associated with Yancey, the history here, the educational history, the passage of time and experience that people like you, residents, have gone through. And eventually, to have an exhibit or display in the lobby here, which would be interactive or a living history display. So that is the long-term goal. I think, really, the value goes beyond that, because each person has a testimony—and we want to capture those and get them together. Did you have any questions or anything before we begin? 

WASHINGTON: No, I understand.

BUSH: Okay. Let’s see, we talked about the purpose, and you’re permitting the history project to retain copies of the recorded material. And if agree with that, you can sign and print your name there. And today is the 27th of October, 2018.  

(assorted rustling and low mic noises)

BUSH: [02:31] So, let’s begin, Mr. Washington. Thank you again. I’ll throw out a few questions, and I’ll let you take it where you want to take it, okay?

WASHINGTON: Okay.

BUSH: [02:44] But we’re primarily interested in your experience with Yancey and Esmont. Can you tell us when you first came to Yancey, and any recollection you have about those beginning days?

WASHINGTON: Right. I was actually in—(mic noises) When Yancey was first built, I was in the first class to leave here. I was in seventh grade when Yancey was opened for the firs time. And I remember what was kind of unique about the experience was the fact that the person who was the principal—Isaac D. Faulkner—was also one of our teachers. So he taught as well as being the principal. And then we had another person who came in from Virginia—L. Murray—who sort of taught us music and worked with some other parts of it. So basically, we just had two teachers. It’s not like it is now, where you have different teachers who teach different subjects. He came in to do what he needed to do, and then the other person came in to do what he needed to do. I can’t exactly remember how many students were in that class, but I imagine it was pretty close to thirty students in that class at that particular time. Some of them I had the fortune to go onto high school with, because once we left Yancey, we ended up going to Burley. Now, I grew up in Howardsville. To go from Howardsville to Charlottesville is a long trip. Especially because at the time we had to drop off students from Howardsville to here, and then we went from here, the back roads to Sand Road, to get to Keene, where we got on another bus that took us to Burley. And wintertime was horrible, because I have to tell you upfront, they didn’t have the radio communication then that they have now. So I can remember going home, where we get stuck in the snow—you didn’t have CB radios and things like that on the buses. And those were experiences that I will always remember. And I remember a lot of times, I would tell my wife when we go through Chestnut Grove, there were certain hills we would always get stuck on. I will always remember that, and every time I go I sort of reflect on that. But at the same time, I can say this: we didn’t have a lot of the luxuries that schools have now. And I remember there were times that you would try to do things to figure out how you were going to get money for the library and what have you. We didn’t have a fancy library like they had now. This school has really improved since the time that I left here. And you also know how much has been added on to Yancey since the time that it was originally built. But I would say, and I often say this wherever I go: I grew up in Howardsville. And growing up in Howardsville was probably the best thing that ever happened to me because as I became a teacher and as I became an administrator, I always remembered those things. And I had people who supported me—and that made a major difference in my life. Now, I’m not sure if you’re aware of this or not, but I had the opportunity during my career as an administrator, to come back here and be acting principal. Now, I don’t know how many students have had the opportunity, where you were a student to come back and be acting principal. And I knew, at the time, I was only supposed to be here for six months—but people got up the petition to keep me. But I had made the agreement to go back to my former school, because I was the assistant principal at Sunderland. And the agreement was—I figured if I made the agreement, I need to honor the agreement, and I went back to Sunderland, eventually as principal. But working here was an experience. Something I found unique: they had something called “Show and Tell.” Now, you tell me how many principals go be invited to Show and Tell—and you know what I did? I actually brought my tractor to school with me. (Bush laughs) And the kids were kind of—How many kids have seen an administrator with a tractor? I brought my tractor here on a trailer, and a lot of the kids wanted to get on it, but I couldn’t allow them to get up on it. I could show them how things work. But I could not allow them to get up on it, in case somebody got hurt. And the other thing was, once they saw me here at school, and they’d see me out on the weekends—it was just amazing. They said, “Wow, he doesn’t just exist Monday through Friday. He also exists on weekends.” That was also unique. And the other thing is—I’ve always said this and I’ll say it again and again and again—and I’ve told kids here and I’ve told kids wherever I’ve been, is that if you can do what’s right at school, there shouldn’t be any problem. And I’ve encouraged parents to come in, and this was also kind of unique when I first came here, because even though I grew up in Howardsville and a lot of people knew me, they didn’t know what to expect as an administrator. And my thing was this: if you have a child in school, you have the right and responsibility to come and in and check to see what those kids are doing. And we did that, and like I said before, I had no idea they were going to try to keep me here, but I couldn’t stay because that was the agreement that I had made. But I got a quality education here, and I’ve gotten a quality education wherever I’ve been. And like I said before: I’ve been blessed. For a person to be able to come back to your former school to be acting principal, that’s a blessing in itself. 

BUSH: [07:53] Says a lot for their level of education. So what year was it that you started here?

WASHINGTON: At Yancey, I left here—I started, Yancey itself—I mean I got my education at Esmont School, you know, the old wooden building there. That’s where I started. 

BUSH: Your elementary school.

WASHINGTON: Elementary school. This was my elementary school. And then, you know, when the old school was torn down and Yancey was built, we moved into this. But I was in the first class to leave this.

BUSH: [08:21] And what grade was that?

WASHINGTON: Seventh grade, when I left here.

BUSH: [08:25] And was that 1960?

WASHINGTON: 1960.

BUSH: [08:27] So you just had one year in the new building?

WASHINGTON: I only had one year in the new building.

BUSH: Seventh grade.

WASHINGTON: Mm-hm.

BUSH: [08:32] And then you went on to Burley?

WASHINGTON: To Burley. Because Burley was 8 through 12. But, it’s just that this place is unique. It’s very unique, and it’s family-oriented. And I know that when you encourage the parents to come into the building, sometimes they’re reluctant and they say, “Well, maybe the other person doesn’t want me in the building.” My thing was this: if you’ve got kids, you’ve got a right to be in this building, as long as you do what’s right. And that’s the way I look at it. 

BUSH: [09:00] So what year did you come back as principal?

WASHINGTON: Lord, it’s been so long ago, I forgot what year it was. I want to say—I was at Sunderland when they asked if I wanted to come here, and I may have been 1993, ’94, somewhere in that vicinity. I can’t remember the exact year—I should have written it down. It’s just been so many different changes. But to have a person come back—And one of the reasons that the superintendent supposedly asked me to come back is the fact that I knew the area. And that’s simply because I attend church out here. I know a lot of people out here, and like I said before, I grew up in Howardsville. And that really made a difference, with the connection to Chestnut Grove and this area, and Scottsville. 

BUSH: [09:43] So when you were in Howardsville, you were coming to the old wooden school in Esmont here?

WASHINGTON: Mm-hm. Mm-hm, right. 

BUSH: [09:50] That was a commute, too.

WASHINGTON: It wasn’t as much as going to Burley—believe me. (laughs)

BUSH: Oh, that’s for sure.

WASHINGTON: But, like I said before, we made it, and I thank God that we made it, but like I said it’s still—you go back and you think about the things that we didn’t have. But I look at the things that we didn’t have, that helped me to help others to get some of the things they wanted to do. So that’s the way I look at it. And I’ll tell you one other thing that was kind of funny. And this is when I got into the system as a teacher and eventually as an administrator. I had a young man that I knew from Howardsville and, unfortunately, his father was no place in the picture. And for some reason he knew I liked tractors. Well, he liked tractors, too. And he got turned on to tractors with me, and I spent time with him, and I sort of became a mentor for him. I became a mentor for him when he was here, when he went to Yancey, when he went to Walter—and eventually, he’s in high school and I’m still a mentor for him. He’s in eleventh grade. Now I don’t know how many kids I’ve done that with. I started out with two, but one has sort of gotten too big for it. He’s sort of figured, “I don’t need a mentor now.” But this kid basically called me every Friday to let me know how he was doing. And to do that, you must have done something right. He’s a good kid but—(sighs) I think growing up in the area has really helped me in more ways that one. Because I see kids out here who have great needs. I’ll give you one example. When I was at another school, it was a very well-off community. These kids had everything—you would think they had everything they needed. But a lot of the kids didn’t have. And one of the things I started doing was I had a quarter in my pocket, and I would flip the quarter—

BUSH: [11:34] Was this when you were acting principal?

WASHINGTON: When I was principal at another school. But what I would do, I would flip the coin. If I had a kid sitting there who didn’t have certain things that others had, I’d flip the quarter. It didn’t make a difference whether you won or not: you still were going to get it.  And this may sound trivial, but ice cream. A lot of kid didn’t have it, didn’t have the money to buy it. So that’s what I did. And I didn’t realize how many people were watching me until the day I retired. (unclear) did the same thing I was doing. She flipped the coin; she said, “Now I got you.” (laughter) But it makes a difference. 

BUSH: [12:06] That’s a beautiful story. That’s great. Can you back up a little bit and tell us a little bit about your experience with education as it relates to segregation? You know, in those old days, terrible times. And the transition to integration, and the difficulties that brought. If you could just trace those issues through the school business.

WASHINGTON: Because when I was here, it was all-Black. And the first—

BUSH: [12:38] This is your seventh grade?

WASHINGTON: Yeah.

BUSH: [12:40] And that was the first year Yancey—

WASHINGTON: Was open. 

BUSH: 1960.

WASHINGTON: And I was in a class with all Blacks. We did what we needed to do. We got an education. But then when I moved onto high school, it was probably the last year I was in high school—which was 1966—there may have been several white students there. But none of them were in my class. And I have to say the first time I interacted with white students was actually when I was at college. However, now when I finished and I came back, my first teaching job was at Woodbrook. Ninety percent of the kids were white. Now, the question is: Does it make a difference with me? No, and I think a lot of that had to do with the way I was brought up. And that was to look at people as people—not, you know, “You’re white and I’m Black.” And the sad thing about it was, my first year teaching at Woodbrook, guess what? I got drafted. 

BUSH: Oh, my gosh!

WASHINGTON: I got drafted. But the kids had sort of fallen in love with me over the four months that I was with them, and they wrote to me when I was in the military. And when I got a break, I came back to visit them. And I was saying to myself—One of the sergeants would ask me, “How in the world do you get all this mail?” And I would say basically I was teaching before I was drafted, and these kids obviously thought a lot of me and, like I said, they wrote to me. But wherever I’ve been, most of my students have been white students. But it’s never created a problem for me. And, again, it has a lot to do with how I was raised. Now, I’ll tell you this upfront: my parents were not educated people. And there was a lot of things they couldn’t do for me. But there was a white family that lived not very far from where I grew up—and there was nothing they wouldn’t do for me. And I have to tell you, when that man, that dad died, it was just like I had lost my father. That was the relationship that we had. We used to go places, and he used to refer to me as Son. And I guess that a lot of people might have gotten offended by a white man calling a Black kid “Son,” but that’s the love we had for each other. And I will say this upfront: I have a friend of mine right now—and I put teachers in different categories. I would say of all the teachers I’ve met, I would put her in my Top 10 of the teaching profession. And she has invited me into her home. She has now moved to North Carolina, and then from North Carolina they moved to South Carolina. And she has invited me into her home, and when I went down, they would not allow me to spend one dime. And she always reminds me: “That’s how you treated me, when you hired me, and the relationship has been there.” But, like I said, when I grew up in Howardsville, we sort of lived up on a hill. (mic noise) And downtown, I’d say were where many of the whites lived, but we didn’t have any problems. We looked after each other. And that’s the way it was. But I’m sure there were people who didn’t understand Blacks, and I’m sure there were Blacks who didn’t understand whites. But like I said, I was well-raised.

BUSH: [15:45] So you were a couple years in service, in active duty. And when you were released, did you come back to teach then?

WASHINGTON: Yeah, when I came back, I was—Albemarle County at the time and the policy would guarantee your job, but it wouldn’t guarantee you the same job that you had before. So when I came back. They sent me for an interview to Virginia L. Murray School. I denied it. I was looing at some of the things they were doing and I was saying to myself, “Hm, let’s try something else.” So I went back and I talked to Tom Herbert, who was the director of human resources. And I said I would maybe like to have something closer. So then they sent me to Macintyre, which is on 250 Bypass, which is now closed for Albemarle County Schools. And I was sitting down in the principal’s office, and I kept hearing these chairs turning over, and I said, “What is this?” Otis Lee was principal, and he said, (laughing) “This is where you’ll be going.” So I go up, I look at the situation and my saving grace was before I went into that classroom, we had a snow. It was in December. So we had the snow, and school was not reopened until January—so that gave me an opportunity to prepare, to do what I needed to do to try to get these kids back on track. But the thing I found out after the fact was I was probably the third or fourth person who had gone into that classroom that year. Quote, unquote, these kids were supposed to be problems. They weren’t problems. They were a problem because nobody had clamped down on them. And my response when I walked in was, “I had just got out the military, and you are not running me anyplace.” (Bush laughs) And people sort of noticed the things I was doing. I actually had the kids march into the lunchroom; that hadn’t happened before. The kids were misplaced. You had a group of kids who were very intelligent—and nobody had challenged them because of the fact that they had figured, “Well, we’ll just put them all into one group.” No. Unh-hm. The other thing, again—and this will sort of let you know the type of person I am—I did not realize this until one day I went down to human resources to look at my file. And I had parents who had written letters to commend me for what I was doing to do those kids. I didn’t know that. I did not. But the kids were being tested; they were being placed where they should have been placed. A lot of these kids have really done well. I had—(laughs) This isn’t funny, but I had one of the girls in a class in particular, she eventually lived up the road from where I lived. She had a major crush on me. And that’s why, like I said before, I looked as kids as kids. I said, “That’s fine, but you got work you’ve got to do, and when you do wrong, there are consequences for your action.” But like I said before, the training that I got in Albemarle County, the training that I got in the military, and of course the training that I got in college—because I finished college when I got drafted, but that was okay.

BUSH: [18:43] Which college was it?

WASHINGTON: I went to St. Paul’s in Lawrenceville, which unfortunately now is closed. 

BUSH: Congratulations.

WASHINGTON: Yup, but like I said before, I have truly enjoyed myself. And I see former students now, and they still speak to me. Also. this gives you another example: this is a student I met while I was at Walton. Now, I went into Fisher Auto Parts yesterday to get something. I looked at this person, he looked at me, and I said, “I remember you from Walton.” Now I couldn’t remember his name, but I remember his face. And all of a sudden he says, “How do you do that?” I said, “My computer turned on today.” (Bush laughs) 

BUSH: [19:20] That’s great. So tell me: what was the name of the school that you were in when you came back form the service? Macintyre, wasn’t it?

WASHINGTON: Macintyre. 

BUSH: [19:28] Macintyre. And from there you went to? 

WASHINGTON: Walton.

BUSH: [19:33] Which was a middle school?

WASHINGTON: Right. Walton was a middle school. It had just opened—(coughs) Excuse me. It had just opened but it should not have been opened because it was not complete. I taught sixth grade when I first went to Walton. It was a team, and I was teaching social studies, so you worked with three other people—and those are individuals that I had never met before. But we worked together, and that was important. Unfortunately, some of those folks have gone onto Heaven now. And then from there—Again, going back, I’m going to back up a second. When I went there, Otis Lee was principal, because he had moved from Macintyre to there. He was principal. I worked with Carolyn Morrison; that’s the one I remember. Dan Simican, and somebody other—I can’t remember the name right now. But those were the individuals that I worked with. And then from there, I decided I wanted to do something different. So I said, “If there becomes an opening in seventh grade, I would like to move up,” because I would prefer more with American History than what I was doing there. So it came open, and I moved up to seventh grade. And one of the individuals I worked with, we still talk to each other: Janice Stodgel. Janice Stodgel was teaching language arts, and I taught American History. Katie Dixon taught math, and I’m trying to remember—Oh! Walter Mirren taught science. But I still see those individuals, and we still sort of communicate with each other. And then from there, I had an opportunity. I kept telling my wife I wanted to go back to school. And when you have kids, sometimes it’s hard to balance it out. So Albemarle County had this program where they were trying to find African-Americans who would go into this program that they had. So I applied, had no idea I was going to get in. It was where you ha to write an essay about what would you do, and that type of thing. And I said, “Well, nothing ever fails except to try.” So I fill it out, I send it back to the superintendent, and then they set up interviews for individuals who had applied. So I had an interview at I was at Walton, and I to find someone to cover my class during my interview. But what happened was, the day they had set up the interview, something happened to the person who was going to interview me—and all that does is stress you out. And then finally, they sent somebody else out, and I did the interview. And I think it was something like sixty-five questions. And this lady said, she said, “You’re finished.” And I said, “I thought it was something like sixty-five questions.” She said, “There were sixty-five questions, but you obviously knew what you were doing.” And I waited and I waited to find out if I was going to be selected or not. Finally I get the letter that says, “You have been selected.” So what I had to go, basically, is I taught at Walton, and then on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, I had classes at UVA. And then from there, they said, “We can’t guarantee you an administrative job.” But I figured like this: If I’m going to get my Master’s, you’re going to spend money on me, you’re going to put me someplace. And they sent me to Western Albemarle High School as an intern. And I said okay. And actually what I did, because I knew some things, and basically, when the assistant principals were not there or the principal was not there, I did the same things they would’ve done. And all of a sudden, this lady says, “Hm. We have one of our assistant principals who’s leaving; I want to interview you for the position.” And she interviewed me and I got the position. And one of the things she often reminded me was how I interacted with kids. Now, I want you to think about this for a second: How many administrators do you know going to wait outside for the buses each day? And I told her, “Jerry Terrell told me, he said, ‘This is one of the ways that you can determine if kids are going to be having problems for the day. When they come out with their heads hung down, there’s a problem.’” And he was right. And that’s one of the things I’ve done as principal and as an assistant principal, is meet the buses. Sometimes I accept the responsibility where somebody else is not doing it. Or I’ll do it myself—and I’ve never had a problem with that. 

BUSH: Good story!

WASHINGTON: Yeah, I’ve never had a problem.

BUSH: [23:44] Well, let’s go back to Esmont School and Yancey, way back to your childhood. So tell me again a little bit about Esmont School. You said that there were two teachers here? Is that right—or was that Yancey? 

WASHINGTON: No, I was just talking about when I was at Yancey. Now I think most of the class—

BUSH: Tell me about Esmont School a little bit.

WASHINGTON: As far as I can remember, most of the kids only had one teacher. I mean, that teacher basically did everything. I’m not going to say you had a full-course P.E., but they taught you music. And I remember one of the teachers loved to do square dancing. And I was saying to myself, “I don’t want to do no square-dancing.” But that’s when there was the old school. And this was a fifth-grade class teacher. Her name was Flossie F. Price. Short and mean as a rattlesnake. (Bush laughs) But I loved her.

BUSH: [24:36] Nice. Was it a one-room school, or did they have multiple rooms? 

WASHINGTON: There were different classrooms.

BUSH: There were different classrooms.

WASHINGTON: I want to say there was a different classroom for first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade. And seventh grade.

BUSH: Multiple classrooms.

WASHINGTON: Mm-hm. Yeah. Multiple classrooms.

BUSH: [24:50] It was all African-American students?

WASHINGTON: Mm-hm, mm-hm.

BUSH: [24:52] And the teachers, too?

WASHINGTON: Yeah. I don’t remember, like I said—No, they were all African-American. 

BUSH: [24:59] And it was a good education?

WASHINGTON: It was a great education. I can remember—I can one of the teachers when I was in sixth grade, at the old school. And if she told me to do something, I was going to do it. Her name was Gina Durette. Unfortunately, right now, she’s in a nursing home. But she’s somebody that I always admired and respected. 

BUSH: Isn’t that great.

WASHINGTON: Yup, and I think she, when she’s on—My wife goes to see her because they’re sorority sisters. And she always asks about me. I think that she’s pretty proud of the fact that I became a teacher and a principal

BUSH: [25:53] So, were you aware of why they built Yancey? 

WASHINGTON: Well, I know the other school was run-down. We didn’t have the indoor facilities. I always remember the big pump that was outside, that if you wanted to get water you had to go out and get it. So you put the water in these big—they weren’t plastic. It was like if you see a jar, it wasn’t something like that.

BUSH: Ceramic or something.

WASHINGTON: and then like I’m saying, they didn’t have paper cups. I always remember—I’m going to take this for a second, I always remember making my paper cup. 

BUSH: [26:12] (laughs) Out of what? Out of a piece of paper?

WASHINGTON: Out of a piece of paper. I can’t remember if it had to go like that.

BUSH: Fold the cone or something. 

WASHINGTON: Fold it and then you fold it back up. I always remember that, when you wanted water—and you tell me how sanitary that was. (Bush laughs) And like I said, the outhouses I remember. If you had to go to the bathroom, you didn’t have indoor, so you had to go outside. It didn’t make any difference how warm it was or how cold it was: that’s what you did. But in terms of sports, we didn’t have sports like we had sports now. A lot of the kids liked to play football. And you played that outside. Some of them liked to play softball. And I will tell you this upfront: A thing I often tell people the thing I regret most of all is the fact that, when I got to high school, my parents didn’t have transportation, and one thing I wanted to play was  baseball. But I never got the opportunity because we didn’t have transportation. Not like now—you have athletic buses now. But I’m just thankful that things worked out the way they did for me.

BUSH: [27:10] So you made that transition from sixth grade to seventh from the old Esmont School to Yancey—brand-new Yancey School. And that was also all African-American at that point?

WASHINGTON: All African-American, at that point.

BUSH: 1960.

WASHINGTON: Yeah. Still African-American.

BUSH: [27:24] Still those days. And you had the two teachers there?

WASHINGTON: I had two teachers. I had the principal, who was one of my teachers, and then I had another one who came in and took over in the afternoon. 

BUSH: [26:36] What was the principal’s name—do you remember?

WASHINGTON: Isaac D. Faulkner. 

BUSH: Oh, yeah.

WASHINGTON: And the teacher who came in was Ellis Dillot. And unfortunately both of they are now deceased. 

BUSH: [27:48] So that was your year at Yancey.

WASHINGTON: Mm-hm.

BUSH: [27:51] And that prepared you to go to Walton then?

WASHINGTON: No, that prepared me to Burley.

BUSH: [27:56] Oh, Burley. For Burley. And then you were in there all the way through high school? 

WASHINGTON: Right. And at Burley, just to let you know, not to toot my own horn, I was a honor roll student.

BUSH: Hey-hey! See, now that says something about the quality of education that you were getting out here.

WASHINGTON: Yeah, I was  an honor roll student.

BUSH: [28:11] Because some people have said that kids form the country were disadvantaged sometimes even going into Burley. And that the teachers would sometimes treat them sort of differently, because they were country kids. You didn’t run into that?

WASHINGTON: I never had that experience. I’ll tell you, another saving grace for me was the fact that kids used to tease me. When I’m sitting on the bus, and I’ve got this long ride, I’m looking at my books. I said, “Why waste time?” Because when I got home, I’ve got to tell you this upfront—you’re not going to believe what I’m getting ready to tell you. My parents did not have electricity in the house until I went off to college. And when I came back and they had electricity—I almost fainted. (Bush laughs) It was kerosene lamps. I’ll always remember that. But I was able to do what I needed to do. And like I said, the encouragement that I got from this white couple, I will never forget that. 

BUSH: [29:04] What are their names?

WASHINGTON: Convingtons.

BUSH: Covingtons?

WASHINGTON: Mm-hm: C-O-V-I-N-G-T-O-N. The man was from Louisiana, and his wife was from Mississippi. And they never treated me with disrespect. Never.

BUSH: That’s something. That’s great. So, Yancey, when you started, brand new building. And of course, it had everything: electricity—

WASHINGTON: Oh, yeah. Everything was inside.

BUSH: Everything that the old school didn’t have.

WASHINGTON: Didn’t have. 

BUSH: [29:31] Yeah, how about that? And then all the other kids, the younger kids moved in there that year, too.

WASHINGTON: Yeah.

BUSH: Right, all the grades started. You were in the last, seventh grade. 

WASHINGTON: I was in seventh grade and the moved out of here. 

BUSH: [29:45] Well, Mr. Washington, I just wanted to thank you. Is there anything else that you wanted to mention related to Yancey or the history? 

WASHINGTON: I think the key thing is the fact that this is—These kids here got a quality education. And I would say that one of the things that I have always encouraged my parent is that they have to be involved in the education of their kids. Teachers can’t do everything. And I think a lot of people get the idea that teachers are going to do everything. They can’t do everything. They can sure do that part, but I know—I go back and I think about the teachers that I had, and I’ll just say Yancey. They were great teachers. They were great teachers who encouraged me. And I’ve got to tell you one other thing about Burley. This is important. When I was thinking about going off to college, at the time—I don’t know how it works now—there was an application fee. I didn’t have the money for an application fee. So I actually borrowed the money for the application fee. And then I had to take the SAT: that’s money again. One of my teachers actually paid for me to take the SAT. So I’ve had great teachers, and maybe that’s one of the reasons I am the way I am, giving something back to kids. I’ve been blessed and that’s the way I look at it.

BUSH: Fantastic. Well, I thank you, Mr. Washington. These were great stories. We really appreciate you coming in.

WASHINGTON: Thank you. 

BUSH: And congratulations on a beautiful career, a rich career.

WASHINGTON: Oh, yeah, I truly—

BUSH: You’ve made a big difference in this world.

WASHINGTON: Well, I didn’t tell you the last part of my story. In addition to the mentor that I’m doing for this young man now, I’m picking up my seniors now. There are a lot of seniors who don’t have anyone to help them. So I have two seniors that I help in Charlottesville, and I have three seniors that I help out in the area where I live. And anybody who needs help, all they’ve got to do is call and I’ll be there. 

BUSH: That’s fantastic.

WASHINGTON: But I enjoy myself. 

BUSH: Well, thank you. It was great.

WASHINGTON: Thank you.

BUSH: (mic noise) Thank you so much for sharing.

END OF TAPE [31:44]