Edd Fish
Centralia, IL
In 1952 my second grade class in Elkville prepared for the fall festival by learning to sing “De Camptown Races Five Mile Long, Doo Dah, Doo Dah.” Our parents were sent notes evidently telling them to dress us as hobos for the event with mismatched raggedy clothes. What we didn’t know until that night was that our faces were blackened by the teacher for the presentation. Even have a photo of my group in the yearbook. Next year we integrated with the small black school in this town of 750 people and everything went smoothly. Next fall festival, three black fellows performed a ham bone rhythm act and I was hooked on rhythm.
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