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While much talk at the Douglass reunion centered upon the
school, teachers and friendships, that wasn’t the only topic of discussion.
Donald L. Scott, Brigadier General U.S. Army (Ret), attended
Douglass school, but graduated from Monroe City High School the first year
after integration, in 1956.
“My greatest memory is of Coach Billy Key Rice Maupin (at
Monroe City High School.) I was in the first class to integrate, and he went
out of his way to see that I had a fair shot at basketball and musical
programs.
“That year, there was a lot of tension, with a lot of subtle
innuendoes. It was only integrated at school; the town was still segregated. I
wasn’t able to go to the creamery” with the other ball players, he said.
Scott’s family is from Hunnewell, Mo., and they were the
only black family in that community. He was bused to Hannibal – round trip 70
miles – each day to attend school. Douglass offered him his only opportunity to
interact with children of his own race.
He married Betty Forte of Hannibal, and they now live in
Kansas City in the summer, and Henderson, Nev., in the winter.
While much talk at the Douglass reunion centered upon the
school, teachers and friendships, that wasn’t the only topic of discussion.
Donald L. Scott, Brigadier General U.S. Army (Ret), attended
Douglass school, but graduated from Monroe City High School the first year
after integration, in 1956.
“My greatest memory is of Coach Billy Key Rice Maupin (at
Monroe City High School.) I was in the first class to integrate, and he went
out of his way to see that I had a fair shot at basketball and musical
programs.
“That year, there was a lot of tension, with a lot of subtle
innuendoes. It was only integrated at school; the town was still segregated. I
wasn’t able to go to the creamery” with the other ball players, he said.
Scott’s family is from Hunnewell, Mo., and they were the
only black family in that community. He was bused to Hannibal – round trip 70
miles – each day to attend school. Douglass offered him his only opportunity to
interact with children of his own race.
He married Betty Forte of Hannibal, and they now live in
Kansas City in the summer, and Henderson, Nev., in the winter.
