Myrtle Engs
"Group portrait of faculty members outisde Bruton Heights School, Williamsburg, Virginia"
Photo courtesy: Albert W. Durant Collection, Visual Resources, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Ms. Myrtle Engs describing Bruton Heights School where she taught:
"It was very warm and nourishing. The children, I think, felt quite happy and comfortable with their teachers and with the school itself. Teachers took a real interest in the children and in their accomplishments and tried to motivate them to do their very best, to work to their highest potential…I loved teaching there because…there was such a nice, warm atmosphere. The teachers were all so friendly. I was brand new to the area, and to the school, and they were all so helpful and supportive. There was a really wonderful, warm feeling in the school."
Interview with Ms. Myrtle Engs | Conducted by Carrie Glasby | November 1, 1995 | Grassroots Theatre Project | Special Collections Research Center | William & Mary Libraries
Engs-Myrtle,12.7.07.mp3Audio of Interview with Ms. Myrtle Engs | Conducted by John Oliver | December 7, 2007 | Williamsburg Documentary Project Collection | Special Collections Research Center | William & Mary Libraries
"The superintendent at that time asked me to move [to a different school]. They were beginning I guess what they called Freedom of Choice at that time. So some of the Black teachers were being put into…white schools. White teachers weren’t going to Black schools, Black teachers were going to white schools. I was so comfortable where I was, I didn’t want to move…I asked the superintendent if I had a choice...I got the impression right then and there that if I did not move, I would lose my job."