Jones, Minnie

Interview 196a : In this interview with Patsy Colbert, Diboll native Minnie Jones and her friend Lorine Rodgers Smith reminisce about growing up in Diboll's African American community, the school integration process, and race relations. A high school basketball star before racial integration, Ms. Jones graduated from Diboll High School one year after the process was completed. She spent most of her school days at H.G. Temple High School, Diboll's African American school, representing the school as Diboll Day Queen Candidate and Rodeo Queen. Mrs. Smith graduated from H.G. Temple High School in 1960 and spent all of her school days in the segregated education system, but had children in elementary school for the first year of full integration. She also worked at the Pine Bough Restaurant as a dishwasher for Mrs. Byrd Davis. Both women remember Mr. Massey, Mrs. Wallace, and Mrs. Schinke, among other notable Diboll educators.