Madame Williams

Sarah Bernhardt and Blanche Legereau in "Gismonda" presented at at the Théâtre de la Renaissance in 1894.

Sarah Bernhardt and Blanche Legereau in "Gismonda"
presented at at the Théâtre de la Renaissance in 1894.

In 1959 the Oak Ridge School System tried an experimental foreign language program in Woodland Elementary School. There the experiment found expression in the form of a most singular individual: a vivacious middle-aged Parisienne known to us kids simply as "Madame Williams". Her marching orders seem to have been a simple: introduce young students to French language and culture by means of …play!

Towards that end the school system had found the perfect teacher/performer/playmate for the job. "Madame Williams" was none other than Blanche Legereau, who as a child performer, had toured the world with the Sarah Bernhardt Troupe for seven years until the death of "Madame Sarah" in 1923. 

Mme. Williams never simply walked into our classroom. Oh non non! Rather, she would make a grand entrance as she burst through the door, a human whirlwind of beads, scarves, perfume, and  joie de vivre.

"Bonjour mes petits chéris, vous allez bien ?" she would announce in a loud voice, trained no doubt by Madame Bernhardt to carry to the last row in a large theater. I'm sure Mr. Maxwell, our school principal heard her through the closed door of his office at the far end of the building. Then as she scooped us up out of our chairs, crushing us with embraces and kisses as she flourished her beads and scarves, she would lead us in singing...

Sur le Pont d'Avignon

On y danse, On y danse

Sur le Pont d'Avignon

On y danse tous en rond.

On an imaginary bridge the boys would deeply bow to the girls as we sang...

Les beaux messieurs font comme ça

Et puis encore comme ça.

And as they curtsied they girls would reciprocate with...

Les belles dames font comme ça

Et puis encore comme ça.

And so it would go for the next 45 minutes or so until, just as dramatically as she had entered, Mme. Williams would take her leave and vanish down the hall to the next "class". I felt sorry for our teacher Mrs. Dougher, who had to re-establish order in the classroom. Mme. Williams was a very hard act to follow indeed.

Unfortunately, when I moved on to more traditional foreign language classes I discovered that none of the "real" language teachers (bless their academic hearts) could hold a candle to Mme. Williams. I did poorly. So poorly in fact, that my Seventh Grade French teacher advised me that since I obviously had no aptitude for foreign languages I should abandon her class and take auto mechanics instead while there was still time for me to learn something that I could use in life. I ignored her advice, preferring to remain in her class, among my friends, rather than risk an uncertain fate among the cigarette smoking, grease-stained troglodytes who inhabited the auto mechanics building.

In those days movies about ancient Rome were popular: Quo Vadis in 1951, The Robe in 1953, Ben Hur in 1959, Spartacus in 1960, and Cleopatra in 1963. So when I entered Oak Ridge High School in 1964 and discovered that the language of Julius Caesar was a choice I signed up for Latin 1 where I had better luck than with French. But only barely. I was now a "C" student rather than a "D" student. I will spare you the details. Suffice it to say that being constantly tormented by the two-bit bully who sat behind me made it difficult to concentrate on mastering the complexities of Latin declensions. Eventually I would take care of the bully, but that is another story for another time. By then I had already had "the Great Awakening".

Infantile Amnesia

The memory goes like this:

I am very young, and I am in the car with my parents. Dad is driving. We come to a place that is familiar. There are small buildings on either side of the road. The car slows, then comes to a stop. Sometimes there are other cars there too. Sometimes not. 

This has happened before and it is always like this. Dad rolls down his window, and as he does so as a man approaches the car and peers inside. They exchange some words. Then the man goes away and Dad drives on. The whole encounter lasts no more than twenty seconds.

We are not supposed to remember events from very early in our childhood due to infantile amnesia. Nonetheless this ritual happened so often I can still see it in my mind. It is not my only memory from that time. The Elza Gate photo by Ed Wescott is dated 25 Feb 1949. Less than one month later, on 19 Mar 1949, the gates at Oak Ridge are opened to the public. On that date I was 1 year, 4 months, and 12 days old.

Type-E Apartment

Type E Apartment building at the corner of West Fairview Road and Florida Avenue.
Photo by Ed Westcott.

This is a Type-E Apartment like the one we lived in at 205 Vermont Avenue. There is a sign post in the photo that reads "W. Fairview Rd."  The Unit Numbers 301, 303, and 305, are also visible when the photo is enlarged. It still stands today and can be seen at the intersection of West Fairview Road and Florida Avenue. 

Type-E Apartment buildings contained four apartment units. There were two single story units, one on either end of the building. There were a pair of two story units between the two single story units. We lived in one of the two story units, sometimes referred to as the "Left Center Unit". It is the highlighted unit labeled Apt.#2 in the floor plan below.

The apartment units were rather small. The living room space was approximately 12' x 16' 4". Entering the front door you would notice stairs in front of you leading to the second floor. Looking to the left you would see a wood burning fireplace and a built-in book case. Beyond the fireplace was a small dining area. Adjoining the dining space was the doorway leading to the kitchen. To the right of the doorway was a coat closet. To the right of the coat closet was another closet containing an electric water heater. The flooring was matched hardwood.

The kitchen was a 7' x 8' space. Along the right wall was a two compartment sink. Along the left wall were an electric range and refrigerator. The floor was linoleum. A door in the outer wall led to the platform porch outside.

The second floor contained two bedrooms with matched hardwood flooring. Each bedroom had a closet with rod and shelf. The bathroom was also located on the second floor. It had a tub with overhead shower, a toilet, and a sink, The flooring was linoleum.

Dad sprinkling flower seeds in front of his apartment, 205 Vermont Ave.
They are not Atomic seeds. Those would come later. 

Mom, in the downstairs living space at 205 Vermont.