Softball, Singing, and Skin Tests

                My mother, Bernyce Smith Gates, attended the Belford Grade School in the 1930s. During that time in her life, her family socialized with the Woods family. The families had several interests in common.

Her father and Perry Woods loved baseball. Her father, Calvin Callcayah Smith, became known for his pitching. Perry, the father of my mother’s friends, could be found most Sunday afternoons in the summer behind the plate playing the catcher’s position. 

These men’s wives had a strong bond with their faith in the Lord and their mutual desire for a daily obedience to His ways. To read more about the closeness of the Smith and Woods families, go to: http://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2015/06/one-of-most-unused-sources-of-power.html

Both families loved music. My grandmother, Gladys Vivian Rainey Smith, taught herself to read music as a teenager and then using the Rainey family’s old pump organ taught herself to play. She sang note-perfect the alto part. Lora Jean Woods, one the girls in the Woods family and Mother’s dear friend, sang alto beautifully, too.

 Perry Woods had trained in the shape-note singing in his younger days in Eastern Oklahoma. Shape-note music originated in the early 19^th century by coordinating the seven tonal syllables – do, ra, mi, fa, so , la, ti, - with shape-notes. Soon singers trained in the system were singing hymns and spiritual songs printed with the shape-notes.  Perry could sing equally well tenor or bass in their nightly musical family get-togethers.

My grandmother taught my mother, as a child, to read music. My mother, Bernyce Smith Gates, later had only eleven piano lessons. She served as the pianist of the Smith-Woods families’ singing nights. The two families gathered at my grandparents’ home since they owned a piano – the same piano that was recently restored. (More about its restoration at: http://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2016/04/i-hope-this-is-not-my-sewards-folly.html )

Betty Jo Woods, just younger than Lora Jean, sang the lead or soprano in the family group. When the Woods family sang special songs at revival or church services, Mother played the piano for them. Lora Jean sang the alto part with her father, Perry, singing the tenor or bass, depending on which part the song required most.

Lora Jean and Betty Jo Woods. Their
nicknames are "Lon" and "Pete."

The two families shared a love of baseball and music. Also my grandfather, Perry, and his wife, Ruth Washbourne Woods, all of Cherokee descent, had been born in the Cherokee Nation in the 1890s. As a result, my mother and the Woods’ children were classified as “Indians” and required to submit to the tuberculin skin test to identify tuberculosis cases. Mother said she never questioned why only she, Lora Jean, and Betty Jo were singled out for this screening. Obviously, my mother, Lora Jean, and Betty Jo didn’t associate prejudice with this type of racial profiling. Incidentally, their school experiences predated the era of the CDIB (Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood) card or classification.

The three friends loved to play softball at recess at the Belford Grade School and on the Belford girls' softball team. Lora Jean or "Lon" pitched for their little team. Betty Jo or "Pete" played catcher just like her father. My mother played first base. All three Cherokee girls delighted in slugging home runs. Whenever one of the girls connected their old wooden bat with the softball and sailed it over the school yard fence, it was deemed a "home run." Incidentally, even though Title 9 hadn't been instituted, the recess games sometimes were coed. The Belford boys hated to chase and try to find the "home run" balls that the girls smacked outside the school yard!

           My grandpa seldom shared about his past, particularly how his Cherokee ancestry affected his life. Yet, one evening, as I quizzed Grandma about family stories, he quietly spoke, “The only fight I ever got in was when I was called a ‘bug eater.’” The context of this controversy must have been quite mean-spirited to evoke this volatile response from my peace-loving grandpa. Yet Grandpa rose above the name-calling and lived a life free of animosity.
          A few years ago, I met an older man who had lived in the Big Bend in the early days. When he found out who my grandfather was, he said, “Oh, everybody knew Cull Smith was an Indian.” He didn’t elaborate on his statement, I didn’t try to read anything into his tone, and I didn’t question him further. I have learned sometimes it is best to follow the old proverb and “leave well enough alone.”

Sample of Shape-note Music from one of
Grandma's old songbooks.

As a teenager, I became intrigued by the old shape-note songbooks. One summer afternoon, I grabbed a pencil, plunked at the piano, until, through trial and error, I determined that the shapes below correlated to these tonal syllables.

Do – equilateral triangle – (upside down cone)

Re – round shape with a flat top

Mi – diamond

Fa – right triangle with base at top

So  - round

La – square

Ti – cone shape with rounded top