ROBERTSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Robertson County community is honoring the legacy of an educator by helping today’s children start off on the right foot.
“Do you know how many teachers came out of Bransford?” asked Bransford High School graduate Sandra Sherrod. “I think at least five or six of my classmates are. And I taught first grade for 33 years.”
The bransford name is synonymous with education. Sherrod graduated from Bransford High School along with Carolyn Sherrod and Virginia Boyd in the 1960s.
“We were family,” recalled Carolyn about her time at the school. “The teachers were like family because they had taught our parents.”
This was the only high school for African American students in Springfield, with children getting bussed in from across Robertson County.
“When we got the old books, what did Miss Anthony say? ‘Here’s the old book that you have gotten, passed from the white school. Stick it in your desk.’ And she’d pull out the new one that Mr. Patterson had received. She said ‘this is the one we’re learning from.'”
John Patterson served as principal for Bransford High School from 1939 -1970.
“We were getting ready preparing to go to college, Mr Patterson – John Patterson, took a bunch of us to TSU to meet with the financial aid director,” said Carolyn Sherrod.
He helped the African American community of Springfield through the Jim Crow-era of racism to the Civil Rights movement and the full integration of Robertson County Schools in 1970.
“If you did something in school that day and your parents needed to know it he was not past making a phone call and having your parent show up,” recalled Sandra Sherrod.
Patterson ran the school named after another pioneering educator in Robertson County — Lena Bransford.
“My sister took piano lessons from Miss Lena and my sister can close her eyes and play anything,” said Sandra Sherrod.
Born in 1870, Bransford was the daughter of former slaves who settled in Springfield after the Civil War. According to the city of Springfield, she graduated from college when higher education for women in the South was not only a rarity but nearly unheard of for African-American women.
“She never married, never had children but she loved the community,” said Sandra Sherrod.
We sat down with these Bransford High School alumnae in the early learning center bearing this groundbreaking educator’s name and near a field where their alma mater no longer stands but it continues uplifting the community’s children.
“What grew from flag football, NFL Flag football, turned into this whole childcare initiative,” said Randall “Pierre” Alexander. He is now working to open multiple daycare facilities through Generations Next/Robertson County Sports Alliance.
“To continue on the legacy for people like Miss Bransford carried on and had a heart for the youth.”
And the need for childcare is significant for this community.
“A daycare desert means you have three more kids than open childcare spots and Robertson county is a childcare desert,” said Tiffany Thomson, Robertson County Safe Baby Court Coordinator. “It really puts a lot of families in a bind when they can’t afford to work because they can’t afford childcare.”
As the saying goes, “It takes a village to raise a child, and today’s village in Robertson County stands on the shoulders of educators who taught students to be their best.
“Not only did we get the book learning, but we were also taught courtesy we were taught how to treat each other and everything and it was just a great experience,” said Carolyn Sherrod.
Bransford Elementary, Bransford High School, and the future Bransford Community Center in Springfield all honor the legacy of Lena Bransford. People can learn more about her at the Robertson County History Museum, which just reopened this week after renovations.
