Early in the 1900’s there were no schools for rural children. The roads were difficult in winter and if children could go to school they had to “room” in town. The A & M Schools were established to meet this need. Students came from many areas of the state to attend and get an education. By providing such schools (boarding school) they were able to receive an education that they would not normally have gotten otherwise.

These reminiscences are from some of the early students that attended the A & M School in Macland, later known as the John McEachern Schools.

Anniemae Paris Register – class of 1922 came from a large family who had cousins in every grade of the school from first to last. She remembered going to cooking and sewing classes in the afternoon for two hours each day. The boys had shop and field work while the girls attended their classes. When she was accepted for admission, she was given a list of things to bring and a list of cloth, patterns, buttons, etc, to buy from a store in Powder Springs for make uniforms to wear. Rooms were heated with one coal scuttle filled with big lumps of soft coal. On Sundays they lined up and marched to McEachern Methodist Church for services. Some rules she remembered were: Do not sit on the bed; no visiting during quiet hour or study hour; bathtubs were in the basement of the donatory which you had to sign up to use. Anniemae graduated with a certificate to teach school anywhere in Georgia.

Pauline Rogers Mitchell – class of 1923. Came from Ramhurst GA to attend the school. Her roommates were from Rome, GA, Cedartown, GA, and Chatsworth, GA. She was lonely and read a lot. Everyone looked out for her. She enjoyed her time there. Paul Hilley – Class of 1932. Having completed the 8th grade at Powder Springs, he transferred to A & M in the 9th grade. He lived on campus the final two years, making it easier to study and practice football and baseball. He worked his way through the school by working on the farm and automotive equipment.

He remembered getting up at 3:30 am to pump water to fill up the tanks for the dinning hall, get coal and build a fire in the stove.
Starting the generators on the back side of the academic building. The school generated its own electricity on campus. Also, feeding the cattle, two “billie” goats, mules, and hogs before going to class. All for 10 cents an hour. Paul earned all his tuition this way.

Maurine Pittman – class of 1933. There were boarding students and day students. Maurine was a day student. A great big bell would ring and the boarders would march two-by-two into the dinning hall for their meals. The locals brought their lunch and ate on the campus or in the Day Room if the weather was bad.

She remembers riding the bus. Sometimes they were late because of road conditions. Periodically, on Saturday nights, the schools two literary societies would debate each other and/ or debated other schools.

Janet Carrie – Class of 1933 and Valedictorian of her class. Most of the girls chose home economics but the school provided business studies for an extra cost. Boys had agriculture and machine shop training. Each graduating girl was required to make her own graduation dress as a final home economics project. She also learned a lot about nutrition. They had visitors and groups to give raffles and concerts from time to time.

J. D. Pittard – Class of 1933. J. D. came from Cartersville to attend the A & M School. One of the first things he learned was how to survive on his own, being his firs time away from home. He learned to wash and laundry his cloths and make up his own bed. Most boys wore overalls. They worked gathering the vegetables and worked in the cannery. He worked hauling coal to use in the small fireplaces in each room, keep the fire going in the academic building as well as their own fire in their dorm room.

Hugh L. Scott – Class of 1934 – a Macland Consolidated School Graduate. Hugh attended the school while it was an A & M School but finished after it reopened as a Consolidated School. Hugh L. had to work at the school. Many times when they got off the bus the work supervisor would meet them and assign them jobs before classes. Or during the day. Some time it was to get a mule and start plowing or go to Powder Springs to get a load of coal. They worked in the dinning hall, cleaned the girls dorms, etc.. They earned 10 cents and hour toward their tuition. He remembers riding the bus with as many as 65 students. (grades 1 to 11). The bus had a bench seat down both sides and down the middle.

Paul Lovinggood – Class of 1935 as Macland Consolidated School Graduate and later became an Endowment Fund Trustee. He attended the A & M School for two years before it closed, then again when it reopened as a Consolidated School. Paul remembers that the building was empty when it reopened. All the books and materials were taken away when the A & M School closed. He was a day student (or a ‘local’) but still had to work to earn money toward his tuition. However, his senior year he did not have to work because it was then a Consolidated School. He graduated in 1935 with 11 in his class.

There was no lunchroom and the only sports were basketball and track because all the sport equipment was gone. Paul was on the track team and won the 100 yard dash and at everyone’s insistence, threw the disc (into the crowd and hit someone in the head who fortunately was not hurt).

In 1962, he ran for office as a Trustee and was elected to the McEachern Trustee Board. All the schools in Cobb County at that time had Trustees.

However, the Board of Education later decided that Trustees were ‘just in the way’ and not needed. With the McEachern Endowment Fund a Board of Trustees was required to administer the fund. The men who had been elected to the Trustees remained in office to administer the Funds. There were five members of the Board.

Over the years there have been many changes as well as many improvements to the school campus. The school has come a long way from its humble beginnings as an A & M School focusing on farming, agriculture and mechanical training to meet the needs of the community. It still continues to provide the educational needs of the children/students.

Reminiscences and Remembrances taken from “The History Of the 7th District Agricultural and Mechanical (A & M) School
Of Cobb County Georgia” edited by Mimi Jo Butler, published December 1999, Cobb County Georgia Genealogical Society, Inc. A full copy is on file at the Seven Springs Museum, the Seventh District A & M School Museum, both in Powder Springs and the Georgia Room of the Cobb County Library in Marietta.

You are welcome to come by and read more of their memories. Thank you to those who shared their memories and the Cobb County Genealogy Society.