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In the early stages of this series, I did a feature on Webb School. Through the Rosenwald Fund and the foresight of Professor J.L. Seets, Webb School became the foremost school for the local African American community. Over 50 years after its closure through desegregation/integration, the school still has a lasting effect not only in McKenzie but throughout the nation.
James Herman Stewart and Ollie Fay Williams were products of McKenzie’s Webb School. James played basketball and football and graduated in 1958. Remembering his time at Webb School in a 1984 interview he remarked, “Football taught me a lot. It teaches a young man that he has to depend on a team’s effort. That’s important because it’s going to be that way the rest of his life — you can’t do very much alone.”
Two weeks after graduating high school, James enlisted in the Air Force. “My mother, Elizabeth, worked at Bethel College, leaving at 5 and getting home after 2. I wanted to get her out of the kitchen, and a year later I was able to,” James added.
In the Air Force, he worked in refrigeration and air conditioning as an electrician. During his four-year stint, he married Faye. When he left the service he moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where other family members had moved.
Long cold winters influenced his return to McKenzie. James soon found work at Wilker Brothers and then at Milan Arsenal. “I went to work at Republic Builders when it first opened. I was the first employee,” James said. He started in the maintenance department and was promoted to maintenance foreman.
In 1965, he became a minister. “I had always been a churchgoer — I had always gone to church and Sunday School.” He continued while in the military.
“I just had to do something about it. I talked to my pastor, started working with the youth and taking extension classes at Jackson and at Bethel College. My mother had always encouraged me to do something with my life, not to throat it away. When I told her I was going into the ministry, she cried. My first church was at Cottage Grove, then I went to the First Baptist Church in Trenton.” He later pastored Greater Enon Missionary Baptist Church.
“The best thing about being a minister is that I can help people — see the needs of people, speak out for those who can’t speak for themselves. I can try to make people better.”
James and Ollie both commended the work of Webb School saying things may have been better for the African American students who attended Webb before integration. “They had all black teachers in a tight black community. The teachers understood the needs and problems of black students. They had more patience and understanding and the back-up of a black community to enforce discipline. If a child misbehaved at school — skipped classes, didn’t get his lessons, whatever, the community entered into the discipline, first the teachers, then the parents. Everyone was my mother.”
Reverend Stewart was appointed Moderator of the Obion River District Association, a 52-member church group; the position is similar to that of a bishop. He also served in the Lions Club and was a member of the Water Board of the City of McKenzie.
James provided an important insight into life and faith with two simple thoughts, “The important thing in life is to love one another. Don’t judge another. Just try to put on his shoes. What is God like; The feeling of a cool drink of water when you’re thirsty, a shady tree on a hot day, relief from pain or agony. That’s the image.”