Remember When: Making connections and basketball limitations

By Guest Columnist Mary Jane Boutwell

I was in the lobby at tourism and saw a lady looking at the information about places to visit. I walked over to speak, thinking she was an out-of-state visitor, and I asked where she lives. Camden. My response was a usual, “I was born in Camden.” 

When she asked my name, I responded by including my maiden name.

She said she went to school in Camden with two sour boys. When I told her the names of my two oldest brothers, she said they were the ones. 
My family moved from Camden to Canton in 1943. This happened in 2024. 

My second older brother started school at Camden. As far back as I can remember, he was mad, because they started their students as preschoolers. This added a year to the standard twelve years. The preschool start was the same age as the regular first grade. This way, the school made an entire year of income per student. 

I started in Canton at five. I was seventeen when I graduated in May 1960. I started college in June and was a second-semester freshman when I turned eighteen. My brother was still mad. 

None of this happened because I was smart. I just passed.

Back in the day when Doug Allen was superintendent of the Canton separate school district, school always started the day after Labor Day. All the preliminary work - enrolling, etc. - was done the week before, so students walked into the classroom ready to go. 

Watching the women’s basketball Olympic team and the WNBA games brought to mind several family stories from the early 1900s. One of my daddy’s sisters played basketball. I was told that she was good. One of the best stories is about one of my mother’s sisters. She played basketball but was not allowed to be on the high school team. She would have played wearing bloomers. My granddaddy said no. 

“No daughter of mine is going to appear in bloomers.” 

For the youngsters, bloomers were worn under dresses as long as underwear. They had elastic at the waist and ankle.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Mary Jane Boutwell is a passionate historian and is thrilled to share stories about “way back when.”