A Look at Eunice N. Finch as Mrs. Willis in Coming of Age in Mississippi
By Roscoe Barnes III
Chairman, Anne Moody History Project
Copyright (c) 2018
#AnneMoody
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Mrs. Eunice N. Finch is believed to be Mrs. Willis
in Anne Moody's Coming of Age in Mississippi |
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I continue to be amazed by the accuracy and attention to detail in Anne Moody’s Coming of Age in Mississippi. I recently saw an old school yearbook
that provides information that appears to corroborate a number of claims and
descriptions in Moody’s book.
My friend, Charles E. Johnson, retired superintendent of education for
Wilkinson County in southwest Mississippi, showed me his 1964 school yearbook
that has photos of Anselm J. and Eunice N. Finch. The couple is featured as Principal Willis and Mrs. Willis in Coming of Age.
Along with the photos, the yearbook includes a letter by Anselm and a
dedication page to Eunice.
The book notes that prior to working at Wilkinson County Training School (WCTS), where her husband served as principal, Eunice worked for 14 years at
Finch High School in Centreville, Miss. According to the yearbook, "She
assisted her illustrious husband in establishing the first high school in the
county for Negroes."
In Coming of Age, Moody refers to the school as "Willis High."
The 14-year timeframe for Eunice seems to line up with the time period for
the school that was given by Moody. In Chapter 2 of her book, Moody writes that
she was six and in the second grade when she became a student at the school.
That would have been around 1946. She notes:
I was going to Willis High, the only
Negro school in Centreville. It was named for Mr. C.H. Willis, its principal
and founder, and had only been expanded into a high school the year before I
started there. Before Mr. Willis came to town, the eighth grade had been the
limit of schooling for Negro children in Centreville.
Based on Moody's recollection, it appears that the high school in
Centreville existed from 1945 to 1959. The new high school, Wilkinson County Training School, opened in 1959, the year that Moody graduated from Johnson
High School in Woodville, Miss.
Moody’s brother, Fred
Moody Jr., has said the old Finch High School was torn down many years ago. It
was located at the current site of Finch Elementary School at 1125 S Cosby St,
Centreville, just off of Highway 24.
Johnson’s 1964 yearbook
also supports Moody’s description of Eunice. The yearbook’s Dedication page
recognizes Eunice for “her five years of unselfish service, interest in
students and her eagerness to help them…” It goes further to note her
accomplishments: “Since her arrival at WCTS, the first year of its history, she
has led the drive for our flag pole, the beautiful stage curtain, furnished the
various lounges and placed appropriate and useful furniture in our clinic.”
That description of Eunice
is similar to the one given by Moody. In Chapter 8 of Coming of Age, Eunice
helps prepare Moody and the other students for a Homecoming Day celebration. The
year was 1954 and Moody was in the eighth grade when she was voted Homecoming
Queen. Moody writes: “Every girl in my class knew that our queen would
certainly be the winner because Mrs. Willis’ class always raised the most money.
Mrs. Willis knew more about raising money than any other teacher on campus.”
After Moody became the Homecoming
Queen for the eighth grade, Eunice, aka Mrs. Willis, worked to make her queen
for the entire school. “Mrs. Willis and the whole class now worked to make me
queen of the whole school,” Moody writes.
She notes that she
initially thought Eunice was successful because she was the principal’s wife
and “had used the school money from the snack bar and other places to make sure
her class queen won.” But Moody later concluded that the teacher “won because
she was better organized than the other teachers.”
One touching moment in
Moody’s story is when Eunice brings her the Homecoming Queen crown. Moody was
getting her hair and makeup done. She recalls:
Just
as they were finishing, Mrs. Willis ran in with a crown in her hands. “Oh my!
Is that my queen? How beautiful!
Here, put this on her! If the rest of you are finished, go on out on the float,”
she said to the other girls, who were sitting around looking at me being made
up. They got up reluctantly and went out. The only ones left in the room were
Mrs. Willis, the two girls doing my hair, and me.
When
they had carefully pinned the crown to my hair, Mrs. Willis said, smiling, “Turn
around, Queen, look at yourself.”
Moody became nervous. She
was afraid to look in the mirror. But she assumed she must be pretty because of the
way Eunice was looking at her. “When I turned I had to touch my face to see if
it was me,” she recalls.
Indeed, she was pretty.
And Eunice was there encouraging her every step of the way.
Interestingly enough,
Eunice was also present when Moody began using the name “Annie,” which was changed
from “Essie” because of a mistake with her birth certificate. When Moody went
to school and presented Eunice with her birth certificate, the teacher
announced, “Class! Class! Queen Essie is now officially Queen Annie.”
NOTE: Photo of Anselm J. Finch, aka Mr. Willis, will be shared in a separate blog post.
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Would you like to
know MORE about Anne Moody? Visit here to
see the timeline
of important events in her life history!
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For more information:
See the Anne Moody page here.
Questions about the Anne Moody History Project may be directed to Roscoe Barnes III, Ph.D., via
email at doctorbarnes3@gmail.com or roscoebarnes3@yahoo.com. For updates on
Anne Moody history and the on-going work of this community service project,
simply follow this blog or follow AMHP on Twitter (@AnneMoodyHP). #ComingOfAgeinMississippi
