Planes, Trains & Heroes: A Story of Warner Robins and the Robins Region

The historical marker for the Pearl
Stephens School.
commander, Gen. Thomas', son Charles E.
Thomas III who died in a training accident]. Miss
Brantley served as principal until her retirement in
1969” (Granum). Of Thomas School, Brantley told
Korson, “Ours was a wartime school. It didn’t
come equipped in those days with visual aids and
other equipment. It was a building with desks.”
Gervaise W. Perdue, wife of David A. Perdue, Sr.,
wrote that Brantley “loved children” and managed
people well. She said that “There was never any
dissension among the faculty. When Miss Brantley
saw one, two or three teachers gathered together in
the hall, she would walk up and tactfully say, ‘The
bell has rung, girls! [referring to her teachers]. The
children are waiting.’ We understood that language
and complied! She actually ‘rang a bell!’” (Perdue).
After World War II, Brantley and the Warner
Robins Woman’s Club turned their efforts to
establishing a public library. Several ladies
donated their own books, and the group held
tea parties and other fund raisers.
Miss Brantley was not inducted into the Hall
of Fame. The selection board noted that her
primary function was as principal, so she did
not qualify for the Teacher Hall of Fame. She
does, however, qualify as a hero for Planes,
Trains and Heroes: A History of Warner Robins.
More than one article or letter writer referred to
her “twinkling eyes.”
PEARL
STEPHENS
Pearl Stephens cared about education in her
community and donated land to create a new
school for African-American children. The
county, then, provided her with teachers, books,
and building construction. Her work was so
significant that when the school moved from
Feagin Mill Road to its newer location, the county
kept the name Pearl Stephens and named the
entry Pearl Stephens Way. Currently, the school is
FROM THE PEOPLE
“As we went forth through the early years of our education, we did recognize that we had very good and outstanding teachers
at Pearl Stephens Junior High School. As we rested from our 1965 summer times in Jody Town and Union Grove, it was time to
prepare for continuation of our education. We left our family at home, heading to integrate the school system of Houston County,
from Perry and Warner Robins. As students that were taught by teachers who showed their love; it was an encouragement to do
your best and be your best at all times. We had good community leaders such as Silas Smith and Oscar Thomie, who did their
best to make sure we receive the best education in Houston County. During the summer months, we had to learn how to go to
school with white students by riding a bus from Warner Robins to Macon, Georgia. They sent us up to attend Mercer University.
We had to attend classes that were taught by the school’s instructors. After the summer months, we started preparing our minds
to be students at Warner Robins, Northside and Perry High Schools. We didn’t prepare to ride any buses from Jody Town, but
our parents or family members would drive us to the school and drop us off at the front of the school. After a time, we would
walk from Jody Town to the high school. We didn’t feel welcome in the school after one of the meetings with the superintendent
who said, ‘I don’t know why you are comping up here; you get the same books these students get.’ The superintendent didn’t
realize that just about every one of the books were destroyed and that the backs of the books and many pages were missing. There
were a total of nineteen students who made a change in their lives to move toward the integration of Warner Robins High School.
I’m not sure of the number of black students that made the move to Northside and Perry.”
- Willie Leonard Garman (undated from files at Warner Robins Convention and Visitors Bureau).
64 ✦ PLANES, TRAINS & HEROES