"We developed a rock and roll back in the fifties...you can imagine how much I was loved by the administration.  We called the band ”The Five B’s”…because all of the band members’ names started with a “B”.  And, of course, the administration didn’t think that you could combine that horrible rock and roll and learn at the same time..." 

"We used to play for a lot of the YMCA’s and all of the things around Carroll County. But we always noticed that they put us in a back room for our breaks, so that we wouldn’t associate with the white kids" William Dixon

"My mother was a very quiet, stately woman wanted education. She knew that was the way out of the life that we were living. My dad…loved having a good time. But he worked a job and he took care of his family."

William Dixon

"I graduated in 1959, came from a school on the other side of Carroll County, Johnsville Elementary School, and I came here in 1963, I think it was. During that time, it was a time of youngsters from all over the county came together, because this was the only school that we could attend. And it was kind of a close-knit thing, because what affected someone in Sykesville affected the same up here in Westminster, so it was a time for us just to get together, communicate, and learn.  And learning we did, because the teachers here at Robert Moton, they didn’t let you get away with anything, You had to learn…it was almost like once they discovered that you really weren’t goofing off, teachers like Daisy Harris, she would get you and corner you and make sure that you got it…and they put pressure on you to learn. It was something like No Child Left Behind, but different."  Gary Hudson

"Aside from the sports here at Moton, we had different organizations—Future Homemakers of America, Future Farmers of America, and I think they still exist today, or they’re with the 4H Club…Each year, we had awards that were given for different writings from the Daughters of American Revolution, so in this county, we were really recognized for a lot of things other than sports, which was very good."  Sally Green

"[After graduating] I went to Frederick and worked at the sewing factory for two years, then I got married and had children. They went to Robert Moton, too—not the one on the hill (Church Street), they went here. They could not believe the things that we had to do…" Irene Brown

"It was the same way with the stores and the garages. I remember Mr. Lee, at one time with the school bus, he was bringing us out to Taylorsville. His gas had gotten low and he was going to stop and go to the gas station. The man comes out and puts the gas in. Mr. Lee gives him a twenty dollar bill.  [The man] goes in the garage, and he stays.  He wouldn’t come back. Well, Mr. Lee was very aggressive, and he got off the bus, and the sign on the door was big as day, “No colored. White only.” Mr. Lee pushed through the door, and when he came back, he was carrying his ten dollars, and we went on to school." Sally Green

“She taught us so many things you know, all of them taught you how to get along, how to do certain things, how to help in the community, this was Robert Moton." Sally Green

"I remember coming up to the theater in Westminster, and you had to go to the balcony. And in Frederick, you also had to go to the balcony. And I remember the first black movies. We wanted to see Carman Jones so badly. When we got there the man looked at us and said “you have to go upstairs”, and I said, “That’s ok. We’re all going up sometime or other.” So we got to see Carmen Jones. They were showing these black movies, and we still had to go upstairs." Midge Thomas

“It wasn’t about who your mother or your father was in the community like teachers your neighbors were involved in making sure that you were safe” Paula Cook

“I’m proud of being part of a community that has come so far”  Paula Cook

“$0.10 was a lot more money than it is today. CarrollCounty was a farming community and the average wage for a day was a dollar.” Sydney Sheppard

"While I was small, little did I know of the greatest of the country which is our heritage. My world was made up of my family, friends, the church which I attended, the town in which I lived, and later the contacts which I made through the school I attended."  Katherine Hill

"[After high school] I went to work in the State Hospital.  I started as a food service worker, and I moved up to head cook, and I finally moved up to a baker, so when I retired from there I was a Baker II at the hospital."  William Hudson