From These Roots

“North Greenville shaped my life and it caused me to stay on the path of education. It made me because I was just a little country girl, but I wanted an education. North Greenville was so good to me. I loved it there and I remember so much about it. I was so thankful that I could go there and I didn’t have any money, but I worked hard. That’s one thing we need to do. We need to work hard and love what we’re doing. I have loved everything I’ve ever done. I’ve had a happy happy life and a good home. North Greenville stands out to me because it started me on that successful road.”

Nan Burns was born on November 16, 1924, in Travelers Rest, South Carolina. She was the oldest of nine children born to parents David and Jesse Burns. She grew up on a farm and learned to work hard from an early age. As the oldest, she had to help her mom with the younger children in addition to working in the fields.

She found time for laughter even in the hard times, though. She recalled one story about planting corn:

“I was bad. My brothers and I were planting corn and my dad was plowing above us. We were almost through and we all had bags with the corn in it. Well, we ran out and we didn’t want to walk all the way to the house to get more corn. So, it was my suggestion, we picked up little rocks and put them in our bags. My dad would look back at us to see if we were working and we would go down the row planting rocks so he would see us dropping things. He never did find out about it. That area of corn just never came up!”

The Great Depression struck when she was very young and times were hard for her family. After Nan started school, she had to walk two miles each way. When she got home from school, she had to help her mom with supper and then help her younger siblings get to bed. It was usually dark by the time she was able to start homework each night so she would sit by the candlelight until she finished. She loved playing basketball at Travelers Rest High School, but she could not join the team because she didn’t have a ride home after the games. Education was important to Nan so despite the struggles, she put in the hard work.

Nan knew her parents would not be able to help her with college. When she found out North Greenville Junior College offered opportunities to work for an education, she knew that was where she needed to go. When Nan arrived on campus in the summer of 1942, there were only four buildings. Out of those four buildings, the only one still standing today is White Hall and that is where Nan lived.

Nan started working on campus before classes even started. Some of the jobs she did on campus included working in the kitchens, working in the library, doing secretarial work for Dr. Donnan, and cleaning the room of Mother Wingo who was a widow living on campus. All of her earnings went towards her college expenses so she rarely even had a dime to pay for laundry service. Instead, she washed her sheets and a few clothing items by hand and hung them to dry.

One of her favorite memories as a North Greenville student was her time in the Glee Club. She auditioned for a spot in the group but wasn’t chosen. However, the faculty advisor saw how much she wanted to be a part of the group so he gave her a speaking role. When the Glee Club would visit area churches, they would sing a few songs and then Nan would get up and talk about the wonderful opportunities they had at North Greenville.

Nan was at North Greenville during World War II. During her freshman year, she dated a ministerial student named R.F. Watson. R.F. was a year ahead of Nan and when he graduated, he joined the military and became a member of the 37th Bomb Squadron. While he was overseas fighting in the war, he often wrote back home to Nan and even sent her a pair of wings. Unfortunately, R.F. was killed in action in Italy on January 20, 1944, and Nan was never able to see him again.

When it came time to graduate from North Greenville, Nan still owed $300 in tuition. The school had a rule that if you owed money, you couldn’t graduate. Nan wasn’t sure what she would do when Dr. Donnan called her into his office one day and told her that he would loan her the money so she could graduate. 80 years later tears still came to Nan’s eyes as she recalled the kindness Dr. Donnan showed her during her time at North Greenville. Nan was able to graduate with her class and sent Dr. Donnan $25 per month until the debt was paid.

Nan’s first job after graduating was with the Greenville Post Office. It was while working this job that she met a man named John Cecil Williams who was a fellow postal worker. Cecil wanted to date Nan, but she put him off for a few months because she felt like she didn’t know him well enough. Eventually, she agreed to date him and the two became steady. Around this time, Nan was offered a teaching position in Fair Play, South Carolina. She had never thought about being a teacher before, but she accepted the position and came to love teaching. Resources were slim at her school and in the winter, Nan would have to come to the school early to light the pot-bellied stove in her classroom to keep the students warm. While she was in Fair Play, Cecil would visit her on the weekends as much as he was able to. World War II was still going on and gas was being rationed so Cecil had to buy gas rations from friends to visit Nan.

Nan and Cecil married during the Christmas season in 1945. After they married, Cecil encouraged Nan to return to school and so she did. She was able to complete a bachelor’s degree at Bob Jones and continued teaching for a total of 30 years. Teaching was her passion and her husband once joked that she would probably even pay the school board to let her teach.

The news event Nan said stuck with her more than any other during her life happened while she was teaching. She says she remembers learning about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy like it was yesterday. She was teaching class and one of her students was sick that day. The sick little girl was lying in a bed in the school office when the news came over the radio. The little girl came back to Nan’s class and whispered in her ear what she had heard. Nan was shocked and stayed glued to the news for days.

Nan and Cecil had two daughters together named Rebecca and Ramona. After retiring from teaching, Nan volunteered at the hospital for 25 years. Cecil passed away in 2001 and Nan currently lives in a retirement home where she enjoys many social activities.

When asked what advice she would give to current college students, Nan replied:

“First of all, stay focused on the Lord and work hard. Working hard won’t hurt you. Choose something as a career that you can be happy with.”