For many high school students, the first day of school is filled with hugs and joyful chatter as they gather in the hallways, reconnecting with friends and teachers. For Betty Holston, the first day of school was filled with hushed silence and stares from white students. She was not the only African-American student to enroll in Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in 1956. There was Nancy Browne who lived on River Road in Potomac. But unlike Nancy, Betty lived on Hawkins Lane, an unpaved road that led to a small number of wooden homes which were occupied by black families who held service jobs for wealthy white families in the area. “We were segregated racially, of course, ” Dr. Betty explained, “but we were also isolated from other black communities.” In short, Betty stood out immediately at B-CC for two reasons: she was definitely not white and her family was definitely not well-to-do.
A “Better” 11th Grade: “11th grade was better, meaning I was better,” said Dr. Betty. “But everything else was the same.” She still lacked friends, and, the administration demeaned her, advising her, at one point, to switch from an switch from an academic track to a commercial one because her “brain wasn’t developed enough for college study.”
