DOVER, Del. – Reba Ross Hollingsworth may seem like an ordinary woman, but she has a lot of stories to tell.
The Delaware native grew up in Milford and had big plans for an education, but faced obstacles because of the color of her skin.
Nevertheless, Ross Hollingsworth was determined and went to Booker T. Washington School in Dover.
“I could walk from my house to school, but when I got to the front door I couldn't go in because my skin was a little too brown,” Ross Hollingsworth said.
“I had to find another way to graduate from high school, and there was only one high school in Delaware that accepted black students from middle school,” added Ross-Hollingsworth.
For her, education was a golden ticket to opportunity.
After graduating high school and then college second in his class, Ross Hollingsworth decided it was time to take the teachings of his father and the knowledge he gained from college and go out and experience all that the world had to offer. I realized that I had arrived.
“He was telling us things like, 'There's a wonderful world out there, you should get out and see it,' so I drove to 48 of the 50 states and… I went to two other states on a cruise. How many people, black or white, have been to all 48 states? More or less 50,” asked Ross Hollingsworth.
In his later years, Ross Hollingsworth has gathered enough life experience over his 90 years to teach on the campuses where he studied, spreading his knowledge to the community while broadening the horizons of younger generations.
“I've lived long enough to experience things that I can share with people,” Ross Hollingsworth said. “I try to be an educator and educate people because there are so many things that people don't even know about themselves.”
“They form negative opinions because of their lack of knowledge, so I just try to educate them and make them understand that there's a big world out there.” Ross Hollingsworth added.
