About The Red and Black (Athens, Ga.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 5, 2007)
Monday. March s. aoo? 1 The Red a Black 4 “She’s a wonderful person, seen it all, been through it all” Brumby institution changes with the times ► From P*g 1 But It's not as if time has stood still. Decades ago, bell-bottoms and flower prints gave way to leggings and sweaters. Now, fleeces and skirts are popular. Thelma’s uniform has changed, too. When she started as a University custodian, she wore a light blue dress with a white apron and black pumps. Now, she dons a red shirt, white tennis shoes and blue jeans. The fresh faces never age, but not so for Thelma. Her caramel-colored skin shows the mark of years of hard work. JoyfUl times raising children, grandchildren and great-grand children put happy lines around her eyes and mouth. Sorrowful times, like losing her husband, added different lines. But her eyes remain bright and humble, looking down when she talks about her inter action with the students. She looks to the side when she gives her answer. “Well, they’re a lot nicer than they used to be.” A different world The world was a different place in 19605. The Vietnam War raged and was slowly los ing popular support. Jimmy Carter was a second-term Georgia state senator. The University had been desegregated for less than four years. Athens remained largely seg regated. Thelma said she used to go to the movies at a blacks only place called the Harlem Theater. She said for a long time, there wasn’t a theater for blacks until a man came to town from California and opened one. The northwest comer of downtown was considered the black section, with nearly all black-owned businesses bar bershops, restaurants, bars and auto shops located there. Work also was separate. Most of the time, black and white people worked apart. Men and women were hired for specific jobs and had differ ent duties. Until then, Thelma had taken care of children and cleaned houses in nearby Ogelthorpe County, where she was bom and raised. But in the spring of 1965, James W. Latimer, Thelma’s husband, told her there might be some short-term work at the University. "I thought I’d be here for the summer,” she said. She started custodial work at various parts of campus that summer and stayed on for the next year. In September 1966, she found a permanent home. The building, the work Walking around the arched ceiling of the front lobby, she talks about some of the changes that she’s seen at Brumby over the years. “There used to be a sto’ right there,” she says, pointing at a glassed-in academic advis ing office. “They sold candy, drinks and books.” She waves an arm at the building’s lobby entrance. “We used to have a laundry service here in the building. The students could drop off their clothes to get cleaned, we got our uniforms cleaned,” she says with a smile and a short laugh, "but no more.” “When I started, the men used to come in at seven in the morning and the women at eight,” she says, “but now we all come in at 7:30.” She walks a little slower than she used to, but continues to do the same work. The custodians at Brumby are divided by the building floor they clean. One custodian works on each floor from the second through the ninth floors. Thelma is one of four custo dians who work on the first floor. Thelma has always worked on the first floor. There are no checklists of things to do. After decades of keeping the building clean, Thelma knows On the first floor, she starts with the offices by dusting, sweeping and emptying trash cans. Next, she cleans bathrooms and hallways, sweeping and mopping. The male custodians usually take care of the buffers and other machines, while Thelma cleans all the little things that are often over looked. ■> lißßylfc&sSiflfr Stefey- | jF wm&ggLjggr m- f ■' f 4 - m- • m v Doorknobs, mirrors, win dows, toilets, showers, tile, car pet and everything else that students touch is cleaned by Thelma and the other custodi ans. “She’s a wonderful person, seen it all, been through it all,” said Merian Gall, Thelma’s supervisor. Gall said each supervisor who comes through the build ing changes something, but the crew always adjusts. Thelma coordinates the crew for much of their more difficult projects such as sum mertime cleaning. Gall said. In the summers, all of the residence hall’s rooms are detail-cleaned, ftimiture moved out and floors stripped. Even with air-conditioning, nine floors up in the Georgia heat can take its toll, Gall said. On the wall outside Gall's office, there are fading Polaroid pictures from years ago. Seated at tables with cake or standing in groups. Brumby workers look at the camera, their images frozen in time. Most of the 12 custodians at Brumby have worked there for more than 20 years. Thelma knows all of them well two of them are family. Family Thelma’s stepdaughter, Annie Nash, has been at Brumby since 1978. She’s worked on the first floor along side Thelma for most of that time. Up just a few floors, Thelma’s daughter, Josie Ofori, keeps the sixth floor clean. Oforl started working at Brumby fresh out of high school in 1985. Most days she rides to work with Thelma, they eat lunch together, even take their breaks at the same time. During their 15-minute breaks, they talk with the other workers or watch televi sion, usually soap operas, Thelma says. Rolling her eyes, Thelma searches her mind for the name of the show that every one watches, but she doesn’t NEWS ®r ijh h'u r ' ™ iC> |' . ’ Igg HE a VL '>s§jhlßß ; T -BhL mspr • W care about much. After a moment, she has it “That Jerry Springer Show,” she says. Day in, day out, Ofori and her mother are together. Do they argue? Get on each other’s nerves? No. Ofori says she, her mom and her co-workers have worked together for so long that they know each other well. They know how the other is doing on a given day when to make small talk and when to leave each other alone. “She’s been my mom, my sister, my best friend,” Ofori says. When not at work, the two go shopping for clothes. Thelma likes casual clothes and shoes. Oforl says eating out is a payday treat. Sometimes they go to Chili’s, but a lot of the time, her mother is picky. Thelma is a cook and a gar dener. Ofort’s favorite foods are her mother’s collard greens and red velvet cake. She makes pies for her family and neigh bors when they have their Sunday get-togethers. "Family is real important to her," Oforl said. Where to go from here Thelma's life has changed in many ways since she took a Job at the University. She moved to Athens in 1976, which helped her get ahead of growing commuter traffic as the community dou bled in size. 4 Thelma Latimer’s stepdaughter Annie Nash (left) and daughter Josie Oforl (center) laugh with their mom during an Interview. ▼ Latimer wipes down mirrors in Brumby Had. She deans aN the Rttie things that are often overlooked Hke doorknobs, win* dows, toilets, showers, tie, car pet and everything else that students touch. (Left and above) Thelma Latimer wipes down the tables on the first floor of Brumby Had where she has worked since 1966. She lost her husband in 1982. She has seen children, grandchildren and great grandchildren come into her life. Through it all, through four decades, Thelma has come to work and done her job. She has cleaned up other people's messes. She has seen the women of Brumby grow a year or two older and leave, off to other halls or other schools or other lives. She says a lot of people ask her if she’s ready to leave it all. She thinks more and more about it lately. “I don’t know,” she said softly. She gets up to finish her day’s work.
