Memories of June Brown? Ah, yes. June and I taught and worked together for a few years at Centennial Secondary School in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Centennial was the first co-educational boarding school in the country, started in 1955 by DeWeitt Baker and Rita Wild. They and J. Alan Kpenge were the first teachers. I arrived in January 1957, and I believe June arrived later that same year. She taught math and physics. Centennial students regarded her highly in those classes.
A few years later when electricity came to our compound, and a house had been built for single women teachers, June was the generator maintenance person. We were to have the use of electricity for four hours in the evening for lights only. So from 7pm to 11pm we were supposed to have lights in our homes and in the school buildings. If June couldn’t get the generator to work, there were the pressure lights to be pumped up, fueled, and placed in classrooms for study hall. Lighting was June’s department.
June was very athletic. She loved to play tennis with Dr. Sylvester Pratt, Juanita Smith, and Paramount Chief Sam Goba. I’m sure there were others, but those were the players I remember.
Hunting was another of her leisure activities, and she was soon hunting monkeys. Some students and others liked monkey meat. Some did not. I was one of those. June didn’t like fish, but she would eat monkey. That’s where I would draw the line.
June made a valuable contribution to Centennial Secondary School in those years that she was there.
~Nancy Hull N'gele
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