Do you know the phrase, “X walked so Y could run?” The meaning of it is often used to describe a situation in which someone has made sacrifices or taken actions that have cleared the way for others to succeed. It typically refers to paved the way for future generations by fighting for justice, equality, or progress.
Recently, the Blade’s Journalist, Brittany Hall, along with two teammates of the 1973 GHSA Region AA Girls State Track and Field team, Elease Turner and Elaine Jones Connor, have been uncovering and releasing the biographies of a few Swainsboro High alumni who embody the meaning of this phrase to its core. These all-american athletes made history as Swainsboro High School’s first integrated, all female track and field team that went on to receive the first state championship title for SHS’s track and field.
Although some of these incredible women are no longer here today, we share their stories to honor them and the legacy they left on Tiger trail, so that every future female athlete and student could blaze their own paths on that 400 meter yard line the same way that these trailblazers did before them.
We hope that you will enjoy this story of 1973 GHSA Region AA Girls State Track & Field teammate, Catherine Virginia Greene, and that it inspires you to make your mark on our community and world.
In honor and remembrance of Catherine Virginia Greene
It was May 17, 1956, when a hospital room in Philadelphia began to stir with joy and emotion at the sight of a baby girl who had just been born to Henry and Mildred Virginia Greene. This new little bundle was the youngest daughter of the Greene family, and so precious that her parents befittingly named her Catherine, meaning ‘pure of heart’.
As a child growing up in the heart of Philly, Catherine attended Grammar School where she learned to read, write and spell. It was also during this time that she and her siblings experienced one of the greatest losses of their lives, the loss of their mother, Mildred.
“We were all babies when my mother passed,” Catherines older brother Henry explained, reminiscing on those difficult days, “We moved around a little from relative to relative until my grandmother finally took us in.”
Their paternal grandmother, who Catherine and her siblings always referred to as, “Mother”, was a southern belle and long-time resident of Swainsboro who lived in the heart of town where she raised 11 children before taking custody of her five additional grandchildren from Philly. Although the walls of her humble home didn't expand, the love and acceptance in her heart did and with grace, strength, and her unwavering faith, she devotedly cared for them each and all at once in the heart of Georgia.
“Big household, small house.” Henry said with a laugh, “The house was always crowded but it wasn’t so bad because you were never lonely and as the kids got older they began to leave so you didn’t have to fight over a bed as often.”
Although change meets everyone at different points in life, it can sometimes be a very difficult thing to accept. For young siblings Catherine and Henry, trying to learn how to adapt to this new, unexpected chapter was understandably very trying, especially as children. However, it was during this heart wrenching time that a bond was created within them unlike any other and their relationship was strengthened.
“Catherine was my favorite.” Henry said with a smile, “We were very close. She even taught me how to drive and I’m older than she is.” He said as he laughed, “After my mother died, Catherine and I ran away from home together. The police found us and took us down to the county jail to call our grandparents. They sat us in a room and went and bought us some good n’ plenty candy while we waited for our grandparents to arrive. When they showed up, that's how they found us. Sitting there together eating good n’ plenty.” He continued with a smile, “From that point on we always ate good n’ plenty. It’s just one of the sweet things we shared together.”
By 1965, Catherine and her siblings were attending the segregated schools - Emanuel County Elementary School and Emanuel County High School. Then in 1969, Brown v. The Board of Education was outlawed within Emanuel County and the public schools were finally integrated. Not only was this a turning point for the Nation but it was ultimately the pinnacle moment for the history that Catherine and her friends were bound to make from that moment forward.
“She was such an inspiration and a tom-boy!” said Henry, “ She wore pants all the time because she didn’t like wearing dresses so on Sundays before Church Mother would have to chase her down and wrangle one on her.” Henry recounted as he laughed, “She played football and marbles in the afternoons with the boys but during school she played basketball and ran track. That was her passion.”
Between the years of 1971 to 1975, Catherine played on the SHS jr. varsity and varsity basketball teams but was also a long-distance runner for one of Swainsboro’s most phenomenal and outstanding teams; the first integrated all - female, track, and field team. During the year of 1973, she alongside her teammates, including the late Sabrina Greene Rosario-Diaz, brought home the 1973 GHSA Region AA State Girls Track and Field Championship title, putting Swainsboro on the map and making groundbreaking history by securing the first state championship title ever received in Emanuel County by an all-female integrated track team. Three of her teammates, Elaine Jones Connor, Carolyn Parrish Pittman, and Mary Lou Garrett-Brooks, remember Catherine for the athlete she was, and her heart of tiger gold.
“Catherine was known to her family, friends and teammates by the nickname, ‘Nanny’.” explained Conner, “She was a legendary lady tiger whose first passion was basketball. If she were a student today, she would be known as one of Swainsboro High School’s best Lady Tiger three-point shooters.” she said with a smile. “She is remembered for the humor she always brought to the team, which helped us to relax before, during, and after, each competition. We also remember the tears of joy we all shared with her after winning the 1973 SHS Lady Tigers Championship.”
Pittman shared these heartwarming words:
“We all played sports as a team! Catherine loved basketball and was a three-point shooter. She, along with the rest of us, ran track because we had to stay in shape for the next year. Catherine received an Outstanding Achievement Award. It took hard work being on two sport teams, but we always had a great respect for each other."
Brooks remembers her for the good sport that she was who always lead by her quiet actions.
“Catherine was a team player. She was an unselfish player who led by her quiet actions. Our team counted on her leadership. Catherine always had a funny joke to share on our bus rides. We were fortunate to have her on our team.”
Before graduating in 1975, Catherine received a college basketball scholarship, it was also during this time that her grandmother's health began to decline, and she made the selfless decision to turn her dream offer down so that she could care for the woman who cared for her. After her grandmother passed, Catherine moved back to her hometown of Philadelphia Pennsylvania to get to know her father better. After living there for some time, she returned to Georgia and began living with her older sister Mamie Lou and her husband Buster at their home in Atlanta. Not long after, she met the love of her life, J.T. Haynes, and in 1982, at the age of 25, Catherine and Haynes welcomed their first child into the world, a beautiful baby girl named Latronya. Only five short years later, they welcomed their second child, a son who they named Travion.
“My mom was an amazing mother, wife, friend and sister.” said Latronya with a smile, “She provided a wonderful life for my brother Tray and I and was a wonderful person inside and out. When it came to her family, she didn’t play around. She was such a caring person. She loved everybody.”
For 18 years, Catherine was a devoted employee of Uniform Rental in Atlanta. It was during this time that she was diagnosed with diabetes and began struggling with the effects it had on her life. Nevertheless, she was a strong-willed fighter and pushed through every obstacle to continue being the incredibly resilient mother, wife and employee that everyone knew her as.
“She was always an independent, hard working woman. She never stopped.” explained Latronya
Then, one day while visiting the doctor for a routine check-up, her blood sugar began to drop and spiral out of control. Although her doctors and the medical staff tried to get her levels back to normal, Catherine slipped into a coma and sadly never woke up...
“She went into a coma and she didn’t come out” Henry said solemnly, “They called the family in and we decided to go ahead and take her off life-support. She had a lot of people come to her funeral.”
After putting up a good fight, Catherine went home to her Lord and Savior on April 23, 2008.
“I just loved her. She was the life of the party, and I can honestly say that I’ve never met a person who knew her that hasn’t had something positive to say about her.” Latronya said of her incredible mother, “She never met a stranger. She had the ability to confidently walk into a room and talk to someone for the first time and you would think she had known them forever. She was a friend to everyone who met her.”
In Catherine's honor and memory, the Greene Family was presented with a plaque of their beloved Catherine Virginia Greene by her 1973 Georgia High School Association (GHSA) Region AA Girls State Track and Field Championship teammates, who remember her as ‘Nanny’, for the important position she played in Swainsboro High School’s first integrated athletic championship team.
After receiving the memorial plaque, LaTronya said, "We love the memory plaque of our mother! Thank you, so much!" Henry said, “Catherine was a very loving and accepting person of everybody that she knew. She made everybody laugh and she was just a pleasant soul. We all miss her. I just want to say that I appreciate the Forest Blade for all that they’ve done for her and for recognizing everyone else from the team as well. We also thank her teammates for remembering our sister Catherine."
On June 17, 2017, a commemorative sign was unveiled in Swainsboro honoring the 1973 GHSA Region AA State Girls Track & Field Champions. On December 28, 2022, the 1973 track and field team reunited once more on SHS’s track and field, to present a plaque and photo of the 1973 Track and Field team to the Emanuel County Museum and Historical Society. In their touching tribute to their late coach and teammates, they collectively wrote:
“The names, footprints and legacy of our Coach and team members that are no longer here with us will forever be engraved and never forgotten as Champions forever.”
Perfectly honoring the Lady Tigers who ran, so other future Lady Tigers could run too.
