Mrs. Mildred Y. Watkins Tilford

Mildred Yvette Watkins Tilford was born on December 8, 1907, in Muddy Boggy Bend (Indian Territory). Her parents moved from East Texas to join her grandparents to sharecrop in Muddy Boggy Bend. She was the youngest of several children; her parents never gave her a name, they referred to her as “baby.” She attended a oneroom school and being the youngest in group and in the fourth grade, she stayed behind to teach the younger children to color and the three R’s while the older children worked the fields planting and gathering crops. Between grades 4 through 8, she summoned to substitute teach in nearby Macedonia, Atoka, and Springtown, Chockie, Chickie, and Limestone Gap. She did so for six years.