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Fortunately his salary permitted him to buy a phonograph; and thus enrich the lives of members of his family with a constant stream of the best of red seal records. From his maternal grandmother, who resided with his family in Little Rock, he also learned many of the songs sung by Negroes in the days of slavery; from her, too, he learned "the value of faith in God." While yet a youngster, Billy Still had his own violin, and, of course, music lessons. Almost as soon as he learned to recognize notes he began trying to compose.
The family lived in a comfortable cottage on West 14 th Street. Mrs. Shepperson counted herself lucky in being able to bring her son up in a community as enlightened and free from prejudice as Little Rock. She was thankful, too, for the quality of the Negro schools there. One of young Still's teachers was Mrs. Charlotte Stephens, in whose honor the Stephens public school was named.
But save for the enthusiasm with which he absorbed his melodic background, those who knew him found little during his Little Rock days to indicate a budding genius. He is the first to state, "I was no child prodigy." Yet, when he graduated from high school in 1911, he announced eagerly that he wanted to devote his life to music. His mother was distressed. There was very little chance, she felt, for genuine success for a Negro in the field of serious music. So she insisted that he enroll at Wilberforce and work toward a degree in medicine.
As a dutiful son he complied. But before the end of the year he was pleading to be allowed to transfer to Oberlin because of the excellence of its musical opportunities. His mother was adamant. So back to Wilberforce he went. During his days there he organized a stringed quartet, in which he played violin.
- He was also a member of the college band, and from time to time played
all the reed instruments. On one occasion the band offered an entire program
of his compositions. But it wasn't enough to satisfy young Still. He quit
college and went to work as a professional musician. After several years
with commercial units, including that of W. C. Handy, he felt sufficiently
financially secure to go back to the classroom.
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