Arrila Eversley

Named after her Great grandmother Arrila Alston, Arrila was born in the small rural town of Burlison, TN in 1946. Some of her earliest memories as a child included singing in the church as a 2-year-old for a Baby Ruth candy bar and playing double-dutch on the school playground.  Arrila relocated to Milwaukee Wi with her grandmother Effie Alston McDonald at the age of 5 and was raised there ever since.

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Growing up however she would spend many summers down South back in Tennessee playing with her cousins. “We stayed at the house where my grandma was born. My aunt and uncle lived there at the time. There were so many fun things to do and I remember they had a lot of open spaces and it was just a joy to be around a lot of relatives and enjoy country cooking”

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Aside from her best friend Jacqueline, she also developed a love for school and reading. She said her favorite subject in elementary school was social studies and history.  One of her biggest influences was Mrs. Howard, her 2nd-grade teacher who was very active in the community at the time. “I think I read every book I could find in the 5th grade about Aztec Indians. I was a history buff. We also lived across the street from the library so I spent a lot of my time there.” Socially she says she was a little quiet but was very much involved in the school. She worked as an office monitor in elementary and was a Lieutenant of the cadets in middle school.

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High school she says wasn’t as much fun because a lot of her childhood friends got scattered around and went to different schools. Arrila attended North Division high school. She said she couldn’t do the splits or cartwheels like the cheerleaders but was considered a “Big Sister.”  And a big sister she was as she is the oldest of 8 siblings. Arrila graduated from high school in June of 1964.

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Arrila went on to attend the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. When asked why she decided to attend, she said “It was a given.” “I was always told that I would go and it was something that I loved. I loved school and I loved education so it was just natural for me to do it.”  During her tenure at UW-Milwaukee, she did face many obstacles as this was a predominately white school during the 1960s and she dealt with a lot of racism and segregation.  Arrila worked at the telephone company for 10 years while going to school part-time. Although these were challenging times, she still persevered and graduated with a degree in Early Childhood Education and minored in Psychology.

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She went on to become an elementary school teacher with the Milwaukee Public schools and inspired hundreds of students throughout her years of teaching. Her goal as an author is to reach children spiritually and spread the gospel of Christ through her books. “My first book is about how to be ‘transformed’, to become a Christian and accept Jesus as your savior. I want children to know they are special and God created them the way he wanted them to be. God doesn’t make mistakes.”

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Her favorite Bible verse is Psalm 23:4. Ye though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For thou are with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. “I've had a lot of serious illnesses”, she says, “and that verse has carried me.”