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  *SAMPLE* Oral History - M. Roy

Posted by Matthew Roy in African American History - Roy - E on
Below is a sample of the post that you should create for your oral history interview. It should be divided into the abstract, research (with sources), and the transcript. All of these portions will be put in the "Write Text" portion of the post. I suggest that you type up everything in a Google Doc first and then copy/paste it here in the event that there is a problem saving the post. Your audio file should be uploaded through the "Upload Media" tab. If you encounter any problems, see me ASAP to resolve them.

The example below comes from an oral history found at:

http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/sohp/id/13824/rec/1

Abstract

In this interview, Floyd Alston and his mother, Ethel Thorpe Alston, remember their lives in Granville County, North Carolina. Floyd and Ethel trace their family lines, some of which lead to slaves, others to sharecroppers, some to brothers and sisters who died, still others to factory workers. This interview offers more information on the Alston and Thorpe families than it does about African Americans’ lives in the rural South generally, but it does offer some revealing insights into racial identity and the struggles of post-emancipation African Americans to find economic and social security.


​Research

After the end of slavery, many African Americans were drawn into sharecropping. Without land of their own, former slaves raised crops on land owned by whites in exchange for a share of the profits. Sharecroppers generally purchased all of their supplies on credit from the landowner and usually found themselves still in debt once the crops were sold. “As that deficit grew, he [the sharecropper] found it impossible to escape from his situation by legal means.” Sharecroppers often ate a poor diet, suffered ill health, and lacked the freedom to choose a new path for themselves. In the interview, Floyd Alston references his grandfather’s experiences with sharecropping. Somewhat unusually, Alston’s grandfather did not come to this practice after emancipation. Rather, he was born in New York and moved to the South later. He managed to leave sharecropping by getting work in a mill.

Sources

  • http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/brown/sharecropping.htm
  • http://www.pbs.org/tpt/slavery-by-another-name/themes/sharecropping/
  • http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/t/te009.html

Transcript

Interview with ETHEL THORPE ALSTON and FLOYD ALSTON, JR.

29 NOVEMBER 1995

JAMES EDDIE McCOY: The date is November the 29th, 1995. I’m visiting with Floyd Alston, Jr. His mother Mrs. Ethel Thorpe Alston. The address is 201 First Street. Mr. Floyd Alston's birthday is 6-15-1933. Age sixty two. Mrs. Ethel Thorpe Alston's birthday is April 29th, 1916. Mrs. Austin, what area that you growed up in?

ETA: Well, uh, we were raised up most around in the county.

EM: But when you was a kid, you came up in Tar River Station? 

ETA: No, that's when.........????????? Uh, two years, or three years, you know people you used to farm one year and move to another farm. 

EM: Were your parents sharecroppers?

ETA: Uh-huh. 

EM: What was your daddy's name?

ETA: Ather Thorpe 

EM: What? 

ETA: Ather. 

EM: Ather. 

ETA: Ather Thorpe. 

EM: Ather Thorpe. Where did he come from?

ETA: He must have come back.........??????????????? 

EM: What about your mother's name, what was her name? 

ETA: Pearl Thorpe 

EM: What was her name before she was a Thorpe?


oral history sample post

Oral History- Imani Harris

Posted by Imani Harris in African American History - Roy - E on

Abstract


My grandma reflects on her experiences during segregation as a “ Black” African American  who was born down the south ( Virginia ). She begins by giving a great answer and describing what it was like during the 1950, if she felt safe during that time, and everything she said connect on how whites were back in the 1950’s. My grandma knew that it wasn’t going to be living down south but she said that “ I know that something good is going to come and the end”.


Research


Back in Virginia segregation was a huge thing.Segregation is separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, using a public toilet, attending school, riding on a bus, or in the rental or purchase of a home. Jim Crow laws was the main reason that there was segregation. When Martin Luther King “I have a dream” speech to a crowd of over 250,00 people at the Lincoln memorial during the march of Washington. Mr.King called an end to Segregation.



Transcript

Segregation Interview with Girlene Harris

By Imani Harris

ME:What was it like in the 1950’s in Virginia?

GM:As a child me growing up, it was – we couldn’t go to the places white folks went to. It was certain place we couldn’t eat. We had different places to go to the movies. The whites had their section, we had another section. It was – mostly what the black folk could do was work in the white man’s kitchen or in the fields.  Ah, we had our own churches. They had theirs. You know you didn’t mingle nowhere with them.  Like hear now everyone go to the ball game together – you didn’t go to no games or nothing with them and mostly they called you nigger.  We went to school there was a white school and a black school. They had the better buses and they ride by us and called us niggers. We walked to school.

ME:How old were you during this time?

GM:I was born in 1940, so in the 50’s I was in my early teens – 1940 to 1950 I was ten – I was in my early teens.

ME:How did you feel about segregation?

GM:It – segregation- it didn’t bother me because it never segregated our school or anything until after I grew up.  I was mostly out of school when they combined us –you know they started really going – (pause).  When I graduated from school, I graduated in 1960, and the whites and blacks still wasn’t going to school together. I think they started 2-3 years after but ah and the simple reason is – I’m up here- I left home was you really couldn’t find a job down there doing nothing unless it was working in a white man’s kitchen or if you work in a restaurant you had to work in the kitchen.  You know and all it was still segregation even though Martin Luther king was trying to break it, the civil rights was going through but it was still that you knew it was still segregation down there cause the way white folks treated you. You couldn’t go to a store and you couldn’t get waited on because you were black and they watched, they looked at you liked hey. And it’s still going on down there in some parts. You know they still prejudice, there’s a little town called Bowling Green down there that just as prejudice as they could be, if you bat your eye when you going through you’ll lose it but their still prejudice.

ME:How did you manage to keep a cool temper with the white’s doing that?

GM:My parent they had a lot to do with it. My mother and fathers was, we were sharecroppers. It’s like a whole lot of people don’t know what sharecrop is, that’s when you ah rent the land from the white man and cause you didn’t have no land you rent from the white man and he got the best portion of the money you made off the crops – that’s sharecropping and we were like that that’s how we were raised and brought up. And momma and daddy had an even temper, you know you got mad, you didn’t fly off the handle and get a gun and shot them. You, ah, was still in Jim Crow they would hang you in a minute. You had an even temper, you knew your place.  

ME:How did you get an education?

GM:I went to a public school. We had public schools down there, ah.  I went to public school from the first grade to the twelfth grade.  I graduated from union High School.  I started out in a little school, a two room school called Central Point, two rooms.  It was from prepemial to seventh grade.  Then I went to fill from seventh grade to the eighth grade and then you went to High School. It wasn’t know, I wasn’t knox middle school. It was elementary and high school and I started in ninth grade in union High School and I graduated from Union High School in 1990, sorry 1960.  

ME:How was the education? Was it bad? Was the books all ripped and trashy?

GM:No, we had good books.

ME:Compared to the whites?

GM:Compared to the whites, not really. Some of us didn’t know the differences. We had a book. One thing about it when they started to talk about integrating down there our schools, they built the black kids brand new schools for not to let the white kids come. We got brand new schools and it went on for years. Then they put us all together but we didn’t have white teachers. We had all black teachers. We had good teachers.

ME:Did you feel safe?

GM:Very safe – we didn’t have the fighting. We had no cop in the schools, no police, no nothing in the school, like it is here. Even tempered, we had good teachers. They thought a lot of kid and you felt safe around where I lived at, cause we live in the country it wasn’t to many of us.  

ME:Did you hear about the students, Little Rock Nine? The nine black students that went to an all-white school?

GM:Down south further down south yeah I heard about it. I didn’t like it.

ME:You didn’t like the way they were treated?

GM:Naw, I did like the way they were treated. And I remember the ah boycotting of the, when they sat at the lunch counter. Can’t think that. But Little Rock Arkansas stood in the door. That did, it wasn’t right because everyone is entitled to an education. Black or White.

Thank you for your time Grandma
Interview.mp3

Oral History- J. Martin

Posted by Jada Martin in African American History - Roy - E on

Abstract

In this interview, Jackie Walker expressed her experiences and beliefs about the time during the Civil Rights Movement. She is an African American who was born and raised in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. Although she was very young and lived in the North during the Civil Rights Movement she told stories that was told to her by her mother and when she took vacation trips to her mother’s hometown in South Carolina. She talked about her first experiences witnessing racism and segregation.


Research

The 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama was bombed on Sunday, September 15, 1963 as an act of white  terrorism. It exploded right before Sunday morning services. With a  predominantly black congregation that served as a meeting place for civil rights leaders. Four young girls were killed and many other people injured. The bombing of the church and the killing of the girls marked a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement.


Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_Street_Baptist_Church_bombing


http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/birmingham-church-bombing


Transcrpit

Time and Setting of the Interview

Place : Ms. Walker home in Philadelphia, PA

Date : May 18, 2014

Persons present during the interview : Ms.Walker and Jada


Jada : Good afternoon, today is Sunday May 18, 2014 it is 1:20 where I will be interviewing Ms.Walker about her life during the Civil Rights Movement. So, Ms.Walker lets start off by asking you some questions about your family, when and where were you born.


Ms.Walker :  I was born May 27, 1951


Jada : Now lets talk about your family


Ms.Walker : My mother was a school teacher. My father was a construction worker. I have one sibling. We lived on a small block in West Philadelphia. Where every family had two parents and home. Most of them had cars and all the fathers worked. It was just one big happy family.


Jada : What was your sister name?


Ms.Walker : Dolores


Jada : What school did y'all attend?


Ms.Walker : I attended West Philadelphia High School. She attended Bok Vocational High School. We both attended McMichael Elementary School.


Jada : How was school during the Civil Rights Movement?


Ms.Walker : It was okay. In our neighborhood school it was all black. For 9th grade we were bused to South Philadelphia from West Philadelphia for Junior High. Which was a white neighborhood. Well it was white and black but it was ok.


Jada : Since there was white and black did you experience any racism?


Ms. Walker :  Not in school I didn't.


Jada : So outside of school ?


Ms.Walker : No, to be honest I was grown when I experienced racism. I was at a nursing home visiting my aunt and I got called a Nigger for the first time. By some one who was about 90 years old stuck in a wheel chair in a nursing home. And I thought that was sad to be in that position and to have those type of feelings.


Jada : How do you feel about the Civil Rights Movement?


Ms.Walker : The Civil Rights Movement was a very good experience. Living in the North we didn't experience to much of it. It was hidden a lot but in the South it was not hidden. I remember my mother took my sister and I to her hometown in South Carolina. We went to a store and while we were in the store shopping we had to use the restroom. When we got to the restroom it said colored and white. That was a new experience for my sister and I. It was a airy feeling. Another experience we had in the South was going to the laundromat with my aunt.  One side were for whites and the other side was for colored.


Jada : How old were y'all at that time.


Ms.Walker :  We were teenagers any where from 14 to 17.


Jada : How has your views on race changed in the last decades.


Ms.Walker : Well I never . .I wasn't taught that way. So I never had any racism. But on this day . . this morning I was standing on my porch. The neighborhood has changed so much. That all of the older people have died. Their properties have been sold or rented out. So we have a lot of college students now. I spoke to a college student walking down the street as I was standing on my porch and he didn't acknowledge me. I thought that was sad for 2014.


Jada : Well do you think it was because of his race ?


Ms.Walker : It was racism. He probably was taught to be that way. My feelings were I've been here for 62 years and if you're going to come in you should be polite.


Jada : Since you were born in the year 1955 that was the year Rosa Parks

Ms. Walker : I was born 1951


Jada : I'm sorry 1951 so you were born before Rosa Parks went to jail for the bus boycott so you were about three. So you really didn't have much experience with that.


Ms.Walker : No we .. Most of the Civil rights War we watched on tv. The right to vote and the bombing of the churches. We were around but we were children. I was sad and we did a lot of crying watching the news because it was very sad. Children couldn't go church while being afraid of being blown up.


Jada : Has your mother and father shared their stories with you about segregation?


Ms. Walker : Yes, my mother told us storied of going to the movies.She had two friends a female and a male that both could pass for white. The white people sat on the main floor and black people had to enter from a different door and sit on the balcony. And how her friends sat on the balcony with them and didn't pass for white.


Jada : Well thank you Ms. Walker for your time


Ms. Walker : You're welcome.




Interview, Ms.Walker

Oral history - M. Vinson

Posted by Michael Vinson in African American History - Roy - E on

​Abstract: In this interview of my grandmother, Caroline she brought up the topic of their being Jim crow in the south, specifically south Carolina because that's where she was living at the time, but when she moved to Philly their wasn't Jim crow. Jim crow was just laws, segregating blacks from whites and restricting them from different things. One more thing my grandmother spoke about was Martin Luther Kings I Have a Dream speech.

Research: August 28th, 1963, This day martin Luther king gave his “I have a dream” speech to a crowd of over 250,00 people at the Lincoln memorial during the march of Washington. In the speech he calls for an end to racism in the united states. The march on Washington for jobs and freedom was partly intended to demonstrate mass support for the civil rights legislation proposed by president Kennedy in June. The march on Washington for jobs and freedom was also known as the great march on Washington was one of the largest political rallies in united states history. The march was organized by groups of civil rights, labor, and religious organizations. The civil rights act of 1964 was proposed by Kennedy in June 1963 and is a landmark part of civil rights legislation in the united states. It would outlaw discrimination due to sex, or skin color, race, or religion. The marches were credited for helping to pass the civil rights act of 1964.  

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crow_laws

http://inthesetimes.com/article/4124/jim_crow_in_the_north

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/themap/map.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/martin-luther-kings-speech-dream-full-text/story?id=14358231


Transcript: 

MV: When were you born?

CV: May 5th, 1933

MV: where were you born?

CV: south Carolina?

MV: How was it like your first ten years of growing up?

CV: It was good, I learned about the old government. my grandmother worked for the pension fund. I went with my grandmother to wash and iron for the white families.

MV: did they treat you any way?

CV: yes

MV: how did they treat you?

CV: we ate after they did, we had to walk to their house to do their laundry. I used to go with my grandmother when she worked in tobacco.

MV: what was your grandmother's name ?

CV: Della

MV: What was her last name?

CV: Della Peterson.

MV: What was your mothers name?

CV: charity

MV: Charity Peterson?

CV: yes.

MV: Where did she [charity Peterson] work?

CV: She did domestic work.

MV: Was she around the house a lot

CV: No she sleep in.

MV: Father?

CV: My father was a farmer.

MV: What did he farm?

CV: He had his own farm.

MV: Did he make a lot of money farming?

CV: Yes he owned it. He had cotton pickers.

MV: What do you remember about school.

CV: Yes, I started the school when I was 5 years old, the school I went to was in a church and all the classes were in one room.

MV: Any white kids in the school?

CV: NO

MV: Did you ever think about going to school with white kids?

CV: Not really, I went to school with white people just not in south Carolina.

MV: Are you still living in south Carolina while you were in grade school.

CV: yes.

MV: did you ever think that white kids education was better?

CV: no, I didn't think it was better.

MV: Did you think you were getting a solid education at that school?

CV: yes

MV: Do you remember the name of the school or the church it was in?

CV: Antioch.

MV: Where did you attend high school:

CV: Junior high school in Philadelphia, and senior high in south Carolina.

MV: So you were moving back and forward between Philly and south Carolina.

CV: Right, right.

MV: So when did you first move to Philly?

CV: 1946

MV: Did you notice a big difference between Philly and south Carolina ?

CV: yes I did.

MV: What differences:

CV: It wasn't as Jim crow. The whites and colored were the same.

MV: So the whites and blacks would mingle in the streets?

CV: YES.

MV: Was it segregated?

CV: No it wasn't segregated

MV: So would you say you felt more comfortable living in Philly for the time?

CV: yes.

MV: When you went back to south Carolina how was the feeling?

CV: It was OK.

MV: would you have liked to live in Philly more after you been their?

CV: yes.

MV: When did you first hear about martin Luther king?

CV: in 1960’s

MV: Remember your first job

CV: yes

MV: what was it

CV: IT was uniform laundry

MV: How long did you work their?

CV: 44 years.

MV: 44 years.

MV: do you remember any speeches martin Luther king had?

CV: Yes, The I have a dream speech.

MV: Any other speeches?

CV: No that's the one that stood out the most.

MV: So when you first heard-

CV: Free at last, free at last thank god almighty I am free at last.


Voice 001_001 (online-audio-converter.com)

Oral History Project

Posted by Gracehong Platt in African American History - Roy - E on

Abstract:
In this interview, Allen Platt expressed his experience and beliefs about the time during the Civil Rights Movement. He lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is a white male. He described his relationships with African Americans in WWII, and when he was a teacher. Allen did not see any direct examples of discrimination against African Americans. He mentions the Mayor/Police commissioner, Frank Rizzo. Allen gives a general idea of his experiences. 

Research:

According to my sources, I found that Rizzo did have a bad reputation in the African American community at that time. He was accused of racially motivated targeting of activities in African American neighborhoods. During the Columbia Avenue Riots, he kept steady watch, and tried to limit the looting and violence that would happen. When he was a commissioner, he had one of the highest percentages of African Americans among his departments in 1968. He was known to be loyal to his department. Later in his career, his response to the MOVE incident in 1978 suggested claims of racism. The details of that event include the eviction of the MOVE organization members, and the beating of an unarmed MOVE member. Allen regarded Frank Rizzo as “... who was extremely hostile, very hostile to African Americans.” From my research, I can see the relation between Allen’s statement, and the actual events.


Sources 

http://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/17/obituaries/frank-rizzo-of-philadelphia-dies-at-70-a-hero-and-villain.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Rizzo

http://w3.law.psu.edu/civilrights/articles/frankrizzobio.html

Transcript

Saturday May 10th, 2014

Grandfather’s apartment in Philadelphia

11:04am


GH: Okay...Its recording now.

GH: What was it like living as a young white male in the 1950s and 60s?

AP: There was a complete segregation between whites and people of color, minority people. LIved in different neighborhoods, went to different schools, completely separate. Because of that, people of color and people who were white didn't get to know each other

GH: Yeah

AP: All they got to know is, like what they call stereotypes, you know what that is?

GH: Yeah

AP: Okay. That’s all we got. And often, they were incorrect most often they were incorrect. I’ll give you an example: when I went to ehm high school it was 1942, I went to Central High School. You had to take a test to go there.

GH: Yeah

AP: And in my school, was all boys at the time, there were very few African American kids. There were no asians, and very few African American because of segregation.

GH: Yeah

AP: So it was not a healthy time, all I can tell you we did not know each other we just didn't know each other

GH: Okay. During that time what was one of you favorite activities? What did African Americans play like, how did African Americans play a role in it and if so what was the environment like?

AP: Gimme the question again please.

GH: What was your favorite pastime, and did African Americans play a role in it, and if so what was the environment like between the two?

AP:Ehm. My favorite pastimes doing a lot of drifting, daydreaming actually.  

GH: [laughs]

AP: And I've always loved to read, so I was reading a lot and listened to music alot, and the music I listened to was generally classical music and some pop. It was before the event of rock and roll so I didn't have any idea what rock and roll was like. And there was jazz, and that was introduced by African American people. Excellent jazz. [Restates] Excellent jazz. And even that I didn't know too well uhm, I didn't have friends who were African American so I didn't really get to know the music. The jazz. And jazz was very popular. And 1942 was uhm, a time of very bad-war in Europe so cause’, Europe the war started in 39, Germans uh we're going all over Europe, and the Japanese attacked pearl harbor in 1941 so we, when I was 18 actually, I went, was 18 and a half, I had one semester at Temple University. All the students were called up and we were put in the army. And by the way, in the army, in the barracks, no African Americans. There were none.

GH: Really?

AP: Really. As a matter of fact, this is such a eh, what's the word I want to use…  such a, I use bad because African Americans were not put in regular army units, they were segregated so they drove trucks they did labor work. And many of them had very special skills which would help, but they were put into these sort of non technical work.

GH: Yeah

AP: And in my barrack we had young men from Pennsylvania, North- different other places, but no African Americans.

GH: Did you ever see discrimination occur? If so, what happened?

AP: What dear?

GH: Discrimination, like openly happen.

AP: I'm ashamed to say in a way I did see discrimination occur. For instance, you went to a movie theatre, and there were no African Americans there. And there were people who were African Americans generally treated in a sort of a non human way, and many of the people who cleaned houses- African American women. So I had a woman who I got to know her, her name was Bertha came to clean my mother’s house. I used to try to- I felt [pauses] sorry for her, like she would have to carry the vacuum cleaner, I'd carry it up for her and down, I actually can't say I saw direct discrimination, but I would read about discrimination in the newspaper. There was obviously discrimination even though it was more in the South.

GH: Yeah

AP: In Philadelphia there was discrimination because African American people had to live in in associated neighborhoods. We can call them ghettos. And go to segregated schools

GH: Yeah. Did you agree with Civil Rights Movement’s protests?

AP: Very much, and I was- I read a lot. I would read every time there were people, there was a man named Stokely Carmichael, who was an early civil rights man and he, he… he first uttered the slogan “black is beautiful”, so African americans started to feel good about themselves and then there were the black panthers.

GH: Oh yeah

AP: And these were there was a lot of resentment for African American people, a lot of anger going on because there were so many things that were, that were harmful to do in your family and began to want to eh hurt people. Hurt white people, hurt anybody that discriminated against them. So there was a lot of riots in cities uh. African Americans would start fires, and go through wrecking buildings automobiles, and in Philadelphia there was a police commissioner named [Frank] Rizzo, who was extremely hostile, very hostile to African Americans. And police would hit em’ on the head that kind of thing where.

GH: Yeah

AP: And so in Philadelphia, it was a very bad time at that time.

GH: How were African Americans treated during your time as a teacher?..or counselor

AP: Well when I first started teaching, I taught in a school, there were no African American children. It was 1950.

GH:Yeah

AP: It was a school in Mayfair elementary Northeast Philadelphia. It was a brand new school. neighborhood, no African american. And I changed, I started teaching science at a junior high school in Kensington they were generally white people, who were living in poverty conditions, no African Americans. And because when people are in poverty, regardless of what your race is, you get, you get very angry. So there was anger at the African Americans because they were trying to upgrade themselves, and white people didn't know how to handle it at the time. It was just a very difficult time. So I had very little association with African Americans, but if I could jump ahead where I did have…

GH: That would be cool

AP: Yeah, where I did have well i graduated college, 1949, my first job was in a philadelphia uhm going to see people, people who were on what its called welfare.

GH: Yeah

AP: And I would visit elderly people things like that. And people who working at this time were African American. So I got to know them not only on a working person, but as a friend. So we began to associate together. And then we had parties together. And my friends would invite African American people. This was very new, but also very exciting cause’ we were bringing people together.

GH: Alright, thank you Ogg [what I refer to my grandfather as]

AP: IS THAT ALL?
GH: I think so. Yes.

AP: I hope I was helpful.

GH: YOU WERE VERY HELPFUL. Thank you very much.


Voice 003

Oral History N. Anderson

Posted by Nicholas Anderson in African American History - Roy - E on

Abstract :


In this interview James Anderson reminisced about his life in Alabama during the Civil Rights Movement. James often referred to Civil Rights Movement activities that he participated in. James said he participated in a bus boycott and the boycotting of restaurants that wouldn’t serve african americans. He explains that this was happening mainly down South where he was living at the time. The Interview goes more into detail on this subject.


Research :


The Montgomery Bus Boycott began on December 1st, 1955. In the years 1955-1956 almost every African-American that lived in the Southern part of the United States of America was boycotting the bus line. This was sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks because she refused to move from the front of the bus which was restricted for white’s when the bus became full. This boycott of the buses was organized by Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. Rosa Parks wasn’t the first female to refuse to give up her seat to a white passenger. Two other female African-Americans did the same thing in that exact same year.  According to watson.org “Rosa is often portrayed as a simple seamstress who, exhausted after a long day at work, refused to give up her seat to a white person. While this is not untrue, there is more to the story. Parks was educated; she had attended the laboratory school at Alabama State College because there was no high school for blacks in Montgomery at that time, but had decided to become a seamstress because she could not find a job to suit her skills. She was also a long-time NAACP worker who had taken a special interest in Claudette Colvin's case. When she was arrested in December 1955, she had recently completed a workshop on race relations at the Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tennessee. And she was a well-respected woman with a spotless record.” The Boycott ended December 20th, 1956.



Sources :


-http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_montgomery_bus_boycott_1955_1956/


- http://www.montgomeryboycott.com/overview

- http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/civilrights-55-65/montbus.html

NA: Hey Grandpa how you doing?


JA: Ehh, I’m doing ok.


NA: Ok let’s get this interview started.


JA: Alright come on.


NA: Question number one What is your conceptualization of race and how it has changed?


JA: Uh, you want me to speak? Well I can say there have been many changes in the country there have been uh, access to equal opportunities. There are no more separate bathrooms etc. Uh, this has been settled by law. But racism still exists in the country.


NA: Mhm


JA: One thing you can not due .. you can not you know, the law doesn’t legislate people’s hearts. So there are many americans that are still racist we can see that with the …  election of a black president. There are many that are against him solely because he is black. But, you know.. we continue to struggle, but as I say racism still exists in the heart’s of many people. OK


NA: Knowing that we can not take the racism out of the hearts of people completely. Do you belive we can lessen the amount of racism in people’s hearts?


JA: Uh, well.. I feel that.. Uh the only way you can lessen the racism in people’s hearts.. is it must start in the family. Racism started in families and it has perpetuated over the years because children are taught racism, and its passed down from generation. So i think the only way we can lessen it is, we as grown ups must start in our families and lessen racism in our uh homes. Not speaking about it and by letting our children know that everybody is created equal.


NA: Question number two How do you see the role of race in society?


JA: Well I think race can be a good thing in society. You know I think that’s what has made america great. But I also feel that for us to go forward, that people have to look at each other as americans and not as a particular race or skin color, and if we can do that then I think that this country can advance and we ca- we can become a greater society.


NA: Ok, Do you truly believe that all men are created equal? Even those born into poverty vs. those born into higher class society?


JA: Yees, I believe that all men are created equal because when you come here, each one of us having nothing except for what our families have accumulated or created. In fact that’s what makes us unequal, because of what our families have accumulated um there position in society but other than that the bible says all men are created equal.  


NA: Question Number Three, What do you remember from the Civil Rights Movement?


JA: Well I remember the separate bathrooms, the separate water fountains, ehhh the separate hotels, separatism period. You Know? It was everywhere, that certainly was a terrible time in American history. I remember participating in.. movement, bus boycotting, boycotting ya know restaurants, and so forth. Certainly that was a time in American history that we never need to return to.


NA: Alright, Uh, did you ever try to go in a bathroom that was restricted for whites?


JA: Ye-, you ready? Yes I have, and I done got remarked by the white establishment, got threatened to be thrown in jail and many times during that era you would be thrown in jail just for drinking out a water fountain or for sitting in a waiting room for whites only. You could be arrested, fined or beaten up !


NA: Question Number Four, What are your experiences or observations of discrimination?


JA: Well I have ha- seen discrimination, had discrimination as far as jobs and as far as accommodation in stores, hotels and restaurants and this is something that should just not be. In other words I feel like this makes America weak. America is a melting pot with people of all races, and this is what makes us great. To tell you the truth we can see this only in our battlefields when we are fighting for this country. One of the things that make us great is that we are a melting pot and we are fighting for the freedom that is so beloved in this country.


NA: Ok, Could you give a specific example of how you were discriminated against?


JA: Wha? Specific example on how I was discriminated against? I have applied for jobs that I couldn’t get because I was black. I have went in restaurants that I couldn’t get accommodations because I was black. Some restaurants wanted to serve me out the back, even out of a window on the side, and you know not only that, but it’s the way that people look at ya, when you go in hotels, department stores and back in that time they didn’t have to serve you, and they didn’t serve you.


NA: Did you participate in the Civil Rights Movement?


JA: Yes I Did


NA: Question number six, What was it like living during the civil rights movement?


JA: Well, you might say fear, today they call it terrorism. Inequality, unequal opportunity in education, unequal opportunity in housing, unequal opportunity in government programs and many of these things were legislated by law.


NA: Question number seven, what was your education like?


JA: Well, uh I was educated in segregated schools. Uh, we were given out dated books. But we refused to accept those books. In other words the administered at my school, Uh chose to buy, give us a chance to buy our own books. Books that were updated at the time because what the white establishment used to do  they used to pass down the outdated books to the black children and they would give their white children the new books. But most black children couldn’t afford new books but those who did we, got those the new books and of course we got a better education. Of course we had some great teachers. I have to give a lost of credit to them for what I eventually became.


NA: Alright


JA: That wasn’t the question you gave me at first.


NA: Alright, Question Number Eight. Do you believe their is a superior skin color?


JA: *chickles* There are many people that feel that way but according to the bible we all came from one man and one women. Not only that but according to scientific studies they have proven this to be true so no there is no superior skin color.


NA: Ok


NA: Question Number Nine, Why do you believe the Civil Right’s Movements Occurred?


JA: Well I believe it occurred because people have been oppressed for many many years. In fact they have been oppressed for hundreds of years and even in our laws of the United States, our constitution our laws say that if people are being oppressed that they should rise up and throw off the oppressor and of course after many many years people got tired of being oppressed and this is what happened.


NA: Well Grandpa I appreciate you helping me out with this interview. Thank You for your time.


JA: No problem Jordan, hope you got everything you need. Good luck with your project *chuckles*




HISTORYFULLPART1

Oral History- G.Flego

Posted by Gianna Flego in African American History - Roy - E on

Abstract

In this interview, Gianna Flego interviewed her Mommom, Celeste Flego about the Civil Rights Movement. Celeste remembers her time back when not everyone was equal and explains the horrors of MLK and the Kennedy brothers death. She gets into the time when she witnessed different signs of segregation and the things that she did not participate in. This interview sums up what white teenagers did during the rough times of the Civil Rights Movement. She reveals how she felt during the rough times and the outlook she had on her country.


Research

In 1955 the Civil Rights Movement began because of Rosa Parks. During the Civil Rights Movement, the segregation between black and white stayed the same. They used different water fountains, medical care, education, transportation etc. This was going on for a while and MLK and the Kennedy Brothers were determined to stop it. Unfortunately they were shot and the African Americans weren't happy. Even though segregation continued, they created a path for the black people.




Transcription 

GF: Good evening, and I am Gianna Flego, here with Celeste Flego on May 19th 7:16 pm. Hi Celeste, how are you?


CF: I’m fine Gianna.


GF: Okay! Would you mind answering a few questions about the Civil Rights Movement for me?


CF: No not all.


GF: Okay lets begin. Do you remember the Civil Rights Movement?


CF: Yes I do.


GF: And could you tell us a little bit about it?


CF: Ah… the Civil Rights Movement was not just about the rights of minorities. It included gay and lesbian rights, the women's rights… I remember that. I was growing up, in grade school when it started then I was entering high school. So I really didn’t experience that much of it.


GF: Okay… Did this event affect your family?


CF: Well, later on when it was starting to be televised, we watched the news a lot and I just couldn’t get over, you know, what was going on. It was something that was suppose to be peaceful, peaceful marches turned into very violent things and thats the way it affected us as a family.


GF: And did it affect, you specifically?


CF: No not really because when I was in high school, my high school, Hallahan, was segregated. We had orientals, we had Hispanics, African Americans. It was a very segregated school. Then, when I entered the work field, wherever I worked… the dental field or medical field, it was prejudice. They hired you based on your skills.


GF: And I know that you said, you were young most of the time this was happening but did you understand what was going on?


CF: Did I what babe?


GF: I know that you said you were young going through this time period, but did you understand what was happening?


CF: When I was younger? Or when I got older?


GF: Both.


CF: When I was younger no because our neighborhood was mainly white and our grade school was mainly white. Like I said to you, thats when I thought nothing of it. I wasn’t that kind of a person.


GF: And did your school change? Education…


CF: No. Not at all. If anything, more minorities were going into my school. You can see from my freshman year to my senior year that there were more, you know, minorities entering the school. One of my best friends from where I worked at the medical field she was at my wedding, on of my best friends. And unfortunately, as we get older, Gianna you’ll see, from your teens, twenties, you lose friends. Not because of the color of their skin but sometimes that happens.


GF: Did you observe different scenes of discrimination at any time?


CF: You mean during like, my high school years? In my neighborhood?


GF: Anytime!


CF: No, not at all. It was a white neighborhood that I grew up in. So like I said to you, the only things that I seen were in the news, paper.


GF: What did you see during the news?


CF: Well it was unfortunate what they did. What started out that was suppose to be peaceful marches with John F. Kennedy in the 60’s was horrible. 3 of the most important men were assassinated, were trying to get equal rights for the minorities, were all assassinated. They preached peaceful demonstrations and as I got older it didn't turn out to be that way, unfortunately.


GF: The last question I have for you is, did you experience the full effects of the Civil Rights Movement?


CF: As far as marching for them?


GF: Anything!


CF: No not really, Gianna. I mean, I seen, like I said, the only time that I seen acts of discrimination was on TV. In fact, even the girls that I worked with or what to school with, never brought it up. Ah… we never really talked about it, maybe only once in a while you would hear somebody talk about it. But that was all. We didn’t see any of that. I, never seen any of that… Just TV, or papers.

GF: Okay, well thank you for your time and I appreciate you letting me interview you!


CF: You're welcome, anytime.


oralhistoryreview

Oral History - L. Newbern

Posted by Lyza Newbern in African American History - Roy - E on


Abstract -

The interview contained topics and people such as Elktin Maryland, Segregated schools and Martin Luther King Jr. Elktin Maryland is one of the most northern townships in Maryland which means that it is closer to Philadelphia, New York and New England. It is completely different from Cambridge, Maryland which was well known for it’s amount of racism and civil rights issues. Elktin was a much more kind environment for everyone in it - including African Americans. Another topic that was discussed was segregated schools, the interviewee did indeed go to a segregated and did have fun. There were no fights and everyone got along in her school. In 1956, 61% of Northerners and 15% of Southerners believed that whites and blacks should not attend the same school. It took more time and more protesting for most of America to become fond of segregated schools. The last important topic that was mentioned throughout the interview was Martin Luther King Jr, he was called a man of god, and smart. His death impacted the interviewer emotionally.


Research -

Martin Luther King was a great man that only tried to do good things. He believe in God that was peace and love. His murder was sad to everyone that believed he was trying his best and only wanted good in the world. MLK jr, was someone who always did the right thing for his people and for things that he believed in. His death saddened people who could not believe that someone could hate MLK jr so much for doing the right thing. Historically, his death was very sad and did hurt a lot of people. He was a leader of the Civil Rights Movement and wanted equality for everyone. He was someone who everyone looked up to. He was assassinated at the young age of 39.


Sources -

  1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elkton,_Maryland#History

  2. http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-25-spring-2004/feature/brown-v-board-timeline-school-integration-us

  3. http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement

  4. http://www.cliffsnotes.com/more-subjects/history/us-history-ii/america-in-the-fifties/the-civil-rights-movement


Transcript -


Interview with THERESA MCGRODY 
MAY 8 2014

LN: I am Lyza Newbern and I am interviewing my grandmom on her experience with the Civil rights movement. The first question were you affected by the civil rights movement?

TM: No, not really, no.

LN: Okay, were your parents affected by the Civil Rights Movement?

TM: Not that I know of.

LN: How was attending school during the Civil Rights Movement?

TM: I didn’t, it didn’t affect me because I was in a segregated school and we all got along. We were all friends, and we were young and it was nothing was really going on. We were friends and we had fun.

LN: What did you do with your friends?

TM: We learned together, we did after school activities, played guitar, soccer anything any normal after school activities. We got along in school, we went to parties, we danced a lot, lip synced a lot. And roller skated.

LN: were there any fights because of your school being segregated?

TM: Not that I knew of, none of my friends were. We all got along.

LN: Um, did you have any friends that you or your parents or society did not approve of because of what was happening?

TM: No, we were always we always got along with people no matter what race. We were brought up to be caring and loving no matter what race. No matter what creed or poverty level. We were just raised that way to respect one another and that’s how my friends were too, we all got along.

LN: Where did you grow up?

TM: Elktin Maryland

LN: How did that change your outlook on about the movement?

TM: I didn’t quite understand it. I didn’t understand why people could not accept people just because they were a different color. It was sad to me I cried a lot when I saw the news. My parents made me watch the news because they thought it was important to know what was going on outside of our happy little world. We lived in a small town and I don’t remember anything bad happening we just played, Summertimes were the best we’d play till night, till it was time to go in to bed.

LN: Did you ever fight for equality?

TM: Um, not really -

LN: Like protesting

TM: No I did not

LN: What were you taught in school about the movement?

TM: We of course learned mostly about Martin Luther King and his peaceful ways. Rosa Parks for her standing up. In Elktin we were taught to respect one another, that people were intelligent no matter what the race, people had a chance no matter what the race. we lived in america and it stood for equality and everyone had a chance as long as you worked for it

LN: What do you remember from the Civil Rights Movement?

TM: I remember watching the news and being sad. not understand why there was so much Violence how there could be so much HATE with people that didn’t know each other. How people could just hate one another before they -- they didn’t even know and to me it was sad and a total waste of time. and I always thought people could be friends if they just took the time to say hello and ask how you are and I always thought it was sad.

LN: What were your parents views on the movement? Did they’re view impact yours?

TM: Yes it did. That’s why I was sad, because they felt the same way I did. I was raised to care about people respect people and just treat each other as humans. Treat other the way you want to be treated and that’s how I was raised and thats how I tried to raise my children and I hope they have some of that in them.

LN: What is one thing you will never forget about the Civil rights movement?

TM: The assassination of Martin Luther King and the segregation of schools I remember watching those boys and girls going into school for the first time and being afraid.

LN: Why will you never forget about the assassination of Martin Luther King?

TM: Because I thought it was sad, he was a great man and he tried to do good things. He was a man of god that is peace and love and I just thought it was sad that someone would hate him so much for doing the right thing.

LN: OK.


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