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  Oral History: Floyd Alston (M. Roy)

Posted by Matthew Roy in AFRICAN AM HISTORY - Roy - X on Monday, May 11, 2015 at 4:17 pm
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 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?


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Interview: Thomas Grant

Posted by Tyrone Grant in AFRICAN AM HISTORY - Roy - X on Friday, May 29, 2015 at 11:52 am

​

                                                  Abstract          

In this interview, I’m asking Thomas Grant, the interviewee who was born and raised in Philadelphia, questions about the Civil Rights Movement, his childhood, his education, and things that were happening in his neighborhood. A couple of questions he doesn't know, but his answers to other questions were things I never knew about. This 67 year-old man witnessed a lot of things during work, school, or even when is at home, but he never participated during that time. When you read and/or listen to the interview, you might learn new things that you never would've guessed.

During the interview, Thomas brought up the Million-Man march. He said that he seen a couple people from his job who went down to Washington D.C. When I researched that event, it said that it happened 20 years ago (October 16, 1995) at Washington D.C. and the website Million Man March says: “The Million Man March was one of the most historic organizing and mobilizing events in the history of Black people in the United States.” The person that led the march was Minister Louis Farrakhan who is the leader for Nation of Islam, but besides that he was a black religious and social leader.


      Interview Part 1


Tyrone: Okay, hello, um..my name is Tyrone Grant. What is yours?


Thomas: Uh...Thomas Grant.


Tyrone: Okay, so...do you remember your parents?


Thomas: (chuckled) Yes.


Tyrone: Okay, so what were your parents like when you were a kid?


Thomas: Um...my parents were...giving, but demanding. They were religious and um...they made sure we had everything we needed. As children growing up, we were fed, clothed, sheltered, they were good and it was a good time.


Tyrone Okay, okay, so where were you living when you were a kid? Outside the state or…


Thomas: I was living in Philadelphia.


Tyrone: So, when you were younger, did you see any role of race in society?


Thomas: Yes, on the news for one, just with the police department how blacks were treated compared to the whites. Certain neighborhoods if you went into them, they would stop you, and harass you. It was...a time where when you stayed in your neighborhood, you were fine.


Tyrone: Oh wow, so how about your parents? Did they see any types of discrimination?


Thomas: Uh yeah, well my dad fought in World War II, and he was born in the South and he had to leave the South and came North because of racism.


Tyrone: Alright, so that’s pretty interesting. So what was it like being you know...a son of a man who fought in the war?


Thomas: He didn’t talk about the war much. He was more into providing, so he spent his time trying to make a...make it so we can survive. At one time, I was told he was making $0.76 an hour, so money was not there like it is today. I’m blessed because I’m able to make a lot more. (giggling)


Tyrone: So that’s pretty interesting. So have you witnessed or involved, or were involved (correcting myself) in anything about the Civil Rights Movement?


Thomas: I’ve witnessed...well basically what you saw on the news; police brutality in Philadelphia. We had riots back in the 60’s because of prejudice and racism. Martin Luther King as you know, being on the news and seeing what he was fighting for. Knowing and heard of the...people talk about it; athletes who’ve played basketball, saying that they couldn’t go in the front door of a restaurant where they was going to go to eat. The Boston Celtics, the center for them talked about it, people talked about it, but coming up when we were coming up, it wasn’t too much we could really do.


Tyrone: Okay, so you’ve mentioned riots and stuff in Philadelphia, correct?


Thomas: Yea.


Tyrone: Okay, so were you involved in those riots?


Thomas: No I wasn’t involved in them, but...they were basically in our neighborhood. Police...attacked a boy and before anybody realized or knew what was going on, people gotten together and four or five blocks away from where I was living, Columbia Avenue and Susquehanna Avenue, they were tearing up, destroying stuff, breaking into the stores, and they brought out the National Guard. So yea I’ve seen it, I didn’t get involved in it.


Tyrone: That’s interesting, umm so have you ever witnessed any other types of segregation against others?


Thomas: Yea, uh it hasn’t been as I got older; I kind of stayed away, but yea I’ve seen where people wouldn’t allow you to do things. You couldn’t go into certain neighborhoods like I said before. I was less of a “out on the streets” type of person, I was more home and when I travel, I travel to a place and came back. I didn’t really hangout.


Tyrone: Oh I see, now I know where I got my laziness from. (laughing)

                                     

   Interview Part 2


Tyrone: Alright, so did you know anybody that participated in the Civil Rights Movement?


Thomas: Yea, I people-I knew some not a lot, but I knew a couple of people during the Civil Rights time with Martin Luther King. They went to Washington, the million-man march. Not personally, but knowing them from maybe working with them or their parents, not working but...parents who went on the march.


Tyrone: Alright, so you said working, so what job were you working for?


Thomas: Well, I worked for Septa and I wasn’t working during the Martin Luther King march because I was still in school, but I’ve been where they had other marches, so yea I knew a couple of people, but not many.


Tyrone: So um, did you ever attend a school that had segregation?


Thomas: Segregation (whispering), No, because basically the schools I’ve went to were basically black.


Tyrone: So how was it like going to an all-black school?


Thomas: Well you don’t know any difference because it is all black and nobody is being treated any differently. You know, it’s not like going to a school that’s half and half, you can see things, but when you to a school that’s basically all black, you don’t get that.


Tyrone: So, in the all-black schools, did you have like cheaper supplies and like...what I mean by supplies, I mean like books and stuff than the white schools?


Thomas: I can’t answer that because we didn’t know. All we knew was that we had books and we did have books, and we had the pencils, and the paper and all that. Let’s say another school had more than our school, it wasn’t put out there because the media today is so much more, and information is passed around so much easier. Back then, you’ve got your books, and we didn’t have basically what you have today: computers, and calculators, and everything we did had to be done by hand and by memory.


Tyrone: So was it tough in school for you?


Thomas: Well you don’t know because you don’t know the difference...we had nothing to measure one from another.


Tyrone: I meant like..just like...you know. Like right now, it’s tough for me in school so I’m saying on a daily basis doing work and everything...so was it tough?


Thomas: I mean, I made it through if that’s what you’re asking. I graduated, but when you  saying tough, I guess all schools had their bullies, but listening to the news today, it was nowhere near as bad as it is today.


Tyrone: I have a quick question, so it’s a little bit off topic. How many brothers and sisters do you have?


Thomas: One sister, two brothers.


Tyrone: What were their names?


Thomas: Joyce, Troy, and David.


Tyrone: Okay I know Joyce, but tell me about Troy and David.


Thomas: What do you want to know?


Tyrone: What were they like?


Thomas: Oh, well we got along fine, everybody was good. When I went to high school, my sister was married, so she was gone. My brother went to the military, my oldest brother went to the military. My youngest brother, when he got out of school, he went to the military.


Tyrone: That’s interesting. Did you lose anybody that you knew personally like a family member because of discrimination and segregation out there?


Thomas: Did I what?


Tyrone: Did you lose anybody?


Thomas: Oh, no. Not that I...no. I can say no. To my knowledge, I don’t know anybody in my family that died because of segregation.


Tyrone: Okay, well that’s good, that’s good. Have you ever faced any types of segregation like you personally?


Thomas: Personally, I’ll say no cause I don’t...I..no no, personally no.


Tyrone: Okay, well that’s it. Thank you for your time.


Thomas: My pleasure.


interview_pt1
interview_pt2
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History Project Interview: Kim Marable

Posted by Shadiyah Marable in AFRICAN AM HISTORY - Roy - X on Thursday, May 21, 2015 at 11:04 am

History Benchmark Design



Abstract:

In this interview, I am viewing Kimberly Marable. She talks about how she grew up learning about what happened to Emmett Till and learning that Rosa Parks wasn’t the first African American to give up her seat. She also discuss what it was like when she was growing up.


Research:

I looked up that according to the modern-day civil-rights establishment, most of the problems that currently afflict African Americans result directly from the intractable white racism that allegedly continues to plague blacks in every region of the country -- across all age groups, all educational levels, and all income brackets. This civil-rights elite largely ignores the role of issues within the black community, such as the calamitous breakdown of the black family since the 1960s, in framing its critique. Black community has been the worst struggle in the 1960’s and more. They dealt with a 14 year old boy getting killed for something wrong, a woman arrested for trying to reice freedom, and they had to deal with the civil rights.


Sources:

http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/sixties/resources/guided-readings-major-social-issues-1960s







Good evening it is April 29, 2015. Today we will be doing an interview based on personal background and during the civil rights. I will be interviewing my grandmother.


Me: Hello Grandma, how is your day?


Grandmom: it is good , how is your?


Me: Good as well. SO I will start off with basic questions then jump into the civil war. What is your name?


Grandma: My is name is Kimberly Marie Marable.


Me: How old are you?


Grandma: As of today I am 55 years old.


Me: Okay do you remember anything that happened in the civil rights movement?


Grandma: Yes. I remember 14 year old Emmett Till was killed by two white men in 1955.


Me: Do you remember why he got killed?


Grandma: He was visiting his family in Mississippi. He was caught flirting with  21-year old Carolyn Bryant at a small grocery store. Bryant's husband Roy and half brother kidnapped him, gouged out one of his eyes, choked him with a cotton wire fan then shot him.


Me: Do you think that has made a huge impact dealing with racism?


Grandma: Yes. Back then in the earlier days us as black African American slave, we have dealt with alot of racism and since this situation has occurred, it shows that racism was and still is a problem.



Me: Do you still remember anything that happened before?


Grandma: Yes. I learned that Rosa Parks wasn’t the first African American lady to sit in the front of the bus.

Me: Who was the first then?


Grandma: Her name was Claudette Colvin.


Me: How did you figure this out?


Grandma: I figured this out because I was reading a newspaper and she was on the front cover with her name in bold stating that she was the first one to give up her seat.



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Interview with Grandmother: Vanessa Smith

Posted by Shaelin Nixon-Mosee in AFRICAN AM HISTORY - Roy - X on Thursday, May 21, 2015 at 9:20 am

Abstract

​In this interview, Vanessa Anderson-Smith, remember their lives in South Philadelphia. This interview offers more information on the young life of Vanessa Smith as she grew up going to middle school, high school, college, and later onto the real world. She talks about how students of her skin color were treated in middle school, high school, and college. She also talks about her neighborhood friends, how she raised three children of her own and much more.


Research

We drank water from the tap not a bottle and nobody knew about the dangers of lead poisoning so even cribs were painted with brightly colored lead based paint. Medicine and Bottles with tablets did not have child proof lids. No seat belts or air bags in cars, nobody knew or if they did told our parents smoking and drinking was bad for the baby, kids shared coke from one bottle, soda had masses of sugar and we ate real white bread and butter and everything else including full fat milk that we are now told is bad for you. Parents couldn't reach us ( no mobiles ) and most of the day we would be out playing with friends and parents knew we would be safe with hardly any weirdos wandering the streets. If we got caught doing stuff we shouldn't the cops would take us home and we may well have a got a hiding for breaking the law ( but no do gooders saying mustn't smack children ). And if we played up in school the same applied. While playing we got cuts and bruises and the occasional tear in jeans but it was just part of being a kid and no visit to the hospital. We had no fancy games but could play for hours making a Go cart or a new tree swing and for other games most times we would find a ball and whatever we could use as a bat. or in the summer all jump into the nearest place we could find and if the water wasn't that clean we just didn't swallow it. We rode our bikes with no helmets and doing whatever stunts we could ( bikes were so much heavier and hard waring) and always had punctures to repair or get dad to help with. If we didn't get in the team we were not good enough and that was that. But most of all we were allowed to be kids. To dream, to invent and to play. It's no wonder that the generation that grew up then created some of the most innovative and exciting technology we have today. Thanks for those years and all those "BAD THINGS" that is why we are who we are today.


Sources(s)

  • http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/50s-memories.html


Transcript


Shaelin: 1. When exactly were you born?

GMOM: “January 25th, 1956”

Shaelin: 2. How old are you?

GMOM: “59 years old”

Shaelin: 3. What was it like in your generation when you were my age?

GMOM:  “When i was just starting high school, i was in a all girls catholic high school, uniforms had to be below our knees, no makeup, no hoop earrings, post back earrings.”

Shaelin: 4. When you were my age did you have white and black friends? just blacks? just whites?

GMOM:  “Yes because I went to a racially diversified school, black, white, hispanic, vietnamese, all types, so i ended up making many different skin color friends.”

Shaelin: 5. Did you go to a segregated high school?

GMOM: “Uh, no. All of the students collaborated with one another”

Shaelin: 6. Was everyone treated fairly?

GMOM: “I would say yes for the most part. We had black students that had a walk out, however I do not remember what for.”

Shaelin: 7. Do you think that high school prepared you for college?

GMOM: “It did to a certain extent because the big issue in college there was no one to tell you to do your work, the professor would give us a syllabus with all of our work and due dates but wouldn’t remind us when it was due.”

Shaelin: 8. After finishing college was it challenging to find a job?

GMOM: “Originally it was, I had a couple side jobs, first real job was at temple university. It was kind of hard, then chop and I worked there every since.”

Shaelin: 9. Did one of your jobs eventually lead you into a career?

GMOM: “I got my third job at temple for a year after I graduated, I then found a job at chop and worked there every since for 28 years which was in the field that I studied in college.”

Shaelin: 10. Was it hard adapting into the real world?

GMOM: “No, it was just hard finding a job in my profession.”
file:///home/chronos/u-b93a29a1e1de5339a7c34b256188fe9710bcab32/Downloads/New%20Recording.m4a
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Unit 6 Project

Posted by Tyrone Grant in AFRICAN AM HISTORY - Roy - X on Wednesday, May 20, 2015 at 7:21 pm

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Oral History Project:Margaret Colman (D. Scudder)

Posted by Darian Scudder in AFRICAN AM HISTORY - Roy - X on Wednesday, May 20, 2015 at 3:56 pm

​

Abstract:


On may the 7th Margaret Coleman was interview by Darian Scudder and she was born in Alabama greenville 1960 she’s a African American her mom raise her up in church and she played games with brothers and sister’s. Her Dad made her brother ‘s and sister’s pick crops and take care of the farm she enjoyed being home with brother’s and sister’s working on the farm. She had to pick food and cotton and crops from the farm, she would play baseball, hide and go seek, and jacks, hopscotch, her dad drove the school bus, Mom would be at home and when come from school. She would spend a lot of time together with her family and  she would come home from church and they would go shopping , and sometimes her  family would sit outside on the porch and watch the cars go by together. Her parents would always watch out for her health not to eat junk food she would go into town and go into the little stores and get hun buns and little snacks from the corner stores. She would eat ice cream from the dairy queens but mostly her family would eat at home her favorite movies were (Gone with the wind) and (Romeo and Juliet) she would watch them in  school. Her Favorite Hobbies were Fishing, and she Made up her own baseball, and Walking to her neighbors houses she was very close to her mother Dad and sister and brothers, The school’s I went to had all blacks schools and I would be in the country schools. Most of her friends were blacks because the area she was in when her mom did house cleaning her boss was white and he had white children she would play around when she was little they help them when they had a lot of work.


Research:

I my Research I found that: African-American slaves, sharecropping came to define the method of land lease that would eventually become a new form of slavery. Without land of their own, many blacks were drawn into schemes where they worked a portion of the land owned by whites for a share of the profit from the crops. They would get all the seeds, food, and equipment they needed from the company store, which allowed them to run a tab throughout the year and to settle up once the crops, usually cotton, were gathered. When accounting time came, the black farmer was always a few dollars short of what he owed the landowner, so he invariably began the new year with a deficit. As that deficit grew, he found it impossible to escape from his situation by legal means. The hard, backbreaking work led to stooped, physically destroyed, and mentally blighted black people who could seldom envision escape for themselves or their children; their lives were an endless round of poor diet, fickle weather, and the unbeatable figures at the company store.

Sources:


http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1396



http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1613


http://www.netstate.com/economy/al_economy.htm


Transcript:

  1. What was one of the best things you did growing up?

        My mom raise us up in church, played games with brothers and sister’s, Dad made us pick crops in all this happen in greenville Alabama , enjoyed being home with brothers, working on the farm.

  1. Did you have a rough childhood?

       I  had to work on a farm pick food and cotton and crops  

  1. Did you play any fun games growing up?

       I would play baseball, hide and go seek, and jacks, hopscotch

  1. Did you spend a lot of time with your parents?

 My dad drove the school bus , Mom would be at home and when come from school they would spend a lot of time together and they would got to church and they would go shopping , and sometimes We would sit outside on the porch and watch the cars go by together, My parents would always watch our health not to eat junk food.

  1. What was your favorite food store/place growing up?

I go into town and go into the little stores and get hun buns and little snacks from the corner stores they would eat ice cream from the dairy queens but mostly we would eat at home.

  1. What was your favorite movie?

    (Gone with the wind) and (Romeo and Juliet) We saw it in the school

  1. Did you have a favorite hobbies?

      Fishing, Made up their own baseball, Walk to our neighbors houses

  1. Did you have a person that you were close to growing up ?

       I was very close to my mother Dad and sister and brothers

  1. Did your school allow blacks and whites to be together?

        The school’s I went to had all blacks schools and I would be in the country schools.

  1. Do did you have many friends that were black or white?

  Most of My friends were blacks because the area I was in when my mom did house cleaning her boss was white and he had white children we would play around with them help them when they had a lot of work.


Interview With My Grandmother
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Interview with Diane Jones , by: Amani Sheard

Posted by Amani Sheard in AFRICAN AM HISTORY - Roy - X on Tuesday, May 19, 2015 at 11:01 pm

Abstract

Below is the interview I conducted with my grandmother. The interview took place May 11th, in the comfort of her own home. She was born in Philadelphia during the year 1955. Therefor she grew up during the time period of the civil rights movement. During the interview she shares a great deal of memories and personal stories. She gives her opinions and reactions of a lot of incidents that happened during the civil rights movement. Often sharing her strong emotions on specific events. She was strongly influenced by her parents and civil rights activist.


Interview/ Transcript

A.S: What is your name?  

D.J- My name is Diane Jones- Roseman.


A.S: How old are you?

D.J- 60 years old.


A.S: What is your date of birth?

D.J- April 8th, 1955


A.S: Can you give brief background history about yourself?

D.J-  I was born in the city of Philadelphia to my two parents. My father was a self employed painter and my mother worked half time. And I have one older sister. Grew up and went to school in the city of philadelphia. Ummm attended Temple university after High School. Uhhh I have only traveled outside of the United states once. And that was to South Africa. Well I shouldn't say once. Ive been to Africa, I’ve been to several caribbean islands. I’ve been to Canada, I’ve been to mexico. Ummm and of course I have traveled to a few states outside of pennsylvania but inside of the united states.


A.S: The civil rights movement lasted from about 1955-1968. How old were you during this period?

D.J It was between my birth and my 18th birthday. My im sorry my 8th.. right? 55..65.. 13th birthday.


A.S: How do you define civil rights?

The laws of the land applying to everyone within it regardless of their race


A.S: Was anyone in your family involved in the civil rights movement?

D.J- Movement.. umm yes everyone directly or indirectly.




A.S: Growing up during segregation, can you recall an early incident when you recognized a difference of treatment on account of color?

D.J- Uhh yes for myself personally it was at girl scout camp when I was about 10. And others of the time it was through rumors relayed verbally through their parents and television.


A.S: Describe your memories of segregation.

D.J- Umm segregation I Remember vividly stories my dad used to tell us about segregation in the united states army. Where he remembers uh being on bases in certain parts of the country and he couldn’t use the same water fountain as his white counterparts.


A.S: Have you ever personally been discriminated against because of your race?

D.J- hmmm Yea both suttley and blatantly,


A.S: How did you respond to this treatment?

D.J- My first reaction is hurt and questioning what's wrong with me,  my second reaction is anger after realizing it ain't me.


A.S: What are key events you remember during that time period?

D.J- Key events… uhhh.. I would say the assassination of martin luther king, the assassination of president kennedy, the assassination of his brother, the assassination of Malcolm X, the uhh arrest and riots of different groups like the panthers and the college students against unfair treatment in the south. What else do I remember? I remember the marches  the churches put together to the white house in D.C. Uhh I remember guest speakers at our church I don't remember anyone coming to school but I do remember guest speakers at church.


A.S: What did you do during the Civil Rights movement?

D.J-  I was a school student so I can't say I actively participated but we used to have many discussions and debates around the table as to how the situation could be fixed. Discussions about Martin Luther King’s peaceful ways. And Malcolm X and the nation of islam and the panthers by any means necessary methods. Of course my parents being christians they leaned more towards non violence.


A.S: What was the most memorable event during the civil rights movement that affects you today?

D.J- The fact that Dr. Martin Luther king did spread nothing but word of nonviolence and equality and they still killed him. Very Violently killed him to silence him


A.S: What were the failures of the Civil Rights Movement?

D.J-  I guess that the impact of it was not felt or honored as highly by the next generation.


A.S: Do you think marches, sit-ins, and other demonstrations helped or hurt the movement?

D.J- They helped


A.S: why?

D.J- It brought the issues more permanently to the surface of a lot of people attention.


A.S: Do you think that the president did everything in his power to better the situation at the time?

D.J-  There were other president though. Before kennedy it might have been nixon. But umm I think he tried. He really tried that why he got killed.


A.S: What are your thoughts on nonviolence?

D.J- It .. my thoughts are ideally it would be great if problems could be solved without violence. Through out history it seems that something is as drastic as warfare for one side to win. But in any case both sides are going to lose something or someone


A.S: Are there records of civil rights activity in your community?

D.J- Sure


A.S Such as?

D.J - Well there is chapters of the NAACP. Theres uh civil unions.. uhh lawyers you can secure to um do probational civil cases. Umm what else in my community. We vote, I think that's a form of excising our civil rights. There are many voter registration drives to educate people about our rights.  


A.S : Who were your civil rights heroes locally? Nationally? Why?

D.J- Malcolm X.. uhhh who else, yea I already mentioned King. I’m trying to think locally. There are many but the names slipped my mind.


A.S: Thank you

D.J- You're Welcome


Research

My grandmother brings up a lot of topics that could have been researched. For one the assassinations of many influential people. These people include; Martin Luther king , Malcolm X, John F. Kennedy, and his brother.

Martin Luther king: Martin Luther King Jr. was killed  April 4, 1968. He was killed  in Memphis, Tennessee. Not too long after his, “I have a dream speech”, and before he was preparing for another one. He was killed on the balcony of his hotel room. www.ibtimes.com/martin-luther-king-assassinat…

Malcolm X:  Malcolm was killed  February 21, 1965. This was  one week after his home was firebombed. He died by being shot multiple times by a group of Islam members while he was speaking at an organization in New York city. www.history.com/this-day-in-history/malcolm-x-assassinated

John F Kennedy:  JFK was assassinated November 22, 1963, Dallas, TX. Cause of death: Gunshot en.wi kipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy. His brother Robert Kennedy was also assassinated. June 6th 1968 in Los Angeles, California.

During the interview, my grandmother brought up stories my great grandfather told her about segregation in the U.S military. During the Jim crow era, there were laws that whites and blacks could not use the same bathroom, water fountains or waiting areas as whites. My grandmother says she recalls the marches, riots and arrest of protesters. In one specific event, the marches to washington and the White house. Between 1957 and 1968 there were about 7 marches to washington. Two specific marched led and based on african Americans were:

Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom-  Ran by Martin Luther King, in attempt to having a right to vote.

March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_protest_marches_on_Washington,_D.C.#1950.E2.80.931999





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Oral History: Robert E. Sigler (William Sigler)

Posted by William Sigler in AFRICAN AM HISTORY - Roy - X on Tuesday, May 19, 2015 at 10:57 pm

Abstract

While Interviewing Robert he explains his broad experience with his experience of Racism. He had left some things out that were pretty explicit and he didn’t feel comfortable saying. Yet he said I could share and he said that his white friends would chase african americans  out of the park by screaming them out of there names and beating them up if they didn’t leave.


Additional Research

Cinnaminson is an eastern suburb of Philadelphia that borders the Delaware River. "The inhabitants of the township of Chester having become so numerous that it is impracticable for them to meet with convenience and good order in one assembly... the Township shall be divided." The name of  "Cinnaminson" comes from the Lenape Native American word "Senamensing," which means "sweet water".


Interview Details: May 2nd or 3rd, either the evening of May 2nd or the afternoon of May 3rd and at 2521 Pine St Cinnaminson, NJ 08077


Robert Sigler:


  1. How often was segregation or racism  brought up in your household when you were younger?


Not very often we did not talk much family wise,  school wise not much.


  1. When people said or say racial slurs how does it make you feel? why?


I don't know I pretty much just ignore them. Do you think you hear them on a daily basis?  Ah No


  1. When you were in school were there colored kids that went there?

Yes, How many?  Ah maybe a half dozen.


  1. Did you ever display any type of segregation or racism towards anyone?


No, not really.


When you were growing up do you think anyone in your family did?  Eh maybe grandparents somewhat.  Can you give us an   example?  Excuse me? I said can you give me an example?  Well well the last time I saw my grandmother who was born in the 1890's in a nursing home she expressed displeasure with the black attendants in the Nursing Home. Let's put it that way.


  1. How many colored families lived in your neighborhood when you were a child?


There was one elderly couple that lived up the street.


  1. Has anyone treated you different because of your race?

Not really.

  1. Are you aware of the African Americans being killed by police? what is your response?


Yes I am aware of it I mean it's been all over the news. Umm as for the whole police shootings some are justified and some aren't it depends on the certain circumstances.


  1. How many colored people do you see or interact with on a daily basis?


Now?  Ahh two or three probably.


  1. Do you think where you live is segregated?  No


No


In the neighborhood you live in is the diversity in it?


Yes


  1. On April 20th, 1971 how old were you when The Supreme Court, in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, upholds busing as a legitimate means for achieving integration of public schools happened? How did you feel?


I was about 13 and I it really didn't affect our areas I really didn't think much about it.


What grade were you in? eighth or ninth somewhere in there.


Robert Interview
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Oral History Report

Posted by Nacere James in AFRICAN AM HISTORY - Roy - X on Tuesday, May 19, 2015 at 10:26 pm

Abstract: In the interview with Ms.Helen we hit topics that just dealt with the basics of the civil war like Brown vs. Education or segregation. Then we got a bit personal and spoke about segregation and racial differentiation in Jamaica her birthplace. My interviewee however was not so educated on the factor of war and her knowledge is based off of new reports and personal opinions.



Additional Research: “Although Jamaica has a diverse population, Afro-Jamaicans constitute the overwhelming majority. The 1991 census recorded a total population of 2.3 million. Blacks accounted for 2.08 million, or 90.5 percent of the total population, while whites accounted for 5,200, or 0.2 percent. East Indians made up 1.3 percent and Chinese 0.3 percent. Other ethnic groups as well as small numbers of Syrians, Lebanese, and Jews made up 0.5 percent. People of mixed descent accounted for 7.3 percent of the population. Recognition of this diversity led the framers of Jamaica's constitution at independence, in 1962, to choose as the island's motto 'Out of Many, One People,' suggesting that despite racial and ethnic differences, all live united as one Jamaican people.”


As taken from:  http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/43/130.html


This excerpt is stating that Jamaica had no racial segregation and was full of diversity even though the mass population was of blacks.

Interview of Helen James by Nacere James                                                          5/8/15


NJ: Good Evening, Ms. Helen how are you today?

Ms.Helen: I’m fine thank you, how are you?

NJ: I’m alright, can you answer a few questions for me if that’ll be okay?

Ms. Helen: Yes it’ll be okay



1. What do you know about the civil war?

Nothing really because I wasn’t really interested in war.


2. If you didn’t know about it, how did you find out it exist?

Oh from listening to the news


3. Do you think the civil war was important and why?\

I don’t think any war was important


NJ: |I agree war really is pointless.|


4. Do you know about Brown vs. Education? Do you think that was important and why?

Education is important but I don’t know about the court case.


5. What was the racial variety like in Jamaica?

We didn’t have racial problems in Jamaica.


6. Did you experience any racial segregation once coming to America?

Yes one time in a Korean store and it wasn’t very pleasant, I didn’t spend very much time in there just bought some flower pots and some baskets, some flower baskets


7. Did you experience anything out of the racial norm?

No not in Jamaica


8. Do you think things like these (Civil War etc..) are important to be taught in schools and why?

No, they waste time teaching that because it’s unnecessary to go back in the past.


9. Why do you think the History lessons are disrupting young minds?

Because they spend time going back in the past it doesn’t make any sense to me


10. Do you think the way segregation ended was right?

I- it’s not over



NJ: Okay that’ll be all for today,

Ms. Helen: Okay


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Oral History: Lynda M. Sigler-Staniskis (William Sigler)

Posted by William Sigler in AFRICAN AM HISTORY - Roy - X on Tuesday, May 19, 2015 at 10:20 pm

​Abstract 
While Interviewing Mrs. Sigler she had talked about her innocent sheltered experience in her neighborhood in the north section of Philadelphia. She hadn't interacted with anyone other than white children. She then explains how she only interacted with a few African american children in high school and how she only interacts with few in her life now.

Additional Research 
In this interview Lynda had mentioned St. Boniface Business school which is located at Diamond and Hancock in Philadelphia's West Kensington Section. One of Philadelphia's more beloved churches, St. Boniface anchored Norris Square for 150 years. It’s Gothic brownstone construction and jagged ornamentation really gave it a dark vibe, perfectly suitable for the days when the Roman Catholic Church really put the fear of God into you. This church doubled as a business school in which Lynda had learned and started her future  behind the desk.


Interview Details: May 2nd or 3rd, either the evening of May 2nd or the afternoon of May 3rd and at 2521 Pine St Cinnaminson, NJ 08077

Please state your name.  Lynda Marie Staniskis Sigler:


  1. How often was segregation or racism  brought up in your household when you were younger?


Never


Do you think your parents could have been low key to racism and segregation? Do you think they thought of anything like that?


I don't know. If they did they did not share it.



  1. When people said or say racial slurs how does it make you feel? why?


It makes me feel bad that it puts people all in one bin instead of an individuality. Because everybody is different and slurs are not necessary for anybody whether you're white Spanish black or anything we're all human.


Do you think stereotypes in society are all true like for all races?


Society does make them true, it depends on the group of people that they are speaking of like if you have people that are lazy and don't want to go to work whether they are white, black, Spanish   whatever then they are in a segregation that are non workers, they don't want to work than they are non workers. That is the segregation I see and hear.



  1. When you were in school were there colored kids that went there?

In Holy Name of Jesus School? No.  In St. Boniface Business School. Yes.



Do you think it is because as you got older the people in your neighborhood were more accepting people in different races?


No, when I went to High School, the High School was based in a mixed neighborhood. And that's when I got my introduction to mixed races.



  1. Did you ever display any type of segregation or racism towards anyone?


No



Do you feel that as part of your personality there is a reason why?


Because I think everybody are human we all have feelings, we all have choices whether we take a good choice or the wrong choice, every race can make their decision.



  1. How many colored families lived in your neighborhood when you were a child?



  1. Has anyone treated you different because of your race?

Not that I am aware of.



  1. Are you aware of the African Americans being killed by police? what is your response?


Yes I am aware of it I think it is horrifying depending on the situation, I do not know if the Police officers were threatened but if they were not it is just wrong.


  1. How many colored people do you see or interact with on a daily basis?


Six to Seven


Is this throughout your daily routine or in your work environment?


My Work Environment.


9.  Would you say that there is not a majority of people in your work environment?


There's a mixture I haven't counted how many of each.


So there is a Diversity?


Yes



10 On April 20th, 1971 how old were you when The Supreme Court, in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, upholds busing as a legitimate means for achieving integration of public schools happened? How did you feel?


I had just turned 11, and had no clue.


Did you think where you lived it was segregated?


Not that I was aware of.


Where you live now is it segregated Is there more of one race than the other?


No.


Lynda Interview
IMG_6956.PNG
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Oral History Interview ( Ms. Rosa Nixon) By Ivana Gutierrez

Posted by Ivana Gutierrez in AFRICAN AM HISTORY - Roy - X on Tuesday, May 19, 2015 at 10:00 pm


Abstract,

In this interview my interviewee is talking about her being happy graduating from high school when she was younger. I ask her if she could tell me how is it different from back in the day from today. She said lived in a African American community. How her house was when she was younger. She talks about her not going to a segregated school. I ask her if she was ever discriminated About her race or skin color but she couldn't remember. I also asked if she had white friends but she didn't. And my last question I asked was why she came to Philadelphia from North Carolina and she said because there was more jobs in the north than the south.

Research

The topic I choose is when Mrs.Nixon migrated from North Carolina to Pennsylvania. She migrated in 1966, she was 23. The Great Migration is when more than 6 million African Americans relocated from the rural South to the cities of the north. From 1916 through 1970 it had a huge impact on urban life in the united States. Driven from their homes by bad economic opportunities and harsh segregationist laws, many African Americans headed north, where they took advantage of the need for industrial workers that first arose during the First World War.During the Great Migration, African Americans began to build a new place for themselves in public life, actively confronting economic, political and social challenges and creating a new black urban culture that would exert enormous influence in the decades to come. Shortly after the Civil War, large numbers of newly freed men and women left the plantations where they had served as slaves and moved to new areas, but most remained primarily in the South.In the south they had driven in a part of economic concerns. Many african americans didn’t have jobs and they were having a poor living condition, so that lead them to move to the North but they needed help to get there. Also the south was losing people and they were probably losing money. (b) In the North many african americans were looking for jobs because they heard they had more jobs than the south. Many of them were still in poor living condition because they still had a low fare waged.

Sources:

http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/great-migration

http://www.uni.edu/historyofblackhawkcounty/peopimmigrants/African-AmericanMig/HeadingNorth.htm

I used some information from an old assignment


Transcript

May 11,2015

Time 6:20


Person who interview her: Ivana Gutierrez

Interviewee: Mrs.Rosa Nixon



IG: Um, hi this is ivana, um I’m interviewing Egypt’s grandmother. Um what is your name?

RN: Um, hi ivana. I’m Ms.Nixon.

IG: I’m gonna be asking you some questions today. Um, so um first question um.

What was like your best childhood memory?

RN: Uh, best memory, my childhood memory is uh graduating from high school. (hahaha)


IG: That's good.  Um my second question is what was it back in the day? Is it different from today?

RN: Uh, different from today uh , back when i was growing up uh it was different uh the community that we lived in uh was most all black community.So we didnt have that much uh you know uh assoseation with other groups of people. We just lived you know in a close community. and we lived in a farm, uh we uh grew peanuts, corn and soybeans um we had a 8 room home which was one level, like a ranch house and it was nine of us, and my mother and father.


IG: oh ok. So um my third question is  Did you go to a segregation school? If yes How was it?  

RN: uh when we went to school there was no segregation, it was an all black school, and even the principal and teachers were black. There was none white person in that school that I can remember.

IG: will um if you did go to a school like that would uh you be friends with the white people?

RN:  Yes i would be yes.

IG: Were you ever discriminated about your race or your skin color?

RN: No I can’t remember being discriminated about my skin color or race.

IG: Um, Did you ever had white friends when you were younger?

RN: No i never had whites friends when I was growing up.

IG: Oh ok, Um what made you come to the North from North Carolina?

RN: What made me come to the north was uh, I was in the south, I finished um high school and I needed a job to help my mother so i came to the north because I heard that you will get a good job if you come to north, that they had a lots of jobs available. So I came to the north to get a job.

IG: Oh okay, well thats all my questions for right now. Thank you for answering my questions.

RN: You're welcome



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