1
10
18
-
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https://digital.mobilepubliclibrary.org/files/original/e420962c119a16304de8933116dc3d32.mp4
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Conversations About Mobile, with Eugene Walter
Subject
The topic of the resource
oral history
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interviews of Eugene Ferdinand Walter, native Mobilian, poet, actor, screenwriter, cryptographer, gourmet chef, etc., known as Mobile's Renaissance Man.
These interviews were part of a series of oral histories titled "Conversations About Mobile," conducted by Jeanette Keyser Maygarden for Mobile Public Library, Local History & Genealogy Division, in the early 1990s. Originally in VHS format, the full series has since been converted to DVD and mp4, and is available for viewing at the Local History & Genealogy library.
In these recordings, Eugene discusses his 73 years of artistic endeavors and pursuit of knowledge.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Jeanette Keyser Maygarden
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Conversations About Mobile
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Mobile Public Library, Local History & Genealogy
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1994
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Eugene Walter
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This file may be freely used for educational and research purposes as long as it is not altered in any way. No commercial reproduction or distribution of this file is permitted without written permission from this institution.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
mp4
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
oral history
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Conversations-Mobile-Walter-1994
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Jeanette Keyser Maygarden
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Eugene Walter
Location
The location of the interview
161 Grand Blvd, Mobile, Alabama. 36607
Eugene Walter's home
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
Summary typed up, presumably by Jeanette Maygarden:
He discusses how he writes his own puppet plays
He wrote some music for the movie Romeo and Juliet
1979 he returns to the United States
Wrote "Southern Style" cookbook for the Time Life Series
For the Azalea City News he did a column on herbs and spices
Does some lectures for the Elderhostel
Currently translating German plays, poetry, and two novels
Great detail on the origin of the word cocktail
He is a founder of the Joe Jefferson Players, Mobile Opera, and the founder of the Mobile Chamber Orchestra
Tour of his study and the art in it
Does commentary on life in Mobile for the radio station WHIL
Next project will be a novel about sex in the south
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
VHS
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
56 min.
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
1113 kbps
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Eugene Walter, pt. 2
Subject
The topic of the resource
oral history
Description
An account of the resource
Part 2 of Eugene Walter's Conversations About Mobile oral history interview, in which he discusses his return to the United States and Mobile.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Jeanette Keyser Maygarden
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Conversations About Mobile
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Mobile Public Library, Local History & Genealogy
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
June 8, 1994
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Eugene Walter
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This file may be freely used for educational and research purposes as long as it is not altered in any way. No commercial reproduction or distribution of this file is permitted without written permission from this institution.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
mp4
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
oral history
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Conversations-Walter-Part-2
cookbook
Eugene Walter
music
opera
puppetry
theater
-
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d299aab7f0c59e11f351e28f4713eb6f
https://digital.mobilepubliclibrary.org/files/original/dbc4e2079df02126a37d0e6713279694.mp4
43da5aa1e89cb252b7ac97822e5f759a
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Conversations About Mobile, with Eugene Walter
Subject
The topic of the resource
oral history
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interviews of Eugene Ferdinand Walter, native Mobilian, poet, actor, screenwriter, cryptographer, gourmet chef, etc., known as Mobile's Renaissance Man.
These interviews were part of a series of oral histories titled "Conversations About Mobile," conducted by Jeanette Keyser Maygarden for Mobile Public Library, Local History & Genealogy Division, in the early 1990s. Originally in VHS format, the full series has since been converted to DVD and mp4, and is available for viewing at the Local History & Genealogy library.
In these recordings, Eugene discusses his 73 years of artistic endeavors and pursuit of knowledge.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Jeanette Keyser Maygarden
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Conversations About Mobile
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Mobile Public Library, Local History & Genealogy
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1994
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Eugene Walter
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This file may be freely used for educational and research purposes as long as it is not altered in any way. No commercial reproduction or distribution of this file is permitted without written permission from this institution.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
mp4
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
oral history
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Conversations-Mobile-Walter-1994
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Jeanette Keyser Maygarden
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Eugene Walter
Location
The location of the interview
161 Grand Blvd, Mobile, Alabama. 36607
Eugene Walter's home
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
Summary typed up, presumably by Jeanette Maygarden:
Discusses his various first and middle names
His first book was published in 1946
He was thirteen years old when he did his first art exhibit
He was born in 1921
During his formative years he wrote and drew
He did children's theatre, designed costumes and scenery
He discusses the advantages of growing up in a three generation household
During his sophomore year at Murphy he wrote a column for the Murphy newspaper
He had trouble graduating from high school, he lacked some credits
He has never seen a football game, never wore jeans, and has never marched in a parade
Later he joined the CCC
Then he took a job as an usher at the Saenger
During World War II, he served in the US Corp of Engineers
Went to Alaska for two years
After the war he came back to Mobile, then to New York to a bookstore
Worked at the New York Public Library
To Europe to Paris to study for five years
Wrote for the Paris Review
He finished his second novel in Paris, "Untidy Pilgrim"
Spent 25 years in Rome
He acted in over 200 films
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
VHS
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
59 min.
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
901 kbps
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Eugene Walter, pt. 1
Subject
The topic of the resource
oral history
Description
An account of the resource
Part 1 of Eugene Walter's Conversations About Mobile oral history interview, in which he discusses his early life and travels in Europe.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Jeanette Keyser Maygarden
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Conversations About Mobile
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Mobile Public Library, Local History & Genealogy
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
June 2, 1994
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Eugene Walter
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This file may be freely used for educational and research purposes as long as it is not altered in any way. No commercial reproduction or distribution of this file is permitted without written permission from this institution.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
mp4
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
oral history
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Conversations-Walter-Part-1
art
costume
Eugene Walter
Europe
theater
-
https://digital.mobilepubliclibrary.org/files/original/bf9304f4d8909d5419ed9104caac7dfb.mp4
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Mobile Tricentennial Video Oral History Project Interview Clips
Subject
The topic of the resource
Mobile, African American History
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interviews of elders in Mobile's African American community. These items are clippings, and the full interviews are available for viewing at the Local History & Genealogy division of the Mobile Public Library. A full listing of available interviews may be viewed <a href="http://digital.mobilepubliclibrary.org/items/show/2732">here</a>.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
National African American Archives & Museum,
Museum of Mobile
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Mobile Tricentennial Video Oral History Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Mobile Public Library, Local History & Genealogy
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1999-2002
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Kern Jackson
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
mp4
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Oral history interviews
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Mobile-VOHP-Clips
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Kern Jackson
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Rosemary Braziel Butler
Location
The location of the interview
470 West Creek Circle, Mobile, AL 36617
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
Jackson: Um, tough question? Um, as a historian and this is a big, broad question but whatever you wanna say about it would be fine. Could you comment on race relations in Mobile?
Butler: I’m having to give some thought to that. Actually when I was growing up, I didn’t notice it too much. ‘Cause we all, you know, it was just a thing, and we just walked down to the Saenger and go up in the balcony and we had such a good time, you know, everybody you knew would be up there in the balcony, so it really didn't matter. We would see some of our friends standing in the line at the white theater but we knew not to speak to them when they were in that line because we knew that they were passing.
Jackson: What is that?
Butler: Passing for white. There were some who were light enough to pass for white and I won’t… They would go to the white theater. So, and we would pass on our way to the Saenger we would sometimes pass the Crown and we would see these kids in the line over there but we it was an unwritten rule that we didn’t break that, you know, even though we were all in school together.
Jackson: You think that’s something that went back to the times of the Adam Onas Treaty…
Butler: I think so. Uh, huh. But nobody knew that they were passing. The people if they knew they didn’t say anything. But ah, like I say, even when even when I had to go through that at the Welfare Department, it just really didn’t bother me because it was I figured that you know, I was going to achieve over and above whatever they threw at me and so you know I had that inner desire and inner feeling that you know whatever happened I was gonna withstand it because I was gonna I was gonna be above it.
Jackson: Uh, huh.
Butler: So, I just, I guess ah, when did I first begin to really, really feel bad about it, maybe during World War II. That might’ve been when uh, I begin to have my first feelings about the differences and wanted to fight and be a part of a fight that would happen.
Jackson: In your memory, how did that that notion of fighting take shape and what form did the fighting come for you?
Butler: The form and the fighting came for me really rather late and it came through my husband. We had moved back to Mobile from Boston. He had gone to school at Boston University. And we stayed on a while. Then, because the family being here, we decided to come back to the South. And uh, he was working for the Mobile Housing Board and he saw no future there.
Jackson: You didn’t tell me his name.
Butler: Herbert Butler. And he was working for the Housing Board and we saw no future there. And this exam came up for state housing commission. So, he took the exam and was the only person to pass the exam. And we he was the only person to pass the exam. Governor Wallace abolished the position. So we decided that, that was not going to be. So, my husband was a friend of Senator, the first black senator, Senator Edward Brooke, who had gone to school together in Boston. And we wrote Eddie and he got the justice department involved and the justice department sued the state of Alabama. Made them give Herbert the job as State Housing Commissioner and made Governor Wallace pay him all the back salary that he would have earned if had hired him two years earlier. And Judge Frank Johnson, who just died, was the one who made the ruling. And in that ruling which still have upstairs, it opened the way for all blacks to be hired within the state, in state offices.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
VHS
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
4 min 11 sec
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Rosemary Braziel Butler Interview Clip
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral History
Description
An account of the resource
Rosemary Butler talks about race relations in Mobile, including segregated theaters and her husband's fight for the position of State Housing Commissioner .
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Rosemary Braziel Butler
National African American Archives & Museum
Museum of Mobile
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Mobile Tricentennial Video Oral History Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
National African American Archives & Museum
Museum of Mobile
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
August 20, 1999
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
mp4
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Oral history interview
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
VOHP-RosemaryButler-Race-Relations
Mobile Housing Board
race relations
segregation
theater
Wallace
-
https://digital.mobilepubliclibrary.org/files/original/e1d7031bac9fe448298dcdc443181998.mp4
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Mobile Tricentennial Video Oral History Project Interview Clips
Subject
The topic of the resource
Mobile, African American History
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interviews of elders in Mobile's African American community. These items are clippings, and the full interviews are available for viewing at the Local History & Genealogy division of the Mobile Public Library. A full listing of available interviews may be viewed <a href="http://digital.mobilepubliclibrary.org/items/show/2732">here</a>.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
National African American Archives & Museum,
Museum of Mobile
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Mobile Tricentennial Video Oral History Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Mobile Public Library, Local History & Genealogy
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1999-2002
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Kern Jackson
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
mp4
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Oral history interviews
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Mobile-VOHP-Clips
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Location
The location of the interview
Lewis' Quarters, Africatown
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
Jackson: Tell me about the Lewis’ Quarters of your adult life.
Woods: Okay, since when I was very small, we were living in Green’s Alley but we always… before my grandmother built the house back in the ‘60s, she rebuilt a house and she moved… she got tired of Plateau and she wanted to move back home ‘cause she always wanted… she said she just didn’t feel right in Plateau ‘cause that wasn’t where she was born at. So her daughter and them… she working and her daughter and them put together, and they helped her rebuild that house that you see the green and white across the street. And she moved back in the house, and before she moved in that house we used to always come over here in Green… over here in Lewis’ Quarters on Friday and Saturday night ‘cause this was the place to be. This where all the happenings for this area used to be for African-Amercians that were living in this area.
My granddaddy and them had everything in Lewis’ Quarters you wanted. You could come over here and they raised all they farm animals. They made, well, a lot of people don’t like to say it, they sold drinks like whiskey and they had like parties. And they’d sit out and ate bar-be-cue and they, my uncle and them was great fishermen. They always could fish and hunt and they would cook right… You see this lil’ house here, Uncle Dana and them could go there and get that big pot and every ‘round Christmas and before Thanksgiving they would put up a hog or put up a cow or put up a goat or put the livestock that they was gon cook for the holidays and they would clean ‘em right out here. And like you say cracklins, we would, my uncle and them would clean that pig, they would put him up for about a month and clean him out. You called it cleaning him out and getting him ready to slaughter. So they would clean the pig and that night my grandmomma and them would have a big party, they would play my uncle and them would play the records. And we would have, they would make, get the big iron pot that we cooked, we washed in the pot, but when we wanted, when we skinned the pig, they would make the cracklins and you could hear the cracklins be cracklin. We couldn’t wait ‘cause the smell would go all over the Quarters. You know, we would have fresh cracklins. And my momma and them would come over here and they would have a good time and sit out and talk and quilt and sew. Now some nights my grandmomma and them they got together and made quilts together. And that’s how they talk time on. People didn’t have no TVs so that’s how they would entertain each other.
We would be in the lane playing at night. We could play long as we wanna ‘cause we’n have to worry about a car running over you or nobody coming and kidnapping you or anything because what we were over in Lewis’ Quarters. This where we felt we could be like family and we didn’t have to worry about anybody invading. Everybody that came to Lewis’ Quarters they were like family or friend. Just anybody couldn’t come in Lewis’ Quarter because everybody knew who everybody was, and they was very protective of they own. And like a stranger like a hobo would get off the train right out here, and he could walk over here. They’d check him out before he could come and sit around the fire. They always kept a fire right out here. When those hobos would ride the train down this track and they would come over here and they would give him a meal or give him a drank or give him some water and they would sit a while and they would go when the train come back through, they’d hop the train and keep on downtown or further north, if they was the train was going north or further south, if they were going south.
And so you look at Lewis’ Quarters, it was sectioned off and everybody had they own house. That’s the reason I said when we moved in Happy Hill for a while that wasn’t like home to us ‘cause we always, when we were growing everybody had their own house and they own yard. And they kept these yards up really well. It was a beautiful place, but by all the older people dying out now and the younger people that couldn’t find jobs like they wanted, so they moved away. So it’s been a uphill battle for us to try to bring it back to its glory, but we are slowly but surely we’re gonna bring it back. And so we as a child coming over here was just like heaven to me because you didn’t feel nothing but friendship. We loved each other, they, it was a lot of love over here. And if my auntie and them found out you needed something for school, you washed they windows, or you did some chore for them while you was over here on Saturday. If my momma had to go to work, we came over here and stayed until she got home from work. We would do chores for the family. And work in the garden and help feed the pigs and go get water for my uncle and them ‘cause these houses, if you look at this house here, it didn’t have running water, it didn’t have electricity, it didn’t have… and it had a outhouse, and so, you know, we didn’t have a lot of stuff we could be, like you say, even though this being a old, old house but my uncles stayed in it. It didn’t have the modern convenience. But they left this house up to show us from which we came because it was a meek and humble place. But as they families started getting better jobs and they started living better.
And most of these houses were built by family members. They’d work a while and they would buy bricks, they would stack bricks, they would go to old yards and get the bricks and stack ‘em up just like you see those bricks stacked up over there. My auntie, she, they worked on they own houses. They would like in the evenings when they husbands would come home from work, if the house needed wood, planks put on it, they added rooms onto they houses. And we also had a our a relative named Vic Days and the Days boys were construction workers; they could build. And my folks could build too, but they didn’t the expertise that they had. So, they built, a lot of these houses were built from the ground up by family members and friends not a construction company. But the ones that knew a little bit about construction work, and they put ‘em together. And they still standing after all these many years, they are still standing.
But this was the place to be. I heard a man, I heard a reverend on Sunday at a, the Africatown Family and Friends Day, his name is Rev. Hosey. Rev. Hosey don’t know me as per se, but he know my momma and daddy and I didn’t say anything because I wanted to hear what he had to say. And he related to Lewis’ Quarter. Everybody knew on Friday night from all the way up in Prichard to Hap.. Kelly Hill to Plateau, this was the place to be because nobody got out, you know, got out the way with you. My uncle and them kept you in check, they knew when you come over here, you had to, you couldn’t use foul language in front of the children and when we got through with our lil’ chores doing for them around dusk dark, we had to go over there in the Lane. We couldn’t come ‘round here where they would be dranking and partying. They would tell us, they gave us a lot of respect. And we, to the day, that respect lives on in me because it’s certain things I would not do, I don’t care who do it. I know I will not do it because my uncle and them said there’s a way to do anything. There’s a right way and there’s a wrong way. And we instilled that value in our children today. When they come over here and you saw them over here, they loved, we teach love in our family that this what this quarter was all about. It was built on love for each other.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Kern Jackson
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Lorna Gail Autrey Woods
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
VHS
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
7 min 52 sec
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
March 23, 2000
Title
A name given to the resource
Lorna Gail Woods Interview Clip
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral History
Description
An account of the resource
Lorna Woods talks about the sense of community and family she experienced growing up in Lewis' Quarters.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Lorna Gail Woods
National African American Archives & Museum
Museum of Mobile
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Mobile Tricentennial Video Oral History Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
National African American Archives & Museum
Museum of Mobile
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
mp4
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Oral history interview
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
VOHP-LornaWoods-Lewis-Quarters
Africatown
community
Lewis' Quarters
love
-
https://digital.mobilepubliclibrary.org/files/original/dda44ac50b68fd84e82c1c458b6cfe95.pdf
8b41616b230f57815c859ae482f9f6a6
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Mobile Tricentennial Video Oral History Project Interview Clips
Subject
The topic of the resource
Mobile, African American History
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interviews of elders in Mobile's African American community. These items are clippings, and the full interviews are available for viewing at the Local History & Genealogy division of the Mobile Public Library. A full listing of available interviews may be viewed <a href="http://digital.mobilepubliclibrary.org/items/show/2732">here</a>.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
National African American Archives & Museum,
Museum of Mobile
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Mobile Tricentennial Video Oral History Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Mobile Public Library, Local History & Genealogy
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1999-2002
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Kern Jackson
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
mp4
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Oral history interviews
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Mobile-VOHP-Clips
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Full List of VOHP Interviews
Subject
The topic of the resource
oral history
Description
An account of the resource
List of full VOHP interviews available for viewing at Local History & Genealogy library
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Valerie Ellis, Local History & Genealogy
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Mobile Tricentennial Video Oral History Project
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
pdf
Language
A language of the resource
English
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
VOHP-Interview-List
-
https://digital.mobilepubliclibrary.org/files/original/a6e6790e95f0b357ea79275049b2f1aa.mp4
7b2609cab8ee3d98d2a572d8c7dbc103
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Mobile Tricentennial Video Oral History Project Interview Clips
Subject
The topic of the resource
Mobile, African American History
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interviews of elders in Mobile's African American community. These items are clippings, and the full interviews are available for viewing at the Local History & Genealogy division of the Mobile Public Library. A full listing of available interviews may be viewed <a href="http://digital.mobilepubliclibrary.org/items/show/2732">here</a>.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
National African American Archives & Museum,
Museum of Mobile
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Mobile Tricentennial Video Oral History Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Mobile Public Library, Local History & Genealogy
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1999-2002
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Kern Jackson
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
mp4
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Oral history interviews
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Mobile-VOHP-Clips
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Kern Jackson
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
James Arthur Reed
Location
The location of the interview
2151 Jewel Court
Mobile, Alabama 36617
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
Reed: Yeah but in the early, in the latter part of the 30’s yeah we had a recreation center up on Davis Avenue, people used to go in there and play you know, tennis, I mean basketball, table tennis, that’s where they used to have the basketball games at, and if its dancing, we used to go to a place called Gomez Auditorium up there on Davis Avenue.
Jackson: Now tell me about this Gomez Auditorium, was that, from what I could understand was that a upstairs place?
Reed: Right, upstairs on the…
Jackson: What was underneath of it?
Reed: They had a shoe store was under there, they had a bakery shop under there, Jim’s Bar-b-que, it was under there, no it wasn’t, yeah it was on the side of it, but that’s where all the bands used to come the big bands.
Jackson: Like who?
Reed: Oh, Carolina Cottonpickers, you don’t know, your dad probably remember that, the Carolina Cottonpickers. Coolie Williams, Erskine Hawkins, What's that other band that used to come through here, Clean Head Eddie Vincent.
Jackson: Clean Head Eddie Vincent?
Reed: Yeah he used to be terrible saxophone player.
Jackson: Yeah?
Reed: He lost his hair in a big fire in Mississippi. Jamos Shane, I can remember all of those, cause I used to slip in. You know I was a kid then you know, Chuck Web. Ella Fitzgerald. That’s the first time I heard her right there at the room called the Old Dunbar High School now.
Jackson: Ella Fitzgerald?
Reed: Yeah, came with Chuck Web. When she wasn’t nothing but a girl. A- Tisket, A-Tasket. Boy, you sho’ carried back some memories.
Jackson: But they would have dances up in there, now what would call the dances at that time, like, how would you dress for a dance?
Reed: What they call, a Zoot Suit, then you had about 18 or 16 in the bottom, they would come up large, then they have long coats, almost down to your knees. We used to call that the Zoot Suit, that was the thing to have you know.
Jackson: So this was all before World War Two broke out.
Reed: Right after World War Two. During World War Two, was ‘40 what, ‘41? Yeah ’41, during that ’42, 43 long in there. ‘41, ‘42, ‘43, yeah, yeah.
Jackson: So now can you tell me what your first job experience, the first time you got paid a little something for doing something, I guess that would have been your momma, work for your momma sort of.
Reed: Oh I didn’t get any money for that.
Jackson: Naw.
Reed: No, my first job was actually at Albright and Wood’s Drug store on Davis Avenue and Hospital, I was a soda jerker.
Jackson: What’s a soda jerker?
Reed: Serving ice cream, mixing just drinks which wasn’t nothing but milk shakes, vanilla and strawberry milk shakes. $15 a month. $7.15 every 1st or 15th. And believe it or not I dressed out of Besteda Brothers bought a tailor made suit. I paid for my graduation suit out of Besteda was tailor made. Black and I never will forget it, Black, chalk-black suit. Paid $2.00 a month, every month every week on it ‘til I finished paying for it. During that time you can get a pair of tailor-made pants for $6.00. We had 2 owned English factory tailors, there was 2 Syrian Brothers on Dauphin between Jackson and Claiborne called English Factory Tailor, ask your daddy about it, he’ll tell you about it. And the Besteda Brothers on Davis Avenue. Well we didn’t have no money, that’s why we had deposit,, measure it up, put it on lay-away, we pay 50 cents, $1.00 a week ‘til we finished paying for it and that’s the way I paid for my graduation suit.
Jackson: What you do, so that’s the job you got immediately out of high school?
Reed: Right, soon as I came out of high school. I was working at ??? long in high school.
Jackson: Oh I see.
Reed: But when I left there I went to a place down on Dauphin and Royal called Simon Hat Shop. I was the porter down there.
Jackson: What was your duties as porter?
Reed: Just cleaning up and running errands. That had to be ’40, yeah it had to be ’41, ‘40-‘41 yeah, then the war broke out in ’41 and I had a choice, either go to the army or join the merchant marine. So I joined the merchant marines. I went to sea for 16 years.
Jackson: All over the world.
Reed: Oh just about. You name it, I've been there.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
VHS
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
5 min 38 sec
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
James Arthur Reed Interview Clip
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral History
Description
An account of the resource
James Arthur Reed talks about Gomez Auditorium, the bands that used to play there, and his first job at Albright and Wood's Drug Store.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
James Arthur Reed
National African American Archives & Museum
Museum of Mobile
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Mobile Tricentennial Video Oral History Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
National African American Archives & Museum,
Museum of Mobile
Mobile Public Library, Local History & Genealogy
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2000
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
mp4
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Oral history interview
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
VOHP-JamesArthurReed-Gomez
Albright & Wood
Arthur James Reed
Besteda Brothers
Carolina Cottonpickers
Davis Avenue
Ella Fitzgerald
Gomez Auditorium
Simon Hat Shop
zoot suit
-
https://digital.mobilepubliclibrary.org/files/original/08f2663590ec75a5af24cc864b1c4ade.mp4
8e6648b864c804934c5437f141597520
https://digital.mobilepubliclibrary.org/files/original/87bf2ae793ad9d3fde83a93e4d5c6c83.mp4
586a258c18a92f1a7b8bfa734105ba3e
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Mobile Tricentennial Video Oral History Project Interview Clips
Subject
The topic of the resource
Mobile, African American History
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interviews of elders in Mobile's African American community. These items are clippings, and the full interviews are available for viewing at the Local History & Genealogy division of the Mobile Public Library. A full listing of available interviews may be viewed <a href="http://digital.mobilepubliclibrary.org/items/show/2732">here</a>.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
National African American Archives & Museum,
Museum of Mobile
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Mobile Tricentennial Video Oral History Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Mobile Public Library, Local History & Genealogy
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1999-2002
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Kern Jackson
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
mp4
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Oral history interviews
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Mobile-VOHP-Clips
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Kern Jackson
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Willie Peal Lewis
Location
The location of the interview
704 Rebecca Drive
Mobile, Alabama 36617
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
1st Interview Transcription:
Jackson: When you walked into your own classroom that first time, do you remember that day? Or do you remember that year or that time?
Lewis: Not my first classroom, I really don’t remember that. I tell you this, I know it wasn’t a frightening thing because I had been used to teaching. Before I finished college, before I finished high school, we used to, at Dunbar when your teachers would be out, you know they didn’t have sick leave like they have now, well they would get some of the students to hold their classes, and in the Spring when they would go to the association meeting in Montgomery, we would hold their classes and school work correcting papers, fixing the register report, I had done that when I was in the 4th and 5th grade for my mother. So it really you know wasn’t anything new in a way, but I loved teaching though. Jackson: Really? Lewis: I did until it got so rough. Now the first time experiencing a classroom that I can tell you that I can remember, was my first day at Vigor High School. I was sent over there from Mobile County Training School during the desegregation era. And I was the first Black one that went over there. First Black woman and Randolph Thrower came from Blount. So it was just the 2 of us and I didn’t want to go, and I went to Superintendent____, he said if you had any questions…. See school opened Tuesday, and I got a registered letter Friday, uh huh to go. Saturday evening at that.
Jackson: 4 days, 3 days.
Lewis: Uh huh, no school day because it was a holiday that Monday, so I went to Superintendent in his office that Monday morning, and I got there, there were about 20 people there. When I gave the secretary my name, she ushered me right on in. I say well now, this is strange you know. So Herb Pope was superintendent, assistant at that time. So he wanted to know what was my complaint, so I told him, I said, “ I have been teaching, I have an elementary certificate that certifies me to teach from grades 1 through 9 and I've been at Mobile County Training School and I been teaching 9th grade English for the last 11years and Vigor is a senior high school, grades 10 through the 12th.” He said, “Well if you can teach 9th grade English, you can teach 12th grade English or you can go home and sit up.” Then the interview was over. So I got in a house and a car so I got to, I can't go home. So I went to Vigor, and I had met I had you know, I didn’t know what to expect. I don’t think they knew what to expect either because out on the hall where we were, the first 3 days we were there, the three, four football coaches, two each, to a class. They control the halls, all day. So the 4th day I went down to get my manuals, my books and they weren't there, they didn’t come that day you know in the hall so they were giving out books. So I ask them, I say, “where were you today, I missed you, I didn’t see you?” “Well we thought you knew what you were doing, we didn’t need to come down there.” Those were the kind of things that you met you know. But I say this, the kids were nice, they were really nice, most of them with the exception, to me of one or two. Now there might have been more, I knew there were more but, to me.
Jackson: No more difficult children than you would normally have.
Lewis: No, um umm. But you handle them in a different way. Now they acted you know, quiet at first you know, I guess they were weighing me out and I'm weighing them out, so I told them in the beginning you know, I didn’t know what they thought. But I hadn’t asked to come over there and I'm sure they hadn’t sent for, but we are here together and I'm going to stay and we gonna make the best of it. And I'm going to do my part and I expect you to do yours. And I really, I never had any trouble. I stayed over there 3 years.
Jackson: No kidding?
Lewis: Uh uhh. The only thing that happened one time, just before Christmas a little boy, he was passing a note and so I said read ___, so I called his name I forget his name, he was white, his name was _____. I said, “Let’s share the note you know, bring it up here so we can all have a good laugh.” And it was this poem about Black Christmas, you know, I don’t know if you ever saw one or not. It was about ___ this year you can't sing White Christmas and you got to have Chocolate ice cream as well as Vanilla, it was a whole lot of little things like that on it and so I had him to read it. “Uh huh, read it out loud so we can all hear it you know and we won’t waste time passing it from one to the other.” And he didn’t write that so I didn’t have any more trouble, not a bit and Christmas at the end of the year, the gifts, the gifts, the gifts. They gave me a hard schedule, I didn’t mind it. I had a homeroom, I had 2 regular 11th grade classes in English. I had 2 remedial classes of 12th grade English, and a 10th grade remedial class. 10th grade with all the dumb football players in it and see they had 4 Black, 6 Black football players. They gave them all to me.
Jackson: Then you worked with them.
Lewis: Um hmm, the 12th graders, some had been there 3 or 4 years in the 12th grade. Could barely write their names.
2nd Interview Transcription:
Jackson: Mobile, particularly Black Mobile is a more literate place than when your father came here. Had there been any key moments in Black Mobile history that you can point to and say you know, this was an important for good or for bad, for the literacy rate changing. This moment here was crucial.
Lewis: Oh if anything I would say, desegregation of the schools here changed literacy rate for the worse. It had some good points, but what happened it wasn’t done fairly and we still you know are segregated in a way. It has never been completely wiped out. First thing they did, they raided the Black schools of teachers. They raided them of students. They said first accepted only, you know students with certain averages. And they closed them, our schools, our kids lost their identity. That’s what happened the last year I was at Vigor. They closed Mobile County Training School in the middle of the year and Blount they sent students from Blount and from Mobile County Training School in the middle of the year. Uprooted them and they resented it and that’s when all that fighting and walls really. They got up to school in the morning, National Guard is lined all out in front of the school with the guns and all and they fighting all day. Soon as the bell ring they were fighting. So, and then I left there and went to Dunbar and I had quite a few White teachers then and I noticed how they, they didn’t teach. They ignored the children and they were, they were schoolchildren you know they were impressed you know I had a White teacher and she let us do anything we wanted to do and the kids just stopped learning and started this obedience to everybody, disrespectful and everything. In our Black school we didn’t have that. We didn’t have the disrespect that came about. They let them do anything they wanted to do. They sat and gossip with em, oh yes, tell them everything that went on at home in the project over there over the weekends. You know everybody who had a fight, everybody who got busted for drugs, everybody who did this, who momma was having a baby for somebody else, and who was pregnant and that’s the kind of thing that carried on. I caught a teacher one day in the lounge, he was attending classes at South Alabama and he had to make a survey and he was passing this around. He had passed these slips out to his kids: “What do you like to do?” And he had a list of 20 questions on there and this child had put and at the answer for every question was the F- word. And I told him, I said, “a student turned this in to you and put his name on it, and you laughing about it?” I say, “He has no respect for you, and you going to carry this to your class?” he said, “Well yes, I'm making a survey of what they think.” They think that’s funny. See we were laughed at. So that’s when I think it really went downhill, its bad to say maybe, but like I said it had some good points but mostly and most people I talk with feel the same way.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
VHS
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
8 min 51 sec
5 min 17 sec
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Willie Pearl Lewis Interview Clips
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral History
Description
An account of the resource
Willie Pearl Lewis talks about being a teacher, moving from Mobile County Training School to Vigor High School, and being one of the first black teachers at a formerly all white school.
Willie Pearl Lewis talks about the effects of desegregation on education and literacy.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Willie Pearl Lewis
National African American Archives & Museum
Museum of Mobile
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Mobile Tricentennial Video Oral History Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
National African American Archives & Museum,
Museum of Mobile
Mobile Public Library, Local History & Genealogy
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2000
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
mp4
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Oral history interview
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
VOHP-WilliePearlLewis-Teaching
desegregation
education
literacy
Mobile County Training School
oral history. Willie Pearl Lewis
race relations
Randolph Thrower
Vigor High School
-
https://digital.mobilepubliclibrary.org/files/original/a9619afced1a1c9f449585fdaa61db58.mp4
0ed0bf785d053678172474021f14e82a
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Mobile Tricentennial Video Oral History Project Interview Clips
Subject
The topic of the resource
Mobile, African American History
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interviews of elders in Mobile's African American community. These items are clippings, and the full interviews are available for viewing at the Local History & Genealogy division of the Mobile Public Library. A full listing of available interviews may be viewed <a href="http://digital.mobilepubliclibrary.org/items/show/2732">here</a>.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
National African American Archives & Museum,
Museum of Mobile
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Mobile Tricentennial Video Oral History Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Mobile Public Library, Local History & Genealogy
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1999-2002
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Kern Jackson
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
mp4
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Oral history interviews
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Mobile-VOHP-Clips
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Kern Jackson
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Lancie Thomas
Claretta Blackmon
Location
The location of the interview
The Mobile Beacon
2311 Costarides Street
Mobile, Alabama
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
Jackson: Yeah, let’s talk a little bit about that. About what, what the Beacon has done. First of all, how’d the Beacon get it's name, Beacon?
Blackmon: Well, you know, beacon stands for light. It was his vision to, to, to have a light he says “a light.” You know, we have our logo, our slogan is “the light that never fails.” Because this paper has been in existence 56 years and a few months as of June 1, 2000. We’ll be 57 years. And we never missed an issue no matter what the, what the conflict. We never, never missed an issue of the paper. So that’s one of our great accomplishments, we’ve never, we’ve always been able to come out. And I envision us as always coming out as long as we are in existence. Or as long as we, we maintain to keep our paper.
Jackson: What’s the circulation now here in Mobile of the Beacon?
Blackmon: The circulation in Mobile is about 5,000. We have 7,000 circulation but within that Mobile area, see we mail papers all over the United States.
Jackson: Okay.
Blackmon: And we have, we have a higher, we have a good bit of circulation. Actually it’s a little bit more than that because we mail, we mail out more than 3,000 papers a week. Than, you know, you have to count a lot of comps that you give away. So, well after you keep adding up and adding up ah, the circulation goes up. So, I think out circulation right now fluctuates between 8 and 10,000. But we have 5 actually paid here in the city and I’m going on paid. Not on…
Jackson: Right, right.
Blackmon: I talked paid, paid because that’s what your survival is what you get money for.
Jackson: Now just going back to what you were saying earlier about what, what the Beacon has done since you took it over and and when your, your daddy and your momma in they heyday with it historically for Mobile, Black Mobile, Mobile in general, if you can comment on that.
Blackmon: Well, I think, I think that we have been access, a great access, asset to Mobile because of the fact that we helped the elected officials that you have in office right now, the Black folks, we have been very instrumental in helping them get elected to these positions. People read and they look forward to what they see. And as we promote those people for election and help to get them elected that our community look at TV and and buy the daily paper. But you have people who are supportive of looking to see what’s in here. They look to see if, if that person is in here. And ah, we have always wanted to promote human, a great human relationship between us and the bar between the races and I think that the paper has been instrumental in those ways. I should hope so anyway but I’m very, I feel very favorable that we have done that. We’ve had a impact on that within our community. You got a comment on that, Mrs. Thomas?
Thomas: Ah, yes. I will. I don’t know exactly what’s been said. I don’t intend to repeat but now…
Jackson: That’s alright. Don’t worry.
Thomas: … your Black, our Black newspapers in the state of Alabama has helped the whole state to change because we have sponsored which I’ve told a lot of people. My daughter thank I talk to much when I get on voter registration. Cause that has been our pet piece. Not only the Beacon but the whole state of Alabama where ever there is a newspaper. Okay, what we formed during the other general election time. And no more do we have it because people don’t show interest. It’s sad but it’s true. Okay, we would form a motorcade to my… Say, not every not indicate in the motorcade abut every county in Alabama through our newspapers have had representation in Birmingham. We selected Birmingham cause it was a central location, we felt in Alabama. Those coming from North Alabama, from South Alabama, east and west. Everybody would meet in Birmingham the Sunday before the election on Tuesday for general election. That’s right. We would have 2 and 3 buses leaving Mobile. Newspaper got the publicity out. The newspaper helped get the people on the busses. You understand what I mean.
Jackson: Yes, I understand.
Thomas: And they were there. Birmingham, the Black folks took Birmingham that Sunday before election. We would leave Mobile at 3 to 4 o’clock then on Sun, that Sunday morning. We took Sunday for it cause most folks were off on Sunday that could take off. And we would leave Mobile at 4 o’clock or 3 o’clock what ever time is was set. And they would come from all direction into Birmingham. And I mean every county had a bus coming in. Nobody came in cars. I don’t, not nobody, but nobody depend on cars to get everybody to Birmingham.
Jackson: Right, right.
Thomas: And we would go into Birmingham on Sunday morning. Get in there time enough for all the meeting start at 9 o’clock. And we would be in meeting all day. We only broke for lunch. And we had lunch right where the meeting were. In the central location where our meetings were. And we would stay there to maybe 5 or 6 o’clock at night to check candidates. Everybody from a county brought their candidates and discussed how they felt about those candidates.
Jackson: Right, right.
Thomas: And at the end of the day just fore the day ended, they would have committees who’d check, were checking on this information that had been gathered. And we would say we goin vote on the lesser of the evil. Cause all of em were evil. We felt that none of em were perfect where Black folks concern. And they was, we would select the person we would vote on in Tuscaloosa County, Greene County, Hale County, cause all these counties were in our section. Mobile or Dallas County whatever. And they would select that, the best person of the evils or they…. That’s the way they, we used that term. And everybody would go back home and vote for that person. If he was a state candidate, he got all the Black votes over the state. Therefore, you could put the person that you wanted to vote in and that’s what we did. And that’s how so many things changed in Alabama. But a lot of things has not changed, I’ll tell you that for sure.
Jackson: Like what?
Thomas: Well most of time, we get bad folks in office regardless to how you vote. Because some of our Black folks go back home and still don’t vote. And they still don’t be concerned of what those committees brought back to them from that meeting in Birmingham. If it’s not their friend and somebody had paid them a few dollars, a lot of times they would vote for em, for that evil person we would say. But as the time went on and you educated them more. Cause we had a voter registration, where we educated those folks how to vote. That meeting helped but you got to educate their brain so they can think right. And that’s what really did. Cause George Wallace when she, she had, we’d have an editorial this week on it. He told, came to the our office down on Cedar, I never will forget that day. George Wallace who was our governor, who ran for the president of the United States if you remember, you probably…
Jackson: Yes, ma’am I remember.
Thomas: You probably too young to remember. Maybe you read something about. [Laughter]
Jackson: I read about it.
Thomas: Okay George Wallace came to our office the next day after the election. He had lost that year. He said, “Mr. Thomas, I wanna tell you something.” Frank said, “What is it, George?” He said, “I lost this time but I’ma tell you something. I’m going to win next time.” He said, “Well, you goon next time when you lost this time.” “Because I was depending on the Black votes. I didn’t get the Black votes like I thought I was goon get. But y’all don’t have enough votes to put me in no how. So next to run, I’m running and I’m goon win.” He did. He won the next time. He told my husband, “It’s too many of the Klans, we got too many Klans in Alabama. I’m goon get the Klan vote next year.” And he got em and he won.
Jackson: He said that to your husband.
Thomas: Sure. That’s what I’m telling you. He said it and he won. But he was thinking. He was right. He said, “But remember, I have a lot plans that I’ll do to help Blacks but I can’t help when I’m on the outside. I’m on get in there and I’m on do it. Then, I can do some of these things.”
Blackmon: So, in other words, he was saying, am I interpreting right…
Jackson: Go ahead, interpret.
Blackmon: He was saying that, you know, he wasn’t favoring the Klan so they didn’t, they didn’t…
Thomas: Vote for him.
Blackmon: …give him any votes. He wasn’t against, he wasn’t against the Blacks as, as, as it is seemed in history.
Thomas: Uh, huh. That’s right.
Blackmon: Ah, and is written in history. But he had to go with the majority not the minority in order to get into office. Is that what he was saying?
Thomas: That’s what he was, that’s what he meant. Uh, huh. And he got it. And he did a lot. See people don’t give Wallace credit for a lot of things he did. He changed the educational system. He helped that in Alabama. And he did a lot of things that people don’t know Wallace did.
Blackmon: Didn’t the community colleges become existent under his administration?
Thomas: Under his administration. He sure did. So, he did a lot of things. And he told em that he was goon stand in the university door to keep it from it being integrated. But he didn’t mean it that way. He stood in the door and then walked right on out. He said, he did what he said.
Blackmon: He stood in the door because he had in the door because that’s the White folks…
Jackson: He said he was goon do.
Blackmon: … expected him to do.
Thomas: The White folks and the main thing those Klans. See the Klans wanted, he was doing that to get by the Klan cause he had promised the the Klan that he was goon stand in the door.
Jackson: Tell me this cause I wanna know. Was there ever any Klan in Mobile, Alabama?
Thomas: Yes, sir. [Laughter] They in there, in here now, you don’t know their living here.
Blackmon: We still living here too.
Thomas: Yes, sir. They here. [Laughter] You better…
Jackson: You talk about educating folks and making people literate of things like voting, it’s almost as if we, we have a slight miseducation issue here because people are assuming the Klan and like-minded folks are no longer in existence.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
VHS
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
10 min 40 sec
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Lancie Thomas & Claretta Blackmon Interview Clip
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral History
Description
An account of the resource
Lancie Thomas and Claretta Blackmon talk about The Mobile Beacon, what it has done for the community, politics, Gov. Wallace, and the Klan.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Lancie Thomas
Claretta Blackmon
National African American Archives & Museum
Museum of Mobile
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Mobile Tricentennial Video Oral History Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
National African American Archives & Museum,
Museum of Mobile
Mobile Public Library, Local History & Genealogy
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1999
Format
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mp4
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Oral history interview
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
VOHP-Thomas&Blackmon-Beacon
African American newspaper
desegregation
George Wallace
KKK
Ku Klux Klan
Mobile
newspaper
politics
The Beacon
-
https://digital.mobilepubliclibrary.org/files/original/48930556dac603a475d066fd55f6b492.mp4
34a8c42dee0b7fa903534af9b2bd2019
https://digital.mobilepubliclibrary.org/files/original/e78240d17df9c10250050b0fa41f3780.mp4
fa1dba084b95a4389fb0dc66ba5676f4
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Mobile Tricentennial Video Oral History Project Interview Clips
Subject
The topic of the resource
Mobile, African American History
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interviews of elders in Mobile's African American community. These items are clippings, and the full interviews are available for viewing at the Local History & Genealogy division of the Mobile Public Library. A full listing of available interviews may be viewed <a href="http://digital.mobilepubliclibrary.org/items/show/2732">here</a>.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
National African American Archives & Museum,
Museum of Mobile
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Mobile Tricentennial Video Oral History Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Mobile Public Library, Local History & Genealogy
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1999-2002
Contributor
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Kern Jackson
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
mp4
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Oral history interviews
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Mobile-VOHP-Clips
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Kern Jackson
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Casmarah Mani
Location
The location of the interview
Diamond's Convenience Store
637 North Thomas Avenue
Prichard, Alabama
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
Jackson: Right. When you think back to childhood days, what are some key events, key things that have happened in your memory that kind of define the neighborhood and define the time or the place?
Mani: Good question. That’s a good question. I really can’t think of any outstanding incidents that was defined other than the neighborhood was more of a how you say a community type neighborhood. There was a lot of brotherhood, love and sharing. Used to go to the neighbor borrow a cup of sugar. The neighbor would come to you and borrow a cup of flour. You know. If you did something wrong and you saw, the neighbor had the authority from your parents to whoop your butt. And you tell your parents, the parents whoop you again most likely. You know. There was a lot of…the African proverb about the village is responsible for raising a child, the entire village is responsible for raising a child. I guess that would be my most distinct memory of the Black community in Prichard when I was coming up.
Jackson: Can you… do you have some sense of when things in your estimation changed?
Mani: Well you know you have to say that many of the changes began when you start talking about desegregation.
Jackson: Okay.
Mani: You know. The intents of desegregation was real good. It’s noble, honorable. The end results didn’t quite add up or measure up to what the intent started out to be. With desegregation, we wind up seeing Black kids bussed from our neighborhood to other neighborhoods you know. You wind up seeing Black schools that were high schools like Central…
Jackson: County.
Mani: I’m going to that but I’m trying to think of the word for these ___ Central and County that were hallmark Black schools in our community. That our parents and there parents had went to school there. You know it’s kind of like institutions in our community. They were closed you know. And those kids that went to those high schools were bussed somewhere else. Unfortunately, many Black teachers became unemployed. Many Black principals became unemployed. Got lost in the shuffle. Many people left town during that gap. If I had to think of a turning point educationally in the Black community when we start talking about desegregating and bussing kids from one neighborhood to he other. And you know there is a distinct cultural difference you know in young Black kids and young white kids you know. And when you got white teachers coming out of white neighborhoods they kind of understand the distinct contradiction between a white kid. Pretty much the same music they like pretty much. The same cultural things they get involved and they like. And then with the Black teacher kind of like the same thing. She can tune in on a Black kid because you know she got this kind of like soul sisters and brothers. That’s were the word “soul” came from. My soul brother mean that we brought through the same experience. Know what I mean. Just like if you Black you can go out there and be confronted by the police for no reason. No matter how much money you got in your pocket you can go out there and be confronted by the police or be confronted with racism for no reason. That will make us be brothers of the same experience. Soul brothers. And I kind of feel like desegregation kind of got lost in the shuffle with all its good intents through integration. You know. Know when I think we were arguing for equal justice my idea of equal justice would be bringing the standards up to where they should be. But many Black leaders at that time felt that equal justice means integrating everything, not just some things but everything. And I don’t think everything should be integrated. And right now where you go to school got a Black and white, mixed. Blacks and whites get along fine. But at a given time in a day, at lunch time for example. All the white kids, most the white kids go sit with the white kids, most of the Black kids go sit with the Black kids. They mingle fine. Get along as friends many times. But the distinct difference is they branch off to there own kind to talk about things that each other are familiar with. You know there was time when they were testing people in New York and the Black people complained about the test they we’re being subject to. And one of the brothers pointed out that if you take some kids from New York and give his a test on the country, the gone most likely do poorly on that test compared to a kid from the country taking that same test. If you take the kid from the country give his a test on the city like subways, et cetera et cetera, he’ll probably do poorly as opposed to testing the kid from New York. So you saying that in that statement is that if you have an instructor that can relate to the cultural background of a child, his or her chance of communicating with that kid is better.
Jackson: When you were coming up through Blount and going to school and everything when did you, I assume this during a major part of the civil rights struggle, when did you become in Prichard like politically aware of all these things. It sounded like your granddaddy had already turned you on to all that stuff all along.
Mani: Yeah. There was a subconscious knowledge about certain things.
Jackson: Like what?
Mani: About being a Black man. There was a set of rules different when it came down to dealing with Black people as opposed to white people. Knowing that being in the Black community that there was certain sense of safety as opposed to branching out from the Black community. At that time, see Prichard Mall was predominately white. Everybody living around the Prichard Mall at that time were white people. Blacks lived further off over on off Main Street by Blount High School and concentrated around that area around in there. But when you went to the mall, you had to be running through that mall, you know what I mean. ‘Cause those jokers be at you. Those white kids be at you. And ‘cause there was… Jim Crow was the order of the day then. You know Blacks had a place they had to stay in and the propaganda of Jim Crowism made a lot of seemingly good white people believe by that garbage that Blacks were inferior, that Blacks were monkeys, we had tails and you couldn’t trust none of us cause all of us were theives and that same premise still lives with us today, you know. But that was a sense of safety in the Black community at that time. Not necessarily from the white area or outside area but a safety from not feeling from your brother or a sister. A safety you don’t feel now because if we walk out , I walk out my door now, it won’t be anybody which might look like me and so that white sticking me up, you know what I mean. Its got the stick up man and what the big difference is from then and now is. That sense of safety that we feel around our own people is gone. And it’s kind of like when Hitler ruled Germany, he ruled Germany through fear and paranoia. The husband couldn’t trust the wife, the momma couldn’t trust the son, the son couldn’t trust the daddy, they couldn’t trust the children, you know what I mean because Hitler had put so many paranoia and fear and trusting one another among the populous and that’s how you rule and control. And it’s kind of like the system has us now. We have so much paranoia with one another you don’t know who to trust. Solid guys walk up to you, you know, “Hey what’s man?” And you look at ‘em… He may not be as solid as he looks.
Mani: And I guess about two months later, I made parole. And when I made parole we started a lil organization called Keep the Community Hall. It was on Davis Avenue then.
Jackson: Keep The Community who?
Mani: Keep the Community Hall. H-A-L-L.
Jackson: Where on Davis Avenue?
Mani: Right where Stewart Memorial Church is now.
Jackson: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Mani: Used to be a barber shop, Nobles. Mr. Nobles was a midget, had a little barber shop on the Avenue. It was a lil complex right there. Lil 3 or 4 complex, barber shop and our community hall was on the end there. And they torn it down and put Stewart Memorial Church there. On the corner of Davis Avenue and Ann Street. Ann run right into it. You know. And we was kind of like a community based group that dealt with teaching karate or teaching culture. Free lunch program, had the lunch, free food program. Kind of like patterned after the Black Panthers Party in California at that time, you know. And Vincent Woods was our chairman. Good guy, he eventually tripped out and kind of you know, things got so rough for him and I guess he kind of broke down a little bit, you know, lost his self for a while. He’d just walk around, you know. And he’s come back, he’s come back. After years, he’s come back in the last five or six years, he’s come back to his self. But he was our chairman at the time. Think we were about sixteen guys strong and we had a little dance troupe called the Liberation Players. A group of teenage dancers who did African… A guy named Shinny and Lorenzo who taught skit and dances. African skits and dances. Both of them were homosexuals by the way. But they were good soldiers had a real good perspective on life. Never tried to bring their lifestyle to the kids and they were real, real good soldiers. And last time we went anywhere, we went to Selma. Hank Sanders and Rose Sanders invited us to Selma and we took the kids there to perform. I guess it was like ’75 or ’76 something like that. You know. And then we moved from… That’s when the incident we talking about the police begin to happen. You know the hangings and it was me. One of the officers had beat up Dino, had beat up Dino’s daddy. Dino was sergeant-at-arms in the organization and he kept the order in the meetings and they had beat up Dino’s dad real bad and the officer’s name was Roy Adams. So we got a petition together to have Roy Adams moved off Davis Avenue. So we took the petition down, had him transferred somewhere else. And this night in question, he stopped Secu and I and my oldest girl, she was like about three months at the time and her mom. They’ve since moved to Chicago. They lived in Chicago since that point to now, pretty much, you know other than coming down here to visit during the summer time. But Roy Adams stopped us that night. When he saw us he stopped “Uh, huh. What y’all doing over here?” “Minding our own business.” One word lead to another, you know. And he started trying to get rough you know so. One thing lead to another you know. … so I ran that way, Secu ran that way. And we were thinking like, he just gone about his business, you know. One of those incidents. But before we knowed anything, they had kind of like cornered off the entire area like they are really looking for some killers, you know. Somebody who had some murder cases and so they eventually found me in one of the vacant buildings.
Jackson: Where was that at?
Mani: Right behind Conti Street. The street that runs behind McDonalds. I think we were like two blocks down from McDonalds. We had went to visit, Barbara, my oldest girl’s mother brother was at in Louisiana at one of the colleges then and he played baseball and he was here. And he was staying with one of their kin people who lived down in that general area and we had just left their house. And the… we was in her daddy’s Chevrolet, a beige Chevrolet, an old Chevrolet. We always had trouble with the battery. The cable in it was loose. And we were trying to get a jump off, that’s what it was, we were trying to get a jump off when he pulled up. Yeah, what’s the problem? Need a jump off. And that’s how one thing lead to another. You know. And so he brought us. He took Secu back to the car. And they took me to a tree. Now the car is like, the tree is like parallel to the car like a “L”. They’re parked in front of the sidewalk sort of and the tree is like right here. So they can see what’s going on. And the guy said, “Niggers like you don’t live in this neighborhood. And get a tree, get a rope and let’s hang this nigger.” And I'm just thanking he was just talking you know. And we need all nigger babies to the alligators. You know. And they took me and walked me to the tree away from the car. The boy came back with a rope man wit a noose already in it. They threw it up in the tree and I’m talking noise you know. I guess I was making em more angry ‘cause I’m talking noise, like I got a army too, you know. And threw the rope in the tree and took the rope around my neck, two or three of em holding me like this, handcuffs behind my back and to the point where I’m on my tiptoes. And I could feel it cutting my air circulation off. And then everything got quiet and my daughter’s momma said plain clothed detectives had came on the scene. And pretty much told him, we’n hanging niggers tonight. Take em on down and book em for robbery. And they took Secu and I down and put us in a line up and they picked me out. Now he and I were supposed to had committed robbery together but three nights ago, four nights before this incident and they picked me out and didn’t pick him out. And but I was the only one in the lineup that had blood, had blood all over me from where they, I don’t know, I think I had on Black and white shirt, it was white in the front. You know, and I had dirt all in my hair from being up under the house, you know. And so I looked like somebody who had just been apprehended to make a long story short. And so he had, they got the manager to say it was me but they couldn’t get the assistant manager and one of the workers to say it was me. You know. So, they had the white manager to say it was me but the white assistant manager and the Black worker said it wasn’t me.
Jackson: What store was that they said you robbed?
Mani: It was a Church’s, it was a Hart’s Chicken on Dauphin Island Parkway. You know. And so I called the lawyer who was representing our organization at that time. His name was Clinton Brown. And I called Clinton …. I said, “and they tried to hang me man.” “Come on kids man, come on now. I said, come down here, you’ll see rope burns around my neck.” Clinton came down and he saw rope burns around my neck and then things begin to snowball from there. He contacted the FBI. Told the FBI he had seen the rope burns around my neck, the FBI came, saw it for themselves, they investigated the police vehicles that was on the scene that night. And found the rope still in the trunk of the patrolmen car. And when the found the rope in Officer Brown, one of the young officers, he just rolled over and started telling on everybody. From that they wind up indicted five of the officers, Wilbur Williams who ran for sheriff here recently, Vernon Strong, it’s been a long time since I… But those two names always stick in my head. Ronnie Patrick who took the fall. He was a fall guy. They said, he was the one who put the rope around my neck. And he was the only one who wind up getting kicked off the force. The rest of the guys wind up being promoted and moved up in ranks. They threw the charge out against me. We sued the city, you know, punitive damages. And about three years later, I think we settled for something like about 65, $75000, somewhere in the neighborhood. But all those guys are still on the force except Patrick. Patrick took the weight said he was the one who initiated everything. It was his idea. Charlie Braddick was district attorney then. I thought he was their attorney. The district attorney. And he got in there and ramped and raved about the officers are really good officers. Guys are playing dual roles or something. First he told my lawyer to tell me I shouldn’t come to court dressed so clean. We wear a shirt and tie everyday. I said, “Why?” I got to impress and they want me to come looking like a thug rather than coming looking like somebody with intelligence, you know. Not necessarily a shirt and tie give you that intelligent look but you can recognize uniforms. Police uniforms, shirt and tie is uniform. Anyway the guys got exonerated. All of them got exonerated. And I think they disciplined Patrick, they kicked him off the force. So, we moved Community Hall from the Avenue after they bought that property and we moved it to Hiway 45 right across from Moody’s restaurant. Nick Solomon had a TV repair shop there.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
VHS
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
8 min 25 sec
10 min 49 sec
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Casmarah Mani Interview Clips
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral History
Description
An account of the resource
Casmarah Mani talks about changes in his community, the effects of desegregation, and race relations.
Casmarah Mani talks about his time in prison, police corruption, and his lawsuit against the city for the attempt on his life by police officers.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Casmarah Mani
National African American Archives & Museum
Museum of Mobile
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Mobile Tricentennial Video Oral History Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
National African American Archives & Museum,
Museum of Mobile
Mobile Public Library, Local History & Genealogy
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2000
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
mp4
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Oral history interview
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
VOHP-CasmarahMani-Community
Casmarah Mani
Charlie Braddick
Clinton Brown
community
Davis Avenue
desegregation
education
Hitler
Jim Crow
Keep the Community Hall
lawsuit
police officers
police relations
Prichard
prisons
race relations
racism
Ronnie Patrick
Roy Adams
Vernon Strong
Wilbur Williams
-
https://digital.mobilepubliclibrary.org/files/original/3bcb44a5cc3aad61759263301bc31121.mp4
8b9fff1981993bcc19a5aeebce7af48b
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Mobile Tricentennial Video Oral History Project Interview Clips
Subject
The topic of the resource
Mobile, African American History
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interviews of elders in Mobile's African American community. These items are clippings, and the full interviews are available for viewing at the Local History & Genealogy division of the Mobile Public Library. A full listing of available interviews may be viewed <a href="http://digital.mobilepubliclibrary.org/items/show/2732">here</a>.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
National African American Archives & Museum,
Museum of Mobile
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Mobile Tricentennial Video Oral History Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Mobile Public Library, Local History & Genealogy
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1999-2002
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Kern Jackson
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
mp4
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Oral history interviews
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Mobile-VOHP-Clips
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Kern Jackson
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Mabel Dennison
Location
The location of the interview
811 St. Emanuel Street
Mobile, AL 36603
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
Jackson: Tell me this, what year was it that your grandmother came over on the Clotilda, and did your grandfather have anything to do with that?
Dennison: My grandmother was brought over on the Clotilda in 1859. Now the story goes, my grandfather, people word things differently and they give a different significance of whatever…
Jackson: His name was?
Dennison: His name was James Dennison. My grandfather was named James Dennison. Now he was a Native American, born in Charleston, South Carolina. And he was sent over there on the ship, somebody was asking me, somebody made reference to him as a flagman or something else or whatever. But see there are things I would like to find out, things I would like to know how he actually got on the ship in the first place, how he came to be put aboard the ship. As someone told me that he had submitted himself to, and that I don’t know, see when people are not alive, you can only go by the things that some one has passed down from what they have said to somebody else, and especially to family members, because so many people have some many different opinions how something happened or how something came about, and when you can hear it from somebody, we sometimes say “from the horse’s mouth,” you know, that’s the best. And that’s one of the reasons I’m part of the oral history you see. People are trying to get their oral histories down.
Jackson: But there was a unique relationship between your grandmother and your grandfather as a result of this Clotilde experience. And their experience with the Clotilde.
Dennison: Well, I don’t know where they first met. Where they first saw each other, what happened or whatever. My grandmother did tell my older sisters and brothers that they tried to marry, she and my grandfather.
Jackson: They who?
Dennison: I don’t know if it was the Meahers or whomever. Cause the Meahers were in charge of things, see: captain of the ship and the Meahers.
Jackson: So was James Dennison, was he enslaved?
Dennison: Uh, I hate to be talking about this so much cause it’s in the book, but my grandfather had a card which states that he was born a slave in Charleston, South Carolina.
Jackson: In Charleston.
Dennison: In Charleston, South Carolina was where he was born, and he was sent over on the ship. But he nor the crew knew what they were going for. It’s this Wright company had the, they had people in charge of being supplied to ships for seagoing purposes. Now they didn’t know either where they were going. And that’s why they were trying mutiny on the ship when the found out what was happening, cause they knew, evidently they knew that slavery had been outlawed already, and they probably didn’t want to have any part of it. But, I’m assuming that, you know, by putting things together. The reason mutiny was attempted. But you know how it came about. There was a bet it could be done and that sort of situation. And the crew was, I don’t know if my father—my grandfather—ever received any reward, any restitution, or anything of that nature. I believe on the ship-forced labor or whatever, I don’t know. There are many things I don’t understand. I would like to travel to see if I could find some things to see if I could get things a little more complete.
Jackson: Sure.
Dennison: Because when you’re telling stories, historical stories, and most people not around to ask questions about how things happened or what they did and how it was done. They’re not around to answer your questions, so you just got to take what you’ve got, what you can get hold of to relate to. I’m trying to get pictures of my grandmother and my grandfather for sure, for certain. And I don’t know when that’ll happen. Now I’ve also seen a printed, a sheet out of the newspaper. I first saw this out in Chickasabogue Park, a little church house that was out there. They had renovated this little church house, and there were artifacts and different things, paraphernalia, put in this little church house as a museum. And after I started visiting things gradually started to disappear, cause some things I saw I wasn’t interested then. I had certain things I was trying to find, trying to relate. But later on as you see some things and as other subjects come up, or rather other things come to mind you begin to want to go farther, but it’s too late. There’s just some things it’s too late to come by and get hold of. But I would like to travel and find somebody who knows more about the situation who had some more pieces that I can put into the puzzle where I can know more about it. And having to do so many things I hadn’t been able to travel, and actually no way of getting around somewhere to show me this or that and whatever. It appears that many things have been hidden over the years over a while or something. It’s been difficult…
Jackson: By whom?
Dennison: Um, by um the people who knew about the circumstances, whomever they may be, whether it was the families or the slave masters’ families or whomever. That’s what I’d like to find out for sure before I make any comments as to who did what. Uh my, uh grandfather was intended to be put together to be married, seemingly in Mount Vernon—when they were enslaved in Mount Vernon; they were up there for a while. Now when those people were brought in on the ship, they weren’t all placed at the same place, they weren’t all put at the same place. Some of them Plateau, some of them carried to Selma.
Jackson: Hale County…
Dennison: Hale County. And see that’s why. Those things were done for the purpose of not being able to get together and everything. I believe that we have been fortunate to be in the same vicinity and get as much history as we can. If only some of the people, more of the other descendents would cooperate and tell what they know about their ancestors, you see. For me to take what you have and someone else to take what you have and that kind of thing, but it’s just, well you know, men have work. Although some may be the same situation. But there some differences in every circumstance, and that’s why I’d like to see other people give some information or99999 about their ancestors. My grandfather’s book was titled “Biography” – “Biographical Memoir of James Dennison.” My grandmother is “A Memoir of Lottie Dennison.” The way my people would pronounce it they would say Lottie all the time. Now on some of her documents, on some of her, Lottie Dennison’s paperwork her name is spelled “L-O-T-T-I-E” and sometimes its spelled “L-O-T-T-A.” So I don’t know if it’s the way she pronounced it or what. I understand that many of those people changed their names because they didn’t want people to actually know who they were or where they were from or what. I don’t know much about that either, I just happened to hear that and read a little bit about that.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
VHS
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
9 min 52 sec
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Mabel Dennison Interview Clip
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral History
Description
An account of the resource
Mabel Dennison talks about her book, including her grandparents, the Clotilde, and Africatown
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Mabel Dennison
National African American Archives & Museum,
Museum of Mobile
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Mobile Tricentennial Video Oral History Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
National African American Archives & Museum,
Museum of Mobile
Mobile Public Library, Local History & Genealogy
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1999
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
mp4
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Oral history interview
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
VOHP-MabelDennison-Book
Africatown
Clotilda
Clotilda ship (last slave ship to the U.S.)
Clotilde
Mabel Dennison