Everyday Life Under Segregation
Everyday Life Under Segregation: First-Person Narratives
Family, Neighborhood, and Community Life
1. Mary Colston: Family and Neighborhood Life in Segregated Washington, D.C. Mary Colston oral history | Mary Colston; interviewed by Marilyn Saks-McMillion | Ruth Ann Overbeck Capitol Hill History Project | May 7, 2002
Colston recalls raising a family in Washington, D.C., describing neighborhood relationships, shopping, churches, transportation, schools, and movie theaters. Her testimony explores both everyday life under segregation and the uneven transition to desegregation, including the persistence of familiar neighborhood institutions and social boundaries.
2. The Loving Arms of the Black Community The Loving Arms of the Black Community | Yemi Toure | American RadioWorks / American Public Media | Undated
Toure remembers growing up in South Carolina surrounded by the care of Black family members, neighbors, and teachers. His account emphasizes how communities created safety, affection, educational opportunity, and self-confidence within the restrictions of segregation.
3. Better, Not Bitter Better, Not Bitter | Ron Reaves | American RadioWorks / American Public Media | Undated
Reaves describes a father who worked multiple jobs, parents who encouraged reading, and family vacations complicated by discriminatory restaurants and lodging. His narrative connects everyday economic pressures with the determination to provide children with education, travel, and opportunities denied to earlier generations.
Schools, Books, and Educational Opportunity
4. Sue Russell: Leaving Home to Continue School Sue Russell interview recording | Sue Russell | Duke University Libraries, Behind the Veil | August 5, 1994
Russell recalls growing up in Milton, Florida, where racial exclusion required Black students to leave town to continue their education beyond sixth grade. Her oral history also covers college attendance, campus experiences, and professional ambitions, showing how segregation shaped the geography and expense of education.
5. Bridgeport Library Branch, Chicago, Illinois, Circa 1963 Bridgeport Library Branch, Chicago, IL, Circa 1963 | Kenneth M. Stone | American RadioWorks / American Public Media | Undated; recalls approximately 1963
Stone remembers visiting a library in a white Chicago neighborhood with two other Black boys because their local branch lacked needed books. White youths pursued them afterward. The account illustrates how intimidation enforced racial boundaries around ordinary educational activities outside the South.
Employment and Economic Discrimination
6. Cynthia Baker Anderson and Fletcher Anderson: Segregation and Employment in Bogalusa Cynthia Baker Anderson and Fletcher Anderson oral history interview | Cynthia Baker Anderson and Fletcher Anderson; interviewed by Joseph Mosnier | Library of Congress, Civil Rights History Project | May 27, 2011
The Andersons describe segregation and job discrimination in Bogalusa, Louisiana. Their recollections connect the daily realities of racial inequality with their decision to participate in the civil rights movement, providing a household perspective on the relationship between employment, community life, and activism.
7. Jim Crow in Philadelphia Jim Crow in Philadelphia | Nicholas Chacon | American RadioWorks / American Public Media | Undated
Chacon recalls being recommended for a store job and learning its duties before being told that the business did not employ Black workers. He later earned an academic award presented by the same businessman. The narrative documents employment discrimination and a young person's determination to challenge its assumptions.
Travel, Restaurants, and Public Facilities
8. Packing the Pee Can for the Road Trip Packing the Pee Can for the Road Trip | Jerry Hutchinson | American RadioWorks / American Public Media | Undated
Hutchinson remembers family journeys from Indiana to Tennessee with a coffee can packed for use as a toilet. Exclusion from restrooms and concern about safety limited where the family could stop. His account demonstrates how segregation shaped the practical preparations for an ordinary visit to relatives.
9. White Only White Only | Anonymous narrator | American RadioWorks / American Public Media | Undated; recalls the 1950s–1960s
An anonymous narrator recalls childhood in Natchez, Mississippi, through restrictions at transportation facilities, dentists' offices, schools, lunch counters, hotels, and theaters. The account also describes unequal emergency services, showing how segregation affected routine activities as well as moments of urgent need.
Recreation, Parks, and Movie Theaters
10. Johnny Ford: Childhood Exclusion from Public Parks Johnny Ford interview recording | Johnny Ford | Duke University Libraries, Behind the Veil | July 13, 1994
Ford recalls growing up in Tuskegee, Alabama, and watching white children play in a park that Black children could not enter. He describes climbing trees or looking through the fence to watch activities. These experiences helped inspire his interest in the political power that controlled access to public facilities.
11. I Sat Where I Wanted to at the Movies I Sat Where I Wanted to at the Movies | Beverly Prince | American RadioWorks / American Public Media | Undated
Prince recalls visiting a theater in Jackson, Missouri, at age nine and being directed through a separate entrance to balcony seating. The experience contrasted with moviegoing in her hometown. Her account captures a child's discovery of segregation and the enduring memory of an otherwise ordinary outing.
Childbirth, Health Care, and Community Work
12. Willie Lucas: Midwifery and Everyday Community Care Willie Lucas interview recording | Willie Lucas | Duke University Libraries, Behind the Veil | July 7, 1995
Lucas, an Arkansas midwife whose mother and grandmother also practiced midwifery, describes attending births, learning the work, receiving payment, and using home remedies. Her account documents community care during the Jim Crow era and the changing relationship between midwives and the medical profession.
Everyday Life Under Segregation: First-Person Narratives — Batch 2
Childhood, Schools, and Educational Opportunity
13. Vennie Moore: Picking Cotton While White Children Attended School Oral history interview with Vennie Moore | Vennie Moore | UNC Southern Oral History Program / Civil Rights Digital Library | February 24, 1999
Moore recalls growing up in Davidson, North Carolina, where Black children continued picking cotton while white children left the fields for school. She describes inadequate school resources and explains that she initially lacked any basis for comparison with white schools. Her account shows how segregation restricted both educational opportunity and knowledge of the inequality itself.
14. Ruth Dial Woods: A Lumbee Childhood Under Segregation Oral history interview with Ruth Dial Woods | Ruth Dial Woods | UNC Southern Oral History Program / Civil Rights Digital Library | June 12, 1992
Woods describes attending an Indian school in Robeson County, North Carolina, and moving to Tennessee when discrimination prevented her mother from completing graduate studies in North Carolina. Later experiences in Detroit changed her understanding of the restrictions she had grown up with. This narrative adds a Native American perspective on segregation and family educational choices.
15. Richard Bowman: Schools, Libraries, and Buses in Asheville Oral history interview with Richard Bowman | Richard Bowman | UNC Southern Oral History Program / Civil Rights Digital Library | July 8, 1998
Bowman remembers segregated schooling in Asheville, North Carolina, and his early opposition to restrictions in libraries and on buses. He also discusses racism encountered during military service and life in California. His recollections connect childhood experiences with a lifelong concern about whether educational integration actually benefited Black students.
16. Chants from the Schoolyard Chants from the Schoolyard | Travis McGahee | American RadioWorks / American Public Media | Undated; recalls schooling beginning in 1963
McGahee describes inferior instructional equipment at his segregated elementary school in Asheville, North Carolina. He remembers improved resources appearing with integration, alongside racist taunts from white students. His account contrasts material educational gains with the hostility Black children endured.
17. That Was Unreal! That Was Unreal! | Trane Washington | American RadioWorks / American Public Media | Undated; recalls the 1950s–1960s
Washington remembers receiving used textbooks from white schools in Louisiana. When he prepared for college, his grandmother's white employer tried to discourage her from sending him. His grandmother's commitment to education provides the central counterpoint to the expectations imposed on Black families.
Shopping, Restaurants, and Everyday Restrictions
18. Cheryl Clarke: Standing to Eat While White Customers Sat Cheryl Clarke oral history interview | Cheryl Clarke | Rutgers Oral History Archives | September 21, 2018
Clarke recalls segregated Washington, D.C., including stores that would not serve Black customers, separate movie theaters, and a lunch counter where Black patrons stood while white patrons sat. As a small child, she needed a milk crate to reach the counter. She also discusses neighborhood change, schooling, and family vacations.
19. Halcyon O. Watkins: Jim Crow in Bryan and Across the Country Jim Crow in Bryan and Across the Country | Halcyon O. Watkins | Texas Christian University, Civil Rights in Black and Brown | July 23, 2015
Watkins recalls theater balcony seating in Bryan, Texas, and segregated facilities encountered while traveling to Virginia. She describes restrictions surrounding shopping and trying on shoes, noting that her family had access denied to many other Black customers. She explicitly rejects the idea that living under segregation meant accepting an assigned social position.
20. Wanda Perry: Childhood Shopping Experiences Childhood Shopping Experiences | Wanda Perry | Texas Christian University, Civil Rights in Black and Brown | July 5, 2016
This recorded excerpt focuses on Perry's childhood shopping experiences in Fort Worth, Texas. The archive indexes the account under discrimination in stores, residential segregation, Black-owned businesses, and relationships among racial and ethnic groups. It offers a focused source for examining shopping within a divided city.
21. Gloria Carter: Learning Where You Would Be Welcome Oral History Interview with Gloria Carter | Gloria Carter | Plainfield Public Library, Oral History Collection | Interview date not verified
Carter describes the unwritten rules of segregation in Washington, explaining how people learned which stores welcomed them and which places to avoid. Her recollection emphasizes restrictions communicated through experience and word of mouth rather than posted signs.
22. Bruce Fisher: Understanding Childhood Routines in Retrospect Oral History: Bruce Fisher | Bruce Fisher | Metropolitan Library System, Oklahoma | September 17, 2007
Fisher recalls a happy childhood in Chickasha while explaining how adults shielded children from discrimination. He later understood why the family ate before going downtown and why his grandmother checked clothing sizes against his body instead of letting him try garments on. Familiar routines had concealed restrictions he did not recognize as a child.
Neighborhoods, Family Life, and Community Boundaries
23. James Atwater: Growing Up in a Segregated University Town Oral history interview with James Atwater | James Atwater | UNC Southern Oral History Program / Civil Rights Digital Library | February 28, 2001
Atwater describes Black community life in Chapel Hill from the 1930s through the 1950s, including churches, schools, and neighborhood activities. His parents worked for the University of North Carolina, as did many Black residents. He explains how dependence on white employers shaped local power relationships and how visiting other communities changed his understanding of segregation.
24. Johnella Franklin: Navigating Segregation in Conroe as a Child Navigating Segregation in Conroe as a Child | Johnella Franklin | Texas Christian University, Civil Rights in Black and Brown | July 18, 2016
Franklin's recorded recollection concerns childhood in Conroe, Texas. The archive identifies residential segregation, public accommodations, shopping districts, Black-owned businesses, and economic differences within the Black community as its themes. The account provides a child's perspective on the boundaries organizing everyday local life.
25. Geraldine Keels-Coulter: Boarding Houses, Restaurants, and Neighborhood Life Oral History Geraldine Keels-Coulter | Geraldine Keels-Coulter | Metropolitan Library System, Oklahoma | Interview date not stated on page
Keels-Coulter describes moving to Oklahoma City, living in a boarding house, commuting to work, and eating at neighborhood establishments. She recalls Black residents operating restaurants from their homes and a substantial local business community. Her account also discusses housing boundaries and restrictions on visiting public attractions.
26. Leroy Beavers: Remembering Savannah's Black Community Oral history interview with Leroy Beavers | Leroy Beavers Jr.; interview also includes Leroy Beavers Sr. | UNC Southern Oral History Program / Digital Library of Georgia | August 8, 2002
Beavers remembers the social networks and self-contained Black community of segregated Savannah, Georgia. He offers a strongly critical personal interpretation of integration's effects on neighborhood cohesion and economic independence. The account is useful for studying remembered community strengths and contested interpretations of subsequent change.
27. Segregation a Shock Segregation a Shock | Richard Hill | American RadioWorks / American Public Media | Undated
Hill recalls traveling from St. Louis to Mississippi to spend summers with his grandmother. Separate water fountains, bathrooms, and theater seating confronted him with restrictions that his mother's lessons about respect and possibility had not prepared him to encounter. His narrative captures the emotional impact of discovering segregation during family visits.
Work, Black-Owned Businesses, and Health Care
28. Laura B. Waddell: Making a Living as a Seamstress in Savannah Oral history interview with Laura B. Waddell | Laura B. Waddell | UNC Southern Oral History Program / Digital Library of Georgia | August 6, 2002
Waddell describes beginning work as a seamstress after eleventh grade and eventually establishing her own business in Savannah, Georgia. Her account concerns skill, earnings, independence, and navigating the racial politics surrounding downtown businesses. It offers the perspective of a working woman whose daily priorities did not always coincide with organized protest.
29. Robert R. Sampson: A Pharmacy and a Black Shopping District Oral history interview with Robert R. Sampson | Robert R. Sampson | UNC Southern Oral History Program / Civil Rights Digital Library | October 9, 2002
Sampson recalls operating a pharmacy and the commercial life of Greensboro's Black business district. He describes relocating as redevelopment approached and the difficulties other business owners faced when their establishments disappeared. His testimony documents an economic community that developed under segregation and the damage he associated with urban renewal.
30. Clifton O'Neal and Diana Lyons: Segregation and Black-Owned Businesses Clifton O'Neal and Diana Lyons Discuss Segregation, Black-Owned Businesses | Clifton O'Neal and Diana Lyons | Texas Christian University, Civil Rights in Black and Brown | June 29, 2016
O'Neal and Lyons discuss segregation and Black-owned businesses in Galveston, Texas. The recorded excerpt addresses neighborhood divisions, shopping districts, and racial discrimination at work. It provides a local perspective on the relationship between residential separation and commercial life.
31. Salter and Doris Cochran: Medical Practice, Family Life, and Segregation Oral history interview with Salter and Doris Cochran | Salter Cochran and Doris Cochran | UNC Southern Oral History Program / Civil Rights Digital Library | April 12, 1997
The Cochrans describe settling in North Carolina's Weldon–Roanoke Rapids area and encountering entrenched racism. Their account connects medical practice, hospital access, children's schooling, friendships, and threats associated with challenging discrimination. It shows how professional and family life could become inseparable from efforts to desegregate local institutions.
32. Jim Crow in the 1940s Jim Crow in the 1940s | James Stewart | American RadioWorks / American Public Media | Undated; recalls the 1930s–1940s and subsequent employment
Stewart recalls segregated movie seating in Pennsylvania, racial assignments and separate sleeping arrangements in the Navy, and restrictions imposed on him as a Washington, D.C., police officer. His narrative follows discrimination across civilian recreation, military service, and public employment.
Swimming Pools, Beaches, and Recreation
33. Ozell Williams: Working at a Segregated Beach Oral History Interview with Ozell Williams | Ozell Williams | National Park Service, Biscayne National Park | December 9, 2011
Williams describes working as a lifeguard at a segregated beach serving Black communities near Homestead, Florida. He recalls swimming lessons, daily maintenance, concessions, coworkers, and the later transition to integrated facilities. The interview provides unusually concrete details about both recreation and the labor that supported it.
34. Leonard Bethel: Swimming and Racial Boundaries in Philadelphia Leonard Bethel oral history interview, Part One | Leonard Bethel | Rutgers Oral History Archives | February 19, 2021
Bethel recalls growing up in West Philadelphia, participating in swimming, and encountering hostility when he worked as a lifeguard in a white neighborhood. He distinguishes racial separation enforced by social attitudes from segregation mandated by law. Family expectations, education, and community pride also feature prominently.
35. Sherri Williams and Lawrence Naff: A Childhood Visit to a Swimming Pool Oral History Sherri Williams and Lawrence Naff | Sherri Williams and Lawrence Naff | Metropolitan Library System, Oklahoma | Interview date not stated on page
In this joint interview about Northeast Oklahoma City, Williams recalls visiting an amusement park and discovering that she could watch swimmers but could not enter the water because she was Black. She also remembers neighborhood summer activities and discusses how her parents protected and encouraged her.
36. Susana Almanza: Segregation and Racial Discrimination in Austin Segregation and Racial Discrimination in Austin Part Two | Susana Almanza | Texas Christian University, Civil Rights in Black and Brown | June 8, 2016
Almanza's recorded account addresses segregation in Austin, Texas, including public accommodations and swimming pools. The archive places the excerpt within both Jim Crow and Juan Crow history and identifies Black–Brown relations and residential separation among its themes. It broadens the collection's coverage of racial and ethnic boundaries.
37. Municipal Swimming Pool Municipal Swimming Pool | Ted Gaskins | American RadioWorks / American Public Media | Undated; recalls the early-to-mid-1950s
Gaskins recalls his white grandparents operating a municipal swimming pool in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Black swimmers were admitted during a restricted Sunday period, after which the pool was drained and scrubbed. His childhood questions and his grandfather's racist explanation reveal how adults presented discriminatory practices as normal.
Everyday Life Under Segregation: First-Person Narratives — Batch 3
Childhood, Family Work, and Schooling
38. Robert J. Brown: Childhood Poverty and Segregation in High Point Robert J. Brown oral history interview | Robert J. Brown | Library of Congress, Civil Rights History Project | October 1, 2013
Brown recalls growing up in High Point, North Carolina, where poverty and segregation shaped his childhood. He discusses his grandmother's influence and family history, then describes becoming one of the city's first Black police officers. The interview connects childhood experiences with the racial barriers he later encountered in employment.
39. Mary Jones: Childhood Work and Two Generations of School Experiences Mary Jones oral history interview | Mary A. Jones | Library of Congress / Civil Rights Digital Library | March 9, 2013
Jones describes childhood in Albany, Georgia, including the work she performed and her memories of school. She also recalls her own children's experiences entering formerly white schools. Her narrative connects family responsibilities, education, newspaper reading, and growing involvement in community efforts against discrimination.
40. Gladys Sims McCoy: Farm Life, Education, and Early Employment Oral history interview with Gladys Sims McCoy | Gladys Sims McCoy | Oregon Historical Society | February 20–June 22, 1981
McCoy recalls Depression-era farm life in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and segregation's effects on her childhood, schooling, and early jobs. She contrasts those experiences with the international faculty and more integrated academic community she encountered at Talladega University in Alabama before moving to Oregon.
41. Larry Caldwell: Family Provisioning, Caddying, and Everyday Racism Interview with Larry Caldwell | Larry Caldwell | University of Georgia, Griffin African American Oral History Project | August 30; catalog lists 2019, transcript introduction states 2018
Caldwell remembers poverty, his father's efforts to feed the family, and work as a golf caddie. He discusses the racism he encountered growing up, influential teachers, and relationships within his community. Later sections address swimming, school integration, and opportunities denied to Black students.
42. Sheila Florence: Growing Up in a Low-Income Black Community Oral history interview with Sheila Florence | Sheila Florence | UNC Southern Oral History Program / Civil Rights Digital Library | January 20, 2001
Florence recalls childhood in segregated Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and the poor conditions of its Black schools. She describes the harassment she experienced after entering formerly white Chapel Hill High School. The interview's opening sections also document ordinary life in a low-income Black community after World War II.
Home, Churches, and Neighborhood Relationships
43. Lydia Douglas: Family Life and Library Access in Atlanta Lydia Douglas interview | Lydia Douglas | Atlanta History Center, Voices Across the Color Line | January 5, 2006
Douglas remembers childhood in a segregated Atlanta neighborhood, her family's background, and attending a segregated public library. Her father operated a restaurant and her mother was a registered nurse. She also discusses how her experiences connected with participation in the Atlanta Student Movement.
44. The Hicks Family: Home Life Under Segregation and Threats Hicks Family Interview | Members of the Robert and Valeria Hicks family | Civil Rights History Project; transcript hosted by Civil Rights Movement Archive | May 27, 2011
Seven family members recall life in Bogalusa, Louisiana, including family affection, childhood routines, and the disruption caused by racist threats. They describe hosting civil rights workers and changes to sleeping arrangements when their home needed protection. The interview shows how resistance to segregation affected daily household life.
45. Charles Harris and Mary Freeman: A Black Catholic Family on Capitol Hill Charles Harris and Mary Freeman oral history | Charles Harris and Mary Winifred Harris Freeman | Ruth Ann Overbeck Capitol Hill History Project | August 22, 2005
These siblings recall growing up in a Washington, D.C., household with nine children and an extensive network of relatives. Their memories of the 1940s and 1950s emphasize St. Cyprian's, a Black Catholic church, and the relationship between family, worship, segregation, and gradual integration.
46. Mary Tolbert: Growing Up in Conroe Growing Up in Conroe | Mary Tolbert | Texas Christian University, Civil Rights in Black and Brown | July 22, 2016
Tolbert's recorded account concerns childhood in Conroe, Texas. The archive identifies extended family networks, churches, Black-owned businesses, segregated neighborhoods, and schooling as its subjects. It provides material for examining how family and community institutions supported children within a racially divided town.
47. Leonard Sweat: Childhood, Housing, and Parents' Protective Roles Jim Crow, Discrimination, and Childhood | Leonard Sweat | Texas Christian University, Civil Rights in Black and Brown | June 8, 2016
Sweat's interview excerpt addresses childhood under Jim Crow, including residential separation, inadequate housing, businesses, and restrictions in stores and public facilities. The archive also identifies parents' efforts to shelter children from racism, making this a useful account of how families managed exposure to discrimination.
Stores, Public Facilities, and Local Racial Boundaries
48. James Harrison: Jim Crow in Huntsville Jim Crow in Huntsville | James Harrison | Texas Christian University, Civil Rights in Black and Brown | July 23, 2015
Harrison's recorded recollection concerns segregation in Huntsville, Texas. Its indexed subjects include housing, stores, schools, public accommodations, and water fountains. The excerpt offers a local account of how racial separation extended across several ordinary settings rather than remaining confined to a single institution.
49. Robert L. Person: Childhood Experiences in Bryan Jim Crow in Bryan | Robert L. Person | Texas Christian University, Civil Rights in Black and Brown | July 17, 2015
Person's brief recollection addresses childhood in Bryan, Texas. The archive identifies segregated water fountains, J.C. Penney, and parental or community involvement in education as relevant subjects. It is a focused starting point for exploring children's encounters with the rules governing everyday public life.
50. Larry Kegler: Childhood Experiences During the Jim Crow Era Childhood Experiences During the Jim Crow Era | Larry Kegler | Texas Christian University, Civil Rights in Black and Brown | June 24, 2016
Kegler recalls childhood in Lufkin, Texas. The archive connects his account with residential segregation, stores, public facilities, and school integration, including freedom-of-choice arrangements. Identified locations include Main Street, the Perry Brothers variety store, and Lufkin High School.
51. Barbara Cooper: Jim Crow in Bryan, Texas Jim Crow in Bryan, Texas | Barbara Cooper | Texas Christian University, Civil Rights in Black and Brown | July 17, 2015
Cooper offers a personal recollection of Jim Crow in Bryan, Texas. This five-minute excerpt is indexed under segregation in public accommodations and religion. It contributes another resident's perspective on the racial boundaries organizing local life.
52. Tommy Wilkerson: Segregated Neighborhoods in Montgomery, Texas Segregated Neighborhoods and Growing Up in Montgomery | Tommy Wilkerson | Texas Christian University, Civil Rights in Black and Brown | July 19, 2016
Wilkerson's recollection concerns Montgomery and Conroe, Texas. The archive identifies agricultural work, landownership, racially restricted occupations, Black-owned businesses, churches, and separate schools as themes. The account brings together the residential, economic, and religious dimensions of community life under segregation.
Language, Work, Professional Life, and Health Care
53. Sylvia Herrera: First Experiences with Racial Discrimination First Experiences with Racial Discrimination | Sylvia Herrera | Texas Christian University, Civil Rights in Black and Brown | June 10, 2016
Herrera's account addresses early encounters with discrimination in Austin, Texas. The archive identifies stores, schools, racist signs, speaking Spanish, and corporal punishment as relevant subjects. It adds a Mexican American perspective on the everyday enforcement of racial and linguistic boundaries.
54. Eva Benavides: Discrimination and Segregation in Baytown Experiences with Discrimination and Segregation | Eva Benavides | Texas Christian University, Civil Rights in Black and Brown | July 20, 2016
Benavides's recorded account concerns family and childhood experiences in Baytown, Texas. Its indexed themes include a separate Mexican school, Spanish-language restrictions, school discipline, neighborhoods, movie theaters, and water fountains. It offers material for comparing discrimination in education with restrictions in public spaces.
55. George Simkins: Dental Practice, Recreation, and Hospital Access Oral history interview with George Simkins | George C. Simkins | UNC Southern Oral History Program / Civil Rights Digital Library | April 6, 1997
Simkins recalls his education as a Black dentist and efforts to challenge segregation in Greensboro, North Carolina. He discusses golf, swimming, and hospital access, alongside harassment from opponents. His experiences show how routine recreation and professional responsibilities could expose the same underlying racial barriers.
56. Alexander M. Rivera: Working as a Black Photojournalist Oral history interview with Alexander M. Rivera | Alexander M. Rivera | UNC Southern Oral History Program / Civil Rights Digital Library | February 1, 2002
Rivera discusses his reporting and photography, including coverage of school desegregation litigation. He also reflects on changes affecting Black businesses and a historically Black college. This professional account is useful for exploring how work, community institutions, and economic life changed as legal segregation weakened.
57. Jim Akins: A Child's First Job on a Delivery Truck Childhood delivery-route account | Jim Akins | American RadioWorks / American Public Media | Undated
Akins recalls collecting bottles on a North Carolina delivery route at twelve and encountering frightening racist humiliation from the white driver.
Short Personal Recollections of Everyday Encounters
58. The Shiny Plastic Letters The Shiny Plastic Letters | Thomas Lanier | American RadioWorks / American Public Media | Undated; recalls 1960 or 1961
Lanier remembers a Nashville school trip where separate factory lunchroom signs introduced children to workplace segregation.
59. I Never Got Arrested — I Got Dirty Looks I Never Got Arrested — I Got Dirty Looks | Liz Schick | American RadioWorks / American Public Media | Undated
Schick recalls a Florida friend's fear of sharing drinking fountains and her own later decisions to disregard their racial labels.
60. Church Trip to St. Louis Church Trip to St. Louis | Anonymous narrator | American RadioWorks / American Public Media | Undated; recalls the early 1960s
A young traveler remembers restaurant exclusion during a church trip through southern Illinois, exposing discrimination beyond the Deep South.
61. Jim Crow Lesson Learned Early Jim Crow Lesson Learned Early | James Carrasquer | American RadioWorks / American Public Media | Undated; recalls 1963
Carrasquer recalls theater exclusion while accompanied by his Black nanny in Louisville and his parents' subsequent explanation of racial discrimination.
62. Water Fountains Labeled “White” and “Colored” Water fountains labeled white and colored | Mary Sive | American RadioWorks / American Public Media | Undated; recalls summer 1947
Sive, a white traveler from the North, recalls encountering racially labeled drinking fountains during a cross-country rail journey. She explains how this ordinary act of drinking water made segregation's pervasive reach tangible to her.
Additional Research Collections
A major collection of recorded interviews and transcripts documenting Black experiences of family life, work, education, religion, recreation, discrimination, and community organization under Jim Crow.
Short recollections organized around childhood, public places, survival, desegregation, and other themes. Several entries listed above share a category page; locate each account by its individual title. These contributed recollections have less archival documentation than the recorded oral histories.
