Patricia Walker Bearden, Yolanda Walker Simmons, and Kiplyn Primus
Recorded
September 18, 2022
Archived
September 18, 2022
19:41 minutes
0:00 / 0:00
Id:
atd002076
Description
StoryCorps Facilitator Kiplyn Primus [no age given] talks with sisters Patricia Walker Bearden [no age given] and Yolanda Walker Simmons (67) about their family's connection to the Atlanta Race Massacre of 1906.Subject Log / Time Code
Patricia Walker Bearden says she and sister Yolanda Walker Simmons refer to themselves as the Walker Girls.
StoryCorps Facilitator Kiplyn Primus asks Patricia and Yolanda how and when they found out about the 1906 Atlanta Race Riots. Patricia talks about joining genealogy groups. She says this is how she and Yolanda started learning about their ancestor Alex Wesley Walker, who was involved in the riots.
Patricia talks about writing the book History Comes Home: Family Stories Across the Curriculum. She remembers interviewing her father in 1992, and says she learned more about Alex Wesley Walker.
Patricia says Alex Wesley Walker was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of James Heard, a white police officer. Patricia says thousands of whites descended on the Brownsville neighborhood, known presently as South Atlanta. She says Blacks defended themselves with smuggled guns.
Patricia says Alex did get out of prison after serving approximately 1 year. She says the record of Alex's incarceration needs to be corrected in various books such as Negrophobia and Black Georgia in the Progressive Era.
Kiplyn asks Patricia how Alex got out of prison. Patricia talks about Alex's lawyer John D. Kilpatrick.
Kiplyn asks Yolanda how she feels about learning the story of Alex Wesley Walker. Yolanda says she was excited when her dad started sharing information about their family.
Yolanda says there are 2 theories about how Alex got out of prison. She says attorney John Kilpatrick was passionate about getting Alex out.
Kiplyn asks Yolanda if it was surprising to learn about the race riots in Atlanta. Yolanda talks about the laws passed to keep Blacks down and feeling inferior.
Kiplyn asks why it is easier to believe myths about the south instead of the truth that there were Africans skilled in agriculture and masonry throughout the region.
Kiplyn asks how Patricia and Yolanda intend to pass this story along. Patricia talks more about genealogy groups. She wants to encourage African American people to do their research and be proud of their people.
Kiplyn asks what Patricia and Yolanda need to solve the mystery of how Alex got out of prison.
Patricia talks about Jim Heard's family. She says the press was responsible for keeping hate mongering alive.
Kiplyn asks Patricia and Yolanda to talk about the family photos they have brought with them.
Kiplyn asks Patricia and Yolanda what they want people in the future to know.
Patricia talks about Alex leaving Atlanta for Birmingham, Alabama. She says he then went to Chicago, Illinois to be a strike breaker.
Patricia says they do have Alex's death certificate. She says he died in 1949, at the age of 80.
Participants
- Patricia Walker Bearden
- Yolanda Walker Simmons
- Kiplyn Primus