Robert Thurman and Valencia Thurman

[00:11] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Hi, I'm Valencia Caroline Thurman I'm 36 years old. Today's date is September 30, 2023. We're in Decatur, Georgia, and I'm here today talking to my father. Please say your name.

[00:25] ROBERT THURMAN: Oh, my name is Robert Thurman

[00:28] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Age?

[00:29] ROBERT THURMAN: Age? 74.

[00:30] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Today's date?

[00:31] ROBERT THURMAN: Today's date. September 30, 2023. Location? Decatur, Georgia. And I'm talking to my daughter.

[00:45] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: All right, dad. So we're here today because I wanted to just talk to you about your life and everything that you've accomplished and your childhood leading up to this day. So, first off, let's start with where you were born.

[01:02] ROBERT THURMAN: I was born in Walton county. That's Monroe, Georgia.

[01:07] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. And did you also grow up in Walton County, Monroe, Georgia?

[01:12] ROBERT THURMAN: No, I stayed in Walton county until I was eight years old.

[01:17] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. And then from there you moved to where?

[01:20] ROBERT THURMAN: From there I moved to Newton county. That's Covington, Georgia.

[01:25] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay, so did you go to school in Covington?

[01:28] ROBERT THURMAN: Yes, I got back up. I went to school two years in Walton county.

[01:32] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay.

[01:33] ROBERT THURMAN: And went to school ten years in Newton county.

[01:36] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. And during that time period, I'm imagining you were, of course, in a segregated school, right?

[01:44] ROBERT THURMAN: Yes, I was in the secondary school all my life.

[01:47] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay, so what? Could you just kind of tell me what that was like being in a segregated school? Were you in? Because, I mean, I grew up in schools, of course, that were integrated, but, you know, the ages, we were broken up into, you know, different grades. So I started off kindergarten up to twelve. How were your schools?

[02:05] ROBERT THURMAN: Well, the second grade school died. That would. We have some good teachers, and they were good, but like I said, we, uh, had to take the leftover books at time. After the white used the book, they'll pass the book on down to earth. That would happen in rural Georgia.

[02:26] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. Were you in like, a certain grade, though, or were you all.

[02:29] ROBERT THURMAN: Were you guys was. I wasn't great. We was in, uh, started out, uh, in a three room school. They were slow about developing school in Georgia for the blacks. They said they would go do it in 1954, but it didn't happen to 1957 that we got in a bigger school. I was in two schools my first two years had three rooms, and he had about three or four grades in each room room with one teacher.

[03:06] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Oh, wow. So, so say, for instance, like kindergarten. So if you went to your first day of school for kindergarten, you might be in a class with 1st, second and third graders.

[03:17] ROBERT THURMAN: Yes, that. Right. But at that time, we didn't have no kindergarten.

[03:21] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay.

[03:22] ROBERT THURMAN: When you got old enough, you went to school to the first grade.

[03:25] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay, so you just started off like around seven or eight, you started school.

[03:28] ROBERT THURMAN: To six years old.

[03:29] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Six years old. Okay. And so you say you guys had hand me down books from the white schools. So were you guys all like, sharing books? Were you able to take books home?

[03:41] ROBERT THURMAN: Yes, they was able to get provide book for each one of us for each class we had. So we were fortunate for that.

[03:48] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay, do you remember any of your teachers in those small, small schools?

[03:55] ROBERT THURMAN: Yes, I can remember my second grade teacher.

[03:59] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: You remember her name?

[04:00] ROBERT THURMAN: Yeah. Name of misses Burdett.

[04:02] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. What was she like?

[04:05] ROBERT THURMAN: She was a good teacher. Yeah, like I said, she was a good teacher. She. We had about started out with about three or four classes in one room. And then when we got to moving in new school, I was in a class. So she just had second grade.

[04:21] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay, so you guys eventually moved into a new school. At what point did you move into a new school?

[04:26] ROBERT THURMAN: 1957.

[04:27] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: What grade do you remember? What grade?

[04:29] ROBERT THURMAN: Second grade.

[04:29] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Second grade. Okay, so by the time you got to second grade, you were in a class with just second graders?

[04:36] ROBERT THURMAN: Yes. Second graders, that's correct.

[04:38] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. Was the school nice?

[04:40] ROBERT THURMAN: Yeah, it was a nice school.

[04:42] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: You remember the name of it?

[04:43] ROBERT THURMAN: East Newton Elementary School.

[04:45] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: East Newton elementary.

[04:46] ROBERT THURMAN: And I think, if you don't mind, all the old years, I think history, that school. I think they just had. They just had two principal.

[04:53] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. Okay. So let's back up just a little bit. What were your parents names?

[05:00] ROBERT THURMAN: My parents name was Murray Thurman My mother name was Eunice Thurman

[05:06] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. How many kids did they have total?

[05:09] ROBERT THURMAN: It was 1515 kids.

[05:11] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: And you were number.

[05:13] ROBERT THURMAN: I was number 13.

[05:15] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: And then was there anything special about your birth?

[05:20] ROBERT THURMAN: Well, I was. I guess I could say it was. It was. It was. I called it special because I would. I called completion. Cause I was the 7th boy.

[05:30] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. And then. But were you born. I guess. I guess I'm trying to get out. I know the answer to this, but I'm trying to get it out for the purpose of the recording, too. Were you born with the friend. Were you born with another child?

[05:42] ROBERT THURMAN: Well, okay, yes, I was born with a twin.

[05:45] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay.

[05:46] ROBERT THURMAN: Twin brother named Roy.

[05:47] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Roy. Okay.

[05:48] ROBERT THURMAN: I think he lived for about eleven months.

[05:51] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. And, um, your mom, grandma, or we call her big mama Eunice Thurman She had how many sets of twins?

[06:00] ROBERT THURMAN: Three sets of twin.

[06:01] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Wow. Out of 15 kids? Three sets of twins. And, um, what was it like growing up with your siblings? I'm assuming you guys all walked to school together and things like that.

[06:11] ROBERT THURMAN: Well, we didn't. Thank God we didn't have a walk. We broke the bus to school.

[06:14] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay.

[06:15] ROBERT THURMAN: Yeah. I was a blessing, though. I was raised mostly around four girls.

[06:21] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. Okay, so your sisters.

[06:25] ROBERT THURMAN: Yeah.

[06:26] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Any of your sisters you want to share, you know, what growing up with them was like in particular?

[06:32] ROBERT THURMAN: Well, I thank God for my older sister called. They helped out, had a sister named Nellie. She had me 18 years, then Jesse, Betty, and now they had me about maybe 1615 years. They. They looked out for us. Younger children they helped out with, helped mom with us.

[06:54] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. Anything in particular you learned from your older siblings that kind of stuck with you as you went along in life?

[07:01] ROBERT THURMAN: Yes. I had a brother. I still admire him. Well, a brother named Jimmy. He really took care of me as a little brother, and he taught me things. I remember that from this day.

[07:16] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. And growing up in the rural south, what type of work did you do as a kid? I know growing up I worked at McDonald's. I worked at a couple of law firms. Those are fond memories for me. What type of work did you do growing up as a teenager or even earlier?

[07:38] ROBERT THURMAN: Well, earlier 1958, I did what I could do. My mom had me in the cotton field with them, but you called the old saying. But we were picking cotton early years, probably about eight years old, to learn the workforce. And later, when I got older teenager, I worked for a man, did the milk, dairy all the years. And then I worked with a fellow with a California, what you call hay farm. I worked there. My yield, really, up until probably 1966. I got a job with DeKalb County Road and breezy work on the road, cut roadways.

[08:38] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. So when you were working on the farm with your parents, were you, how were you getting paid? Or did your parents just get paid for the work you were doing?

[08:47] ROBERT THURMAN: Well, you got paid. Your mama will let you have your own pay most of the time.

[08:51] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay.

[08:51] ROBERT THURMAN: And so just hit with tough picking cotton, you got $3 per 100 pound.

[08:59] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Oh, wow.

[09:00] ROBERT THURMAN: So sometimes if you did over a hundred pound five days a week, that means you had $15 a week.

[09:06] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Oh, wow.

[09:06] ROBERT THURMAN: But I was mostly, thank God, I was able to get over 100 pound.

[09:10] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. When you were, what about did you during that time? I know there was a lot of sharecropping going on. Were your parents involved in sharecropping?

[09:24] ROBERT THURMAN: Well, my parents was involved in sharecropping earlier, and most of the time, the owner would do the right thing. So we usually stay with one farmer maybe two years, and he will move on to the next farmers next farmer. But sometimes would be the same thing. So my mama just got away from the shell cropping and started just. We just started just working for the farmer.

[09:57] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Do you feel like the farmer treated.

[09:59] ROBERT THURMAN: You guys fairly well, going by what my mama said, it was a no no.

[10:05] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay, so you guys were just getting by with.

[10:08] ROBERT THURMAN: Yeah, we just getting by. And, uh, way in old days, what they was, they would tell you at the end of harvest, time of cotton picking season, you'll come around and pay the family off, sell up, which would you call? And then he asked you where you're gonna be back with them the next year. And in other words, they would say you beat them, borrowed up, borrow it, most of your pay.

[10:50] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: So you did the sharecropping school, of course. Kind of the elephant in the room when discussing these type of topics. Of course, talking about the age and the time period you grew up in. Tell me about, like, the racial tensions in the town you grew up in. What was that like? Did you ever have any encounters with segregation or racial tensions?

[11:15] ROBERT THURMAN: Oh, yes, definitely. Social circle, Jawa, covered in jaw. We had regent. They will call you the name you couldn't go in. Some of the places in, uh, early 60, they closed a swimming pool before they let us get in the water with them.

[11:43] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: So your town swimming pool, you guys, what? Do you remember any particular incident where you guys went up there and they just closed it?

[11:51] ROBERT THURMAN: I never did go up there, but I got the message back from other friend.

[11:54] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay.

[11:55] ROBERT THURMAN: Yeah.

[11:55] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: They wouldn't allow blacks to swim.

[11:57] ROBERT THURMAN: No, they definitely wouldn't allow blacks in a swimming pool. In the 60, early 60, did you.

[12:03] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Ever have any encounters, like, at restaurants where you had to go around back or.

[12:07] ROBERT THURMAN: Yes, I had that. We had to go. If you went in place down there called the hub junction, a bus stop, blew a bus station, you had to go in the back. Russell, run up in social circle, I mean, me and my friend, we couldn't go in. We had to knock on the back door if we wanted anything.

[12:28] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Oh, wow. Were you able to go in and sit down or you had to, like, order your food?

[12:32] ROBERT THURMAN: Just order food.

[12:33] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Oh, wow.

[12:34] ROBERT THURMAN: And then we had one up in little town of social circle, but they had restaurant, but they had a white side and a black side.

[12:44] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. And was that just a norm for you guys? I mean, you didn't know any difference?

[12:49] ROBERT THURMAN: Well, we wanted, we knew some different, but that was norm. If you buck the system, you would get in trouble.

[12:55] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Did you ever witness anybody get in trouble, get arrested?

[12:59] ROBERT THURMAN: Yes, I remember one guy, he got out of hand once that he got arrested.

[13:04] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. Because he wanted to try to go to the white side or.

[13:08] ROBERT THURMAN: No. Well, he just got in the black side. Start acting up. Okay.

[13:14] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: What about. I know you had told me a story about the ice cream shop. Oh, yeah.

[13:19] ROBERT THURMAN: Yes. I think my sister and I.

[13:23] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Which sister?

[13:24] ROBERT THURMAN: Or this sister named Idora.

[13:26] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Idora.

[13:27] ROBERT THURMAN: Yeah. We was throughout integration by six to six, and we always wanted to go to ice cream. Follow. I never forget the guy. Quite guy name. I think they called him curtly. And we went in there and bought ice cream. I guess he was making money, so he looked like he whack them up with old mom. Thank God for that.

[13:52] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay, so you guys were able to.

[13:53] ROBERT THURMAN: Go and we can sit in there.

[13:55] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Integrate the.

[13:56] ROBERT THURMAN: Integrate the ice cream parlor.

[13:57] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay.

[13:57] ROBERT THURMAN: That first place we integrate in social circle.

[14:00] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. Was there any type of news coverage or anything? It was such a small town.

[14:04] ROBERT THURMAN: No, it wasn't. No new cook.

[14:06] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay, okay. Um. So growing up in social circle overall, were there any other stories that kind of stood out in your mind just growing up in that small town?

[14:17] ROBERT THURMAN: Well, lots of stories. Do. Do it out. Uh, workforce. Sad about it. The workforce. I always have my way through it out. I work for the guy at the milk dairy. I don't know why we didn't work on Saturday, but he wouldn't pay us off till Saturday morning.

[14:41] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Oh, wow.

[14:42] ROBERT THURMAN: So you had to go back a Saturday morning, get your pay.

[14:45] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Oh, wow. Was it far?

[14:47] ROBERT THURMAN: Well, you go about. I stayed about three or 4 miles from the milk dinner.

[14:53] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: So you had to walk.

[14:54] ROBERT THURMAN: You had to walk. You had to walk. Just go pick up a check.

[14:57] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Wow. Okay, so what was high school like for you? I know you matriculated up through the second grade on any story standouts for you.

[15:09] ROBERT THURMAN: Well, high school were beautiful, and I thank God for my principal in elementary school, principal Robert L. Clemon. He encouraged me to further my education. He told me I would be a good high school student, and I thank God for that.

[15:37] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: What high school did you end up going?

[15:38] ROBERT THURMAN: I end up going to Robert hill, cousin Covington, Georgia.

[15:42] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. And were you involved in any activities while you were in high school there?

[15:49] ROBERT THURMAN: Well, in high school mostly were just the classes, physical ed, you could say four h club. And then we had another organization. Well, at that time, we were integrated. They were future farmer of America, and we were new farmers America. We had the same material, but we caught, we was our race. They just call us new form of America.

[16:17] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: What?

[16:18] ROBERT THURMAN: Yeah, eventually, after, great, everybody will f eight future farm America.

[16:25] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay, so were they distinguishing you guys as new farmers of America so you wouldn't receive the same benefits as the other?

[16:33] ROBERT THURMAN: Just. Well, I guess it just was the state or the school system. One of the two.

[16:39] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Did you guys have any white teachers at your school?

[16:43] ROBERT THURMAN: No, no, no. It was all black school teachers. And all we had. Alexa, only white person knew about was. Our superintendent will come by every once in a while. Okay, white superintendent.

[16:56] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Right. Okay. Do you guys remember ever having any type of protest or anything, or any calls to action during that time, or was it pretty peaceful?

[17:07] ROBERT THURMAN: Well, round. And that year they was. They were. We hardly ever heard of protest after I left school. Then protests started.

[17:15] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay.

[17:16] ROBERT THURMAN: When the school was fully integrated in 1970. Okay.

[17:21] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: So did any of your younger siblings experience the integrations of the school?

[17:25] ROBERT THURMAN: Oh, no. No.

[17:26] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay, so everybody, all of your siblings.

[17:29] ROBERT THURMAN: Went to a segregated school.

[17:31] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. Okay. Is your high school still there?

[17:36] ROBERT THURMAN: Well, they made my high school this already. Or cousin. Middle school.

[17:39] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Middle school. Okay. And does your class still keep in touch?

[17:44] ROBERT THURMAN: Well, I keep in touch with about seven or eight of us.

[17:48] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay.

[17:49] ROBERT THURMAN: We stay in touch.

[17:50] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: And then from your high school, you guys have. You guys have a Facebook group?

[17:54] ROBERT THURMAN: No, we don't have Facebook, but we had a alumni where you would keep up with.

[18:00] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: It's on Facebook though, right?

[18:03] ROBERT THURMAN: I don't. I'm not sure.

[18:04] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: I think it is.

[18:05] ROBERT THURMAN: Okay. But that's a whole school system on Facebook.

[18:08] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay.

[18:09] ROBERT THURMAN: That's what Fleming pits, I think he got the Facebook for the whole.

[18:13] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: For the whole high school.

[18:14] ROBERT THURMAN: Whole high school history. No.

[18:16] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay.

[18:16] ROBERT THURMAN: Yeah, that's.

[18:17] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: So it's not particular to your actual class.

[18:19] ROBERT THURMAN: Yeah. But the history of the whole school. 1957 to 1970.

[18:26] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay, so Rl cousins, high school, 1957 to 1970.

[18:32] ROBERT THURMAN: Yes.

[18:33] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Do you know how many members that group has?

[18:36] ROBERT THURMAN: No, I don't know. Okay.

[18:39] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: That's pretty cool that you guys keep in touch. You guys have reunions?

[18:43] ROBERT THURMAN: Well, we are. We were having a union before. We hadn't had a reunion since COVID Okay. Before then, we were having reunion met once a year.

[18:52] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Once a year. So that would be like all classes. Classes of people still living and. Yeah, we will come together.

[18:59] ROBERT THURMAN: Yeah. Have alumni. We will go to one of the historical park over in new Blue county.

[19:05] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay, that's pretty cool. And were you able to attend college after you left high school?

[19:13] ROBERT THURMAN: No, I didn't attend college. I came to Atlanta and went to work.

[19:17] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. Was that something that was encouraged in your family to get to work and provide for your family? Things like that?

[19:25] ROBERT THURMAN: Well, I'm just gonna be for real coming up from a poor family already to go to work.

[19:33] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Yeah.

[19:33] ROBERT THURMAN: Trying to have something.

[19:35] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Right?

[19:36] ROBERT THURMAN: And then I started a family early. Two children came early. So I had to just be the provider.

[19:44] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Right. Okay, so when you moved to Atlanta, when did you move to Atlanta and where did you work?

[19:50] ROBERT THURMAN: Moved to Atlanta July 19, six to seven.

[19:56] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. And what sparked that?

[19:59] ROBERT THURMAN: Moved that move? I was working at build manufacturing, cotton milling, Polydale. Jordan, my brother was living here at Atlanta. You know, he told me, he came and told me, said, come, go back to Atlanta.

[20:19] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Which brother was this?

[20:21] ROBERT THURMAN: Murray's junior merce.

[20:22] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay.

[20:23] ROBERT THURMAN: And he said, you could get a better job and go to school. And so I lived there. July 3, 1967. It took me a while to get. To get a job, but I land a job, I believe. When? August 1967. I worked that job, building supply pay for about two months. And a gentleman came to while working. He told me the semin company won't strike. But he told me they paid good. Say when they come off strike. So I'll let you know because everybody not coming back.

[21:12] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay.

[21:13] ROBERT THURMAN: So round about November, he working out there with us part time. And in November, he told me, say, you can come on over there, use me for a reference. And I went over there. You for a reference. They hired me. It had been history ever since then. That the job I retired from? 41 years. Thank God.

[21:33] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay, from Simmons. And that's a mattress company?

[21:37] ROBERT THURMAN: Yes. Yes.

[21:37] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. And I know you told me a story about your brother when you came down and you didn't have a job. You were looking for a job. Do you remember that story?

[21:46] ROBERT THURMAN: Yes. That was my brother, Murray Junior. So I didn't have no transit pain. I didn't know that much about Atlanta. But sometimes my cousin Leon would take me around. Different job, but with nobody hired me. And so I left that one morning through the week. I said, well, he said, he kept talking. He was talking to brother talking. I don't believe he's looking. I don't believe he's looking. So I had been looking. So I left that one morning, I said to myself, whatever I get, I'm gonna take it.

[22:20] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Right.

[22:21] ROBERT THURMAN: Cause I didn't wanna go back home without a job. Without a job. I probably could have went back home and got a job in the cotton mill, but I didn't want the cotton mill. That dust was something else. And so that morning, I got up, I walked from place to place. They turned me down. So I got over in Atlanta. Place called Ellingworth in Dusper. It was a place, a building supply place over there, I went in there, talked to the guy, know that white guy, he with a manager. I told him what I had been walking from. He said, a man walking from Bankhead highway, he want a job, right?

[23:02] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Right.

[23:03] ROBERT THURMAN: So he hired me that evening, okay. And like I said, I worked with him two months, okay. And then, like I said, like I said, guy came and told him about someone, I went right out. They hired me the same day on the night shift, I think was 330 to twelve, I believe, okay. So I worked over on the night shift for three months and I got on the day shift, okay.

[23:32] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: And then by then you had kids by then?

[23:35] ROBERT THURMAN: No, I wasn't married then.

[23:37] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay.

[23:37] ROBERT THURMAN: Yeah, I married then. I just, I worked out in 1968. I went on, came on the day shift, okay. And it was this uh, particular white supervisor, he liked the man. He knowed I had a high school education and I came in and learned the product real well. So he recommend me to go in management in 69. So I was a quality control inspector, okay. So I worked on that job 69 to 80.

[24:21] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay.

[24:22] ROBERT THURMAN: And uh, was that more money? Yeah, that was more money. Cause I was on salary, okay. But due to cutback at the 80, I end up find myself getting back in the union.

[24:35] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay.

[24:35] ROBERT THURMAN: But it paid off. Cause the union had a good pension plan that I'm reefing the benefit from now.

[24:42] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Right. But it's definitely few and far between these days. You don't have really many companies with a pension plan anymore, so that's good. So you've moved to Atlanta, you're working. What was the housing market like during that time?

[24:59] ROBERT THURMAN: Well, I guess I don't really know cause the housing market. Oh, because I was in apartment my brother.

[25:07] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay.

[25:08] ROBERT THURMAN: Because I really didn't buy a house to, that was my two older kids were born.

[25:15] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Even, even with renting, I mean, what were the prices like?

[25:18] ROBERT THURMAN: What rental, I can't remember what they were, but you could probably rent apartment, good apartment that time for $300.

[25:26] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Oh, wow.

[25:27] ROBERT THURMAN: Yeah. For one bedroom, sometimes two bedroom, $300. All depend what side of town you was on in Atlanta.

[25:33] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. Yeah, that's, you can't do that anywhere near that.

[25:37] ROBERT THURMAN: No, you get that good, good there. Yeah.

[25:40] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: And so, um, you moved to Atlanta eventually, started a family, what was. I know church played a huge role. When you did move to Atlanta, did you find a church home?

[25:51] ROBERT THURMAN: Yeah, I found a church home. Uh, Mount Gilead Baptist Church. That was in Atlanta, Vine City. I joined that church first Sunday I went down, January 1971. I stayed there a while later on I moved my membership to Lindsay Street Baptist Church. That's where I grew up. Spiritual.

[26:20] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Yeah.

[26:21] ROBERT THURMAN: At Linda Street Baptist Church. Junior oyster president, Sunday school class. I was in Asia, so whatever. I got my learning from Lindsey street.

[26:36] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. And then from Lindsey street, you moved to your current church.

[26:41] ROBERT THURMAN: Yeah. My current church are Bethlehem Baptist Church.

[26:45] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. And, you know, I guess just tell me about your journey in the church and your calling and things like that. Where you. What's your status now?

[26:54] ROBERT THURMAN: Well, my status now, I still carry the name, the title as pastor Thurman Reed Chapel Baptist Church, Edison, Georgia.

[27:05] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay, Edison, Georgia. Where is that?

[27:08] ROBERT THURMAN: That's, I guess that southeast near Madison Joy.

[27:14] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. How did you become pastor of that church?

[27:17] ROBERT THURMAN: Well, tell the truth. I had a friend of mine named Reverend Starks. He was passing two churches, Daddy Chapel and Reed. And I told him about. I was visiting somewhere every Thursday, Sunday, looking for a vacant church. So he told me one Sunday, hey, just come and go with me down here. And that Sunday, I went down there with him. As soon as we drove up on the yard, he told me, I'm gonna resign from here, and you can. You could stay here and preach and then, you know, see if they make a decision.

[27:58] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay.

[27:59] ROBERT THURMAN: So I stayed there, carried on for one Sunday, month, two years before they made a decision. I went there in 2004. They installed me at pass in 2006.

[28:12] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. And, um, you mentioned that you still have the title there. So you're not currently physically pastoring down there.

[28:21] ROBERT THURMAN: Yeah, I'm not physically. My sister, Minister Claudia Doris, are carrying on for me.

[28:26] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. And that's because of what's your legal absence is based on what I believe.

[28:32] ROBERT THURMAN: Else are based on, uh, council since 2019.

[28:36] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. And your. What's your cancer. What was your cancer diagnosis like you want to talk a little bit about?

[28:42] ROBERT THURMAN: Well, my counsel diagnosed as amao leukemia.

[28:48] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. And that was in 2019?

[28:51] ROBERT THURMAN: Yeah, 2019.

[28:52] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: And what was that like? What was finding out about that like?

[28:55] ROBERT THURMAN: Well, that was, uh, really a shock, because I thought I was in good physical shape, but, uh, just thanking God I'm still here.

[29:04] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Were you still working during that time?

[29:05] ROBERT THURMAN: Yes, I was still working out, working for dds, uh, department's. Department of driver service for the state.

[29:15] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay, so you're in your seventies, still working, and then you find out you have cancer. And then how do you kind of navigate that with your. With your responsibility as a pastor, also working, taking care of your family? How do you navigate that?

[29:31] ROBERT THURMAN: Well, what did you.

[29:32] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: What did you rely on?

[29:34] ROBERT THURMAN: I had to rely on God. I had to rely on God. I prayed and thank God. Like, I went through no phases of chemo God, women. Like I said, with the church, my sister been there ever since.

[29:50] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay, so what, um. You know, if you could go back to pastoring full time, would you?

[29:59] ROBERT THURMAN: Well, is that the goal? I tell you the truth, I love it so. I love it so much. I might not want to go back to read, but I love to go back to some closer. But I love pastor, and I love the flock. I love the people. I love to let the people know I'm the shepherd and I care about them. I love what I'm doing. I love studying the word. And I like to say I love. Cause I don't. I don't sugarcoat it. I just tell it just like it is.

[30:32] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Where do you think your. Your passion and drive for your calling comes from? Did you have anybody growing up that taught you about God? Orlando brought you to church?

[30:43] ROBERT THURMAN: I had a mother. Thank God for her. Uh, she used to try to tell me, set the example. And, uh, I was used to hear preachers. I was just a little boy, and I was trying to listen to a sermon. Somehow I trying to say it. And thank God she told me that back then. I didn't know what mom was talking about. Say, you know, your great granddaddy, I didn't know what she meant. So your great dad, you probably won't be a preacher, because your great granddad was a Jack lady preacher.

[31:16] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Jack Lane Preacher.

[31:17] ROBERT THURMAN: Jack lady Preacher. But that. That time, I didn't know Jack Lane preachers would be an uneducated preacher.

[31:25] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay.

[31:25] ROBERT THURMAN: Yeah, that was your coke. Told me. So my granddaddy, then I found out the history. My great granddaddy was a slave, okay. And he got his freedom, and he started preaching, I think, Morgan county, that's Madison. And from him, generations of preachers came from that family. And I believe I'm probably fourth generation preacher out of that family.

[31:58] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: And out of the 15 kids, any others of your siblings in the ministry? Well, you said your sister.

[32:06] ROBERT THURMAN: Yeah, my sister.

[32:06] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: What's her name?

[32:07] ROBERT THURMAN: Minister Claudia Dorsey.

[32:09] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay.

[32:09] ROBERT THURMAN: Yeah, I think she started preaching about 2006.

[32:14] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. How many grandkids do you have? Can you count?

[32:23] ROBERT THURMAN: I'm not sure, but I believe I have seven grandchildren.

[32:26] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. Any great grandkids?

[32:27] ROBERT THURMAN: I got no, I got two great grandkids. Okay.

[32:30] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: That you know of. Okay. Um. And then, you know, in today's guess what's kind of like your schedule today, like your day to day. You're still getting cancer treatment. Are you still getting cancer?

[32:42] ROBERT THURMAN: That's right. I'm still getting cancer treatment. I usually had to go to the doctor every Tuesday at my appointment and they, uh, check my blood work. And usually, uh, I take treatment once a month. Some cycle of chemo.

[33:03] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. And, you know, other than treatment and chemo, any other day to day things you're doing?

[33:10] ROBERT THURMAN: Well, day to day thing? Uh, well, I'll try to get a little exercise around here. And then I look at television. Love movies, little western. Love football, love baseball. So I look at that on tv.

[33:26] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: So you're enjoying retirement?

[33:27] ROBERT THURMAN: Yeah, I'm enjoying retirement.

[33:29] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: And, uh, do you have anything you.

[33:31] ROBERT THURMAN: Do every day about 131, 30? Why you would be looking at gun smoking 130.

[33:38] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Something else that you do at 130? Daddy, you don't remember?

[33:40] ROBERT THURMAN: Oh, yeah. Thank God. Well, this is a pleasure. I be picking up my grandson out of early with early learning center. Learning center. That's a joy. Amen. Thank God.

[33:53] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay, so what do y'all do with him after y'all pick him up?

[33:55] ROBERT THURMAN: And then we bring him here and he play. Have a good time. He eat, he have a good time. Sometimes we go outside, sometimes my wife take him outside and play. We have a good time. He just make my day.

[34:09] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: And what's his name, your grandson?

[34:11] ROBERT THURMAN: Michael Jesse Thomas.

[34:13] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Okay. And what does he call you?

[34:15] ROBERT THURMAN: He called me papa.

[34:18] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: That's cute. And that's my son. So I'm very grateful for granny and papa daycare, aftercare. Thank y'all for getting him and helping him after school. Because by the time he gets to me, he's worn out and he's ready for Beddez. Yeah, I think we have about five more minutes. Yep. So is there anything else in particular you wanted to just share? I know we have a lot of funny stories over the years. I was trying to, you know, get you to talk about a few of them, but if you can, you think?

[34:51] ROBERT THURMAN: Yeah.

[34:52] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Record.

[34:53] ROBERT THURMAN: I thank God for my children. Yeah. Thank God for my daughter. Excuse me. And thank God for her being able to go to Howard University spank by day. And I didn't know she went to Charleston, South Carolina. Lawyer school. Made the deed. Listen, thank God.

[35:30] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Well, I wouldn't have been able to do all that without you, daddy. So thank you. You making me cry. I wouldn't have been able to go to Howard or go to law school without your help. So I appreciate you and the epitome of, you know, your education and all the stuff you did growing up put me in a position to be able to do what I've done. So my success is your success. Truly.

[35:58] ROBERT THURMAN: Thank you.

[35:59] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: I appreciate you so much. And so, anything else?

[36:05] ROBERT THURMAN: No, I just thank God for my mother, who told me to stay at the church and accept my calling. Thank God you did.

[36:17] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: And I'm sure you making her proud, Daddy. So proud.

[36:20] ROBERT THURMAN: That's right.

[36:22] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: So I've enjoyed the conversation we've had today, Daddy. I thank you for sitting down and talking to me so we can keep this recording forever and ever and pass it down to if I have any more children or justice's children, they'll be able to look back and hear about Papa's story. So thank you, daddy Robert Thurman for being here with me today. I think I'm saying it right.

[36:46] ROBERT THURMAN: Thank you.

[36:48] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: And you. And I think you say the same thing, like, thank me for being here with you.

[36:53] ROBERT THURMAN: Thank you, baby, for being here with me. Thank you. Thank you for asking me. It was a pleasure. Cause I love to tell the story, and I love history.

[37:00] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Yes. All right. Thank you.

[37:04] ROBERT THURMAN: So, mister Thurman can you please give me your siblings names? Let me see. Let me start at the top. Yeah, let me start at the top. Uh, Nellie Ruth Thurman Well, yeah, you want them. They maiden name, right?

[37:23] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Yeah, they all just do.

[37:24] ROBERT THURMAN: All Thurman Yep. Okay. Nelly Ruth Thurman The oldest. Willie Freya Thurman We good? Mm hmm.

[37:37] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: Yes.

[37:38] ROBERT THURMAN: Johnny Thurmande. Okay. Okay. Jesse Thurman Okay. We ready? Betty Thurman Okay. Jimmy Thurman All right. Mm hmm. Memory therma. Okay. Meritherma. Okay. Dorothyrmin. Okay. L. Norothermal. Okay. Roy Thurman Okay. Robert Thurman Okay. Chlorine Thurman Okay. And Claudine Thurman

[38:52] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: All right.

[38:54] ROBERT THURMAN: I believe I have all 15. I think I got a minute.

[38:57] VALENCIA CAROLINE THURMAN: You did great. I don't think we got to do that. All right. That is wonderful. I think I have everything else that I need. Just checking to make sure before I turn it off.