Search Interviews

Conversation with grandmother about the integration of elementary school

Lois Larsen Walker (73) talks to her daughter, Donna Walker James (48), about living in Alexandria. She recounts saving bricks from demolished buildings, fighting for school integration, and contributing to the community.

Kiplyn Primus (62) talks with her friend Myrna Clayton [no age given] about their experiences growing up.

Carlissia, 21, interviews Sylverna, 57, about growing up in Virginia and Baltimore during the Civil Rights Movement, her interest in libraries, becoming Dean of Libraries at the University of Memphis, and the problems facing African Americans today.

James Davis, age 16, interviews his neighbor, author Ralph Stokes, born in 1953, about his experiences as a football player and being one of the first African Americans to be integrated during the Civil Rights Movement.

Chandra Blackwell, 40, interviews her mother Nadine Blackwell, 80, about her memory and involvement in Brown vs. the Board of Education, integrating the Topeka Fire Department, and integrating the downtown Topeka restaurants.

Anna Amesbury Pless Peel (38) has a conversation with her father, Larry [No Name Given] (71), about his maternal grandmother, Anna Laura.

Stanley Latting (80) speaks with his niece Tracy Latting [no age given] and his nephew, Tracy's brother, Mike Latting (68) about growing up in Robbins, IL, the siblings' time in their family rodeo business, and what horses have meant to...

Della Kostelnik Juarez (61) tells her daughter Julia Juarez-Kostelnik (22) about her experiences participating in a voluntary bussing/racial transfer program as an elementary school student in Seattle. Della describes how being the only white kid in a predominantly Black school...

Dennis Faherty (61) interviews his wife, Pat Faherty (62), about her childhood memories, and she shares her experiences growing up all over the country.

Acclaimed international musician, William Foster McDaniel shares how his formative experiences with the YMCA of Central Ohio and seven years as a camper at YMCA Camp Willson changed his life.

Friends Gail Mondoux (77) and Tracy Shaughnessy (62) talk about Tracy's experience being bused to a predominantly Black school in Tacoma.

Colleagues Halima Ahmadi-Montecalvo (41) and Noura Bashshur [no age given] discuss their experiences as women of color in the United States and their work in health technology.

In the midst of the pandemic my family has been blessed with new life. I spoke with my Aunt Jewel about the experience of becoming a great-grandma during the outbreak. I thought I knew my aunt pretty well but this...

This interview was recorded in Oxford Mississippi on November 26. I interviewed Edmond Boudreaux who is my grandfather and was born in Georgiatown, South Carolina and now lives in Biloxi Mississippi. He talks about public bus integration and his first...

Michael Hamilton (82) talks with his son, Philip Hamilton (42). They talk about Michael's first and second marriages, their shared love of nature and birds, Philip's coming out, and the ways they have grown.

Former colleagues Suzanne Hittman (92) and Mike Hoge (74) speak about their roles in Seattle's desegregation efforts.

Gloria, 48, talks to her mother, Lee, 82 about growing up in a large Greek, Sephardic Jewish family in Indianapolis. Lee talks about her mother, siblings and husband. Lee has kept her mother's tradition of cooking and baking and talks...

Johanna Rucker (75) sits down with her friend, Saundra Kelley (73), to discuss their experiences growing up in the U.S. South in the 1950s and 1960s.

Friends Grace Williams [no age given] and Maria Granville (65) talk about Ms. Grace's childhood in Harlem, the history and culture of the neighborhood, and their hopes for the future of their community.

Eric Peterson speaks on growing up in Norfolk, VA, his family life, and his love for learning.

Talking about grandma Thelma and her job

Susan Gardner (65) speaks with her mother, Lillian Gardner (98), about their lives in Tennessee during the time of school desegregation. The two discuss the integrated Girl Scout troop they were involved in and experiencing the first year of school...

Former student, Dale Hutchens (58) interviews his band director, William T. Robinson, III (74) about his career as a band director and his experience teaching students during the beginning of integration in Alabama.

Mark Rainey(17) interviews Levon Turner(91) (his great grandmother) about her life and her walk through time.