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Conversation with grandmother about the integration of elementary school

Nicholas Piediscalzi, a retired United Church of Christ minister, talks to us about his personal experience and relationship to peace, as well as his work in peace-making in larger settings. As a minister in Chicago in the 1940s and 1950’s...

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.

Jeannette Holland (68) speaks with her son Erik Townsend (31) about her experience transferring high schools her Junior year at the onset of integration in Nashville, Tennessee. Jeannette recalls the safety and support she felt at her all-Black high school...

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

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.

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.

My Grandad Bob has many interesting stories. During the interview, I’ve learned that my grandad wasn’t allowed to serve in the military because of his eyes, suffered in school because of his eyes and living during the great depression and...

Friends John Rossi (65) and Patrick Nolan (58) remember their experiences growing up amidst school desegregation efforts in Seattle, Washington.

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

One Small Step partners James Waugh (63) and Pamela Rosa Scott Vickers (74) reflect on their experiences growing up in Oklahoma.

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

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...

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.

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

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.

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.

Mother and daughter talk about her experience with the desegregation of school going on in the 70’s

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...

Part 3: My grandma and I continued our conversation, talking about politics in the 1970s and positive moments in her life. Additionally, we talked about lessons she learned when teaching at a Milwaukee Public School.

Danny Bell (73) talks to his friend Patti Palmer (61) about his life growing up in a Native American community in North Carolina. He shares the untold story of the American Indian and he talks about the importance of bringing...

Hamp tells various stories from his life in Hardaway, Pleasant Springs, and Tuskegee, Alabama

Sherri Taylor (67) interviews her father, Vernon Frank Reeves (96), about what it was like being an educator in Okeechobee County, Florida during integration. They also talk about Vernon's childhood in Okeechobee and remember some characters from his hometown.

Phyllis Wimberly ( My Grandmom ) spent her 40 year career as a Washington DC public school teacher integrating her AP English classes. As an activist and teacher her goal was to send kids to college that wouldn’t have otherwise...

Spouses Gregory Johnson (73) and Marcia Johnson (73) discuss the history of busing and desegregation in Seattle. Gregory shares his experience in the voluntary busing program.