Interview with Mary Brown Ashford, May 7, 1984

Partial Transcript: -------?? this is a book I made for Annette, the one that you know--

Segment Synopsis: Mary Brown Ashford is introduced. She talks about her early family life in Henderson, Kentucky. She talks about her education at Alves Street School in Henderson, and at State University for high school in Louisville, Kentucky.

Keywords: Alves Street School; Brick makers; Brothers; Churchill Downs; Fathers; Hampton Institute; High school; Mothers; North Carolina; Public schools; Scrapbooks; Siblings; State University; Tonsillectomy; Work year

Subjects: African American families; African Americans--Education.; African Americans--Employment.; African Americans--Housing.; Henderson (Ky.); Henderson County (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Before we talk about North Carolina let me just ask you a couple of things about Henderson when you were growing up there.

Segment Synopsis: Ashford says everyone in her family worked, even as children. She talks about some of the jobs she did, including washing dishes and babysitting, and she talks about how she was treated at these jobs.

Keywords: Babysitting; Brick makers; Childcare; Farming; Fathers; Jobs; Maids; Mothers; Schools; Siblings; Treatment; Washing dishes; Wealthy families; Wisconsin; Working

Subjects: African Americans--Economic conditions.; African Americans--Education.; African Americans--Employment.; African Americans--Social conditions.; Childhood; Henderson (Ky.); Henderson County (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Did your father talk much about how it was when he was growing up?

Segment Synopsis: Ashford's parents were both born before the Civil War. The interviewer reads from a document about her family history. She talks about her ancestors, including her great grandfather who was a slave and worked as a blacksmith in Henderson, and bought his wife, who was then free.

Keywords: American Indians; Blacksmiths; Buying slaves; Churchill Downs; Civil War; Clothes; Dishes; Family values; Fathers; Freedom; Gardens; Grandfathers; Laundry; Meals; Mothers; Native Americans; Poetry; Reading; Relatives; Schools; Second-hand; Setting the table; Slave owners; Teachers; Wives

Subjects: African American families; African Americans--Education.; African Americans--Employment.; African Americans--Genealogy.; African Americans--Social conditions.; Childhood; Family histories.; Family--history; Henderson (Ky.); Henderson County (Ky.); Race relations--Kentucky; Slavery--United States.

Partial Transcript: Tell me, growing up--when you rem--when you look back on Henderson, and you left I guess when--to go to Lou--first to Hampton and then to Louisville when you were eighteen, somewhere around in there.

Segment Synopsis: Ashford talks about growing up in Henderson, Kentucky, discussing race relations, living in a mixed neighborhood, and her older siblings' education and participation in World War I.

Keywords: Brothers; Children; Connecticut; Death; Discipline; Dixon Street; Emancipation Day; Integrated neighborhoods; Mixed neighborhoods; Mothers; Playing; Schools; Siblings; Sisters; World War I

Subjects: African American families; African Americans--Education.; African Americans--Social conditions.; Childhood; Henderson (Ky.); Henderson County (Ky.); Neighborhoods.; Neighbors; Race relations--Kentucky

Partial Transcript: And so after going to State University you moved to North Carolina to be with your brother.

Segment Synopsis: Ashford talks about why she moved to Goldsboro, North Carolina. She talks about teaching high school home economics before switching to elementary education. She talks about marrying her husband Irvin Marvin Ashford.

Keywords: Chicago (Ill.); Elementary schools; Fayetteville State Normal School; Girl Scouts; Goldsboro (N.C.); High schools; Home economics; Husbands; Irvin Martin Ashford; Married; Musicians; Salary cuts; State University; Teaching certificate

Subjects: African Americans--Education (Higher); African Americans--Education.; African Americans--Employment.; African Americans--Marriage.; African Americans--Social conditions.; Segregation in education.; Teachers; Teaching

Partial Transcript: And so we came up here--

Segment Synopsis: Ashford talks about her husband's work and why he could not become a railroad mail clerk due to his heart condition. She talks about moving to Connecticut, and working in a laundry, despite having her teaching certificate. She talks about how she was offered a job as a substitute teacher, and discusses her stance on misbehavior in the classroom.

Keywords: Baldwin School; Black teachers; Board of Education; Connecticut; Degrees; Discipline; Heart conditions; House showings; Housing authority; Husbands; Integrated schools; Irvin Martin Ashford; Jobs; Majestic Laundry; Misbehavior; Mr. Wexler; Obeying; Painting; Railroad mail clerks; Relationships; Salary; Spanking; Substitute teaching; Summer school; Teaching certificate; Winchester School; World War II

Subjects: African Americans--Education (Higher); African Americans--Education.; African Americans--Employment.; African Americans--Segregation; African Americans--Social conditions.; School integration; Segregation in education.; Teachers; Teaching; Wages.

Partial Transcript: Have you, um, um--when did your husband pass away?

Segment Synopsis: Ashford talks about her husband's death and why she did not return to Kentucky. She talks about when she and her husband first moved to Connecticut and were the first Black family to live on Spring Road in New Haven. She talks about the racist remarks and threats that were made against them, but says that they continued to live there. She talks about moving to another neighborhood where subsequently all of the white families moved away. She talks about some of her neighbors who were friendly, and some who were surprised to learn that African Americans were not so different from themselves.

Keywords: Connecticut; Death; Epilepsy; Houses; Human Relations; Husbands; Irvin Martin Ashford; Kentucky; Leaving; Mail; North Haven (Conn.); Police; Racial slurs; Spring Road; Strokes; Threats; moving; realtors

Subjects: African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Crimes against.; African Americans--Housing.; African Americans--Relations with Italian Americans; African Americans--Segregation; African Americans--Social conditions.; Discrimination in housing.; Neighborhoods.; Neighbors; Race discrimination.; Racism; United States--Race relations.

Partial Transcript: Well, any other ground you want us to cover?

Segment Synopsis: Ashford talks more about her time at State University in Louisville, and discusses how Henderson has changed over the years. She talks about making scrapbooks containing documents about her family's history. The interviewers discuss with her the idea of donating her scrapbooks to the University of Kentucky Library.

Keywords: Changes; Donations; Information; Louisville (Ky.); Married; Pensions; Scrapbooks; State University; University of Kentucky Libraries

Subjects: African American families; African Americans--Education.; African Americans--Genealogy.; African Americans--Marriage.; Family histories.; Family--history; Henderson (Ky.); Henderson County (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: I noticed you had a Brown family reunion in 1977.

Segment Synopsis: Ashford talks about family reunions, working for a Jewish woman in Henderson as a child, and talks more about her siblings' experiences in World War I, and her ancestors who were slaves. The interview is concluded.

Keywords: Blacksmiths; Brown family reunions; Evansville (Ind.); Grandparents; Jewish family; Mothers; Siblings; Traveling; World War I

Subjects: African American families; African Americans--Employment.; African Americans--Genealogy.; African Americans--Relations with Jews.; African Americans--Social conditions.; Family histories.; Family--history; Henderson (Ky.); Henderson County (Ky.); Slavery--United States.