Interview with Lillie H. Yates, July 15, 1986

Partial Transcript: Mrs. Yates could you tell me where you were born?

Segment Synopsis: Lillie Yates is introduced. She discusses her parents and siblings, as well as her grandparents and the property her family owns. She talks about working as a domestic worker, as well as working on the farm with her family.

Keywords: Childbirth; Children; Domestic work; Farming; Fathers; Food; Gardens; Grandparents; Lexington (Ky.); Meat; Mothers; Parents; Property ownership; Raising food; Siblings

Subjects: African American families; African Americans--Genealogy.; Childhood; Family histories.; Family--history; Food--Preservation; Richmond (Ky.); Slavery--United States.

Partial Transcript: Now what kind of, uh--maybe you can ask her this question. What kind of relationships did she have with the white folk?

Segment Synopsis: Yates talks about how she was treated by the white families she worked for. She talks about the levels of literacy within her family.

Keywords: Coal; Counting; Literacy; Measuring; School; Treatment; Wood; Working conditions

Subjects: African American farmers.; African Americans--Education.; African Americans--Employment.; African Americans--Social conditions.; Race relations--Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Now tell me about, uh, your church.

Segment Synopsis: Yates describes her church experiences as a child. She talks about voting, and whether the white families she worked for pressured people to vote for certain candidates. She talks about her childhood community and says that people took care of one another.

Keywords: Baptists; Changes; Community; Elderly; Helping; Illness; Senior citizens home; Women voting

Subjects: African American churches--Kentucky; African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Politics and government.; African Americans--Social conditions.; Neighborliness; Voting.

Partial Transcript: Did any, uh, white people do the same kind of work that you did in those days or was it only Black people?

Segment Synopsis: Yates talks more about working on the farm, and discusses her wages and more about race relations at work. She talks about learning to cook and wash dishes.

Keywords: Church; Cooking; Domestic work; Farms; Funerals; Treatment; Wages; Washing dishes; Working conditions

Subjects: African Americans--Employment.; African Americans--Housing.; African Americans--Social conditions.; Farm life.; Farm tenancy; Race relations--Kentucky; Traditional farming--Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Tell me of the changes that you see in the communities today.

Segment Synopsis: Yates talks about how the community has changed over the years. She talks about people helping one another and the medical care that was available at the time. She talks about where her relatives live, and talks more about working as a cook and washing dishes.

Keywords: Changes; Childbirth; Cooking; Doctors; Domestic work; Generations; Great Depression; Helping; Poverty; Relatives; Richmond (Ky.); Serving; Sisters; Washing dishes; Working

Subjects: African American families; African Americans--Employment.; African Americans--Housing.; African Americans--Social conditions.; Depressions--1929--Kentucky; Medical care--Kentucky; Neighborliness

Partial Transcript: What about the house? The old house--

Segment Synopsis: Yates talks more about the property her family owns and how they came to own it. She talks about where her siblings live. She describes stores when she was growing up, and talks about making their own soap.

Keywords: Brothers; Cincinnati (Ohio); Fathers; Grandfathers; Houses; Husbands; Making soap; Property ownership; Sisters; Stores; Tates Creek Pike; Washing clothes; Waste; Working

Subjects: African American families; African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Employment.; African Americans--Housing.; Slavery--United States.

Partial Transcript: Now tell me about your children.

Segment Synopsis: Yates talks about her children and grandchildren and where they live.

Keywords: Children; College; Cooking; Grandchildren; Kentucky; Kentucky State University; Lincoln Ridge; Property ownership

Subjects: African American families; African Americans--Education.; African Americans--Genealogy.; Family histories.; Family--history

Partial Transcript: Can you tell me anything about the changes you've seen since you were a little girl and living all these years?

Segment Synopsis: Yates talks about how the world has improved since her childhood. She talks about cooking for the white families she worked for. She describes the meals she cooked, and focuses on various types of bread she made. She talks about the few items available at stores, and talks about making her own clothes.

Keywords: Accounts; Beaten biscuits; Biscuits; Bread; Burgoo; Changes; Clothes; Cooking; Cornbread; Credit; Curing meat; Hash; Improvements; Knowledge; Literacy; Raising food; Recipes; Schools; Sewing machines; Shoes; Stores; Sunday dinners; Taste testing; Yeast

Subjects: African American farmers.; African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Education.; African Americans--Social conditions.; Food habits; Food--Preservation; Slavery--United States.

Partial Transcript: Tell me s--what did you do for fun when you were growing up?

Segment Synopsis: Yates talks about the types of social activities that were sanctioned by the church, and the types of activities that were frowned upon. She talks about drinking, illegitimate children, and unmarried couples living together, and discusses how people participating in these activities were treated by the community.

Keywords: Arrested; Candy; Church meetings; Community; Court; Courthouse; Dancing; Deacons; Discipline; Drinking; Food; Fun; Helping; Illegitimate children; Jail; Marriage licenses; Parties; Social classes; Treatment; Whiskey; Windows

Subjects: African American churches--Kentucky; African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Housing.; African Americans--Recreation; African Americans--Religion.; African Americans--Social conditions.; African Americans--Social life and customs.; Distilling, Illicit; Neighborliness

Partial Transcript: Tell me the differen--tell me a little bit more about the people in the mountains and made the whiskey.

Segment Synopsis: Yates talks about the people who lived in the mountains and distilled whiskey to make money. She talks about the punishment they would receive if they were caught, and discusses why people were not allowed to make whiskey but were allowed to make wine.

Keywords: Arrested; Chickens; Communion wine; Crops; Deacons; Fines; Home brew; Jail; Meat; Mountains; Railroad work; Raising food; Stores; Whiskey; Wine

Subjects: African American churches--Kentucky; African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Social life and customs.; Distillation; Distilling, Illicit

Partial Transcript: Tell me about the, the, the preachers back in those days. How--tell me about him.

Segment Synopsis: Yates describes church revivals and baptisms. She says they did not go to town often.

Keywords: Baptisms; Circus; Country churches; Farmers; Ponds; Preachers; Revivals; Town; Visiting

Subjects: African American churches--Kentucky; African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Recreation; African Americans--Religion.; African Americans--Social conditions.

Partial Transcript: Tell me about Christmas in, uh, those days. What, what did you do for Christmas?

Segment Synopsis: Yates describes holiday celebrations including Christmas, Easter, and birthdays. She talks about how they made ice, and talks about baking cakes.

Keywords: Birthdays; Cakes; Christmas; Cooking; Easter; Ice; Ice cream socials; Mills; Parties; Relatives; Selling; Visiting

Subjects: African American families; African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Recreation; African Americans--Social conditions.; African Americans--Social life and customs.; Food habits; Food--Preservation; Holidays--Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Did you have friends who were white?

Segment Synopsis: Yates talks more about race relations on the farm. She talks about both Black and white sharecroppers and how they were treated by the white property owners. She talks about whether skin tone had any effect on the treatment people received. She talks about how the property owners would decide who was in charge when they went to Florida for the winter, and how they knew who the troublemakers were.

Keywords: Children; Divorce; Eating; Florida; Intermarriage; Jonestown; Management; Overseers; Poor; Poverty; Racially mixed; Skin color; Tates Creek Pike; Tenant farming; Treatment; Troublemakers; White friends; Working

Subjects: African American farmers.; African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Employment.; African Americans--Social conditions.; Farm tenancy; Neighbors; Race relations--Kentucky; Sharecropping

Partial Transcript: Course they called them peoples' place where we lived at before they sold the place.

Segment Synopsis: Yates talks more about her family buying their property. She talks more about sharecropping, and talks about hiring white workers when she and her family raised tobacco on their farm. The interview is concluded.

Keywords: Banks; Hiring; Jobs; Property ownership; Raising food; Selling; Sharecropping; Tobacco; Workers

Subjects: African American farmers.; African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Economic conditions.; African Americans--Housing.; African Americans--Social conditions.; Farm life.; Farm tenancy; Neighborhoods.; Race relations--Kentucky; Traditional farming--Kentucky