Interview with Patricia R. Laine, August 6, 1986

Partial Transcript: Good morning.

Segment Synopsis: Patricia Laine is introduced. She talks about her ancestors, some of whom were slaves owned by the Alexander family, and were later freed. She tells a story about one of her ancestors finding a young runaway slave, who was then purchased by the Alexander family, married one of Laine's ancestors, and was freed.

Keywords: Alexander family; Ancestors; Apprentices; Blacksmiths; Buying slaves; Children; Doctors; Fathers; Forty acres; Grandfathers; Grandmothers; Great grandparents; Houses; Married; Midway (Ky.); Parents; Plantations; Runaway; Slaves; Spring Station Road (Midway, Ky.)

Subjects: African American families; African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Education.; African Americans--Employment.; African Americans--Social conditions.; Childhood; Family history.; Genealogy; Slavery; United States--Race relations.

Partial Transcript: Um, Papa lived--after he married Granny, he lived across the street--now all of this was still owned by Alexander.

Segment Synopsis: Laine talks about her ancestors' work as blacksmiths and their continued relationship with the family that once owned them. She describes her life in Midway as a child, when the school bus would not pick up the black children and they were forced to walk to school each day. She talks about the main form of recreation being spending time with her family.

Keywords: Alexander family; Bicycles; Blacksmith stores; Blacksmiths; Buses; Cincinnati Zoo; Family time; Freedom; Grandmothers; High school; Petitioning; Property; Relationships; School board; Schools; Stories; Versailles (Ky.)

Subjects: African American families; African Americans--Civil rights; African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Education.; African Americans--Recreation; African Americans--Social conditions.; Childhood; Midway (Ky.); Race discrimination.; Segregation in transportation; United States--Race relations.

Partial Transcript: Tell me about the church back in your grandmother's days.

Segment Synopsis: Laine discusses the role of the church during her childhood in comparison to its role today. She talks about the leadership provided by the church pastors, as well as the help they provided to church members and people within the community. She talks about how ministers were chosen. She tells a story about her pastor helping a woman in the community.

Keywords: Ashamed; Assistance; Awareness; Changes; Church members; Community; Conventions; Counsel; Decisions; Education; Heat; Helping; Involvement; Lexington (Ky.); Main Street Baptist Church; Midway (Ky.); Ministers; Neighborhood churches; Pastors; Pilgrim Baptist Church; Pride; Social agencies; Versailles (Ky.); Visiting; Youth choirs

Subjects: African American churches--Kentucky; African American leadership; African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Economic conditions.; African Americans--Housing.; African Americans--Religion.; African Americans--Social conditions.; Neighborhoods.

Partial Transcript: Okay, now tell me about your education.

Segment Synopsis: Laine talks about her educational background. She talks about her experiences with discrimination in Lexington prior to the civil rights movement. She talks about the places that were segregated or did not allow blacks, including stores, restaurants, and trains. She tells a story about a friend who was often mistaken for a white man. She discusses how the community in Midway differed from Lexington, saying that in Midway blacks and whites shared and helped one other.

Keywords: "Passing"; Bathrooms; Business school; College; Color lines; Community; Differences; Dr. Alexander; Equality; Frankfort (Ky.); Helping; High school; Jim Crow laws; Kentucky State University; Nursing courses; Phoenix Hotel; Protest demonstrations; Protest marches; Restaurants; Segregated stores; Sharing; Spring Station Road (Midway, Ky.); Trains; Two room schools; Versailles (Ky.); Water fountains

Subjects: African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Kentucky--Lexington--Social conditions; African Americans--Legal status, laws, etc.; African Americans--Segregation; African Americans--Social conditions.; Integration; Lexington (Ky.); Lexington (Ky.)--Race relations.; Midway (Ky.); Neighborhoods.; Neighborliness; Race discrimination.; Race relations--Kentucky--Lexington; Racism--Kentucky--Lexington; Segregation in transportation; Segregation--Kentucky--Fayette County; Segregation.; United States--Race relations.

Partial Transcript: Tell me of most of your experiences in Lexington.

Segment Synopsis: Laine describes a job she had working for a family in Lexington. She says she was hired to watch the children but was expected to take on more work when two other employees quit. She talks about the conflict she had with the mother of the family when she was asked to perform more tasks.

Keywords: Affronted; Changes; Children; Conflict; Cooking; Domestic work; Extra duties; Hillenmeyer family; Impertinent; Quitting

Subjects: African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Employment.; African Americans--Kentucky--Lexington--Social conditions; Lexington (Ky.)--Race relations.

Partial Transcript: I left there and went to work in, uh--doing displays in the window in a furniture store.

Segment Synopsis: Laine talks about working in a furniture store, where she says the discrimination was not overt but was more subtle. She talks about working at Eastern State Hospital in Lexington. She discusses the covert forms of discrimination that occurred there, including giving blacks less desirable or dirty tasks. She tells a story about her attempts to open a beauty shop for the black patients at the hospital, the resistance she met with, and the end results of her attempts.

Keywords: Activities; Age; Beauticians; Beauty shop; Covert discrimination; Discrepancies in salary; Displays; Domestic work; Eastern State Hospital; Furniture stores; Negotiation; Promotions; Segregated wards; Sorting laundry; Store owners; Tasks

Subjects: African Americans--Employment.; African Americans--Kentucky--Lexington--Social conditions; African Americans--Segregation; African Americans--Social conditions.; Discrimination in employment.; Lexington (Ky.)--Race relations.; Race discrimination.; Race relations--Kentucky--Lexington; Racism--Kentucky--Lexington; Segregation--Kentucky--Fayette County; Segregation.; Wages.

Partial Transcript: So I left there and went to Versailles, worked in the hospital which was a grand place to be.

Segment Synopsis: Laine discusses her job at the National Institute of Mental Health Clinical Research Center, which housed both prisoners and self-committed patients attempting to overcome drug addictions. She talks about the types of patients that were there, talks about her coworkers, and discusses whether she encountered any racial discrimination while working there.

Keywords: "Flower children"; "Narco"; Changes; Drug addiction; Federal Service; Federal penitentiary; Federal prisoners; Fort Worth (Tex.); Gender; Hospitals; Housing; Ingenuity; Lexington (Ky.); National Institute of Mental Health Clinical Research Center; Nurses; Population; Race; United States Narcotic Farm; Versailles (Ky.); Volunteers; Woodford County (Ky.)

Subjects: African Americans--Employment.; African Americans--Kentucky--Lexington--Social conditions; African Americans--Social conditions.; Discrimination in employment.; Lexington (Ky.)--Race relations.; Race discrimination.; Race relations--Kentucky--Lexington

Partial Transcript: Um, but as time went on they took down the barrier of letting the men stay over on one side and the women on another.

Segment Synopsis: Laine talks about experiencing discrimination based on both gender and race which resulted in black women receiving the fewest promotions. She talks about changes that occurred at the National Institute of Mental Health Clinical Research Center, including a new focus on therapy, as well as the changes that occurred when it was taken over by the justice department and made into a federal prison. She talks about why she decided to leave her job after the facility became a prison.

Keywords: Administrative staff; Attitudes; Black women; Changes; Criminals; Dangerous; Demeanor; Evaluations; Fairness; Federal crimes; Gender; Justice Department; Lieutenants; Men; Mentality; Prison staff; Prisoners; Promotions; Race; Research programs; Salary; Studying; Therapists; Therapy; Women; Working

Subjects: African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Education.; African Americans--Employment.; African Americans--Kentucky--Lexington--Social conditions; African Americans--Social conditions.; Discrimination in employment.; Lexington (Ky.)--Race relations.; Race discrimination.; Race relations--Kentucky--Lexington; Wages.

Partial Transcript: You had mentioned before that you were in Lexington right at the beginning and during the revolution. Did you take part in that?

Segment Synopsis: Laine talks about why she did not participate in the civil rights movement during the 1960s. She talks about whether she believes the movement made a difference. She says there is less overt racism now but there is still covert discrimination. She talks about many black businesses closing after integration began.

Keywords: Attitudes; Changes; Children; Closed; Covert discrimination; Family; Guidelines; Inner city; Isolation; Jim Crow segregation; Making a difference; Marching; Philosophies; Revolution; Small businesses; Stores; Supportive; Working

Subjects: African American business enterprises; African American neighborhoods; African Americans--Civil rights--Kentucky; African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Kentucky--Lexington--Social conditions; African Americans--Legal status, laws, etc.; African Americans--Social conditions.; Civil rights demonstrations; Civil rights movements--United States; Civil rights--Law and legislation; Integration; Lexington (Ky.); Lexington (Ky.)--Race relations.; Race discrimination.; Race relations--Kentucky--Lexington; Racism--Kentucky--Lexington

Partial Transcript: Tell me, um, about the quality of education now and the quality of education when you were a little girl going to school.

Segment Synopsis: Laine discusses how the quality of education has changed since her childhood. She says that teachers were more interested in their students' educations. She discusses the impact of integration on the quality of education. She discusses whether black people's lives have improved since the civil rights movement. She talks about her family's history of working in the education field, including one of her ancestors who was one of the first black certified teachers, and her grandmother who taught at Douglass School in Lexington. The interview is concluded.

Keywords: Attention; Better off; Black teachers; Boot makers; Capabilities; Caring; Certified teachers; Changes; Children; Constitution Elementary School; Covert discrimination; Deterioration; Documents; Douglass School (Lexington, Ky.); Fathers; Fayette County school system; Grandmothers; Helping; Integrated schools; Interest; Jobs; John Spencer; Learning; Lexington (Ky.); Loretta Spencer; Pressure; Problems; Quality of education; Revolution; Salary; Segregated schools; Slaves; Sons; Teaching certificate; Values; Versailles (Ky.); White teachers; Woodford County (Ky.)

Subjects: African Americans--Civil rights; African Americans--Education--Kentucky--Lexington; African Americans--Education.; African Americans--Employment.; African Americans--Kentucky--Lexington--Social conditions; African Americans--Race identity.; African Americans--Segregation; African Americans--Social conditions.; Childhood; Civil rights movements--United States; Discrimination in education.; Education--Study and teaching; Integration; Lexington (Ky.)--Race relations.; Race discrimination.; Race relations--Kentucky--Lexington; Racism--Kentucky--Lexington; Segregation in education--Kentucky; Teachers--Kentucky; Teaching