Interview with Gussie F. Johnston, October 23, 1988

Partial Transcript: Ms. Johnston, tell me your whole name.

Segment Synopsis: Johnston talks about her parents and what she knows about her ancestry. She talks about moving to McRoberts, Kentucky from Tennessee. Her father worked in the coal mines as a coal loader, a fire boss, and a foreman. She talks about how she didn't worry when she was younger and realized later just how dangerous it was, though her father was never injured. She describes what McRoberts was like when she was young.

Keywords: Ancestry; Coal companies; Coal miners; Family; Farming; Fathers; Fire bosses; Houses; Kentucky; McRoberts (Ky.); Mine accidents; Mothers; Moving; Roads

Subjects: Appalachians (People)--Kentucky--Social conditions; Coal mines and mining--Appalachian Region; Families.; Genealogy

Partial Transcript: Did you all have, uh, black people living in McRoberts?

Segment Synopsis: Johnston talks about the black people and immigrants who lived in McRoberts. She talks about how her parents were harder on the girls than the boys, though the boys and girls often played together.

Keywords: Baseball; Boardinghouses; Boys; Brothers; Chores; Drinking; Fathers; Foreigners; Games; Girls; Hungarians; Immigrants; Italians; Playing; Sex; Sisters; Smoking; Work

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Social life and customs; Appalachians (People)--Kentucky--Social conditions; Country life

Partial Transcript: And do you remember Christmases back in McRoberts?

Segment Synopsis: Johnston talks about what Christmases were like, and how people interacted. She talks about the teachers in McRoberts. She went off to business school and had to work for her room and board, and her brothers worked to help pay for her tuition.

Keywords: Black people; Brothers; Business schools; Christmas; Churches; Clothes; College; Company stores; Foreigners; Great Depression; Money; Movies; Recreation buildings; Room and board; Teachers; Tuition; Women; Working

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Social life and customs; Appalachians (People)--Kentucky--Social conditions; Country life

Partial Transcript: How long were you here at --(??)--.

Segment Synopsis: Johnston talks about her difficulty in finding a job after graduating from business school. She talks about her mother's involvement in the church and how she would quilt with other women and a man who was a teacher. She talks about her parents disagreeing about politics.

Keywords: Activities; Churches; Graduating; Housekeeping; Jobs; Laundry; Mothers; Parents; Politics; Quilting; Radio; Scopes Trial; Teachers; Tennessee; Voting

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Social life and customs; Appalachians (People)--Kentucky--Social conditions; Country life

Partial Transcript: Um, when your mom was upset, who would she be more likely to turn to?

Segment Synopsis: Johnston talks about her parents disciplining her and her siblings, and talks more about her father working in the mines. She talks about how sad it made her to see how poor her family was when she came back from Lexington. She talks about the violence that happened when the unions were organizing, and working for the prosecution when all the violence was taking place.

Keywords: Dads; Fathers; Friends; Jobs; Lawyers; Mothers; Murders; Neighbors; Poverty; Prosecution; Singing school; United Mine Workers; Violence; Work

Subjects: Appalachians (People)--Kentucky--Social conditions; Coal miners--Labor unions--Kentucky; Coal mines and mining--Appalachian Region; Country life; United Mine Workers of America

Partial Transcript: Did you, uh, see the company doctor pretty often?

Segment Synopsis: Johnston talks about going to the company doctor. She talks about her parents' marriage and how they were equal and didn't fight much.

Keywords: Brothers; Divorce; Doctors; Family; Females; Males; Marriages; Medical care; Mines

Subjects: Appalachians (People)--Kentucky--Social conditions; Families.