Interview with Olive Burroughs, June 30, 1999

Partial Transcript: Okay, let's try that again. Sorry about that.

Segment Synopsis: Burroughs discusses her childhood, background, and family history in Daviess County, Kentucky. She describes her grandmother, Naomi James, and her parents, Minnie and Leroy James. Her mother was a patrol lady and her father worked for Puremilk Company as a machine operator. She has two brothers and one sister. She describes the different schools that she attended, including a Catholic school on 7th street, Western High School, Longfellow High School, and Owensboro High School. She discusses her first encounter with racism as an African American in the all-white school of Longfellow.

Keywords: Daviess County (Ky.); Education; Family; Integration; Owensboro (Ky.); Racism; Segregation

Subjects: African Americans--Education.; African Americans--Social conditions.; Childhood; Families.; Family history; Race discrimination.; Race relations--Kentucky; Racism

Partial Transcript: What, what was your, uh, family's a, attitude toward education when you were growing up?

Segment Synopsis: Burroughs describes her family's views and the African American community's view toward education. She says that they all felt that education was very important. She believes that Western High School produced many bright and well-educated students.

Keywords: Education; Family; Segregation

Subjects: African Americans--Education.; African Americans--Segregation; African Americans--Social conditions.; Families.

Partial Transcript: Um, was the church an important part of your family's life?

Segment Synopsis: Burroughs discusses the relationship between her family and the church. They attended Fourth Street Baptist Church. They were involved in many programs and events including: the choir, vacation Bible school, bake sales, queen competitions, and dinners. Her father was a part of a church musical group called the "Traveling Notes."

Keywords: Church; Family

Subjects: African American churches; African Americans--Recreation; African Americans--Religion.; African Americans--Social life and customs.; Families.

Partial Transcript: Okay, um, what, what are some of your earliest impressions of, of life in Owensboro when you were young?

Segment Synopsis: Burroughs discusses her encounters with racism growing up. She says that it did not really affect her. She does describe having to sit up in the balcony of the movie theater before integration.

Keywords: Childhood; Racism; Segregation

Subjects: African Americans--Segregation; African Americans--Social conditions.; Childhood; Race discrimination.; Racism

Partial Transcript: And, what, what are some of your impressions of Owensboro--not, not necessarily race related--when you were growing up, let's say the parks and things like that. What do you remember about your social life when you were young?

Segment Synopsis: Burroughs describes the aspects of her social life when she was young which she holds in a very positive light. She mentions being a member of Brownies and Girl Scouts, going to the parks, tap dancing, skating, sledding at the Elm Street hill, baking with her mother, and going to different festivals and events.

Keywords: Childhood; Family; Social life

Subjects: African Americans--Recreation; African Americans--Social life and customs.; African Americans--Societies, etc.; Childhood; Families.; Manners and customs

Partial Transcript: How, uh--you, you talked about, uh, the community a little bit. How would you describe the, uh, African American community physically back then?

Segment Synopsis: Burroughs describes the African American community in Owensboro, which she divides into five specific, geographic locations: Snow Hill, Strawberry Ridge, Middle Town, Mechanicsville, and Baptist Town. She also describes the various occupations of the community members, of which ministers, teachers, doctors, and lawyers were most respected.

Keywords: "Baptist Town"; "Mechanicsville"; "Middle Town"; "Snow Hill"; "Strawberry Ridge"; African American community; Black community; Jobs; Occupations; Work

Subjects: African American neighborhoods; African Americans--Employment.; African Americans--Social conditions.

Partial Transcript: What are some of your most positive memories of your school days?

Segment Synopsis: Burroughs describes her positive experiences in school during her childhood. She remarks that she enjoyed playing in the band, participating in plays, and having a strong African American community and leaders. She says that she really has no negative memories. Even her experiences in Longfellow were beneficial to her growth as a person.

Keywords: Childhood; Education; Segregation

Subjects: African American leadership; African Americans--Education.; African Americans--Recreation; African Americans--Segregation; African Americans--Social conditions.; Childhood

Partial Transcript: How would you des, describe the, the quality of your schooling, let's say, uh, in the black schools first or--and then later on changed? Did the quality changed drastically?

Segment Synopsis: Burroughs recalls that she saw no difference in the quality of education among the many schools that she attended. She then describes various teachers who were African American, including: Miss Hunt, Miss Jones, Miss Smith, and Miss Howard.

Keywords: Childhood; Education; Grades; Schooling; Segregation

Subjects: African American teachers.; African Americans--Education.; African Americans--Segregation; African Americans--Social conditions.; Childhood

Partial Transcript: Um, were you involved in the sports or any extracurricular activities when you were--

Segment Synopsis: Burroughs discusses the many activities that she was involved with in school, including Girl Scouts, French Club, the band, and track and field. She also discusses integration. She says that she believes it was good and necessary but there was a loss of "closeness" and "ownership" among the African American students as they entered a school with a white majority.

Keywords: Childhood; Education; Extracurricular activities; Grades; Schooling; Sports; Student activities

Subjects: African Americans--Education.; African Americans--Recreation; African Americans--Segregation; African Americans--Social conditions.; Childhood; Integration; School integration--Kentucky; Segregation in education.

Partial Transcript: Do you know what happened to, uh--when they did make the transition, do you know what happened to any of the black teachers and administrators who had been in like the all-black schools, um, what changes were made, or were you surprised by the changes that were made?

Segment Synopsis: Burroughs describes the transition of African American teachers once the schools integrated. She says that there were several that taught at Owensboro High School. She also says that most African American high school graduates went to Kentucky State University and most came back to Owensboro initially. She says that now most graduates do not come back to Owensboro.

Keywords: Education; Integration; Out-migration; Teachers

Subjects: African American teachers.; African Americans--Education.; African Americans--Segregation; African Americans--Social conditions.; Integration

Partial Transcript: When you were, uh--during the sixties, uh, most of the neighborhoods in Owensboro were, were pretty much segregated, still somewhat, then open housing came in.

Segment Synopsis: Burroughs recalls that neighborhoods during her childhood were very segregated. She did not really know of any racial violence, as her parents kept their family very sheltered. She does remember discrimination in places like the movie theater and the soda shop. She tells the story of how she went to sit at the counter at the soda shop as a kid when African Americans were not allowed. She says that she experienced no major racial confrontations or violence.

Keywords: "Hanging of Owensboro"; Integration; Neighborhoods; Open housing; Racial violence; Racism; Segregation

Subjects: African American neighborhoods; African Americans--Segregation; African Americans--Social conditions.; Childhood; Owensboro (Ky.); Race discrimination.; Race relations--Kentucky; Racism

Partial Transcript: Um, as the civil rights movement, uh, was, uh--grew in Owensboro and Daviess County, uh, looking back, uh, who were some of the main, uh, leaders that you can recall from this area?

Segment Synopsis: Burroughs recalls several of the civil rights leaders in Owensboro, including Estelle Moss, Mr. Phil, Dr, P. G. Walker, C. T. Ashby, Miss Talbort, Mr. Perkins, Mr. Kendall, and James Mason. They were heavily involved in setting up the NAACP, community centers, sit-ins and protests, and community activities.

Keywords: Civil rights movements; Daviess County (Ky); Owensboro (Ky); Racism

Subjects: African American leadership; African Americans--Civil rights--Kentucky; African Americans--Segregation; African Americans--Social conditions.; Civil rights movements--United States; Integration; Racism

Partial Transcript: Did, did you know of any role that the Catholic church might have played in the civil rights movement here?

Segment Synopsis: Burroughs describes the support provided by the Catholic church and the white population in Owensboro for the civil rights movement. She says that she was not aware of any assistance by the Catholic church. She also says that there really was not a lot of active support by the white population, although Mayor Whitman Taylor did give some support.

Keywords: Catholic churches; Civil rights; Civil rights movement

Subjects: African Americans--Segregation; African Americans--Social conditions.; Catholic Church; Civil rights movements--United States; Race relations--Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Looking back, what would you see as some of the most positive accomplishments of African Americans in Owensboro or Daviess County?

Segment Synopsis: Burroughs describes the positive accomplishments of African Americans in Daviess County, specifically the election of Reverend Mike Rowland, the Neblitt Community Center provided by Dr. Neblitt and his wife, the creation of the West End Community Center, Don Asley's involvement in the community, and the civil rights movement.

Keywords: African American history; Owensboro (Ky)

Subjects: African American leadership; African Americans--Civil rights--Kentucky; African Americans--History; Civil rights movements--United States; Daviess County (Ky.)