Interview with Crystal Wilkinson, August 3, 2001

Partial Transcript: The interview takes place at her office in the Carnegie Center in Lexington, Kentucky and the interviewer is Betsy Brinson.

Segment Synopsis: Wilkinson relates her background information, including some information about her grandparents. She explains that there are difficulties knowing her background for two reasons: African Americans were not able to pass along their family name, and American Indian women were known in records as "Indian squaw" without any reference to their full name or the family name.

Keywords: American Indians; Ancestors; Family; Hamilton (Ohio); Native Americans; Nikky Finney

Subjects: African Americans--Social conditions; Families.; Genealogy

Partial Transcript: You, you mentioned, um, earlier that you thought that there was some connection there with Governor Wilkinson.

Segment Synopsis: Wilkinson discusses her family's connection with the ancestors of Governor Wilkinson.

Keywords: Ancestors; Family; Governor Wallace Wilkinson

Subjects: Families.; Genealogy; Politicians; Wilkinson, Wallace G.

Partial Transcript: Tell me a little bit about your grandfather.

Segment Synopsis: Wilkinson's grandfather was Silas Wilkinson, who quit school in order to care for his siblings. Although he did not have a lot of formal education, he could read to a certain extent, and calculate.

Keywords: Ancestors; Family; Grandfathers; Silas Wilkinson

Subjects: Education; Families.; Genealogy

Partial Transcript: We were talking about, um, how you and Nikky Finney both, I think, speak like writers.

Segment Synopsis: Wilkinson discusses the level of diction that a writer uses, and names some writers whom she likes to listen to.

Keywords: Language; Nikki Finney; Speaking; Voices

Subjects: Authors.; Finney, Nikky; Writing

Partial Transcript: Yeah, there was a lot of corn in the other one.

Segment Synopsis: Wilkinson begins to describe her grandmother.

Keywords: Ancestors; Family; Grandmothers; Nikki Finney

Subjects: Families.; Genealogy

Partial Transcript: Um, Indian Creek, given that you think there's Indian ancestry--

Segment Synopsis: There is a brief story about visitors to the farm collecting arrowheads.

Keywords: "Indian Creek"; Arrowheads

Subjects: Family farms

Partial Transcript: Go back to telling me about your grandmother.

Segment Synopsis: Wilkinson describes her grandmother as more like a mother to her than her mother was. Her grandmother had to deal with racism.

Keywords: Ancestors; Discrimination; Family; Grandmothers; Integration; Racism; Segregation

Subjects: African Americans--Social conditions; Civil rights; Families.; Genealogy; Grandmothers; Race discrimination; Segregation in education