Interview with Dorothy Perkins, undated

Partial Transcript: Well, let's just start by, um--if you'll just, uh, talk to Miss El--and tell her you full name and if you will, uh, how old you are.

Segment Synopsis: Dorothy Perkins is introduced. She talks about her family, her educational background, and her experiences growing up in Lexington.

[This segment contains several minor audio interruptions.]

Keywords: Age; Boyfriends; Buses; Children; Classes; Dunbar High School; George Washington Carver Elementary School; Married; Mothers; Ms. Taylor; Parents; Picking fruit; Pralltown; Rules; Siblings; Sisters; Sneaking; Streetcars; Strict; Teachers

Subjects: African American families; African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Education.; African Americans--Social life and customs.; Childhood; Fayette County (Ky.); Lexington (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Do you remember, uh, when th, there was a race track in East End? A horse racing track?

Segment Synopsis: Perkins talks about going to a racetrack as a child, and describes going to the "Colored fair" which she says was similar to fairs today. She talks about the games they played as children.

Keywords: "Colored fairs"; Baseball; East End Lexington; Games; Jump rope; Marbles; Racetracks; Red Mile; Rides; Singing

Subjects: African American families; African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Kentucky--Lexington--Social conditions; African Americans--Recreation; African Americans--Segregation; African Americans--Social conditions.; African Americans--Social life and customs.; Childhood

Partial Transcript: When you got older you went to Dunbar.

Segment Synopsis: Perkins talks about the various places she has worked over the years, including a tobacco factory and a restaurant. She talks about where she learned to cook.

Keywords: Age; Cooking; Hemp factories; Jobs; Meals; Mothers; Restaurants; Siblings; Tobacco factories; Women; Working

Subjects: African American families; African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Economic conditions.; African Americans--Employment.; African Americans--Social conditions.

Partial Transcript: You grew up in the church you said.

Segment Synopsis: Perkins discusses her affiliation with churches in Lexington. She talks about her mother and father's ethnic heritage.

Keywords: Choirs; Church; Consolidated Baptist Church; Ethnic background; Heritage; Irish; Leaving; Native American; Singing

Subjects: African American churches--Kentucky; African American families; African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Genealogy.; African Americans--Religion.

Partial Transcript: So when you were about--(coughs)--I wanted to know more about Deweese Street cause when I was younger they still had, you know you--they've torn it away now but there was still some of it left.

Segment Synopsis: Perkins describes the clubs, restaurants, and stores that were once located on Deweese Street in Lexington. She talks about the clothing styles that were popular during her childhood. She talks about where people went dancing in town.

Keywords: American Legion; Bands; Broomstick skirts; Club Hurricane; Dancing; Deweese Street; Dixieland; Limestone Street; Pants; Restaurants; Sneaking; Suits; Tropicana; Weekends

Subjects: African American business enterprises; African American neighborhoods; African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Recreation; African Americans--Social conditions.; African Americans--Social life and customs.; Clothing and dress.; Fashion.; Lexington (Ky.)--Buildings, structures, etc.

Partial Transcript: Now what about the Lyric, cause they--did you go there?

Segment Synopsis: Perkins talks about theaters in Lexington, both for stage shows and films. She talks about which theaters were segregated, and describes having to go upstairs to see shows.

Keywords: Ada Meade Theater; Ben Ali Theater; Children; Cost; Crowds; Kentucky Theater; Lexington Opera House; Lyric Theater; Main Street; Movies; Remodeling; Stage shows; State Theater; Theaters; Upstairs

Subjects: African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Kentucky--Lexington--Social conditions; African Americans--Recreation; African Americans--Segregation; African Americans--Social conditions.; African Americans--Social life and customs.; Lexington (Ky.)--Buildings, structures, etc.; Lexington (Ky.)--Race relations.; Race discrimination.; Race relations--Kentucky--Lexington; Racism--Kentucky--Lexington

Partial Transcript: When, uh, when you were younger were you interested in the horse racing business at all?

Segment Synopsis: Perkins talks about the racetrack that was torn down to create the Aspendale Housing Project. She talks about running her own business out of her home selling food and candy to children after church. She talks about her role as deaconess at the Greater Soul Deliverance Church.

Keywords: Ash Street; Aspendale Housing Project; Charlotte Court; Children; Deaconess; East End Lexington; Grocery stores; Head cook; Horse racing; Housing projects; Isaac Burns Murphy; Jobs; Kentucky Derby; Martin Luther King Boulevard; Meetings; Money; Race tracks; Rand Avenue; Roles; Selling; Stores

Subjects: African American business enterprises; African American churches--Kentucky; African American neighborhoods; African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Economic conditions.; African Americans--Employment.; African Americans--Housing.; African Americans--Religion.; Lexington (Ky.)--Buildings, structures, etc.

Partial Transcript: Te--tell me about your family, about your children and grandchildren.

Segment Synopsis: Perkins talks about her children, and their children and grandchildren. She talks about their annual family reunions, which families attend, and where they meet. She talks more about the jobs she has held and the business she ran at her house to support her family.

Keywords: Assistance; Businesses; Charlotte Court; Cheaper; Children; Cost; Daughters; Divorced; Dunn family; Family reunions; Georgetown Street; Grandchildren; Jobs; Married; McCann family; Perkins family; Smith family; Sons

Subjects: African American families; African American neighborhoods; African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Genealogy.; African Americans--Recreation; African Americans--Social life and customs.

Partial Transcript: Well, tell me some things about Lexington, like about race relations and stuff like that.

Segment Synopsis: Perkins discusses the relationships between Blacks and Whites in Lexington during her childhood and adolescence, which included name-calling and segregation at restaurants and other businesses. She talks about watching people in line at soup kitchens during the Great Depression, and how her own family survived. She talks about the changes that have occurred which resulted in Barack Obama's election as president.

Keywords: Brothers; Changes; Farms; Gardens; Government; Grandfathers; Great Depression; Improvement; Lunch counters; Mercer County (Ky.); Racial slurs; Restaurants; Retaliation; Shakertown; Soup kitchens

Subjects: African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Economic conditions.; African Americans--Segregation; African Americans--Social conditions.; Depressions--1929; Lexington (Ky.)--Race relations.; Obama, Barack. African American families; Race discrimination.; Race relations--Kentucky--Lexington; Racism--Kentucky--Lexington

Partial Transcript: If you were talking to young people and just giving them advice about how to live a good life, what would you say to them?

Segment Synopsis: Perkins talks about what advice she would give young people. She tells a story about being kicked out of school after being sent to jail for fighting another girl. She talks more about race relations in Lexington.

Keywords: Advice; Boys; Conflict; Expelled; Fathers; Fighting; Jail; Jealousy; Kicked out; Pralltown; School; Short Street; Skin color; Trouble; Young people

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

Partial Transcript: What else you want to tell us?

Segment Synopsis: Perkins talks about the first outfit she bought with her wages from her first job. She talks more about segregation in Lexington. She talks about where she would go to the doctor, discusses her experiences with childbirth, and discusses the quality of the doctors in the area.

Keywords: Black doctors; Cost; Doctors; Dr. Bush Hunter; Dr. Coleman; Dr. Whethers; Harts Drugstore; Home births; Hospitals; Lexington Clinic; Lunch counters; Police; Shoes; Tobacco factories; Upper Street; Wages; Walgreen's Drugstore; White doctors

Subjects: African American physicians--Kentucky--Lexington; African Americans--Conduct of life.; African Americans--Economic conditions.; African Americans--Kentucky--Lexington--Social conditions; African Americans--Segregation; African Americans--Social conditions.; Childbirth; Clothing and dress.; Lexington (Ky.)--Race relations.; Race discrimination.; Race relations--Kentucky--Lexington; Racism--Kentucky--Lexington

Partial Transcript: Who, um--were there any Black people who you especially, uh, looked up to or admired when you were young?

Segment Synopsis: Perkins discusses her role models as a child, and talks about what she knew of Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, and Malcolm X. She talks about dating a soldier. She discusses her current living situation. The interview is concluded.

Keywords: Admiration; Army; Assassinations; Dating; Friends; Grace Apostolic Church; Health; John F. Kennedy; Living; Malcolm X; Martin Luther King Jr.; Names; Politics; Role models; Soldiers

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