Interview with James Victor, January 5, 2018

Partial Transcript: Okay, today is Friday, January 5th, 2018, and I am at the home of James Victor

Segment Synopsis: Victor discusses his family's background. His mom was a stay at home mom and his dad worked as a dry cleaner. Victor is the oldest, then a brother and sister pair of twins, and then another younger brother after that. His parents were high school dropouts so they emphasized education for their children. Victor's sister had a physical disability so one of his brothers needed to stay with his grandparents close by. Victor's family attended Moore's Baptist Church. His class was the first class to go to Attucks High School for six years, from the seventh to twelfth grade. His family had a connection to a farm that produced a lot of black eyed peas. Victor goes on to talk about his grandparents.

Keywords: African American families; Amputations; Artificial legs; Black American history; Black eyed peas; Black families; Homemakers; Housewives; Physical disabilities; Prosthesis; Stay at home moms; Stay at home mothers

Subjects: African American history; Agriculture.; Alcohol.; Brothers and sisters.; Christianity.; Churches.; Cooking.; Disabilities.; Dry cleaning industry.; Dry cleaning.; Families.; Family history.; Farms.; Food habits.; Food.; Home.; Hopkinsville (Ky.); Jobs.; Kentucky--History.; Labor.; Marriage.; Occupations.; Religion.; Vocations.; Work.

Partial Transcript: Okay, um, as I mentioned earlier, part of this project is to save some of the stories and memories of Hopkinsville's black economy, which was at, at one point pretty vibrant

Segment Synopsis: Victor mentions how the 13th amendment wasn't ratified in Kentucky until 1977. Victor mentions that barbershops and beauty shops were big. He discusses Dr. Fraiser and his swimming pool. He describes his scout troop experiences. They went to Kentucky Lake and camped for two weeks. Their scout master did the cooking. He describes the cabins and state park.

Keywords: African American businesses; African American communities; African American owned businesses; Barbershops; Beauty shops; Black communities; Black owned businesses; Businesses; Cabins; Camping; Camps; Churches; Scout troops; Swimming

Subjects: African American business enterprises.; African American history; Black people--Segregation; Boy scouts.; Discrimination.; Fishing.; Hopkinsville (Ky.); Kentucky Lake (Ky. and Tenn.); Kentucky--History.; Minorities.; Race discrimination.; Racism against Black people; Racism.; Segregation.; Swimming pools.

Partial Transcript: Um, in the for, in the forties and the fifties in the period that you can remember as your childhood, were there many visible markers in Hopkinsville that stated segregation

Segment Synopsis: Victor says he doesn't recall visible signs of segregation, but that it was unspoken knowledge. He worked at Major Dray's Drugstore and he remembers a lunchroom counter that he never saw a black person at. Victor's job was to run the money from the branch offices of his workplace to the main location. He discusses working at a funeral home. There were verbal confrontations if a black person disobeyed segregation or stepped out of line. The proliferation of the black community helped shield him from racism during his childhood.

Keywords: African American businesses; African American communities; African American doctors; African American owned businesses; Black business districts; Black businesses; Black communities; Black doctors; Black owned businesses; Graves; Inequalities; Inequality; Jobs; Lawyers; Occupations; Work; Working

Subjects: African American business enterprises.; African American history; Black people--Segregation; Burial.; Cemeteries.; Coffins.; Discrimination.; Drugstores.; Funeral homes; Hearses (Vehicles); Hopkinsville (Ky.); Kentucky--History.; Minorities.; Race discrimination.; Racism against Black people; Racism.; Segregation.

Partial Transcript: How did you feel about your high school?

Segment Synopsis: Victor thought his high school provided a good experience and had good teachers. His basketball coach taught industrial arts. Victor majored in industrial education as an undergraduate at Kentucky State University and got his master's in industrial arts at Eastern Kentucky University, and then a rank one at Murray State. After graduating, Victor taught in the Christian County public school system for seventeen years. Victor also took on contracting work. He describes his coach. Victor also discusses his teaching experience, and some of the stereotypes and biases people held against him.

Keywords: African American educators; African American students; African American teachers; African Americans in higher education; Black American history; Black educators; Black people--Education (Higher); Black students; Black teachers; Colleges and universities; Drafting; Graduate schools; Public schools; Shop classes; Woodworking

Subjects: African American history.; African Americans--Education (Higher); African Americans--Education.; Black people--Education.; Black people--Segregation.; Discrimination.; Eastern Kentucky University.; Education.; Higher education.; Hopkinsville (Ky.); Industrial arts.; Kentucky State University.; Kentucky--History.; Manual training.; Minorities.; Murray State University.; Race discrimination.; Racism against Black people.; Racism.; Segregation.; Teachers.; Teaching.; Woodshops.

Partial Transcript: What are, uh, some things from, uh, that period that you want people to remember, what do you think is important about, you know, period of the fifties and the, and the sixties when the country was experiencing so much change

Segment Synopsis: Victor thinks Hopkinsville was a little bit late to the civil rights movement. He mentions some local leaders who were brave during this time, those who spoke out talked about basic equality, including an inequity in textbooks, funding, and teacher pay. Victor marched with MLK in 1964. Victor discusses a book written by MLK's sister. He talks about his wife Janet, who he met in college, and her family, as well as his two children and their jobs and education. Victor also talks about his two grandchildren.

Keywords: African American communities; African American families; African Americans in higher education; Black American history; Black communities; Black families; Black people in higher education; Graphic design; Marching.; Marriages; Ministries; Pastors; Police academies; Preachers; Protests; Samuel Dewitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union; Seminaries

Subjects: African American history; African Americans--Education (Higher); African Americans--Education.; Black people--Education.; Black people--Segregation; Books.; Christianity.; Civil rights movement.; Clergy.; Columbia University; Cornell University; Discrimination.; Engineering.; Family history.; Farris, Christine King, 1927-; Franklin (Ky.); Henderson County (Ky.); Hopkinsville (Ky.); Kentucky--History.; King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968.; Lexington (Ky.); Marches.; Marching.; Minorities.; North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University; Paris (Ky.); Police.; Race discrimination.; Racism against Black people; Racism.; Religion.; Segregation.; University of Miami. School of Engineering and Architecture; Virginia Union University (Richmond, Va.); Wesley Theological Seminary; Wives.

Partial Transcript: So, when we think about this oral history project, is there anything that's important about Hopkinsville, uh, your experience in Hopkinsville that maybe I should have asked you about that I didn't?

Segment Synopsis: Victor says the town is completely different for White people and African Americans. He discusses some general comments about racism. Victor comments that it's tough not to group people. He been the chairman of the local development corporation in Hopkinsville for about ten years and he discusses what he does as the chairman. Victor thinks the community needs to continue to develop Hopkinsville.

Keywords: African American communities; African American leaders; Black communities; Black leaders; Business development; Businesses; Chairmen; City Councils; Economic growth; Housing projects; Job opportunities; Local Development Corporation; Politics; Racial biases; Stereotypes

Subjects: African American business enterprises.; African American history.; Black people--Segregation.; Discrimination.; Economic development.; Education.; Hopkinsville (Ky.); Kentucky--History.; Minorities.; Race discrimination.; Racism against Black people.; Racism.; Segregation.