Blog Post #5: Day Five
Day Five
“In every conceivable manner, the family is (the) link to our past, bridge to our future.” -
Alex Haley
As I stated in my previous post, I decided to interview a couple of people to demonstrate
what an oral history assignment for the African-American Studies Program could look like
and also to add on to the theme of being inclusive of different narratives of African-
American people. So, over the weekend, I had the opportunity to interview my great-aunt
Willa about her life growing up in the South during the 30's, 40's, and early 50's, her
journey moving up to Cleveland during the Second Great Migration (1940s-1970s), and her
experience with segregation during this time. The interview went very well and I personally
learned a lot about the life of my great-aunt and how different my generation is from her
generation. To start off the interview, I asked her questions about her childhood and what
life was like growing up in Aliceville, Alabama (the town where the maternal side of my
family originates from). She explained that she was born in October 1934 and was the
youngest of seven siblings and she grew up on a 40-acre farm (that was passed down from
the 600 acres that their grandfather, Pa Bob Richey, owned) that grew many crops and
fruits, like corn, cotton, potatoes, figs, grapes, blackberries, pears, and peaches, and raised
livestock, like cattle, chickens, pigs, and turkeys. The fig tree was her favorite out of all the
fruit orchards and whenever her mother would call her to finish chores
around the house and farm, she would climb up the tree, hide on a certain branch while
eating a fig or two, and then after a while, she would climb down and tell her mother
that she didn't hear her (even though she heard her clearly)! As far as her community and
school life, she lived in a segregated, all-Black community with schools that were very fine in
quality but very far in walking distance and when she was younger, she and one of her
older sisters would walk a certain distance and wait for one of their teacher's to come and
pick them up and take them to school. Her community didn't even have a school bus to
transport the children to school until 1952, when my great-aunt was a senior. And do you
know who drove the children to school during her senior year? My great-aunt (Shocker,
right?). However, the bus that she received was used by a white community living in
Aliceville and was very worn down by the time that she had received the bus (The bus had
no side mirrors, no brakes, and had a very low driver's seat). Because the bus was in such
poor condition, my great-aunt had an accident where she was turning left onto a main street
but couldn't see a car with a White man and Black man that was turning in the same
direction as her and accidentally knocked the car down into a ditch. When the state
patrolman was called onto the scene, my aunt became very scared. However, the state
patrolman examined the scene of the accident further and found that the bus was in poor
condition and told my great-aunt, "Get in the bus, girl, and take the children home." It was
a very scary moment for her especially looking back on it as an adult and now having the
knowledge of how dangerous situations like this were for Black people living in the South.
She also told me that even though she didn't pray as much as she does now when she was
younger, she finally understood why her mother would pray for her protection everyday
because this situation could've easily ended in tragedy.
On segregation and racism, my great-aunt Willa explained that she never really thought
about the segregation that she and her community were imposed under because she never
really had anything to compare it to. Of course, she, her family, and other African-American
people living in Alabama knew their boundaries whenever they traveled to the city of
Tuscaloosa on the weekends due to Jim Crow laws and segregationist policies (ie: "Whites
Only" and "Negroes Allowed"). Something that really touched me and made me
think about things that I take for granted sometimes is that one of the things that she
really wanted to do in her youth but couldn't do because of segregation was go to the soda
fountain and drink a soda. I reflected on a memory of one of my friends and I going out to
Sweet Moses: Soda Fountain and Treat Shop in August 2016 to have some ice cream and
sodas and thought about how my friend who accompanied me (who is also African-
American) and I were able to be seated and order ice cream and a soda freely without
being told that we don't belong here or seeing a "Whites Only" sign that prevented us from
being able to enjoy a simple snack and drink. My great-aunt had to watch with longing
eyes as White people were able to walk into the soda shop and order different sodas in
Tuscaloosa and wouldn't be able to drink from a soda fountain until she moved to
Cleveland in 1952.
She moved to Cleveland right after she graduated high school to be with her other siblings
who had moved up there earlier and in search of more opportunity since the only thing that
she saw in her community in Aliceville was farming (and she knew that farming wasn't for
her). So, taking the 24 hour trip to move to Cleveland by train since interstate highways
weren't introduced until President Eisenhower was elected, she rode on a segregated train
car and made her way to Cleveland to start her new life with many other African-American
families in what is know now as the Second Great Migration. When she arrived, she was
greeted by her family and adjusted to her community and the opportunities available.
However, as she started to see new opportunities, her eyes also started to see and realize
the magnitude at which segregation and racism really affected Black people right after the
murder of Emmett Till and the arrest of Rosa Parks in Montgomery, AL. She realized just
how bad racism really affected Black people and the violence and terror that they were
subjected to. Her parents never really talked about it with them and the media didn't really
report coverage of racist incidents and offer commentary on until after Till's death. As the
interview came to a close, I thanked my great-aunt for offering me a glimpse into her life
and for providing me with information that I would have never know had I not interviewed
her.
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