Interviewer : Natalie Garza

Project : University of Houston

Lucy Jackson begins with her early education at St. Nicholas School, her family’s background information, and her parent’s decision to send her to Catholic school. Walking every day to mass and then school, she describes the curriculum, extracurricular activities and teachers, a mixtures of laypeople and clergy. Lucy compares the use of punishment then to present-day, saying that whippings were common by parents, teachers, and neighbors. After attending Texas Southern University, Lucy Jackson went back to St. Nicholas to teach third grade for a small payment, and recalls the hardships of being a single mother. Lucy names various organizations of the Catholic Church and the charitable works they participate in around their community. Ms. Jackson ends with a few thoughts on the current state of St. Nicholas Church, the decline of parishioners, and the importance of preserving the church.