Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): Debbie HarwellProject: University of HoustonJudge Anderson graduated from Yates High School in 1958. Coming from one of Texas’ early founding families in Sealy, he also offers the unique perspective of someone who attended high in both the integrated North and the segregated South. He discusses the difference in education between the two, and the impact that Yates teachers will able to have as an integral part of the community. He details college, Air...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): Debbie HarwellProject: University of HoustonRev. Dickson graduated from Yates High School in 1958. He was born and raised in the Third Ward and discusses his experiences growing up in the area and the role Yates and its teachers and principal played in the community. He offers a description of how the decline in community spirit and cohesiveness that occurred with the opening of the new Yates High School building and the removal of the principal in...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): Lauran-Kerr HeralyProject: University of HoustonDr. Tricia Elliott was born in Jamaica and moved to the United States when she was eight. Following high school, she went to medical school at UTMB in Galveston where she decided to go into family medicine. Dr. Elliott did her residency and internship at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx and following her three years stayed on as a physician and faculty member. She moved back to Houston in 2002, and at...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): Reed AmadonProject: University of HoustonBeatrice Green was able to give a context to the Yates High School experience; Beatrice is a reflection of the strong Black Third Ward community that developed as a result of segregation and isolation. Her work as a Governess of the James Baker home shows the employment opportunities available at the time and her ability to deal with the role and to thrive in the position. Her involvement in the integration of...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): Lauran-Kerr HeralyProject: University of HoustonDr. Kathy Scott-Gurnell was born in Houston, went to college at UT in Austin, then followed with medical school at UTMB in Galveston. She did her residency and pediatrics internship at UT Medical School in Houston, and eventually shifted disciplines to work as a child psychiatrist. She talks about African Americans working twice as hard both in school and in their professional lives. Dr. Scott-Gurnell...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): Anna BurkeProject: University of HoustonBill and Edith Holland are the children of former Yates High School principal William Holland, an activist in the Houston Educational Civil Rights Movement. His activism pushed for the equality of white and black HISD schools in the face of heavy opposition and segregation. Bill and Edith talk about their father’s formative years in Indiana, about segregation in Houston and their father’s activism at Yates High...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): Reed AmadonProject: University of HoustonDeloris offered an insight into the class of 1958 at Yates High School. She was a student who lived through the civil rights activities and was propelled into involvement when she went off to college. Her life as an active student in a strong spirited school was contrasted with her inability to sit in a downtown restaurant or ride a bus outside the “colored” seats. She was a happy, intelligent student who lived...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): Debbie HarwellProject: University of HoustonDeloris Johnson and Napoleon Johnson were classmates at Yates High School. This interview was intended to be a preliminary meeting with several members of the Class of 1958. Deloris and Napoleon discuss some of their experiences as students at Yates. Some parts of the interview include a discussion of future interview logistics such as what themes should be discussed, and identifying others from the class...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): Lauran-Kerr HeralyProject: University of HoustonDr. Latisha Smith was born in Detroit, MI, attended Michigan State for undergrad then Hahnemann University in Philadelphia for medical school. She returned to Michigan for her residency and training where she specialized in internal medicine. Dr. Smith discusses her influences in going into the medical field. She focused her early career on public health service, moving to different communities in...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): Ernesto ValdesProject: University of HoustonManning Mpinduzi-Mott is the Assistant Technical Director of Zilkha Hall at The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts where his primary function is as the house electrician. He grew up in Houston, raised in the 5th ward, graduated from Jack Yates, and has been involved in theater for much of his life. In this interview, Mr. Mpinduzi-Mott discusses the reasoning for replacing The Music Hall with a new...

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Pamela Walker is an educator, author, activist, and one of the founders of Houston’s Bayou City Farmers’ Market. Pamela Walker was interviewed on September 30, 2010. The interview was conducted by Andrew Reiser on behalf of the Oral History of Houston Project, Center for Public History, University of Houston. The interview is available at M.D. Anderson Library on the main campus of the university.

Scope and Contents Ms. Shirley Granger was born in Hungerford, Texas in the 1930s. She and her siblings grew up in a strongly religious household where family values shaped her many experiences with cooking and family interaction. As a child, she and her sister Marva lived for two years with an aunt in Los Angeles. Upon their return to Wharton County, the girls had to readjust to Texas schooling which did not offer as many opportunities as the school they attended in Los Angeles. Ms. Granger, always interested...

Scope and Contents Ms. Mary Winston Mayes was born in Clayton, Mississippi. She recounts favorite cooking and baking experiences with gher grandmother, Ms. Essie Guy. In particular, Ms. Mayes discusses making butter rolls, Biscuits, molasses bread and sweet potato pies during a time when people used ice boxes to cool their foods.She was interviewed on 30 April 2011 in the home of Ms. Marva Smith. The interview was conducted by Sandra Davidson. The interview is available at M.D. Anderson Library on...

Scope and Contents Ms. Marva Hicks Smith was born in Hungerford, Texas in 1930s. She and her sister, Shirley, attended the Wharton County schools until they went to Los Angeles, California to stay with an aunt for two years. Schools in Los Angeles offered more opportunities during those years and when the girls returned to Texas, they had to make some adjustments. Ms. Smith graduated from Powell Point High School in Fort Bend County, then went on to nursing school. She worked in Houston’s Medical Center at St....

Scope and Contents Many of the farmers who came into Houston to sell their produce were members of a community of farmers of German descent who lived and worked in farms located in northwest section of Harris County. They traveled to Houston on the weekends to market, which at the time was located in the northwest quadrant of the downtown area. Mr. Weinberg lived during much of that era and at the time of the interview was still part of the Farmer’s Market that had moved several years ago to its present...