In this recording, Katie Wetsell interviews her father Chris Horan, who remembers his time as a student during school desegregation in southeast Arkansas. As a child in the Jim Crow South, Chris witnessed white resistance to integration, and recalls the federal enforcement of Brown v. Board of Education when he was in high school. Chris recounts the change of culture and shift in perspective that came from meeting Black students.
In this recording, Sheri Neely interviews her friend Dr. Gina Tillis. Dr. Tillis recalls growing up in diverse California schools, and the whiteness that prevailed in both the curriculum and staff. Gina shares the pressure she felt to reshape herself and her background in order to conform to the expectations of an educated person. She describes the consequences of this conformity to her own understanding of her culture and heritage.
In this recording, twin sisters Sheila Conway and Sharon Malone tell their stories as part of the first group of children to integrate Memphis schools: “the Memphis 13”. Sheila remembers being shunned by white students, the horrendous cruelty of her teacher, and having racial slurs thrown at her. Sharon recalls the inequality of the schools, and the collective forgetting that the city of Memphis seems to have regarding the ordeal.
In this recording, Andrew Jordan interviews his father Howard “Louis” Jordan about his time as a white child in southern Georgia during Jim Crow. Louis remembers the transition to integrated schools in the 8th grade, and the ostracization of the one Black student in his rural high school class. He also tells about the unrest that marked his childhood, and how racial tensions were disrupted through the integration of sports and other activities.
In this recording, Dwania Kyles speaks with LeAndrew Wiggins, both members of the Memphis 13, the first group of children to integrate Memphis public schools in 1961. LeAndrew describes being an “alternate”; a student chosen to join the integration process with only a few day’s notice. Dwania, whose parents moved to Memphis from Chicago to join the Civil Rights Movement, was volunteered to integrate, saying that her family believed in leading by example.
In this recording, 98-year-old Lillian Gardner is interviewed by her daughter Susan Gardner about her long life and her experiences witnessing the breadth of the integration process and its aftermath. Lillian recalls her first experiences with segregation after moving from Indiana to Tennessee, and the frustration she felt as a white person in the Jim Crow South. She and Susan reflect on the ways in which Lillian’s life story captures enormous shifts in our nation’s history.
In this recording, Jeannette Holland speaks with her son Erik Townsend. Jeannette, who was bused to a new high school her junior year, describes the experience of having the serene “bubble” of her childhood broken. The bused students were separated among several schools, and Jeannette remembers the disappointment and pain of not sharing the memories of her teenage years with the people she’d grown up with. At her new school, her grades suffered, and Jeannette recalls feeling completely disempowered by the busing process in Nashville.
In this recording, sisters Leithia Watson Carter and Barbara Watson discuss the impact of the decision to desegregate Nashville public schools. Taking an opposite approach to many comparable cities, Nashville ordered all students, regardless of race, to go to the schools nearest their home. Leithia and Barbara recall the sudden hostility they faced from white neighbors. Barbara walked to school with her parents on her first day, facing angry crowds. Both sisters remember men staying overnight in their home with guns to protect them from threats.
In this recording, Phillip Hill interviews his friend and co-worker Karim Abdullah about his childhood in Memphis. Karim recalls his “case study” class, a high-IQ group of Black students that were kept together from 7th grade to 12th grade to measure Black intelligence by the state of Tennessee. Karim reflects on how his exemption from integration represented a complex kind of racism, whereby he and his classmates were insulated and insulted at the same time.
In this recording, John Little III is interviewed by his young son John Little IV. The elder John grew up in a diverse school and community in Nashville, Tennessee. He warmly remembers these times and shares the positive impacts his teachers had on his love for reading. John also recalls being put in a class of students with “behavioral problems”, most of whom were low income. He describes education as a journey for him to get beyond a reckless young mindset.
In this recording, Kleopatra Gaiter interviews her friend and colleague Grace Gadson about her childhood during school desegregation in a farming community in northern Florida. Grace describes learning about racism as a child on her trips into town. She was warned by an aunt not to speak to white people unless spoken to, and recalls using segregated accommodations. These infuriating experiences inspired her to resist the racial order she was born into.
In this recording, husband and wife Alf and Katherine Sharp share their memories from the time of school integration in the South. Katherine recalls her school in Virginia closing for a year to stop Black children from attending, and her surprise at the flagrant racism she witnessed after years on integrated military bases as a child of a serviceman. Alf, who went to all-white schools until college, describes the broadening of his views on race that occurred while at Vanderbilt.
