- Collection:
- Oral histories of the American South (Georgia selections)
- Title:
- Oral history interview with Viola Turner, April 15, 1979
- Creator:
- Turner, Viola G., 1900-1988
- Contributor to Resource:
- Weare, Walter B.
Southern Oral History Program - Date of Original:
- 1979-04-15
- Subject:
- African Americans--North Carolina--Durham--Social life and customs
African American insurance agents--North Carolina
African American women executives--North Carolina--Durham
African Americans--Georgia--Macon--Social life and customs
Macon (Ga.)--Race relations
Segregation--Georgia--Macon
Durham (N.C.)--Race relations
Segregation--North Carolina--Durham
African Americans--Race identity--Southern States - People:
- Turner, Viola G., 1900-1988
- Location:
- United States, Georgia, Bibb County, Macon, 32.84069, -83.6324
United States, North Carolina, Durham County, Durham, 35.99403, -78.89862 - Medium:
- transcripts
sound recordings
oral histories (literary works) - Type:
- Sound
Text - Description:
- In this part of an extended interview, Viola Turner, treasurer of North Carolina Mutual Insurance, reflects on her childhood in Macon, Georgia. Born on February 17, 1900, Turner was the only child of her African American teenage parents. Her remembrances are of those of a joyous childhood in which her mother encouraged her to excel in school. In her vivid depictions of Macon, Georgia, Turner describes a town in which segregation was not acutely visible. She was largely unaware of racial discrimination during her childhood. Nevertheless, she discusses at length her perceptions of skin color and the ways in which some of her lighter-toned African American friends were often treated differently than those with darker skin. Educated at the American Missionary Association schools and Morris Brown, Turner's first job was as an administrative assistant at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama in the summer of 1920. Shortly thereafter she took a job working for the Superintendent of Negro Education for the State of Mississippi, which she held for six months before going to work for the new branch of North Carolina Mutual that opened in Oklahoma City in 1920. Turner eventually settled in Durham, North Carolina. The latter portion of this interview focuses on her descriptions of entertainment and race relations. Specifically, Turner describes her interaction with various black performers and her experiences attending both black and white theaters in Durham. In addition, she explains her friendship with Eula Perry, who could easily "pass" for white, and the reactions their friendship elicited from various observers.
Title from menu page (viewed on July 21, 2008).
Interview participants: Viola Turner, interviewee; Walter Weare, interviewer.
This electronic edition is part of the UNC-CH digital library, Documenting the American South. It is a part of the collection Oral histories of the American South.
Text encoded by Mike Millner. Sound recordings digitized by Aaron Smithers.
The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the aggregation and enhancement of partner metadata. - Metadata URL:
- http://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/C-0015/menu.html
- Language:
- eng
- Extent:
- Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 311.9 kilobytes, 424 megabytes.
MP3 format / ca. 424 MB, 03:52:00 - Contributing Institution:
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library
- Rights:
-
