Turner (Dorothy Mae) interview

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Collection:: Many Paths, Many Voices: Oral Histories from the University of Washington Special Collections
Title:: Turner (Dorothy Mae) interview
Creator:: Turner, Dorothy Mae
Rice, Mary L.
Date of Original:: 1983-04-29/1983-05-11
Subject:: African Americans--Washington (State)--Seattle--Interviews
African Americans--History--1877-1964
African Americans--Social conditions--20th century
African Americans--Segregation--History--20th century
African American farmers--Mississippi--History--20th century
Sharecropping--Mississippi--History--20th century
Lynching--Mississippi--History--20th century
Mississippi--Race relations--History--20th century
Seattle (Wash.)--Race relations--History--20th century
World War, 1939-1945-- Participation, African American
Turner family
Civilian Conservation Corps (U.S.)
United States. Army
Location:: United States, Georgia, Paulding County, Etta (historical), 33.99177, -84.79272
United States, Michigan, Wayne County, Detroit, 42.33143, -83.04575
United States, Missouri, City of Saint Louis, St. Louis, 38.62727, -90.19789
United States, Missouri, New Madrid County, Portageville, 36.42534, -89.69953
United States, Washington, King County, Seattle, 47.60621, -122.33207
Medium:: oral histories (literary genre)
sound recordings
Type:: Sound
Format:: audio/flv
Description:: Etta, Mississippi, USA
Dorothy Mae Turner describes family life in black sharecropping family in Mississippi, her migration to Missouri, Michigan, and Seattle, and life and work in those places. Subject timestamps Part 01: (00:20) parents and grandparents family history in Etta, Mississippi, (2:45) grandmothers shooting accident and medical care in 1922, (4:25) discussion of black women speaking freely to white men, (6:00) discussion of grandmother’s treatment of her grandchildren based on the darkness of their skin, (7:05) Turner’s family history, work and childcare in a large family in the 1930s, (10:50) first memories of Turner’s siblings, (12:30) memories of Mississippi countryside and climate in 1930s, (13:00) discussion of share cropping in Mississippi, and economic struggles, (15:35) further discussion of sharecropping and explanation of how sharecropping worked, crops grown, (18:00) church attendance, church revivals, (20:15) dance performances in school, (21:38) transportation to church and school, (22:45) background of Turner’s mother and strength of family bonds in a large family, (25:30) fighting in school and protecting family within school, (27:15) story of Turner’s uncle being pursued by a lynch mob in 1936, (32:35) Turner’s family helps her uncle’s family escape town after he is killed, (33:15) Turner’s uncle’s family is terrorized and beaten, discussion of how entire families were assaulted after an incident with one person, (35:55) background of Turner’s father (37:35) discussion of Turner’s role models growing up – her mother, (38:07) discussion of the Depression’s effect on Turner’s family, (41:05) issues with being cheated on labor and pay, having to rely on white people to fight for them, (42:40) evolution of black relations with whites and “pushing back” against treatment of blacks, (44:25) story about a time Turner’s own family fighting back against a sharecropper, discussion of owners cheating black sharecroppers out of crop money, (50:15) Turner’s mother saves enough money to buy their own farm and land, (52:25) milk in schools and [food] stamps, selling stamps at the grocery store in exchange for other food, (55:50) type of food Turner’s family ate and grew, how food was preserved and stored, (1:03:40) food served during special occasions and for guests, (1:05:58) visiting relatives and food served and shared, (1:08:00) girls and boys shared and learned all jobs equally, taking care of siblings, (1:12:05) working in the fields and family garden, (1:12:40) description of a full day of work at home on the farm, (1:18:05) description of Turner’s sister starting a fire in their home, (1:20:30) discussion of the danger of leaving young children in charge of home and other siblings, snakes and dogs with rabies, (1:26:00) keeping dogs for protection at the house, (1:27:55) protecting selves from snakes, (1:30:10) Fourth of July family recreation and leisure, fishing, (1:35:55) Christmas time celebrations and presents (1:37:10) gift of a bike, (1:39:30) discussion of being poor and learning from growing up poor, (1:40:40) Depression-era “CC workers” [Civilian Conservation Corps] would buy food from Turner’s family and would leave C-rations for the children, (1:43:12) only white workers were part of the CC workers, (1:44:00) discussion of Jim Crow laws in Mississippi, (1:47:00) Turner’s memory of World War II, Turner’s eldest brother saw action in Germany, (1:49:25) Turner’s eldest brother’s involvement in a segregated army unit, (1:51:30) Turner’s family and sibling migration to the North for a better life by learning trades and earning better wages, (1:54:00) independence and responsibility early on in life help Turner find jobs and earn a better life in the North in the late 1940s, (1:55:29) discussion of the differences between North and South, (1:57:40) first job in “North” was St. Louis, Missouri and then to Detroit, Michigan, many jobs available in Michigan and night classes available, eventually started, (1:59:20) last thoughts on interview. Subject timestamps Part 02 (00:00) Turner’s brother Walter’s World War II army experience and injury and subsequent excessive drinking, (8:00) Walter and his wife move up to Portersville, Missouri, (8:40) using relatives to safely stay with to move out of town and out of the South, (11:45) Turner helped look after her sister in the hospital, segregated hospital conditions, (17:50) why Turner left home in the South to pursue a better life in the North, (21:15) Turner and younger sister “Jobie” leave together, work together and help each other navigate the new city, (23:30) description of work life and wages in restaurant in 1948 Portersville, Missouri, (26:20) description of picking cotton, (34:15) what mothers would do with kids when they had to pick cotton, (35:10) where cotton was harvested, how people were hired to pick cotton on sharecropping land, older sister continued sharecropping in Missouri while Turner’s parents owned their own land in, (38:35) sister saved money and bought own house, (39:40) moved back to Detroit with another sister, found work in a restaurant, (42:40) social life in Detroit, (43:55) non-segregated nightclubs, (44:45) mixed racial couples in Detroit and social acceptance in 1940s, (47:40) discussion of Black Power movement and effect on racial relations, (49:40) discussion of “white” or “black” geographic areas in Detroit, (50:50) discussion of jobs, class and wages in black society in 1940s Detroit, (53:55) Turner’s sister considered wealthy, owned property in Detroit, (55:20) Turner life in Michigan and Ohio, moved places to experience independence from family, (57:20) learning to drive and obtaining a drivers license, (59:30) marriage and move to Seattle with husband, (1:02:56) drive out to Seattle from Detroit in winter 1954, (1:06:06) had major accident while driving west in snow and ice, slipped off cliff and onto banks of Snake River, (1:13:00) husband gets job as a seaman in Seattle, Turner also gets job to help buy a home, (1:14:25) Turner cooked at a nursing home as well as taking night classes, (1:16:22) impressions of Seattle, loved Seattle weather, (1:17:45) feelings about being so far from family, black community in Seattle, (1:19:15) black community in Seattle versus Detroit, Michigan, geographic and class segregation in Seattle, (1:21:30) discussion of working after marriage, (1:23:35) length of time Turner’s husband would be away at sea and income, housework Turner’s husband did at home, (1:26:45) discussion of feeling oppressed as a woman and a black woman, (1:28:25) discussion of differences of Turner’s life in South versus her life in Seattle, (1:33:30) Turner’s participation in black women organizations. This accession is part of the Washington Women's Heritage Project.
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Metadata URL:: http://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ohc/id/60
IIIF manifest:: https://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/iiif/2/ohc:60/manifest.json
Language:: eng
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Original Collection:: University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Oral History Collection
Washington Women's Heritage Project
Labor Archives
Afro-American Project
Black Americans
Dorothy Mae Turner Oral History Interview, Accession No. 3567-001
To view the finding aid for this collection see: https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv43023
Contributing Institution:: University of Washington. Libraries. Special Collections Division
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