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.
In this recording, husband and wife Thomas and Gloria Pillow discuss their early years and experiences during school desegregation. Gloria, who is a professor of literature, describes her segregated education in Nashville and the fine line between “tough love” and encouragement that was enforced by her parents and teachers. Gloria connects this strict upbringing to the racist environment in which she lived, and the discipline needed in order to survive there.
In this recording, Jessica Turk interviews her mother Lisa Turk about her childhood and education at a neighborhood school in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville. After the 7th grade, Lisa and her family went to Congo as missionaries for two years. She returned to Nashville from Africa the year the city’s public schools integrated. Lisa recalls the white flight from the schools at the time, and her parents’ willingness for her to participate in desegregation.
In this recording, Jacquelyn Howard interviews her friend and Bible study partner LueRachelle Brim-Atkins on her childhood in a deeply segregated town in Texas. LueRachelle remembers the “flare ups” that reminded her of her segregated reality. LueRachelle talks about her career in training, development, and consulting, and her efforts to promote racial equality and integration at the University of Washington in the 1970s; part of a lifelong fight against racism.
In this recording, David Hundley talks to his wife Abigail Hundley about his experiences as part of one of the first integrated classes in Seattle schools. Growing up in an all-white neighborhood, David recalls avoiding certain businesses and areas of town that were hostile to people of color. He also remembers the vitriol he faced from children in his neighborhood, and the enduring anxieties he feels from humiliations inflicted on him by his teacher.
