Welcome
Feature Article
Appendix
Community History Project Drs. Kenneth J. Bindas & Molly Merryman Kent State University -- Trumbull Oral History Permission to Use/Disclaimer
Please fill in the below information, date, and sign. Please print.
Name of Interviewer
Name of Interviewee
Date of Interview Location of Interview Current Address, Interviewee
Current phone, interviewee
As a participant in the Warren-area Community History Project I agree to allow the video and audio tapes and transcripts of this interview to be used for research purposes by scholars and students with no restrictions and without legal recourse (if there are restrictions, please line out "no restrictions" and list restrictions on the back).
Signature
Date
Section I: Biographical
In this section we want to know basic biographical information to create an accurate historical portrait of your life experience.
• What is your race/ethnicity/gender?
• When and where were you born?
• If not born in Warren , when did you come to the area and why?
• During the period from 1954-1964, generally, where did you live?
• What is the extent of your education?
• What was your main occupation(s) during the era?
• Were you married at this time? When?
• Did you have children? Ages?
• If you attended church at this time, do you recall its name?
• Did you vote in local elections at this time? National ones?
Section II: Work and Education
In this section we want to ask questions that will allow you to elaborate more and begin to paint a more complete picture of the area during the period 1954-1964.
• If you were in school during this period, what school did you attend? (if they were not in school, skip ahead)
• What was school like? Describe a typical day?
• How did you get to school?
• Where was the school located?
• What were the other students like?
• What do you remember about specific classes or teacher?
• Do you recall if your teachers were more female than male, black or white?
• What type of clothes did you wear? What were the fashions?
• What role did sports or other extra curricular activities play?
• What options were known to you upon graduation? College? Trade school? Work? Marriage?
• Were your children in school at the time? If so, where?
• How did you feel about their education?
• How did you dress the kids for school?
• Where were you working at the time? What type of job?
• How did you get the job? Why did you want to work there?
• Did you think your wages were the same as others you worked with?
• Did you work with folks from your neighborhood?
• Did you feel there were opportunities for advancement at your job?
• If you didn't work, what did you do for money?
Section III: Home Life
In this section we want to know what life was like in your house, with your family, and in your neighborhood.
• How many people lived in your house at the time?
• Were you married, divorced, widowed (or live in a home)?
• Generally, how did everyone get along?
• What types of discipline were used when someone broke the rules?
• What types of possessions did you have? A car? Etc?
• Who cooked? What were some of the best meals you recall eating at home?
• If you cooked, do you remember how to make some of the family's favorite meals? Describe.
• What did you normally eat for dinner? Breakfast?
• Where did you do your grocery shopping? Why?
• Where did you go shopping for other necessities like clothes, hardware, gas, etc? Why did you go to these places?
• Did you listen to the radio? What station? What made you choose that station?
• What were some of the songs you recall from the time?
• Did music play an important role in the house? How?
• Was there a TV? Color or black and white/?
• What were the favorite programs you watched? Why?
• What other forms of home entertainment were there?
• If you went to the local parks, what were they like?
• Where might you go for dates or entertainment outside the home?
• Why did you go to these places?
• Were you aware of any restrictions on where you were allowed to shop? Dine? Go for a drink? Work? Live?
• Did you feel that you neighborhood was safe? Why?
• Were the local police accommodating to your needs?
• If you could recall, how did your family view the local law enforcement officers?
• To your knowledge, were there any African-American police officers? Firefighters? Elected officials?
• If there was a need, how did the local authorities treat you, your family, or the folks in your neighborhood?
• Were you or anyone you knew active in local politics? How?
• How do think the local politicians felt about your needs and desires?
• Within your family, what was the attitude about the local police?
• How did you come to this opinion?
Section IV: Community
This section seeks to look at Civil Rights activities in the local area and awareness to national activities.
• What types of community activities were you involved in?
• What made you get involved?
• When did you first hear about Martin Luther King Jr.?
• What was you reaction to him and his activities?
• Were you aware of folks in your own community that were involved in similar activities?
• Where you aware of the Montgomery Bus Boycott? How did what occurred there effect the local Warren community?
• Were the busses here in Warren segregated?
• Do you recall the Little Rock , Arkansas crisis? If so, how did you feel about what was going on?
• Were the schools segregated in Warren ?
• Do you recall the sit-ins by black students at lunch counters in the South in the early 1960s? If so, were similar thing happing in Warren ?
• Where/ When? Do you remember who led such demonstrations?
• Were there other Civil rights related demonstrations and activities in Warren before 1964? Where? What type? What was the result?
• Do you recall the March on Washington in 1963 (when MLK gave the "I Have a Dream" speech)?
• Did you know anyone who went?
• Did hear about other activities like the Freedom Rides, Freedom Summer, or voter registration drives in the South? (If so, let them talk about what they know as long as they like. Ask follow up questions)?
• Did you watch the television reports about the demonstrations in the South?
• How did watching them make you feel?
• Who were some of the local church leaders involved in the Civil Rights struggle here in Warren ?
• What activities were they involved in?
• Who were some of the community leaders involved in the Civil Rights struggle here in Warren ?
• What activities were they involved in?
• What influence did the NAACP, CORE, the Urban League, or SNCC play in Warren ? (then ask follow up questions accordingly)
• Do you remember any specific event or events that sort of define the situation of being black in Warren during this era?
• Did you feel that the role of women within your community was equal to men?
• Among those who were seen as leaders in the African American community, do you recall any women? How did the Democratic or Republican party treat the local African American community?
• What others things about the time period and dealing with Civil Rights would you like to talk about?
• How did you feel at the time about your potential in life?
• What things would help you achieve your potential?
• What things stood in the way?
• If you had to remember only one thing about the time period, what would it be?
• Is there anything else you would like to tell us about?
