Sarah Bell Automon: But so far as sitting down, explaining that, mm-mm, no. 'Cause a lot of our youngsters—tell you truthfully, a lot of our youngsters wouldn't have believed it no way. Although they were still walking around here, but they wouldn't have believed it. Uh-huh. Stacey Sales: Did—who delivered the babies back then? Sarah Bell Automon: They had midwives, midwives. Stacey Sales: Midwives. Sarah Bell Automon: Old ladies. Most of them be old ladies or who had, Lord, they would go and some health department or somewhere and they'd teach them, you know how to live with the baby as well. And then whatever community they were in, they work in that community. And when the mother got in labor, they'd go get her, the midwife, and bring her to the house. To deliver the baby. Yeah. That's who, midwives. Stacey Sales: And the midwives would, they would make the house calls? Sarah Bell Automon: Oh yeah. But you'd have to go get them. 'Cause most of them didn't have transportation. You'd have to get a wagon, a buggy or whatever you had and go get them and bring them to your house. 'Cause they didn't have their own transportation. Stacey Sales: And how soon would—would they stay with the woman before she gave birth to the baby? How soon would they come to the house? Sarah Bell Automon: After she would get in labor. Stacey Sales: Oh, okay. Sarah Bell Automon: Whoever was going get the midwife, they'd take off, run, get her, bring her back. And she'd stay there. Sometime, tell me back—sometime they stay two days or something like that. Showing them, whoever was helping the mother around there. Be showing them how they bathe the baby and take care of the baby. Uh-huh. Yeah. Stacey Sales: Midwife. Sarah Bell Automon: Huh? Stacey Sales: I said midwives. Huh? Sarah Bell Automon: Midwife. They got a few to tell me now. There's a few, but. Stacey Sales: And they learned—how did they learn all that information? Sarah Bell Automon: They would go and take a few classes with the health department or somewhere. Stacey Sales: Oh yeah? Sarah Bell Automon: And then they would get that license and they could work in the community where they were. Stacey Sales: Okay. Sarah Bell Automon: Yeah. Stacey Sales: And— Sarah Bell Automon: They didn't— Stacey Sales: Were there ever any bad storms when you were growing up? Sarah Bell Automon: A few. Not too many. Stacey Sales: No? Sarah Bell Automon: Wasn't No—lot of them, like— Stacey Sales: Tornadoes? Sarah Bell Automon: We have now. The first tornado I remember hearing about was after I left home. It was a few windstorm would come through, but not too many. We didn't have too many storm. Stacey Sales: Did people have ways of making the storm go away? Sarah Bell Automon: They thought they did or something? They saw, would open their Bibles to a certain book of the Bible. The Bible put on a table or somewhere. So if they had axe, they'd take it out in the yard and stick it down in the ground. They supposed to turn the handle the way they saw the cloud coming or something like that. Stacey Sales: Did people do that? When? Did you ever see people doing that? Sarah Bell Automon: Uh-hmm. That's how I know about that. I'd see them do it. Stacey Sales: And when you saw it, did it work? Sarah Bell Automon: Yeah, I'd be scared. Stacey Sales: Oh yes? Sarah Bell Automon: I didn't know what it was. It worked or what worked, but I just know we didn't have no lot of storms. Stacey Sales: Who was the person that put the axe? Was it a man or a woman? Sarah Bell Automon: Man or woman? Oh yes. Whoever was at the house. Stacey Sales: And would it be any kind of axe or did it have to be a certain kind? Sarah Bell Automon: All I know it was an axe. Stacey Sales: Oh, okay. Sarah Bell Automon: I mean, some of them, maybe it had what is known as certain kind axe. All I knew it was axe. Stacey Sales: And storms and things like that would hit, how would people put their crops back together and get back on their feet? Sarah Bell Automon: It wouldn't be no big storm. Stacey Sales: Oh no? Sarah Bell Automon: It wasn't no big—I never remember no big storm coming through, hail storming and all that. I never knew—it'd be some wind, somewhere, but not no big thing. Yeah. We didn't have no big storm like they have now, no. Stacey Sales: Did the older people talk about—did the older people talk about haints and spirits? Sarah Bell Automon: Oh yes. Yes. We had one lady used to come to our house, Mrs. Allen Montgomery. Well, when that woman will leave, I'd hate to see her come, and wish she wouldn't come in. She'd sit up and talk about haints and all the different haints she'd had seen and how they looked. And she'd talk about them so much, I'd be scared to go to bed. Yeah. Yeah. They'd sit up and talk about it. And that's practically all she'd talk about all day long. Stacey Sales: And you were afraid as a child? Sarah Bell Automon: Huh? Stacey Sales: Were you afraid as a child? Sarah Bell Automon: Yeah. Yeah. Afraid of what she be talking about? Stacey Sales: Mm-hmm. Sarah Bell Automon: Yeah. I'd be afraid. I be scared to go to bed. Stacey Sales: Do you remember some of those stories she would tell that you got afraid of? Sarah Bell Automon: I know one time she said she was walking along and a big old, she just walking along, she had been to the well or something to get some water. And when she knew anything, a big old—well you know when these red rubber balls, what children play with? Stacey Sales: Yeah. Sarah Bell Automon: Fell out of tree, almost fell on her. Almost hit her. Oh. Now, all known time when she had grandchildren that stayed with her. And if she went anywhere at night, she would put one boy in front of them and she put one boy behind her. She walk between them. Stacey Sales: And what'd she do that for? Sarah Bell Automon: Well, if they reached and grabbed, they'd get them and not her. So they get them and not her. That what you see? Stacey Sales: Yes, ma'am. Sarah Bell Automon: So she was the worst in our community. But there was some other that was scared. It was others that were scared. I'm not going to lie, there were other. But she just called me. She could sit all day long talking about just one thing to the—hey Car. Stacey Sales: And she go all day? Sarah Bell Automon: Huh? Stacey Sales: She would talk about it a long time? Sarah Bell Automon: All day long. But she's going to get up—before sundown, she's going to get up and go home. Stacey Sales: Oh yes. Sarah Bell Automon: Oh many time, I wish I could have got out somewhere in the bush and made a run. Stacey Sales: Did you have to go to church when you were growing up? Sarah Bell Automon: Oh yeah. We went to church now. Oh, maybe so, Sunday school, every Sunday. We probably have—we didn't have preaching every Sunday we practically have preaching without, on the second Sunday, we go to church. We go to church. Stacey Sales: Do people get the spirit? Sarah Bell Automon: Huh? Stacey Sales: Do people get the spirit back then? Sarah Bell Automon: Well, yeah. Yeah. And they really—they attended church. Stacey Sales: Did they have revivals and baptism? Sarah Bell Automon: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Plenty revivals, baptism. Stacey Sales: Do you remember your baptism? Sarah Bell Automon: No. When I knew anything I was in the church. Almost. But they'd have what is know as Spring Revival. And then they, in the fall, they'd have Fall Revival. And we had a program for every, it's like Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, and all them, we had a program for every one of them days. Stacey Sales: Did people get baptized in the pond or do they have a pool? Sarah Bell Automon: Pond, lake, or wherever they could be baptized, that's where they got baptized. Wherever they could be baptized, that's where they got baptized. Stacey Sales: What age were you allowed to court? Sarah Bell Automon: Well, as far as my mama was concerned, never. I never was old enough to court. Stacey Sales: Never was old enough? Sarah Bell Automon: But Daddy, he's—Daddy know I would talk to boys and he wouldn't say nothing. But now, Mama, after I went to high school though, you see I's out—see, I wasn't at home. Stacey Sales: So you got a chance to court then? Sarah Bell Automon: Right. Stacey Sales: When did your family do on holidays? What did they do on holiday? Sarah Bell Automon: They celebrated Christmas and Thanksgiving. Stacey Sales: Would you all have a lot of people over the house and food? Sarah Bell Automon: Some times we would. I had an uncle. My daddy's brother whose birthday came on Christmas Day. Usually we would go to Grandpa's house on Christmas Day. Sometimes we'd take food and we mostly be over at Grandpa's house all day Christmas Day, celebrating his birthday. Stacey Sales: Did you all have a day for the Blacks? Sarah Bell Automon: Huh? Stacey Sales: Did the Blacks have their own day they would celebrate? Sarah Bell Automon: Celebrate. Like what? Stacey Sales: In Texas, they have Juneteenth. They celebrate the freedom and slavery. Sarah Bell Automon: No. Stacey Sales: When you were coming along, what was the relationship with the Black folks and the policemen? Sarah Bell Automon: Policemen? Stacey Sales: Yes. Sarah Bell Automon: Wasn't too good. Stacey Sales: No? Sarah Bell Automon: Wasn't too good. Stacey Sales: What wasn't good about it? Sarah Bell Automon: 'Cause our—the Blacks, a lot of time they would get arrested and well just the least thing. And the Whites didn't. Stacey Sales: Did White men have relationships with Black women when you were coming up? Sarah Bell Automon: I didn't know about that until after I got out. After I got a—'cause as I said, in our neighborhood, probably the only somebody, all the White men come through there was mailmen. So I didn't know about that stuff at that time. Stacey Sales: Oh, okay. Had you ever heard of any lynchings or anything like that? Sarah Bell Automon: Hm. Yes. When that Civil Right Movement was going on and churches burned, people beat to death. A lot of stuff went on. Right here in Mississippi. Yeah, people were killed. I was living in Jackson when them Freedom Buses used to come in. We heard talk of [indistinct 00:16:32] got killed. Stacey Sales: Oh yeah? Sarah Bell Automon: I was in Jackson when he got killed. Yeah, I was living in Jackson when he met Medgar Evers. I was living in Jackson. And when all them Freedom Buses and things used to come in there, they'd sick dogs on the folk and all that stuff. Huh? Stacey Sales: Did your grandparents ever tell you about slavery times? Sarah Bell Automon: Well, not too much. No. Stacey Sales: What do you think that the younger generation could learn from some of the things that you went through? Sarah Bell Automon: If they would listen, they could learn. But a lot of them don't like to talk about things like that, that's the problem. Quite a few of them don't like to talk about those things. But quite a bit of stuff was going on. In the '60s, that was a bad time in Mississippi. Stacey Sales: How were you and how did your family make it through those rough times? Sarah Bell Automon: Well, most of my family, my father passed in '49. My mother died in '60. Well, you see, they wasn't here for the biggest of that was going on. So as I say, I was living in Jackson. Huh. So— Stacey Sales: Well, even before then, during those rough times that your family experienced, even though they owned their own farm, how were they able to make it through? What do you think enabled them to come through those years? Sarah Bell Automon: Well, usually they go to the bank, bought them, borrowed them some money to take them on. Stacey Sales: Oh yeah? Sarah Bell Automon: Yeah. They go to the bank. See they— Stacey Sales: So Blacks could go to the bank in your town? Sarah Bell Automon: Oh yeah. Yeah. Stacey Sales: Was there a Black bank? Sarah Bell Automon: No. No. But they could go to the banks over there. Stacey Sales: And did they have businesses that Blacks weren't allowed to go into when were? Sarah Bell Automon: Say what? Stacey Sales: Coming along? Businesses that were for all Whites. Sarah Bell Automon: They had restaurants you couldn't go in. Did, you have to go in the back door. Stacey Sales: Were you upset because you had to go to the back? Sarah Bell Automon: No. At that time I didn't know no better. Of course, I wasn't going to the back too much no way. But the most, I learned more about after I got grown than I did when I was at time, 'causes, I said, in our community we didn't have that kind of stuff going on. So, [indistinct 00:20:46]. Stacey Sales: Okay. Sarah Bell Automon: What, you tired? Stacey Sales: Yes ma'am. I'll let you go, but I've been really enjoyed talking to you. Sarah Bell Automon: All right. 'Cause it's getting close to my lunch time. Stacey Sales: Okay.