WEBVTT 1 00:02.000 --> 00:04.000 But not tomorrow, right? 2 00:04.000 --> 00:08.000 Why? He [indistinct 00:00:04]. 3 00:08.000 --> 00:31.000 Here's one of the graduating classes that are— This is 1962. This was held in Chicago, Illinois, but this picture was taken, we were I think within Los Angeles, California because it was an opportunity that I directed their graduation for a number of years. 4 00:31.000 --> 00:31.000 And the NBCL— 5 00:31.000 --> 01:39.000 Yeah, National Beauty Culturists' League, Incorporated. These are some of the activities and some of the classes and we see the boys all do the hat making. You can do anything that you wanted to do. It was complete, there's millinery. 6 01:39.000 --> 01:39.000 Millinery too? 7 01:39.000 --> 01:39.000 Oh, yeah. Weaving hair, [indistinct 00:01:40] this is the most I've seen in all the room. We used models and things of that nature. I don't know no other organization that seen something like that. 8 01:39.000 --> 01:39.000 [indistinct 00:01:40] whatever they seen. 9 01:39.000 --> 01:39.000 The fashion center? 10 01:39.000 --> 01:39.000 That's right. 11 01:39.000 --> 01:39.000 I had no idea. 12 01:39.000 --> 01:39.000 Oh, yeah this is it. 13 01:39.000 --> 01:39.000 And you said that you've got a representative from Ultra Sheen here? 14 01:39.000 --> 01:39.000 Oh, yes from all— In other words, from everything. Revlon and everything. 15 01:39.000 --> 01:39.000 Just go to hotels and it's, you know, [indistinct 00:01:40]. 16 01:39.000 --> 02:28.000 They did all your styles and everything. You have people who really were in those particular fields and see wherever the convention was going to be here, they always used to go to the outstanding universities and get their instructors from there. At first, there was another thing that used to take place. At first when we first started out, we used to bus our students to the university, but they changed that. They changed that so that they let the instructors come to the hotel and we have classes in the hotel so that they wouldn't have to transfer them back and forth like that, see? It was better than nothing and we would use all part of the largest type of hotels. So there couldn't be no, sometimes we use two and three hotels. And the schools to host, you know what I mean? So, that was a big difference that took place. 17 02:28.000 --> 02:47.000 It seems that when it would come here, they wouldn't send out students out to Tulane University. Let the instructors come to the Belmont Hotel or to whatever hotel was there. And I mean, we used the whole hotel as our classroom, you know, for things of that nature. And Lord, it's not no little— I mean, at that time it was— 18 02:47.000 --> 02:51.000 Major event here? 19 02:51.000 --> 03:07.000 Oh, yes. It set the tone for periods for, I would say cosmetologists. They'd send me national students of cosmetologists and they'd say that she wanted the field of cosmetology here. And they would just, regardless of what— I would stand there, I don't care what country you were from, whatnot. You can still get the hair weaving and whatnot. 20 03:07.000 --> 03:50.000 So, I don't know anybody in this particular area or anywhere in the country that's [indistinct 00:03:20] because I'm Colored, but White or Black who had that type of experience that I've had working with a national organization. I worked with them on a local level. See, I've been the president of beauty; I'm a member of Beauticians Local Number One, that happened to be an affiliate of the Louisiana State Beauticians Association Incorporated that is a member of the National Beauty Culturists' League. Incorporated. 21 03:50.000 --> 03:50.000 Is it like a union? No? 22 03:50.000 --> 03:50.000 It's just like, people of the Beauticians Local, that's local, local. Like you all. 23 03:50.000 --> 03:50.000 Oh, okay. 24 03:50.000 --> 03:50.000 It's just like a fraternity, in other words. 25 03:50.000 --> 03:50.000 And then there's the state, the state of Louisiana— 26 03:50.000 --> 03:50.000 And then the national. 27 03:50.000 --> 04:12.000 The national. 28 04:12.000 --> 05:17.000 It's just like the fraternities that you have your chapters and you have the, the way it was, I was at the local level, state level. I been a register for the state, and I been the president of Beauticians' Local Number One. I've been the president of that organization. And I've also been the dean of the Louisiana State Beauticians, and also the registrar. I served as the registrar for them. Now, for the national I've served as an advisor, assistant dean, a dean, and director of graduation. I served in most capacities. That's why there's so many throughout the United States because we see the travel around and all of them are members. I guess I've graduated with— 29 05:17.000 --> 05:22.000 [indistinct 00:05:12]. He was the secretary, registrar. Yeah, I just been going to college and can't get along that way. 30 05:22.000 --> 06:05.000 And I directed the graduation, see the people would fly in from different parts of the United States and those who were eligible for graduation, well they would come under my administration and that's what I had to get them ready for them to seat, their seating arrangement and get the degrees ready and everything. You see, everything is all set. In other words, I was charge of the whole thing; seating arrangement and seeing if the diplomas were in their respective areas like the BS degrees, the Masters degrees and the Doctorate degrees. And to see that, arrange for the faculty, where they're going to sit. And where the National Institute, the teachers who taught in that particular institute are going to sit. And then well the public sit anywhere, but that's my job to all, you know. 31 06:05.000 --> 06:05.000 Since we've been coming, there's a lot of wisdom, seeing a lot of the stuff of those times. 32 06:05.000 --> 06:05.000 Oh, yeah. 33 06:05.000 --> 06:30.000 I'm sort of stunned at how large it is. 34 06:30.000 --> 06:33.000 Oh, yes. It's large. You see pictures and that's not really it. I mean it's not no [indistinct 00:06:31]. 35 06:33.000 --> 06:35.000 And these are different states? 36 06:35.000 --> 06:54.000 Yeah, that's right. They're people of different states and different countries, yeah. See, you see people all over the United States. They have their different chapters and whatnot, they have their different classes and whatnot. See how those who are going to graduate and these are working through to graduate here. 37 06:54.000 --> 06:54.000 [indistinct 00:07:24]. 38 06:54.000 --> 06:54.000 Dedicated. 39 06:54.000 --> 06:54.000 And you know, people seem to be more selfish than what he is, so. 40 06:54.000 --> 06:54.000 Yeah, personal. 41 06:54.000 --> 06:54.000 He represents to this. 42 06:54.000 --> 06:54.000 To expand in it. 43 06:54.000 --> 06:54.000 Yeah, take care. And give out the outreach. It used to be very small and niche. 44 06:54.000 --> 06:54.000 Why do you think that is? 45 06:54.000 --> 06:54.000 A lot of people, they love— 46 06:54.000 --> 08:51.000 And they're certainly not as dedicated. 47 08:51.000 --> 08:51.000 I was talking to someone yesterday, and he's telling me about— Oh, I told you, I said I went to a funeral yesterday morning and I sat by one of the masons. You know, and I was in there by myself and [indistinct 00:08:21]. And he was saying the same thing. He was observing the same thing. Yes, I complimented him on the lecture that he gave and he said, "You know, I did that because the lady [indistinct 00:08:41]. And most of the time when we are closing up the [indistinct 00:08:52], when we talk about Black history, we feature a man most of the time." He says, "But I like to reach out and get some of our great women." And that's, I think you know, the wonderful things that he said about Harriet and he says, "She was such a strong, powerful woman. Yes, she walked with a limp, but it never stalled her in her activities and movement. She handled it, she walked up [indistinct 00:08:52]. That was her purpose walk, you see?" 48 08:51.000 --> 08:51.000 Mm-hmm. 49 08:51.000 --> 09:40.000 But she was really a strong woman, and with a brilliant mind, you know? And he said, "I've learned so much talking with her, and inspiring other women to use their talents, use their strengths to help others." He said, "There are older women who are more concerned." 50 09:40.000 --> 10:15.000 And I thought about my grandmother, because I remember two separate generations through my great-grandmother, to our great-grandchildren, you see? And I know how my grandmother was, my great-grandmother. All of us were close to our great-grandmothers and still. And whenever my grandmother cooked, she cooked a whole lot of food. And it was her pride and her joy. We'd be playing under the pecan trees— This is in Mobile, Alabama I'm talking about now. But my grandmother, it was her pride and joy to feed all of us. She didn't have any picks, she didn't have any choosers. Nobody she was going to omit or leave out. She wanted everybody to eat and everybody could have a plate. 51 10:15.000 --> 10:46.000 And that was just proof of our people like, during slavery, our children. As my uncle said, "I'm going to feed you a feast." And we came up like that in my neighborhood. 52 10:46.000 --> 10:48.000 This was in Mobile? 53 10:48.000 --> 11:26.000 What I just told you, but I'm saying here, right here in New Orleans, I grew up in the [indistinct 00:10:55] of New Orleans and we were the same way. Now, my neighbors, I had Baptist neighbors on one side of our house, and on the other side, we had Catholic neighbors. But we all were like one family in that block and on that square. So much so, some had gates cut through the fence so you didn't have to go outside to go the neighbors. You just went through the side fence, or you went to the back fence. 54 11:26.000 --> 12:11.000 For an instance, my neighbor whose side yard formed the boundary for our backyard had a stable right at the end of their lot. They had a key lot, those were narrow lots. We called them key lots. 25 feet wide and 100 feet deep or maybe 114 feet deep. We used to call them key lots; 114 feet deep. So it ran all the way from the front of the street, to halfway the block. But it was so narrow; it's just 25 feet wide, but it was long. 55 12:11.000 --> 12:39.000 Well, right at the back was this gate. I had a neighbor round on the other corner, on the other street, he knew how to play. And that stable, when his horse would put his head out through the window, his head would be up in our backyard. Because you didn't have to observe staying so many feet from the boundary line of your neighbor then. You could build right on the line. You see? But the neighbors were close. 56 12:39.000 --> 13:15.000 When our first child was born, the one in '48, we came home on Christmas Eve. She was born on the 19th and they let us come home on Christmas. 19th of December and they let us come home for Christmas. And my husband walked all the way— Now, we lived up in Carrollton, 8500 Block. He walked all the way to Canal Street trying to find milk. 57 13:15.000 --> 13:16.000 All that way? 58 13:16.000 --> 13:16.000 Yeah, yeah. Every drug store he got there, he'd walk and he'd walk. 59 13:16.000 --> 13:30.000 That's right. 60 13:30.000 --> 13:46.000 They told me, we have to give the bottle every two hours or give breast every two hours, but I had to alternate. Well, I didn't know that and I was in misery pain from the milk in the breast, and had to pump the milk out of the breast. And the baby was calmly staving, waiting for him to come back with the evaporated milk, which he couldn't find because he couldn't find a drugstore open. 61 13:46.000 --> 14:18.000 Finally when he got to Canal and Rampart, I think [indistinct 00:13:52], he found some milk that he brought home for the baby. And the baby had cholic so bad, but the baby was so glad to get the milk. I never thought just feed the baby, just feed the baby. I was following a schedule, trying to follow a schedule. But when my neighbors came home, [indistinct 00:14:17]. When they came home, it was about 4:00 in the evening and the turkey was still standing up on the drain in the kitchen, by the sink. They said, "Oh, man. No. Alma, you had your dinner?" 62 14:18.000 --> 14:45.000 "Not yet." And they were out that house so fast. The neighbor that lived next door and her sister-in-law that lived around the corner, and they came back home with dinner for all of us, Christmas dinner. Everybody had dinner, but they said, "Alma, no. What time you going to eat?" Because my mother couldn't get to come to dinner, the turkey, but she said, "You going to have your Christmas dinner." 63 14:45.000 --> 15:35.000 And we were little children, those same neighbors— Nothing was just so small you couldn't have any. "Oh, yeah. You can have a taste." Take that spoon and go around back, from one spoon to another, giving everybody a taste. And one had as much as the other. Now, the same man that had the horse and you know, the stable that I was telling you about, had a vegetable. That's how he made his living. He'd sell the fruits and vegetables during the week and on Saturday evening, he had fish. So, fish and potato salad and the children used to make. That was our pride and joy, was make that potato salad for him, for Saturday night. 64 15:35.000 --> 15:54.000 Now, what he would do, all the pennies that he got on Saturday night— You know pennies were popular then. Pennies and nickels, too. Pennies, nickels, and dimes. All the pennies he got, he saved them until Sunday. And every Sunday evening, all the pennies he had, he would call us all together, all around there, and he'd give each person all those pennies until the pennies ran out. And he went in a circle and everybody got a penny until the pennies ran out. 65 15:54.000 --> 15:54.000 And then another highlight in our life was to ride that horse he had. He had a horse named Cora. 66 15:54.000 --> 15:55.000 What was the name again? 67 15:55.000 --> 16:55.000 Cora, C-O-R-A, that you know, drew the wagon with the vegetables during the week and when he would come home, unload, take the vegetables off and fix the horse with the harness and everything. We stood up on the porch, got on the horse's back, and rode the horse from the front yard back to the stable. Oh! That was riding in the city. That was plenty happening and plenty for us. 68 16:55.000 --> 17:33.000 You see now, my father and mother, they didn't have professional people, but they all put their children to college now. This same man that I'm telling you about, every one of his five kids— No, one did not go, but four of his kids went to college. He's got the one son that didn't go. And how they sent us to college, my father, I can remember at one time— I don't know if it increases now, but at one time he salvaged up $15 every two weeks. And they would be right there every two weeks because they made the money on it every year. 69 17:33.000 --> 17:52.000 But every two weeks, he got $15. And how I ever went to school, they'd [indistinct 00:17:53] money. 70 17:52.000 --> 18:02.000 Let's pause. Can I offer you something to drink? I don't want you—