Joseph Granger interview recording, 1994 August 09

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Felix Armfield	Today is August the 9th, 1994. I'm Felix Armfield, the interviewer. And I'm about to interview Mr. Joseph Granger, at Azalea Villa Senior Center, here in New Iberia, Louisiana. Mr. Granger, would you just state your full name for the record, please?	0:06
Joseph Granger	Joseph Granger.	0:35
Felix Armfield	Joseph Granger. Mr. Granger, how long have you lived here, in New Iberia?	0:35
Joseph Granger	For a pretty good while. Can't tell you exactly.	0:35
Felix Armfield	Okay. Have you been here most of your life?	0:49
Joseph Granger	Oh, yeah?	0:51
Felix Armfield	Okay.	0:51
Joseph Granger	Oh, no.	0:53
Felix Armfield	You haven't?	0:54
Joseph Granger	Uh-uh. No.	0:55
Felix Armfield	Okay. Where did you spend most of your life then?	0:56
Joseph Granger	Out in the country.	1:01
Felix Armfield	What was that area called?	1:01
Joseph Granger	In Segura.	1:03
Felix Armfield	Oh, you're from Segura. Okay. That's out between Broussard and Lafayette, I think you were telling me.	1:11
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	1:14
Felix Armfield	Okay, out in that area. And that's in Lafayette Parish.	1:14
Joseph Granger	Mm-hmm.	1:14
Felix Armfield	Okay. Now, where were you born, Mr. Granger?	1:14
Joseph Granger	In Lafayette Parish.	1:14
Felix Armfield	You were born in Lafayette Parish.	1:15
Joseph Granger	Yes.	1:33
Felix Armfield	When were you born? What's your birthday?	1:33
Joseph Granger	I don't know that now. I really don't know that. I don't remember that.	1:35
Felix Armfield	You don't remember your birthday?	1:42
Joseph Granger	No.	1:44
Felix Armfield	Do you know how old you are?	1:44
Joseph Granger	I don't know.	1:45
Felix Armfield	You don't know how old you are?	1:45
Joseph Granger	Yes.	1:49
Felix Armfield	Has anyone ever told you of a roundabout how old you should be?	1:49
Joseph Granger	They didn't tell me that here.	1:55
Felix Armfield	They didn't tell you that here?	1:55
Joseph Granger	Yes, sir. Some of the elderly told me.	1:55
Felix Armfield	What did they tell you?	1:58
Joseph Granger	How old I was.	2:00
Felix Armfield	And what did they say how old you were?	2:02
Joseph Granger	I really don't know. I've forgotten that.	2:02
Felix Armfield	Forgot that, huh?	2:02
Joseph Granger	Yeah, it's been so long.	2:02
Felix Armfield	Okay. Can you remember your mother and father, Mr. Granger?	2:03
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	2:14
Felix Armfield	Okay, what do you remember about your mother and father?	2:14
Joseph Granger	I had a good mother.	2:21
Felix Armfield	You had a good mother.	2:21
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	2:21
Felix Armfield	And why was your mother so good?	2:21
Joseph Granger	Well, she used to take care of us. And I had a no good daddy.	2:21
Felix Armfield	You had a no good daddy.	2:21
Joseph Granger	Who?	2:31
Felix Armfield	Now, did your father live with you all?	2:32
Joseph Granger	Yes.	2:34
Felix Armfield	He did.	2:35
Joseph Granger	Mm-hmm.	2:35
Felix Armfield	And what made your father no good, Mr. Granger?	2:36
Joseph Granger	Had all that drinking.	2:36
Felix Armfield	Okay, so your father had drinking problem.	2:39
Joseph Granger	Oh, yeah.	2:43
Felix Armfield	Really? And did it ever become a problem for the rest of the family?	2:46
Joseph Granger	No.	2:47
Felix Armfield	Okay. Did his drinking cause problems in the family?	2:51
Joseph Granger	He beat my mother.	2:54
Felix Armfield	Oh, really? Okay. How many brothers and sisters did you have?	2:56
Joseph Granger	I had six brothers and five sisters.	2:56
Felix Armfield	Six brothers and five sisters.	2:56
Joseph Granger	Mm-hmm.	2:56
Felix Armfield	And which child were you? The oldest? The youngest?	3:05
Joseph Granger	No.	3:09
Felix Armfield	No.	3:09
Joseph Granger	I was the baby.	3:09
Felix Armfield	You were the baby child.	3:10
Joseph Granger	Yes.	3:11
Felix Armfield	So of those 12 children, you are the 12th child.	3:12
Joseph Granger	Mm-hmm.	3:15
Felix Armfield	Oh, really? Now, are either of your mother and father still living today?	3:20
Joseph Granger	No.	3:25
Felix Armfield	Okay. Both your parents are dead.	3:25
Joseph Granger	Oh, yeah.	3:25
Felix Armfield	Now, what did your parents do for a living? What kind of work did they do?	3:26
Joseph Granger	We used to farm.	3:29
Felix Armfield	You used to farm.	3:30
Joseph Granger	Mm-hmm.	3:30
Felix Armfield	Okay. Were you farming for yourself, or farming for someone else?	3:36
Joseph Granger	Someone else.	3:37
Felix Armfield	Okay. What was that person's name that you farmed for?	3:39
Joseph Granger	That was a woman.	3:46
Felix Armfield	You farm for a woman.	3:46
Joseph Granger	Yes.	3:46
Felix Armfield	Was she a Black woman or a White woman?	3:47
Joseph Granger	No, White.	3:48
Felix Armfield	She was a White woman. What was her name?	3:49
Joseph Granger	I know she was a Landry.	3:54
Felix Armfield	Landry, okay. So there, then, you were working for the Landrys.	3:56
Joseph Granger	She was a good person, though.	4:02
Felix Armfield	Really?	4:04
Joseph Granger	Oh, yeah.	4:05
Felix Armfield	Why was she so good, Mr. Granger?	4:05
Joseph Granger	She used to help my mother a lot.	4:09
Felix Armfield	She did? What kinds of things did she do for your mother, to help her?	4:11
Joseph Granger	Buy things for us. My daddy wouldn't give my mother no money to buy nothing. So she provides for us.	4:13
Felix Armfield	So Ms. Landry would help your mother out—	4:25
Joseph Granger	Oh, yeah.	4:30
Felix Armfield	— with you and the rest of the children.	4:30
Joseph Granger	That's right.	4:30
Felix Armfield	Okay. Okay. What kind of farm labor did you do?	4:35
Joseph Granger	Cane.	4:37
Felix Armfield	You did cane. Now what did you do to the cane? I've never seen that process. Can you explain that to me? What happened when you [indistinct 00:05:07]?	4:38
Joseph Granger	Cut them. And then after you cut them, you bring him to the sugar mill. And then grind it up.	5:07
Felix Armfield	Now, when you say you cut them, how did you cut them? How did you cut them?	5:10
Joseph Granger	With a cane knife.	5:11
Felix Armfield	And how was that process? Did you cut from the top or bottom? What?	5:17
Joseph Granger	Yeah, you cut the bottom and the top.	5:19
Felix Armfield	Okay. Which one did you cut first?	5:19
Joseph Granger	The top.	5:19
Felix Armfield	You bend it down—	5:19
Joseph Granger	Mm-hmm.	5:19
Felix Armfield	— and cut the top.	5:19
Joseph Granger	Cut the top.	5:19
Felix Armfield	And then you cut the bottom.	5:19
Joseph Granger	That's right.	5:19
Felix Armfield	Was there anything else you had to do to it, once you did that, cut the top and bottom?	5:19
Joseph Granger	Well, we had to load them by hand then. They had no loader in them times.	5:24
Felix Armfield	Oh. Now, when you say in them times, was this when you was a child?	5:25
Joseph Granger	Yes.	5:26
Felix Armfield	Okay. Okay. Now, how young were you when you began working in sugar cane? Were you a little boy, or a big kid? Or what?	5:29
Joseph Granger	I was about 19.	5:39
Felix Armfield	You were about 19 when you started working in the sugar cane.	5:42
Joseph Granger	Mm-hmm.	5:43
Felix Armfield	Do you remember around about what year?	5:45
Joseph Granger	No, I sure don't that.	5:47
Felix Armfield	Okay. But you were about 19 years old—	5:50
Joseph Granger	Yes.	5:52
Felix Armfield	— when you started working in the sugar cane. Were there any other things that were grown on the farm, or any other crops?	5:53
Joseph Granger	Yeah, they raised cotton.	5:59
Felix Armfield	Yeah, grew cotton?	6:01
Joseph Granger	Cotton and corn.	6:01
Felix Armfield	Did you ever have to pick that cotton?	6:01
Joseph Granger	Oh, yeah.	6:01
Felix Armfield	No, you didn't, did you? You picked that cotton. About how many bales of cotton would you pick a day, Mr. Granger?	6:01
Joseph Granger	Oh, we didn't know. She used to send that to the mill, and then they used to bale it out. It's like hay.	6:14
Felix Armfield	So you didn't really know how many bells of cotton you picked.	6:25
Joseph Granger	No.	6:26
Felix Armfield	Did you pick a lot, or a little? Or—	6:26
Joseph Granger	We just used to pick it and don't see nothing for it.	6:26
Felix Armfield	You would pick the cotton, and you wouldn't see anything for it.	6:28
Joseph Granger	Oh, no.	6:37
Felix Armfield	Now, when you say you didn't see anything for it, what exactly do you mean?	6:38
Joseph Granger	That Daddy didn't used to give us nothing.	6:43
Felix Armfield	Oh. So you weren't paid for your work?	6:44
Joseph Granger	So the old lady, that one woman, Ms. Landry, every bale of cotton they used to sell, she used to take half of that and gave that to my mother. And at night, when he went to town and get a few drinks, we had to leave the house.	6:55
Felix Armfield	Why would you have to leave the house?	7:06
Joseph Granger	Oh, you'll fight. I told my mother, one night, I said, "We ain't going nowhere." I said, like, "Tonight, I'm going to show him what he's calling names." So my mother said, "No, I don't want you all to hit him. Talk to him."	7:11
Joseph Granger	Well, he got in the house, old son of a bitch, that motherfucker. I say, "Uh-uh. That's got to be stopped." I grabbed him and I shook him and I pushed him against the wall. Well, he told me, "Now, you see?" He told my mother, "You see what he doing then. He going to be sorry because I'm going to bring him down in the woods, and I'm going to shoot him."	7:24
Felix Armfield	Oh, my goodness.	8:06
Joseph Granger	I said, "I ain't going to go with you. Going to be trouble." Well, he's [indistinct 00:08:07].	8:06
Felix Armfield	Where would you all go when your mother would send you off?	8:09
Joseph Granger	We used to go a White man house. And I told my mother, I said, "That man don't like that. He don't say nothing to her, but he don't like that." His wife wouldn't let us outside. She'd get up and lock the door.	8:09
Felix Armfield	Now was this all 12 children would go down there?	8:09
Joseph Granger	No.	8:09
Felix Armfield	Who would be— How many children would be going down there?	8:09
Joseph Granger	All the smallest one.	8:09
Felix Armfield	And the big ones, what would they do?	8:25
Joseph Granger	Oh, they were all married then. They had their own house.	8:27
Felix Armfield	Oh, so they weren't at the house.	8:30
Joseph Granger	Mm-mm.	8:31
Felix Armfield	So those of you children who were still underage and living with your mother—	8:31
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	8:35
Felix Armfield	— and father, when your father would go into one of his rages—	8:35
Joseph Granger	That's right.	8:40
Felix Armfield	— your mother would send you all away from the house?	8:40
Joseph Granger	Yeah. And we wouldn't have let her in the house with him. And he had done threatened that he was going to kill her. I said, "That'll never happen under this sun, not as long as my two eyes going to be open." I said, "I already kill you." And my mother said, "No, no. Y'all don't hurt him. Just take him and shake him up." And I gave him a good shaking up that night. Yeah. I guarantee you that.	8:43
Felix Armfield	Did that end the—	9:10
Joseph Granger	Oh, yeah, that stopped him.	9:10
Felix Armfield	So he never bothered—	9:20
Joseph Granger	He never went back at the town to drink. He used to tell my brother, "No, no. I'm not going."	9:22
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm. Well, isn't that something. Rosemary.	9:24
Rosemary	Yes, sir?	9:24
Felix Armfield	Can you give me a little of assistance here, with Mr. Granger?	9:36
Rosemary	I can sure try.	9:37
Felix Armfield	Mr. Granger said he's having a little memory lapse this morning. He can't exactly recall when his birthdate is.	9:39
Rosemary	Okay.	9:46
Felix Armfield	If you could— Do you happen to know that information?	9:47
Rosemary	I have it.	9:49
Felix Armfield	Okay.	9:49
Rosemary	In my office.	9:49
Felix Armfield	If we can get some of that information—	9:49
Rosemary	Sure.	9:54
Felix Armfield	It'll help quite a bit.	9:54
Rosemary	Okay.	9:56
Felix Armfield	Okay.	9:59
Rosemary	[indistinct 00:10:00].	9:59
Joseph Granger	[indistinct 00:10:00] our name.	10:00
Felix Armfield	Okay. Mr. Granger, how much schooling did you receive? How much education did you get?	10:01
Joseph Granger	Oh, the furthest I went, that's no further than first grade.	10:08
Felix Armfield	You went to the first grade.	10:11
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	10:12
Felix Armfield	Now, where did you attend the first grade, Mr. Granger?	10:13
Joseph Granger	At the Catholic school.	10:16
Felix Armfield	Do you recall the name of that school? Would you want sugar?	10:19
Joseph Granger	Yeah. Oh, yeah.	10:25
Felix Armfield	How many? You want me to fix this coffee up for you, or you want to do it?	10:26
Joseph Granger	No, you can do it.	10:32
Felix Armfield	I can fix it.	10:32
Joseph Granger	Go ahead.	10:32
Felix Armfield	Okay. I'm going to put three sugars in. Okay?	10:35
Joseph Granger	All right.	10:37
Felix Armfield	So you went to Catholic school.	10:38
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	10:40
Felix Armfield	Were you all a Catholic family?	10:40
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	10:42
Felix Armfield	Okay. And you went through the first grade?	10:42
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	10:45
Felix Armfield	And now, why did you only go up to the first grade?	10:46
Joseph Granger	Because I didn't learn nothing.	10:48
Felix Armfield	Pardon me?	10:48
Joseph Granger	I didn't learn nothing.	10:52
Felix Armfield	Why didn't you learn anything, Mr. Granger?	10:54
Joseph Granger	I didn't want to.	10:56
Felix Armfield	Why didn't you want to?	10:58
Joseph Granger	That's all I had to do was to fight. That's all.	11:03
Felix Armfield	That's all you had to do was fight?	11:04
Joseph Granger	Fight, fight, fight.	11:05
Felix Armfield	And why were you fighting so much?	11:06
Joseph Granger	Every day.	11:07
Felix Armfield	Hmm? Do you want cream?	11:11
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	11:12
Felix Armfield	Why were you fighting so much, Mr. Granger?	11:12
Joseph Granger	I didn't like Black.	11:14
Felix Armfield	You didn't like what, now?	11:23
Joseph Granger	I didn't like Black.	11:24
Felix Armfield	You didn't like Blacks?	11:24
Joseph Granger	No.	11:24
Felix Armfield	Who did you like?	11:24
Joseph Granger	I used to get down and really beat these Black boys.	11:24
Felix Armfield	Uh-huh.	11:24
Joseph Granger	I remember there was Black who used to come by us, we used to beat up.	11:35
Felix Armfield	Why would you beat up the Black kids?	11:38
Joseph Granger	I don't know. It's just foolishness, I guess. [indistinct 00:11:45].	11:41
Felix Armfield	Now, when you say Blacks, what do you mean? Dark-skinned people?	11:45
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	11:48
Felix Armfield	Why was that? What was the problem with dark-skinned people?	11:49
Joseph Granger	I don't know. I just didn't like them.	11:52
Felix Armfield	Didn't like them. Huh? Were your parents dark-skinned, Mr. Granger?	12:00
Joseph Granger	Oh, no.	12:03
Felix Armfield	What did your parents look like?	12:04
Joseph Granger	My daddy had looked like one of them old Cajun.	12:06
Felix Armfield	Okay. And what did your mother look like?	12:10
Joseph Granger	My mother wasn't Black like my daddy.	12:14
Felix Armfield	Your mother wasn't as Black as your father?	12:17
Joseph Granger	Mm.	12:19
Felix Armfield	Hmm?	12:21
Joseph Granger	No.	12:22
Felix Armfield	But she wasn't a dark woman?	12:24
Joseph Granger	No.	12:26
Felix Armfield	Okay. And you didn't particularly care for the dark-skinned people?	12:27
Joseph Granger	No.	12:32
Felix Armfield	Now, what led you to not to care for the dark-skinned people?	12:33
Joseph Granger	I don't know that.	12:36
Rosemary	Right here.	12:36
Felix Armfield	Thank you.	12:36
Rosemary	Okay.	12:36
Felix Armfield	Okay.	12:36
Rosemary	I'm trying to talk to [indistinct 00:12:43] right now.	12:36
Felix Armfield	Okay.	12:36
Rosemary	I'll be back in my office, if you need anything.	12:44
Felix Armfield	Okay.	12:47
Rosemary	I'm right here.	12:47
Felix Armfield	Thanks, Rosemary. Mr. Granger, guess what. I know how old you are now.	12:51
Joseph Granger	How old?	12:53
Felix Armfield	You're 67 years old.	12:54
Joseph Granger	Oh, no.	12:58
Felix Armfield	How old did you think you were?	13:00
Joseph Granger	I don't know.	13:01
Felix Armfield	You're 67 years old, and your birthdate is January the 1st, 1926. You were a New Year's baby. Did you ever know that?	13:03
Joseph Granger	Yeah, they had told me about that over here.	13:16
Felix Armfield	Oh, really?	13:18
Joseph Granger	I had a birthday here.	13:19
Felix Armfield	You sure have. You had it. This past year, you had a birthday here.	13:23
Joseph Granger	Mm-hmm.	13:27
Felix Armfield	In 1926, you were born. Shortly thereafter, about three years after, the nation was in the throes of a Great Depression. People were doing all kinds of things, just to survive, and looking for day-to-day subsistence in their survival strategies.	13:28
Felix Armfield	From what you're telling me, I gather that things were rather difficult at your house, during this period, with your father being a compulsive drinker. And then coming home and causing disturbance at the house, and your mother barely being able to get by. And when she did get by, she gained assistance from the White landowner that you were working for, which was Ms. Granger. I mean, I'm sorry, Ms. Landry. And you all were doing sugar cane kind of labor. And you said that you did cotton. But when you picked the cotton, you never saw anything of it.	13:52
Joseph Granger	Oh, no. We had better not go ask him.	14:35
Felix Armfield	You had what?	14:40
Joseph Granger	We had better not go close to him. Like me and you, that we had better not go and ask him for anything.	14:41
Felix Armfield	When you say, "Go ask him for anything," you're talking about your father.	14:47
Joseph Granger	Mm-hmm.	14:59
Felix Armfield	Now, why is it that you couldn't ask your father for anything?	14:59
Joseph Granger	Oh, he was going to knock you down.	14:59
Felix Armfield	Really?	14:59
Joseph Granger	That how mean he was.	14:59
Felix Armfield	Did any of your other brothers and sisters receive an education, Mr. Granger?	15:01
Joseph Granger	No. None of them.	15:05
Felix Armfield	Really? Now, are any of your brothers and sisters still living today?	15:09
Joseph Granger	No.	15:13
Felix Armfield	You're the only one living?	15:14
Joseph Granger	Yeah. They all died with a heart attack.	15:15
Felix Armfield	They all died of a heart attack? All 11?	15:20
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	15:21
Felix Armfield	Or most of them?	15:21
Joseph Granger	Well, I caught three. I done caught three heart attack.	15:21
Felix Armfield	You've had three heart attacks?	15:30
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	15:32
Felix Armfield	Well, you certainly look good for someone who's had three heart attacks.	15:33
Joseph Granger	And one stroke.	15:34
Felix Armfield	Really? Well, you're looking fine. Obviously, they're taking care of you here.	15:38
Joseph Granger	Thanks for my friend. Well, he take care of me.	15:42
Felix Armfield	Oh, okay.	15:45
Joseph Granger	And then my sister been getting mad because the boy come ask me for a few change sometime. If I got it, I can't turn that boy down.	15:45
Felix Armfield	Well, you have a sister who's living?	15:58
Joseph Granger	Yeah, like five.	15:58
Felix Armfield	Oh, I thought you said all your brothers and sisters were dead.	16:01
Joseph Granger	Uh-uh. All my brothers.	16:03
Felix Armfield	All your brothers are dead, but you have five sisters living.	16:05
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	16:09
Felix Armfield	And all five are living.	16:09
Joseph Granger	Mm-hmm.	16:10
Felix Armfield	Okay. Okay. Now do your sisters all live here in the area?	16:13
Joseph Granger	Yeah. No, one of them live in Lafayette.	16:17
Felix Armfield	Okay.	16:18
Joseph Granger	And all the rest of them live here.	16:21
Felix Armfield	Here, in New Iberia.	16:22
Joseph Granger	Mm-hmm.	16:23
Felix Armfield	Okay. Okay. What kind of work did you do as a grown man, Mr. Granger? You worked in the sugar cane fields, as a child or a youngster. But as a grown man, what kind of work did you do?	16:24
Joseph Granger	I used to work at a restaurant.	16:36
Felix Armfield	What did you do at that restaurant?	16:39
Joseph Granger	I was the cook.	16:40
Felix Armfield	Was that restaurant here, in New Iberia?	16:46
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	16:48
Felix Armfield	And what was the name of the restaurant?	16:48
Joseph Granger	Beau Sejour.	16:49
Felix Armfield	Who?	16:52
Joseph Granger	Beau Sejour.	16:53
Felix Armfield	Bon Saint Jour?	16:53
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	16:53
Felix Armfield	Bon Saint Jour.	16:54
Joseph Granger	It's on the highway on the left here.	16:58
Felix Armfield	Okay. What kind of food did you serve at that restaurant? Tell me about all that stuff you used to cook up, man.	17:05
Joseph Granger	All kinds.	17:10
Felix Armfield	Really?	17:11
Joseph Granger	Can't beat me as a cook.	17:11
Felix Armfield	I bet, man, if you've been cooking all your life. What'd you do? You cooked Cajun food?	17:15
Joseph Granger	Oh, yeah.	17:21
Felix Armfield	Oh, okay. Okay. So you knew what to do for that Cajun food.	17:22
Joseph Granger	Yes, I had a man and he wouldn't eat it, if I wouldn't serve him.	17:24
Felix Armfield	He didn't want none of it if you weren't cooking.	17:32
Joseph Granger	Oh, no. If I wasn't there, he just left.	17:33
Felix Armfield	He would leave?	17:33
Joseph Granger	Oh, yeah.	17:33
Felix Armfield	Really?	17:33
Joseph Granger	So the man asked me, the boss asked me, "How come he leave?" "Because," I said, "I ain't cooking. That's the reason." Because he used to come in the kitchen and tell me what he wanted. I put that steak on the grill. I cooked it the way he wanted it.	17:41
Felix Armfield	Now, who were you working for? What were the name of the owners? What were their name?	17:56
Joseph Granger	[indistinct 00:18:03].	18:01
Felix Armfield	The who?	18:04
Joseph Granger	Alton [indistinct 00:18:07].	18:04
Felix Armfield	Alton [indistinct 00:18:09]?	18:07
Joseph Granger	Yeah, from St. Martinville.	18:08
Felix Armfield	Now, how long did you work for these people, Mr.—	18:20
Joseph Granger	Seven years.	18:28
Felix Armfield	Seven years. Was that the last job you retired from?	18:29
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	18:31
Felix Armfield	Okay. And what did you do before you started cooking for Bon Saint Jour?	18:31
Joseph Granger	I didn't do nothing, just stayed around the house.	18:38
Felix Armfield	Uh-huh.	18:39
Joseph Granger	I used to cook for my mother. She used to work out. And when she'd come back, she had that to do. That's what made me learn how to cook.	18:41
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm. You'd pretty much stay at the house and take care of things for your mother.	18:52
Joseph Granger	Wash, iron my own clothing.	18:54
Felix Armfield	So you did it all, huh.	18:54
Joseph Granger	Didn't want— Didn't need no wife. Here, they see them regular, every day.	19:02
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm.	19:08
Joseph Granger	I had a sister, though.	19:15
Felix Armfield	Huh?	19:16
Joseph Granger	I had a sister though, she used to wait until her husband go to work. That man would come in, and she'd lock that man in [indistinct 00:19:23] room. I guess that man got hot in there that day. That man made three [indistinct 00:19:29].	19:25
Felix Armfield	He made what?	19:29
Joseph Granger	He made three [indistinct 00:19:34]. He broke it all up. He was hot.	19:31
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm.	19:37
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	19:37
Felix Armfield	Where did the family live? Did you live around other Black families? Or were there White people families living near you? Where did you live? What was that setting like, Mr. Granger?	19:46
Joseph Granger	They didn't had much Colored living there. They was mostly all White.	19:57
Felix Armfield	Where you all lived?	20:04
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	20:04
Felix Armfield	And how did they treat you all?	20:06
Joseph Granger	Well, the man wasn't good.	20:07
Felix Armfield	Is that Mr. Landry?	20:11
Joseph Granger	No, no. It was another one.	20:13
Felix Armfield	Okay.	20:16
Joseph Granger	One of our neighbors.	20:17
Felix Armfield	Okay. One of your White neighbors was not good.	20:18
Joseph Granger	Oh, no.	20:21
Felix Armfield	Why wasn't he good? What did he do?	20:22
Joseph Granger	He'd run us with a hoe.	20:24
Felix Armfield	For what?	20:28
Joseph Granger	So he could hit us.	20:29
Felix Armfield	I mean, why? Why would he want to hit you?	20:32
Joseph Granger	He didn't want us to pass in his yard. If we went to the store, we had to pass there when we went to the store. And he used to come out of there. He'd say, "I'm going to beat you." Waved that.	20:35
Felix Armfield	Sounds like he was just a mean person.	20:47
Joseph Granger	I wasn't running then. I said, "One day, I'm going to get ahold of you." So one day, he came to the house. My daddy wasn't there. So I grabbed a hoe. I said, "It's my turn now to run you with the hoe."	20:54
Joseph Granger	And he had a tractor close. He didn't look for the train. The train picked that man up, thrown him about 20 feet in the air.	21:09
Felix Armfield	Are you kidding?	21:18
Joseph Granger	When he fell on the track, he was dead. I said, "Uh-huh. God don't sleep." I said, "You ain't going to run me no more."	21:22
Felix Armfield	So he was killed by a train.	21:34
Joseph Granger	Oh, yeah.	21:36
Felix Armfield	Really? Were there other people in the neighborhood? How did the other White families that were there treat you?	21:37
Joseph Granger	It was all right. I used to work. I used to go out to this house and scrub a old lady's house.	21:43
Felix Armfield	Used to do what, now?	21:47
Joseph Granger	Go scrub a old lady house. She was nice.	21:48
Felix Armfield	This was an old White lady?	21:56
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	21:57
Felix Armfield	You'd go and scrub her floors and clean her house?	21:57
Joseph Granger	Oh, yeah.	22:00
Felix Armfield	Really? How often did you do that, Mr. Granger?	22:01
Joseph Granger	Every Saturday.	22:03
Felix Armfield	Every Saturday you'd go clean her house. What would she pay you for cleaning her house?	22:05
Joseph Granger	Well, poor thing, she had no kind of money. She used to give me eggs, chicken. I used to bring that to the house, and I had to tell my mama who had give me that. "Uh-uh," she said. "No, let's go to see." I had to bring all that back. So she went out on the porch. She said, "No, no. Don't whip him. I'm the one give him that. He's the one cleaning my house."	22:10
Felix Armfield	Oh. Okay.	22:42
Joseph Granger	She said, "Don't whip him." She said, "That's my boy." She said, "Come here." So she hugged me. She said, "Stay here, or your mama going to whip on your way home." Oh, my mama didn't take— Nuh-uh. Don't take nothing from nobody and bring home.	22:44
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm. Did your mother let you keep the stuff when—	23:00
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	23:05
Felix Armfield	— the White lady came and told her that she had given it to you?	23:05
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	23:08
Felix Armfield	Okay. So from then on, on Saturdays, when you go clean her house—	23:09
Joseph Granger	Oh, yeah.	23:13
Felix Armfield	— she'd give you eggs and other items to eat.	23:13
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	23:17
Felix Armfield	Okay. Would there be enough for the rest of the family? Or just for you?	23:17
Joseph Granger	Oh, my mama then split that up. She scrambled them eggs for all of us. And, yeah, I didn't like eggs.	23:21
Felix Armfield	Who didn't like eggs?	23:24
Joseph Granger	Me.	23:24
Felix Armfield	Oh, you didn't like eggs, huh.	23:24
Joseph Granger	I don't. If I don't have no syrup to put on my egg, I ain't going eat it.	23:37
Felix Armfield	What to put on your egg?	23:38
Joseph Granger	Syrup.	23:39
Felix Armfield	Oh, you like to put syrup on your egg.	23:40
Joseph Granger	Oh, yeah.	23:42
Felix Armfield	Oh.	23:44
Joseph Granger	Back over here, they give you some food. And I'm telling you, I can't eat that. Uh-uh.	23:44
Felix Armfield	So you have to put syrup over your scrambled eggs.	23:50
Joseph Granger	Oh, yeah.	23:53
Rosemary	Brought y'all just a little snack.	24:02
Felix Armfield	You want this?	24:03
Rosemary	It's not much, but it's just a little.	24:03
Felix Armfield	You all do it every time.	24:06
Rosemary	Okay.	24:07
Felix Armfield	Doesn't help my waistline at all, when I come down here. Just—	24:08
Rosemary	Is there something else that you need while I'm here?	24:09
Joseph Granger	When I come down here.	24:09
Felix Armfield	I'll get with you in a little bit. Let me wrap up with him.	24:15
Felix Armfield	Mr. Granger, did you work for any of the other White families there? Did you clean house for anyone else?	24:30
Joseph Granger	No.	24:38
Felix Armfield	Okay. What was that White lady's name that used to clean her house every Saturday?	24:38
Joseph Granger	Ah, but now, it's been so long that I've forgotten.	24:42
Felix Armfield	You were a child when you did that?	24:46
Joseph Granger	Oh, that I was pretty young.	24:50
Felix Armfield	Okay. You were a young man.	24:51
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	24:53
Felix Armfield	Okay.	24:54
Joseph Granger	Wasn't sassy neither.	24:57
Felix Armfield	You weren't sassy?	25:00
Joseph Granger	You couldn't be sassy.	25:00
Felix Armfield	Why couldn't you be sassy?	25:02
Joseph Granger	Oh, not with my mama.	25:03
Felix Armfield	What about other people in the neighborhood? Could you be sassy with them?	25:07
Joseph Granger	Well, yeah. They'd look for you.	25:11
Felix Armfield	Hmm?	25:11
Joseph Granger	Now, if they talk to me rough, I'll answer them.	25:11
Felix Armfield	How would you answer them?	25:17
Joseph Granger	In a nasty way.	25:20
Felix Armfield	Oh, really? Did you ever have to deal with that? Did you have to deal with a lot of people who—	25:21
Joseph Granger	Oh, yeah.	25:32
Felix Armfield	— who spoke with you rough in the neighborhood?	25:32
Joseph Granger	Mm-mm.	25:34
Felix Armfield	Uh-huh.	25:36
Joseph Granger	Just one.	25:37
Felix Armfield	Just one. What was that situation all about?	25:39
Joseph Granger	The one the train killed.	25:40
Felix Armfield	Oh, okay. The gentleman who didn't like you. Do you think he just didn't like Black people? Or what?	25:43
Joseph Granger	Oh, yeah.	25:48
Felix Armfield	He didn't like Black people.	25:50
Joseph Granger	But his wife was so nice. That's him.	25:51
Felix Armfield	Now, did you play with the other White children in the neighborhood, when you were growing up?	25:57
Joseph Granger	Just two.	26:02
Felix Armfield	Just two of them. Why just two? Why didn't you play with all of them?	26:04
Joseph Granger	We beat him up.	26:07
Felix Armfield	Why would you beat them up?	26:12
Joseph Granger	No, because I know they didn't like us.	26:13
Felix Armfield	Why do you think they didn't like you?	26:15
Joseph Granger	They used to call us nigger.	26:17
Felix Armfield	Oh, really?	26:21
Joseph Granger	And I said, "I'm going to show you who you calling a nigger." I [indistinct 00:26:25] on it.	26:21
Felix Armfield	Uh-huh. So you'd have to fight the other White kids in the neighborhood.	26:27
Joseph Granger	Oh, yeah.	26:29
Felix Armfield	Because they would be calling you ugly names like a nigger, huh?	26:30
Joseph Granger	And if you fight one, you better fight the other one.	26:33
Felix Armfield	Really?	26:36
Joseph Granger	They [indistinct 00:26:37] tell you.	26:37
Felix Armfield	So you better get them before they got you, is what you're saying?	26:40
Joseph Granger	Mm-hmm. I don't like that idea of niggers.	26:42
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm. So you heard quite a bit of that when you were growing up in that neighborhood.	26:49
Joseph Granger	Yeah, I hear that here.	26:52
Felix Armfield	Hear that here?	26:53
Joseph Granger	Mm-hmm.	26:53
Felix Armfield	Well, when did you move to New Iberia?	26:58
Joseph Granger	Oh, I can't tell you exactly a time when we moved.	27:03
Felix Armfield	Okay. So the whole family moved here, you and your mother?	27:09
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	27:11
Felix Armfield	Did you serve in the war, Mr.—	27:13
Joseph Granger	No.	27:15
Felix Armfield	You didn't? You never went to the military?	27:16
Joseph Granger	Mm-mm.	27:17
Felix Armfield	You never did go to the military, Mr. Granger?	27:23
Joseph Granger	No.	27:26
Felix Armfield	Oh, okay. Okay. Did you sign up for the draft?	27:26
Joseph Granger	I had the heart trouble.	27:30
Felix Armfield	Oh, okay. So you've had some heart trouble all your life, huh?	27:32
Joseph Granger	Mm-hmm.	27:35
Felix Armfield	Really? Tell me some other things about your life. What was it like growing up? Did you get to go to the theater? Did you go to the dances? Did you go to the bars? Did you have a social life? What was your social life like when you were growing up in the area between Lafayette Parish and Iberia Parish?	27:36
Joseph Granger	The onliest time I started going out is when I was about 19.	28:03
Felix Armfield	And where were you going?	28:05
Joseph Granger	We used to go to the bar in St. Martinville, here in town.	28:07
Felix Armfield	Okay. And what was it like going to those places, in St. Martinville and, as you say, here in town?	28:14
Joseph Granger	It was all right. It was a good thing to go to.	28:19
Felix Armfield	Okay.	28:25
Joseph Granger	No fighting. We used to sit down there and drink a whole little beer. I didn't used to drink beer, me. I didn't like beer. And take my straight whiskey.	28:26
Felix Armfield	Oh. So you were a whiskey man.	28:44
Joseph Granger	So my mother stopped me with all that.	28:45
Felix Armfield	Really? Your mother seems like she was a very righteous woman.	28:50
Joseph Granger	Oh, yeah. They brought me home drunk one time, and she sobered me up.	28:52
Felix Armfield	What did she do to sober you up?	28:59
Joseph Granger	With a strap.	29:01
Felix Armfield	Ooh, she whipped you when you got home?	29:02
Joseph Granger	Oh, yeah.	29:02
Felix Armfield	Really?	29:02
Joseph Granger	And she told that boy, "Don't never bring him here, no more, like that," because I got that [indistinct 00:29:12]. That is how I [indistinct 00:29:17] other things.	29:07
Felix Armfield	From drinking the alcohol?	29:21
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	29:22
Felix Armfield	Really? Well, you discovered then that you and alcohol just couldn't mix.	29:23
Joseph Granger	And you can't make me smell it now.	29:32
Felix Armfield	Really? So you don't drink now.	29:32
Joseph Granger	Uh-uh.	29:34
Felix Armfield	Okay.	29:34
Joseph Granger	I then stop.	29:34
Felix Armfield	Really? Good. Good.	29:34
Joseph Granger	Since it made me sick twice, and I had to go in the hospital, uh-uh.	29:34
Felix Armfield	Uh-huh. Don't need that.	29:35
Joseph Granger	And that boy had told me that then. He said, "Why are you drinking all that?" And he said, "I can't leave you in here tonight." I said, "You put [indistinct 00:29:58] thing, and you're going to leave. And it's going to be worse then." He said, "No, I'm not leaving." So I [indistinct 00:30:09] close to leave. He said, "Uh-huh. I knew something was wrong with you." I was scared to get another heart attack.	29:45
Joseph Granger	The doctor said, "I told him not to drink. I should leave him like that. I don't think I'm going to wake on it."	30:17
Felix Armfield	Now, was your Dr. Black or White?	30:27
Joseph Granger	White.	30:29
Felix Armfield	And where did you go to the doctor?	30:30
Joseph Granger	I went over here, to Iberia [indistinct 00:30:36].	30:31
Felix Armfield	And did they let Black people go in with the other White patients?	30:37
Joseph Granger	Mm-hmm. They ain't got no choice.	30:51
Felix Armfield	Was this recent?	30:51
Joseph Granger	Oh, it's been going on like that. The doctor don't look.	30:51
Felix Armfield	What kind of health care did you all receive when you were young, as children? Where did you go? Where did your mother take you to the doctor?	30:51
Joseph Granger	The doctor used to come to our house.	30:51
Felix Armfield	The doctor used to come to your house.	30:51
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	30:51
Felix Armfield	Was your Dr. Black or White then?	31:06
Joseph Granger	White.	31:07
Felix Armfield	How often would the doctor come to the house, Mr. Granger?	31:07
Joseph Granger	Every week.	31:07
Felix Armfield	The doctor would come to the house every week.	31:34
Joseph Granger	Oh, yeah.	31:37
Felix Armfield	What would he do when he got to the house every week?	31:53
Joseph Granger	He'd examine you. He'd give you a good examination.	31:53
Felix Armfield	He would examine you and all the rest of your brothers and sisters.	31:53
Joseph Granger	Oh, yeah.	31:53
Felix Armfield	Would he examine your mother and father too?	31:53
Joseph Granger	No.	31:53
Felix Armfield	Okay, just the children.	31:53
Joseph Granger	Just the children.	31:53
Felix Armfield	Okay. And your doctor frequented the house every week.	31:53
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	31:53
Felix Armfield	Okay. Is there anything else you can think of to tell me, Mr. Granger?	31:54
Joseph Granger	Not for the time being.	32:02
Felix Armfield	Not for the time being, huh?	32:03
Joseph Granger	No.	32:04
Felix Armfield	I'm still a little curious as to what did you do, as children? What kind of games did you all play, as children? What did you do for fun?	32:07
Joseph Granger	We used to play ball.	32:17
Felix Armfield	What kind of ball?	32:20
Joseph Granger	Baseball.	32:22
Felix Armfield	You played a lot of baseball.	32:24
Joseph Granger	Oh, yeah.	32:25
Felix Armfield	Did you play with the White kids in the neighborhood?	32:26
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	32:28
Felix Armfield	Oh, really? Remember you told me you only played with two of the White kids in the neighborhood, and the rest of them you didn't play with because you would have to fight them because they called you ugly names like a nigger.	32:29
Joseph Granger	No, I didn't. They had stopped that. We used to play all together.	32:42
Felix Armfield	Oh, really? I see. I see.	32:48
Joseph Granger	You beat one or two, everything would stop.	32:54
Felix Armfield	Oh, okay. So after you take care of one or two of them—	32:58
Joseph Granger	Oh, yeah.	33:01
Felix Armfield	— then everybody else was okay?	33:02
Joseph Granger	Yeah, I was good on fighting.	33:06
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm. Well, I'm sure you had gotten good because you had so many older brothers and sisters.	33:06
Joseph Granger	I got a White boy came to see me in here the other day.	33:11
Felix Armfield	Really?	33:15
Joseph Granger	We was sitting down on the porch there. He said, "You remember when you hit me on my eye?" I say, "You want the one now?" See, I got more strength now.	33:15
Felix Armfield	Was that when you were little, when that happened?	33:26
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	33:28
Felix Armfield	So he grew up with you?	33:30
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	33:31
Felix Armfield	Oh, really? And he's still a good friend of yours?	33:33
Joseph Granger	He come here often.	33:34
Felix Armfield	Does he visit you when he comes here?	33:37
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	33:38
Felix Armfield	Oh, really?	33:39
Joseph Granger	Oh, I is the onliest one he go visit.	33:40
Felix Armfield	Oh. So he comes to visit you.	33:42
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	33:44
Felix Armfield	Oh. I see.	33:46
Joseph Granger	Bring me cigarette.	33:47
Felix Armfield	Uh-huh.	33:49
Joseph Granger	We got a old man in our room that I have to hide everything. He get up at night and check in the drawers. And you have a person that don't sleep long. I caught him last night. I said, "I'd be glad to know know what in the hell you're digging." I said, "You see that stick? That same stick going to go the side of your head." And him and another fellow wanted to fight, and I said, "[indistinct 00:34:22]."	33:54
Felix Armfield	What did your mother do to provide food for you and the rest of the children, when you were growing up? Did she make preservatives? Did she do—	34:25
Joseph Granger	Yes.	34:31
Felix Armfield	— a lot of canning and things?	34:31
Joseph Granger	Oh, yes.	34:31
Felix Armfield	What kind of things would she can?	34:31
Joseph Granger	Corn, green peas, watermelon rinds.	34:31
Felix Armfield	Oh, she did the watermelon round?	34:31
Joseph Granger	Oh, yeah. That's what made me learn how to cook. I used to cook that too.	34:42
Felix Armfield	Oh, really?	34:49
Joseph Granger	That's what I do when I'm home. I'm stuck up here, and I'm going to miss my okra.	34:56
Felix Armfield	You going to miss your okra.	34:58
Joseph Granger	Yeah, I used to put my okra up.	34:59
Felix Armfield	Oh, really?	35:00
Joseph Granger	I'm getting out of here next week.	35:00
Felix Armfield	Where are you going next week?	35:04
Joseph Granger	Get me a house.	35:06
Felix Armfield	You going to get you a house next week?	35:07
Joseph Granger	Mm-hmm.	35:09
Felix Armfield	Who's going to stay with you?	35:11
Joseph Granger	I got a boy going to come and stay with you?	35:15
Felix Armfield	Oh, really?	35:16
Joseph Granger	He asked me yesterday when I was going to get out of here.	35:19
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm.	35:21
Joseph Granger	I say, "I have to take a little time. I just had surgery on my eye. I got to see how that's going, how that's going to turn before I get out of here."	35:25
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm.	35:32
Joseph Granger	It is hurting.	35:33
Felix Armfield	What else was going on, Mr. Granger? What else exactly was going on, when you were growing up in your house? What were all the details of your house? How big was the family house?	36:03
Joseph Granger	It was a six-room house, I think.	36:31
Felix Armfield	Was a six-room house.	36:31
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	36:31
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm.	36:31
Joseph Granger	It was fixed up. I guarantee you that.	36:38
Felix Armfield	Uh-huh. I know you did. Took care of all the things that you had there. Do you remember your grandparents, Mr. Granger?	36:39
Joseph Granger	No, I didn't know my grandfather, and neither my grandma.	37:04
Felix Armfield	They were dead when you were born?	37:08
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	37:10
Felix Armfield	Really? Was the family always in Louisiana?	37:10
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	37:17
Felix Armfield	So your family was always here in Louisiana.	37:20
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	37:23
Felix Armfield	Okay. Is there anything else you want to talk to me about?	37:24
Joseph Granger	Not for the time being.	37:30
Felix Armfield	Okay.	37:30
Joseph Granger	I got to think about it.	37:37
Felix Armfield	Okay. Okay. Do you think you can remember a little bit of information such that I can get some paperwork on you? Can you remember some stuff about your family? Your last name is Granger, right?	37:38
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	38:02
Felix Armfield	G-R-A-N-G-E-R?	38:03
Joseph Granger	I believe. I think so.	38:06
Felix Armfield	And Joseph is your first name, right?	38:08
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	38:10
Felix Armfield	Did you have a middle name?	38:12
Joseph Granger	Call me Tino, my nickname.	38:15
Felix Armfield	Your nickname was what?	38:18
Joseph Granger	Tino.	38:19
Felix Armfield	Tino?	38:21
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	38:21
Felix Armfield	And your birthdate is what, Mr. Granger?	38:48
Joseph Granger	The first of the year, huh?	38:54
Felix Armfield	January 1, 1926. Right?	38:55
Joseph Granger	It's what they say.	39:01
Felix Armfield	You're going to remember that, aren't you?	39:04
Joseph Granger	I hope so.	39:05
Felix Armfield	I know you are. And you were born in what? Where were you born?	39:07
Joseph Granger	In between Broussard and Lafayette.	39:15
Felix Armfield	And it was called Segura?	39:17
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	39:18
Felix Armfield	Did you grow up in- Did you live there in Broussard?	39:21
Joseph Granger	Yeah, we lived there a while, and then we moved here.	39:23
Felix Armfield	Okay, but you were born in Broussard.	39:28
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	39:30
Felix Armfield	And that's in Lafayette Parish.	39:36
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	39:38
Felix Armfield	And you did farm work.	39:51
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	39:53
Felix Armfield	And you did some domestic work. Right?	39:55
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	39:57
Felix Armfield	As stuff come to you, feel free to talk to me about it. Okay? We still got the tape on. So don't be shy, now. Tell me whatever you want to tell me. Okay?	40:26
Joseph Granger	I don't have more to tell.	40:53
Felix Armfield	Hmm?	40:54
Joseph Granger	I don't have more to tell.	40:54
Felix Armfield	You have more to tell?	40:54
Joseph Granger	I don't have any more to tell me.	40:54
Felix Armfield	Okay. Let me see here.	42:47
Felix Armfield	You're single, right, Mr.—	42:47
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	42:49
Felix Armfield	— Mr. Granger?	42:49
Joseph Granger	Yes.	42:50
Felix Armfield	Can you remember your mother's first name, Mr. Granger?	42:55
Joseph Granger	Alamina [indistinct 00:43:00].	42:58
Felix Armfield	Who?	43:01
Joseph Granger	Alamina [indistinct 00:43:03].	43:01
Felix Armfield	Alamina?	43:01
Joseph Granger	[indistinct 00:43:05].	43:01
Felix Armfield	Was Granger her last name?	43:13
Joseph Granger	Yeah, she was married to a Granger.	43:16
Felix Armfield	Okay. Did your mother have a middle name?	43:21
Joseph Granger	I don't think so.	43:22
Felix Armfield	What was your mother's maiden name?	43:27
Joseph Granger	Alamina.	43:28
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm.	43:28
Joseph Granger	Alamina [indistinct 00:43:37].	43:28
Felix Armfield	[indistinct 00:43:39]?	43:28
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	43:38
Felix Armfield	Do you remember how to spell that?	43:39
Joseph Granger	Mm-mm.	43:41
Felix Armfield	[indistinct 00:43:44]? Do you know your mother's birthdate, Mr.—	43:50
Joseph Granger	No, I sure—	43:52
Felix Armfield	Huh?	43:52
Joseph Granger	I sure don't.	43:53
Felix Armfield	Do you remember when your mother died?	43:54
Joseph Granger	She died about two years ago.	44:01
Felix Armfield	About two years ago?	44:03
Joseph Granger	Yes.	44:03
Felix Armfield	That would've been 1992?	44:03
Joseph Granger	Yes.	44:05
Felix Armfield	Do you remember the month she died?	44:05
Joseph Granger	No, then.	44:11
Felix Armfield	Where was your mother born, Mr. Granger?	44:18
Joseph Granger	Oh, I not.	44:22
Felix Armfield	Hmm?	44:22
Joseph Granger	I really don't know that.	44:22
Felix Armfield	Do you think she was born there in the Broussard area also?	44:26
Joseph Granger	I don't know.	44:29
Felix Armfield	Was she from Louisiana?	44:30
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	44:32
Felix Armfield	So she was born in Louisiana.	44:33
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	44:35
Felix Armfield	But you don't know where.	44:36
Joseph Granger	No.	44:37
Felix Armfield	Okay. Now, what did your mother do for a living? What kind of work did she do?	44:40
Joseph Granger	She was working for a White lady.	44:43
Felix Armfield	So she did domestic work?	44:49
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	44:51
Felix Armfield	What was your father's first name, Mr. Granger?	44:58
Joseph Granger	Adolph Granger.	45:06
Felix Armfield	Hmm?	45:06
Joseph Granger	Adolph Granger.	45:06
Felix Armfield	Adolph Granger. Did Mr. Granger have a middle name?	45:11
Joseph Granger	Used to call him [indistinct 00:45:19].	45:17
Felix Armfield	Okay. Do you remember your father's birthday?	45:21
Joseph Granger	No.	45:24
Felix Armfield	When did your father die, then?	45:25
Joseph Granger	Three. My daddy been dead about for three years ago.	45:30
Felix Armfield	So he died maybe a year before your mother?	45:32
Joseph Granger	Oh, yeah.	45:34
Felix Armfield	Okay. So maybe 1991?	45:36
Joseph Granger	Somewhere around there.	45:40
Felix Armfield	Okay. Now, where was your father from?	45:44
Joseph Granger	Lafayette.	45:49
Felix Armfield	Was he born there, in Lafayette?	45:50
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	45:52
Felix Armfield	And your father was a farmer.	46:09
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	46:11
Felix Armfield	Can you remember your brothers and sisters by name? Hmm?	46:19
Joseph Granger	One of them, we used to call him same name as my daddy.	46:28
Felix Armfield	Okay. Can you give me their names, for all your brothers and sisters' name, from the oldest to the youngest?	46:33
Joseph Granger	Leo Paul Granger, that's what the oldest one.	46:38
Felix Armfield	Leo?	46:44
Joseph Granger	Mm-hmm.	46:45
Felix Armfield	Leo Paul?	46:46
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	46:47
Felix Armfield	And who was the next child, after Leo?	46:48
Joseph Granger	Well, next was a girl, I think.	46:53
Felix Armfield	Okay. What was her name?	46:55
Joseph Granger	We used to call her Graum.	46:59
Felix Armfield	Who?	47:00

Felix Armfield	And who was after Graum?	0:00
Joseph Granger	Edna.	0:00
Felix Armfield	And who was after Edna?	0:00
Joseph Granger	Emily.	0:00
Felix Armfield	Who?	0:00
Joseph Granger	Emily Leshard.	0:00
Felix Armfield	Emily? Emma-Lee?	0:00
Joseph Granger	Yes.	0:00
Felix Armfield	Okay. And who was next?	0:00
Joseph Granger	I think it was a boy.	0:00
Felix Armfield	And what was his name?	0:00
Joseph Granger	Louis.	0:00
Felix Armfield	Louis?	0:00
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	0:00
Felix Armfield	Okay. Do you remember who was next?	0:00
Joseph Granger	Charlie.	0:00
Felix Armfield	Charlie?	0:00
Joseph Granger	Mm-hmm.	0:00
Felix Armfield	Okay. Who was next, Mr. Granger?	0:00
Joseph Granger	Adoll.	0:00
Felix Armfield	Adoll. That was your brother that was named after your father?	0:00
Joseph Granger	Yes.	0:00
Felix Armfield	Okay. And who was after Adoll?	0:00
Joseph Granger	Patrick.	0:00
Felix Armfield	Okay. Next.	0:00
Joseph Granger	I was next to Patrick.	0:00
Felix Armfield	You were next to Patrick?	0:00
Joseph Granger	Mm-hmm.	0:00
Felix Armfield	And who was after you?	0:00
Joseph Granger	One of my sisters was after.	0:00
Felix Armfield	And what was her name?	0:00
Joseph Granger	Teresa.	0:00
Felix Armfield	And who was after Teresa?	0:00
Joseph Granger	[inaudible 00:01:57]. She was like me all day.	0:00
Felix Armfield	Who was the youngest child?	0:00
Joseph Granger	I was the youngest.	0:00
Felix Armfield	Were you the youngest boy or the youngest child?	0:00
Joseph Granger	Youngest boy.	0:00
Felix Armfield	Okay. Well, then there's three other children that were younger than you, right? Were they all girls?	0:00
Joseph Granger	I believe so.	0:00
Felix Armfield	Hmm?	0:00
Joseph Granger	Yes.	0:00
Felix Armfield	Okay. And who was after Theresa then? You got two more sisters that you haven't named.	0:00
Joseph Granger	They had Edna.	0:00
Felix Armfield	Okay. I got Gum, Edna, Emily, and Teresa. You've got two more sisters names that you haven't given me. Can you remember who they were?	0:00
Joseph Granger	I sure can.	0:00
Felix Armfield	Okay. Were you and all your brothers and sisters born in Broussard?	0:00
Joseph Granger	Yes.	0:00
Felix Armfield	Do you remember any of your brothers and sisters Birth dates.	0:00
Joseph Granger	Uh-uh.	0:00
Felix Armfield	Can you remember when your brothers died?	0:00
Joseph Granger	They all died a year apart.	0:00
Felix Armfield	You remember when those death dates were?	0:00
Joseph Granger	I sure don't.	0:00
Felix Armfield	Okay. And you were the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, you were the ninth child?	0:01
Joseph Granger	I guess so.	0:03
Felix Armfield	Okay. And did you have children, Mr.-	0:16
Joseph Granger	No.	0:54
Felix Armfield	And where have you lived? You've lived in Broussard and New Iberia?	4:23
Joseph Granger	Yes.	4:26
Felix Armfield	And when did you move here to New Iberia, Mr. Granger?	4:35
Joseph Granger	Been a long time ago, I can't remember what year?	4:37
Felix Armfield	Okay. And what was the name of the school that you went to for the first grade?	4:37
Joseph Granger	St Edward.	4:37
Felix Armfield	And where was it?	4:37
Joseph Granger	Over here.	4:37
Felix Armfield	In New Iberia?	4:37
Joseph Granger	Yes.	4:37
Felix Armfield	And your last job you held was— you were a cook?	5:59
Joseph Granger	Yes.	6:03
Felix Armfield	And what was your employer? Bone, St. Jude	6:06
Joseph Granger	Bone St. Jew.	6:10
Felix Armfield	St. Jew.	6:14
Joseph Granger	Bone. St. Jew.	6:16
Felix Armfield	Say that again for me.	6:19
Joseph Granger	Holiday Inn.	6:22
Felix Armfield	Okay. So you were working at the Holiday Inn?	6:25
Joseph Granger	Yeah.	6:27
Felix Armfield	At the restaurant there. And that was here?	6:28
Joseph Granger	Yes.	6:36
Felix Armfield	Okay. And you worked there for seven years?	6:44
Joseph Granger	Yes.	6:45
Felix Armfield	And when did you stop working?	6:46
Joseph Granger	The doctor made me stop.	6:48
Felix Armfield	When?	6:50
Joseph Granger	He told me this wasn't good for me.	6:52
Felix Armfield	When did the doctor make you stop?	6:54
Joseph Granger	A year after.	6:57
Felix Armfield	Hmm?	6:59
Joseph Granger	About a year after.	7:00
Felix Armfield	No, how long ago?	7:01
Joseph Granger	It's been about two months.	7:02
Felix Armfield	Oh, okay. So you worked there since 1984?	7:08
Joseph Granger	Yes.	7:20
Felix Armfield	No, '87, 1987. Have you ever received any awards or honors or held any offices that you'd like to mention at this time, Mr. Granger?	7:33
Joseph Granger	No. I do not.	8:01
Felix Armfield	And your religion is?	8:03
Joseph Granger	Catholic.	8:05
Felix Armfield	Catholic. And what church do you attend?	8:06
Joseph Granger	St Andrew.	8:08
Felix Armfield	Do you belong to any organizations that you'd like to mention at this time?	8:20
Joseph Granger	No.	8:24
Felix Armfield	And you never served in the military, right?	8:31
Joseph Granger	No.	8:33
Felix Armfield	What do you like to do for fun? What do you like to do for leisure?	8:34
Joseph Granger	I can't see good because I don't like [indistinct 00:08:50].	8:48
Felix Armfield	Hmm?	8:49
Joseph Granger	I just like to sit down and talk with people.	8:53
Felix Armfield	Just like to sit and chat.	8:55
Joseph Granger	Mm-hmm.	8:56
Felix Armfield	Anything else?	8:56
Joseph Granger	No. That's about it.	9:10
Felix Armfield	Okay. Now what I need from you, Mr. Granger, is your signature that says that it's okay for us to have this tape and to put it into the collection there at Duke University. That's the only thing this is for. I'll just need your signature on it. Okay.	9:11
Joseph Granger	I don't sign too good.	9:28
Felix Armfield	Can you give me your signature?	9:30
Joseph Granger	Yes.	9:33
Felix Armfield	Can you put an X and then let me sign it?	9:34
Joseph Granger	Yes.	9:36
Felix Armfield	Okay. So if you'll X it, then I'll sign it for you. Is that fair enough?	9:36
Joseph Granger	Good.	9:41
Felix Armfield	You agree that you'll put an X and I can sign it?	9:42
Joseph Granger	Yes.	9:45
Felix Armfield	Okay. If you'll put an X right here on this line.	9:45
Joseph Granger	I can't see to good now.	9:53
Felix Armfield	Okay.	9:53
Joseph Granger	I hope it's straight.	9:53
Felix Armfield	Okay. Is there anything else you'd like to say before we conclude the interview, Mr. Granger?	10:21
Joseph Granger	No, that's about it.	10:25
Felix Armfield	Okay. Thank you so much for your time. I've enjoyed talking with you. And again, thanks again Mr. Granger. Thank you.	10:27
Joseph Granger	I was glad to do it.	10:37
Felix Armfield	Okay. Thank you very much.	10:38

Item Info

Title:

Joseph Granger interview recording, 1994 August 09

Date:

August 9, 1994

Creator:

Granger, Joseph

Contributor:

Armfield, Felix

Description:

Name: Joseph Granger; Date of birth: 1926-01-01; Place of birth: Broussard, LA; Occupation(s): agriculture; domestic; Residence: New Iberia, LA
Informant ID: 622; Interviewed by: Felix Armfield.

Occupation:

Location:

Format:

Language:

English

Digital Collection:

Behind the Veil

Source Collection:

Behind the Veil: Documenting African American Life in the Jim Crow South interviews, photographs, and project records, circa 1864-2011, bulk 1990-2004

Series:

Related Resources:

See below

Provenance:

The David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library acquired the Records of the Behind the Veil Oral History Project from the Duke University Center for Documentary Studies in 1997, 1998, 2000, and 2002.

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

CC BY-NC 4.0

Rights Note:

Copyright for content created by the Behind the Veil project is held by Duke University and made available to the public using a Creative Commons Attribution / Non-commercial (CC-BY-NC) license.

Identifier:

RL00170-CS-1086
42f26448-0d9a-474e-9de6-cbf5ece9c332
behindtheveil
02ace86e-e89c-4c43-b016-c57070c505ba
ark:/87924/r4qj7m68r
02ace86e-e89c-4c43-b016-c57070c505ba

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4qj7m68r

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Joseph Granger interview recording, 1994 August 09

Transcript

Item Info

1. Joseph Granger administrative file, 1994

John Hope Franklin Research Center

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Joseph Granger interview recording, 1994 August 09

Transcript

Item Info

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John Hope Franklin Research Center

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