Carnetta Frierson (primary interviewee), Mary Frierson, and Elease Smith interview recording, 1995 June 21

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Mary Hebert	We'll have you start by stating your full name. We'll start with you, ma'am.	0:00
Elease Marion Smith	Okay Elease Smith is my name.	0:00
Mary Hebert	What's your name again? Ellie Smith?	0:00
Elease Marion Smith	Elease. E-L-E-A-S-E. Elease. S-M-I-T-H, Smith.	0:14
Mary Hebert	And your name?	0:29
Mary Frierson	Mary Frierson, F-R-I-E-R-S-O-N, M-A-R-Y, Mary.	0:29
Mary Hebert	Mary. And your name, ma'am?	0:29
Carnetta Frierson	Carnetta.	0:29
Mary Hebert	Carnetta, okay. And when were y'all born? Starting over here.	0:30
Mary Frierson	I'm born in 1919.	0:33
Mary Hebert	1919?	0:36
Mary Frierson	1919.	0:37
Mary Hebert	And what's your birthday?	0:39
Mary Frierson	My birthday was May the 2nd.	0:39
Mary Hebert	And you, Miss Frierson?	0:39
Carnetta Frierson	19— I could not remember specific. I got it put on the Bible. That's how I remember mine. I can not remember.	0:39
Mary Hebert	You can't remember it very well?	0:42
Carnetta Frierson	No.	0:42
Mary Hebert	And you, ma'am?	0:42
Elease Marion Smith	I tell you, I can't remember that far because [indistinct 00:01:08].	0:42
Mary Hebert	So you don't have any birth certificate or anything?	0:42
Elease Marion Smith	No. I [indistinct 00:01:16] something [indistinct 00:01:18] sent me that I sent back in [indistinct 00:01:20] they never send that back, so I just have to— My older brother tell me and that's what I have to go by.	0:51
Mary Hebert	And what does he tell you?	1:27
Elease Marion Smith	Well he told me that [indistinct 00:01:32] in 1910, I think [indistinct 00:01:34].	1:29
Mary Hebert	In 1910?	1:29
Elease Marion Smith	1910. I don't know whether that's right. It could be wrong. I don't know.	1:30
Mary Hebert	What did y'all parents do for a living? Your parents, what did they do for a living.	1:41
Mary Frierson	Farm. Farm, that's what— made cotton, corn, yes.	1:48
Mary Hebert	Were they sharecroppers?	1:52
Elease Marion Smith	And my father's—	1:52
Mary Frierson	They were share farmers.	1:52
Carnetta Frierson	Sharecroppers.	1:52
Mary Frierson	And then my father worked [indistinct 00:01:58].	1:56
Mary Hebert	What kind of work?	1:58
Mary Frierson	Built houses and things.	1:58
Mary Hebert	Uh-huh.	1:58
Mary Frierson	He built houses and things and then do farm work.	1:58
Mary Hebert	And did your mother work?	2:06
Mary Frierson	My mother work on the farm and do farm work.	2:09
Mary Hebert	And your mothers, did they work on the farms, too?	2:12
Elease Marion Smith	Yes.	2:14
Mary Hebert	And your father was a farmer also, ma'am?	2:14
Carnetta Frierson	Yeah.	2:14
Mary Hebert	When y'all were growing up, did y'all have to work on the farm?	2:21
Mary Frierson	That's all we had to do to make a living.	2:25
Mary Hebert	What kind of work did you do?	2:26
Mary Frierson	We call it working the field [indistinct 00:02:33] pick cotton. [indistinct 00:02:37].	2:26
Elease Marion Smith	Trying to make it.	2:26
Mary Hebert	How much cotton were you expected to pick in a day when you were a child?	2:26
Mary Frierson	How much?	2:26
Mary Hebert	How much cotton?	2:26
Mary Frierson	When I was a child?	2:26
Mary Hebert	How many pounds, when you were growing up?	2:26
Mary Frierson	When we were growing up? Well I don't really know exactly [indistinct 00:02:52] growing up. But since I done grow up and married and my husband [indistinct 00:03:00], I picked 500 pounds of cotton a day.	2:27
Mary Hebert	In a day?	3:02
Mary Frierson	That's right.	3:03
Mary Hebert	So your husband was a farmer too?	3:05
Mary Frierson	Yes.	3:05
Mary Hebert	Did he share crop also?	3:05
Mary Frierson	Share crop, that's right.	3:05
Mary Hebert	Who did he work for?	3:05
Mary Frierson	Oh [indistinct 00:03:15] and who else? Now them the only ones I know that he worked for on the farm. And let me see who else, [indistinct 00:03:30], yeah, them are the only ones I knew what he do farm work with.	3:36
Mary Hebert	So y'all moved around a lot? I mean, y'all moved from farm to farm?	3:38
Mary Frierson	That's right.	3:38
Mary Hebert	What were your houses like?	3:38
Mary Frierson	Oh, it was big as hell [indistinct 00:03:50] You could look up and see the— look down and see these chicken around the house. Look up and see the sun shining.	3:52
Carnetta Frierson	When it rising and the sun go down. I mean, I know it.	3:54
Mary Frierson	In some kind of house.	3:54
Mary Hebert	So you could see through it?	3:54
Mary Frierson	Yeah, you're right. [indistinct 00:04:09]	3:54
Mary Hebert	Excuse me, ma'am?	3:54
Carnetta Frierson	Before [indistinct 00:04:11] and you could see them underneath the house.	3:54
Mary Hebert	You could see the hogs under the house?	3:54
Mary Frierson	Oh, Jesus, have mercy.	3:54
Carnetta Frierson	[indistinct 00:04:19]	3:54
Mary Hebert	And who did your husband work for?	3:54
Carnetta Frierson	My husband worked for the caravans.	3:55
Mary Hebert	The caravans?	3:55
Carnetta Frierson	Yeah. The Broadways. Mm-hmm. And then he leave that— After he get a— He start to [indistinct 00:04:38], the fish and wildlife.	3:55
Mary Hebert	So he started working for—?	3:55
Carnetta Frierson	Fish and wildlife.	3:55
Mary Hebert	Fish and wildlife?	3:55
Carnetta Frierson	Yeah [indistinct 00:04:44].	3:55
Mary Hebert	And then, what about you?	3:55
Elease Marion Smith	Well, my father died [indistinct 00:04:53] and my mother passed along as well. We were— [indistinct 00:05:03] well, we didn't have to— We didn't have to [indistinct 00:05:08]. Because I would see [indistinct 00:05:18].	3:55
Carnetta Frierson	My mother died when all of us was real small.	3:55
Mary Hebert	Who'd you live with after your father died, your mom? And did she run the farm?	3:55
Elease Marion Smith	Well, she tried. She tried to run the farm [indistinct 00:05:33]. So much going it [indistinct 00:05:36]. She had all of us to put [indistinct 00:05:41].	3:55
Mary Hebert	So, y'all were really young when your father died?	3:55
Elease Marion Smith	Yeah. [indistinct 00:05:56]. She done the best she could [indistinct 00:06:00].	3:55
Mary Hebert	Do you remember how much cotton you had to pick in a day or did you— any [indistinct 00:06:06]?	3:55
Elease Marion Smith	[indistinct 00:06:05] by ourself.	3:55
Mary Hebert	So, did your mother own the land that she lived on?	6:10
Elease Marion Smith	No, she didn't own that. She tried buying some. She got some really [indistinct 00:06:17] sad. We raised up [indistinct 00:06:21].	6:12
Mary Hebert	[indistinct 00:06:24]?	6:12
Elease Marion Smith	Yeah. [indistinct 00:06:27].	6:12
Mary Hebert	Did y'all get to go to St. Louis? Did you get [indistinct 00:06:35]?	6:12
Carnetta Frierson	No, I didn't go. I had to work and take the kids.	6:40
Mary Hebert	So, you didn't get to go to school?	6:40
Carnetta Frierson	Hardly, no. And my mother died when I was about 10 years old. And I had a brother older than me. And I was the oldest girl. And my father raised us. My mother died in [indistinct 00:06:51] and eight of us, small children.	6:41
Mary Hebert	So, there were 8 of y'all when she died?	6:55
Carnetta Frierson	Yes. But there are 2 living now.	6:56
Mary Hebert	You had to take care of the children?	7:00
Carnetta Frierson	Right. I had to take care of the children. And I didn't even know how to cook. My father used to cook for us. And my older brother. Young, he should [indistinct 00:07:14].	7:01
Mary Hebert	Did the other children get to go to school?	7:07
Carnetta Frierson	No.	7:07
Mary Hebert	So, not— y'all [indistinct 00:07:16]. And you said you got to go to school for a few years. [indistinct 00:07:22]? How many years, do you remember?	7:07
Carnetta Frierson	No, I don't, [indistinct 00:07:27].	7:07
Mary Hebert	Did you walk to school?	7:07
Carnetta Frierson	That's about the only way to get there.	7:07
Mary Hebert	So, you walked?	7:07
Mary Frierson	Had to walk. [indistinct 00:07:37], she is.	7:07
Mary Hebert	Where did you go to Church?	7:07
Mary Frierson	[indistinct 00:07:46]. When that one thing [indistinct 00:07:53] church, huh?	7:07
Mary Hebert	Mm-hmm.	7:07
Mary Frierson	I was coming from church and [indistinct 00:07:57] a van and [indistinct 00:08:01].	7:07
Mary Hebert	How do you know what happened?	7:07
Mary Frierson	[indistinct 00:08:06].	7:07
Mary Hebert	Ma'am.	7:07
Mary Frierson	That's Smith [indistinct 00:08:12].	7:07
Mary Hebert	Miss Smith, did you get to go to school?	7:07
Elease Marion Smith	No. I stopped go to school in 7th grade.	7:07
Mary Hebert	You stopped in 7th grade? So, y'all worked from when y'all were really young?	7:07
Elease Marion Smith	Oh, yeah, we were really young. Had to get out there. Get out there and earn a living.	7:07
Mary Hebert	Now, when did y'all get married?	8:24
Elease Marion Smith	I get married [indistinct 00:08:28].	8:26
Mary Hebert	What time? Winter?	8:29
Elease Marion Smith	[indistinct 00:08:32] Sumter.	8:31
Mary Hebert	In Sumter? And what year was that?	8:32
Elease Marion Smith	October 1936.	8:34
Mary Hebert	1936? And when did y'all get married?	8:42
Carnetta Frierson	[indistinct 00:08:45].	8:42
Mary Hebert	What year, do you remember?	8:42
Carnetta Frierson	I don't remember.	8:42
Mary Hebert	1930?	8:42
Carnetta Frierson	[indistinct 00:08:50] I know when you getting married in 1936. I was young, 17 years old when I got married.	8:51
Mary Hebert	So, you got married in 19— ?	9:06
Carnetta Frierson	Got married young. My dad had to [indistinct 00:09:06] and make me wear white to get married. Yeah, stood me up like that. Let me go to this bathroom.	9:06
Mary Frierson	19 to get married. I [indistinct 00:09:15].	9:06
Carnetta Frierson	I was 17 I got married.	9:06
Mary Hebert	You were 17?	9:06
Carnetta Frierson	[indistinct 00:09:120] yeah, get married. [indistinct 00:09:22] married.	9:06
Mary Hebert	So, y'all were talking about Hoover's time before. What was it like here during Hoover's time?	9:26
Carnetta Frierson	[indistinct 00:09:32].	9:30
Mary Hebert	For $2.00 a day?	9:30
Carnetta Frierson	$2.00 a week.	9:30
Mary Hebert	A week. [indistinct 00:09:5] you have survived. You had to drive [indistinct 00:09:32]. At that time living on $2.00 a week.	9:30
Carnetta Frierson	Yeah, we [indistinct 00:09:35].	9:31
Mary Frierson	Everything was cheap.	9:31
Mary Hebert	Do not [indistinct 00:09:35].	9:31
Mary Frierson	She [indistinct 00:09:35] do it [indistinct 00:09:35]. Yeah, and .75 cents a week until we went up to the North [indistinct 00:09:35]. We catch a [indistinct 00:09:35]. She had to make your dress.	9:31
Mary Hebert	[indistinct 00:09:35]. Interesting.	9:31
Mary Frierson	I have worked. When I get old enough to work, I'll work [indistinct 00:10:44] in order to work. That's what at .75 cents a week.	9:31
Mary Hebert	So, .75 cents a week?	9:31
Mary Frierson	Then they had a [indistinct 00:10:48] and they went up to a dollar. And you could take .05 cent and get you enough towards a set to make you a dress.	9:31
Mary Hebert	Oh, I see.	9:31
Mary Frierson	You think you got something but ain't got nothing.	9:31
Elease Marion Smith	But you [indistinct 00:11:03] up again to get a dollar. Yeah.	9:31
Mary Hebert	Well, what kind of work did you do [indistinct 00:11:08]?	9:34
Elease Marion Smith	I do housework.	9:34
Mary Hebert	Who did you work for?	9:34
Elease Marion Smith	Oh, a different one, different one. Plus made out of [indistinct 00:11:14] for [indistinct 00:11:17] Smith.	11:11
Mary Hebert	His name was Lilas?	11:14
Elease Marion Smith	Lilas Smith. [indistinct 00:11:22] I work for. And then from then on, from one to another working on White lady white dress.	11:22
Mary Frierson	You was?	11:25
Elease Marion Smith	You in the fields or work in the house til it's time to chop cotton. [indistinct 00:11:36] we'll chop cotton. Go back to the house. Cook and clean up, take care of children. And okay, time to pick cotton. Go back. Time to pick cotton, back in the field. Back in the field. Not the field, back in the house. I don't work for [indistinct 00:11:55]. Work for nothing. One time I said, "Get [indistinct 00:12:04]." He wasn't work when he could give something away. Get something for working, I ain't able to do it now. If I would ever do [indistinct 00:12:05], I maybe could have some money. [indistinct 00:12:08].	11:33
Mary Hebert	When you worked for these women, how did you go into their houses? Did you have to go in through the back door?	12:09
Elease Marion Smith	Go in the back door, walk fast. Go in the back door.	12:14
Mary Frierson	That's right.	12:18
Elease Marion Smith	And then—	12:19
Mary Frierson	Come out the back door.	12:20
Elease Marion Smith	Yeah, and then I— when I didn't, you talk in the morning?	12:21
Mary Hebert	Yeah.	12:24
Elease Marion Smith	Come and pick me up when I'm— They pick me up and carry me and bring me back. I have walking to [indistinct 00:12:35] I could a walked there. But when I [indistinct 00:12:37] without any time and stuff, like I said, they had to pick me up and bring me.	12:28
Mary Hebert	So Mrs. Smith, they go and pick you up at your house when you lived in town and bring you to work?	12:41
Elease Marion Smith	Yeah, bring me to work.	12:44
Mary Hebert	Who would pick you up, one of the wives, the lady of the house?	12:44
Elease Marion Smith	Sometimes the lady, sometimes the man, different ones pick me up.	12:48
Mary Hebert	Now, did she ever give you clothes or food or—	12:51
Elease Marion Smith	Well, yeah, yeah. [indistinct 00:12:56] give me food.	12:54
Mary Hebert	Were you expected to help raise the children?	12:57
Elease Marion Smith	Huh?	12:59
Mary Hebert	Did you help raise the children?	13:00
Elease Marion Smith	Yes, yes.	13:02
Mary Hebert	And how did your children feel about that?	13:04
Elease Marion Smith	I ain't happen to have no children. Never had no children of my own. [indistinct 00:13:12] helped raise up children. I'm [indistinct 00:13:14] like another [indistinct 00:13:18]. [indistinct 00:13:18] the baby does. When I get ready to go home [indistinct 00:13:21] crying up all they own. And I was so glad to get home [indistinct 00:13:25] but her follow me home. I [indistinct 00:13:30] and I'm home doing my [indistinct 00:13:29] trying to care of.	13:06
Mary Hebert	So, she would follow you home?	13:32
Elease Marion Smith	I had a big home. Tried to follow me home. Her mama so glad [indistinct 00:13:40] we have to get out [indistinct 00:13:42]. [indistinct 00:13:46].	13:37
Mary Hebert	Why [indistinct 00:13:48]? [indistinct 00:13:57]? Well, [indistinct 00:14:06] transcript of this and send you a copy of this transcript. They're going to type it up and print it on paper and they're going to send copies. And it's going to be really nice for the kids to use it and to know what life was like for y'all growing up.	13:47
Mary Hebert	When you were going to the grocery store, what store would you shop at?	14:30
Mary Frierson	Any place [indistinct 00:14:34].	14:34
Elease Marion Smith	The first store you get to. [indistinct 00:14:38]. Because all the stores are lacking.	14:34
Mary Hebert	And they would never stay outside. You sit on a couch?	14:42
Elease Marion Smith	Yeah.	14:54
Mary Hebert	So they'd sell you guys [indistinct 00:14:54]. Now when you went to the store did you have to wait behind all the White customers to be served?	14:54
Elease Marion Smith	No, we didn't have to do that, I don't think.	14:55
Mary Hebert	[indistinct 00:15:03]. You know what? [indistinct 00:15:09]. And I have a great contract with a man [indistinct 00:15:15]. So, he could bring a note [indistinct 00:15:22]. [indistinct 00:15:29].	14:55
Elease Marion Smith	A little piece of me in the news here.	14:55
Mary Hebert	[indistinct 00:15:32] after [indistinct 00:15:35]. [indistinct 00:15:39] I could tell.	14:55
Elease Marion Smith	My mother died in 1936.	14:55
Mary Hebert	She died in 1936? [indistinct 00:16:00]. So, you were [indistinct 00:15:59] for everybody. What would you do during summer to be fun? Was there anything to do like a movie or [indistinct 00:16:08]? There wasn't much [indistinct 00:16:10]?	16:04
Carnetta Frierson	I don't know whether— Nobody never [indistinct 00:16:13].	16:11
Mary Hebert	Huh?	16:12
Carnetta Frierson	Nobody ever move into [indistinct 00:16:15].	16:12
Mary Hebert	Yeah. But [indistinct 00:16:20]. [indistinct 00:16:20]. Think about it. [indistinct 00:16:33]. Which churches were y'all involved in?	16:18
Carnetta Frierson	I been a member of Liberty Hills.	16:35
Mary Frierson	And me and my mother. All my life until I got married and then I joined [indistinct 00:16:45].	16:36
Mary Hebert	And Mrs. Smith, which church did you belong to?	16:45
Elease Marion Smith	[indistinct 00:16:47] Baptist Church [indistinct 00:16:47] fifty something years. Right on the [indistinct 00:16:56] fifty something years. That when I was young. [indistinct 00:17:00] they're very young.	16:47
Mary Hebert	John Paul Baptist, Mrs. Smith?	17:00
Elease Marion Smith	Yeah, and [indistinct 00:17:05] Baptist is my church today.	17:04
Mary Hebert	Well, we're going there this weekend so we might see you there.	17:04
Elease Marion Smith	Y'all going out there this weekend?	17:11
Mary Hebert	On Sunday, to services.	17:12
Elease Marion Smith	Oh, yeah?	17:12
Mary Hebert	Yeah.	17:12
Elease Marion Smith	Well, how nice. That's wonderful.	17:12
Mary Hebert	So, I'll see you.	17:12
Elease Marion Smith	[indistinct 00:17:13]. I ain't planning on going Sunday, though.	17:13
Mary Hebert	Excuse me?	17:24
Elease Marion Smith	I ain't planning on going Sunday.	17:26
Mary Hebert	Huh?	17:27
Mary Frierson	You'll have to go so you can see them.	17:28
Elease Marion Smith	I ain't going Sunday.	17:31
Mary Frierson	Oh, yeah. She don't think on going Sunday.	17:32
Elease Marion Smith	I don't think I'm going Sunday.	17:34
Mary Hebert	Oh.	17:34
Elease Marion Smith	And I tell the bus driver I ain't going Sunday so I don't think I'll go Sunday.	17:35
Mary Hebert	What was some of the place where people would gather in town on Saturday night? Were there any— would they gather on the street and talk or [indistinct 00:17:52]?	17:35
Mary Frierson	Yeah, [indistinct 00:17:54] on the street. And there was a gin joint on the street.	17:52
Carnetta Frierson	A little piccolo joint on the street.	18:00
Mary Hebert	There's a piccolo joining on the street?	18:02
Mary Frierson	Right, right.	18:02
Carnetta Frierson	Yeah, right up the street there.	18:05
Mary Hebert	Where was it about [indistinct 00:18:06]?	18:05
Carnetta Frierson	Yeah, all of them—	18:05
Mary Frierson	Some of them [indistinct 00:18:06] but in a group one time. [indistinct 00:18:06] they had those piccolo joints ready to come, [indistinct 00:18:14] get there in the night big time.	18:05
Carnetta Frierson	And they had like a [indistinct 00:18:16].	18:15
Mary Hebert	What's a [indistinct 00:18:16] little place? You don't mind [indistinct 00:18:16]?	18:15
Carnetta Frierson	No.	18:15
Mary Hebert	Did your husband go, though?	18:15
Mary Frierson	No.	18:15
Mary Hebert	Did he stay home?	18:15
Carnetta Frierson	Yeah. And we had raise our children. I ain't never [indistinct 00:18:16].	18:15
Mary Hebert	You ain't growing up like that?	18:15
Carnetta Frierson	Uh-huh.	18:38
Mary Hebert	What about Saturday was a day off, wasn't it? I mean, didn't you get off at noon on Saturdays?	18:40
Carnetta Frierson	Yeah.	18:49
Mary Hebert	Didn't you go shopping or go to the market and that kind of stuff?	18:49
Carnetta Frierson	Yeah, but we done do all the work.	18:49
Mary Frierson	Saturday evening [indistinct 00:18:53].	18:49
Carnetta Frierson	Had to wash and mop and [indistinct 00:18:58].	18:53
Mary Frierson	[indistinct 00:18:57] on Saturday. [indistinct 00:19:01].	19:00
Carnetta Frierson	Man, [indistinct 00:19:03] a certain time to close the store.	19:01
Mary Frierson	Be mad [indistinct 00:19:06].	19:04
Carnetta Frierson	That's what you call loyal, I know. What [indistinct 00:19:08] and who [indistinct 00:19:08] to get off the street.	19:06
Mary Hebert	[indistinct 00:19:08] or not [indistinct 00:19:17] Saturday morning?	19:08
Carnetta Frierson	[indistinct 00:19:25] long [indistinct 00:19:27].	19:08
Mary Hebert	Yeah. And [indistinct 00:19:29] on the street?	19:08
Carnetta Frierson	They want everybody off the street, right.	19:08
Mary Hebert	You know a bad thing [indistinct 00:19:31] get the children off the streets, you're going to—	19:08
Mary Frierson	Right.	19:08
Mary Hebert	[indistinct 00:19:37] for the night.	19:08
Carnetta Frierson	Yeah. And it's so bad too, because [indistinct 00:19:44] own people it's something else.	19:08
Elease Marion Smith	[indistinct 00:19:48]. Think about things. [indistinct 00:19:54] what life was like [indistinct 00:19:55] and I begged it [indistinct 00:19:57].	19:08
Carnetta Frierson	Yeah, if you [indistinct 00:20:06].	19:08
Elease Marion Smith	[indistinct 00:20:06] like that. You've got them all hanging up. You needed high metal [indistinct 00:20:11]. And this man want to rile us up [indistinct 00:20:15]. This old [indistinct 00:20:22] water. They passed it on to others. I see all that.	20:20
Mary Hebert	Now, were these [indistinct 00:20:36] or these were just people who worked for the county?	20:34
Elease Marion Smith	[indistinct 00:20:38] have somebody [indistinct 00:20:41].	20:36
Mary Hebert	You had to [indistinct 00:20:44]?	20:36
Carnetta Frierson	Two man would get your [indistinct 00:20:47] and after they bury them. Black man [indistinct 00:20:53] Black man owned it. And the [indistinct 00:20:55] on the side of the [indistinct 00:20:57]. Do you remember the camp [indistinct 00:20:57] right there beyond the other side—	20:43
Mary Hebert	[indistinct 00:20:59]. The camp yeah.	20:58
Carnetta Frierson	Used to had them. They had them chained though.	21:06
Mary Hebert	And they shot [indistinct 00:21:12].	21:11
Carnetta Frierson	They shot two Black men and kill them right there.	21:11
Mary Hebert	Trying to get [indistinct 00:21:19]?	21:18
Carnetta Frierson	Kill them right there, yeah. They tried to get them [indistinct 00:21:21]. And they throw them back at them and that's why they [indistinct 00:21:24]. That's right.	21:18
Mary Hebert	That's why he wanted me to [indistinct 00:21:28].	21:25
Carnetta Frierson	Yeah, there's room for [indistinct 00:21:29].	21:27
Mary Hebert	Was this during Hoover's time or was this [indistinct 00:21:31]?	21:29
Carnetta Frierson	And it was dirt, there wasn't no field.	21:30
Mary Hebert	So, [indistinct 00:21:37]. [indistinct 00:21:38]? Mrs. Smith, a minute ago you were talking about Saturdays here in [indistinct 00:21:50]. I didn't quite here what you were talking about.	21:46
Elease Marion Smith	[indistinct 00:21:53] work hard the week. When Saturday come they better bring us [indistinct 00:21:57] us walk the street. One end of the street to the other. One end of the street to the other. Go in and get some ice cream. Eat ice cream and [indistinct 00:22:05]. Now, that was us picnicking on Saturday evening.	21:54
Mary Hebert	Did y'all have a picnic every Saturday evening?	21:57
Elease Marion Smith	Yeah, but that wasn't a picnic. We thought that was a picnic. [indistinct 00:22:13] to come to town [indistinct 00:22:16]. Get a little ice cream and drink a little soda and walk the streets.	22:14
Mary Frierson	[indistinct 00:22:21] we'd walk this side of [indistinct 00:22:21].	22:20
Elease Marion Smith	Each time we going up [indistinct 00:22:21] come back down and walk this side.	22:21
Mary Hebert	[indistinct 00:22:29] walk up and down. [indistinct 00:22:31].	22:28
Elease Marion Smith	Yeah, us having a good time there just walking up and down the streets.	22:31
Mary Frierson	[indistinct 00:22:40]. [indistinct 00:22:45].	22:35
Mary Hebert	Mrs. Smith, did you and your husband do that? You and your husband would get ice cream and walk on the streets?	22:49
Elease Marion Smith	[indistinct 00:22:52] me and one other lady, we be together. We could get ice cream and stuff and walk the streets and eat all the ice cream.	22:54
Mary Hebert	Do you remember what [indistinct 00:22:57] to make them get off the streets at a certain time?	22:57
Carnetta Frierson	Yeah, I remember. [indistinct 00:22:57] beat on home. [indistinct 00:22:57] but he was going through. Let's get on home then.	22:57
Mary Hebert	You're at home right now?	22:57
Carnetta Frierson	Mm-hmm, home already then.	22:57
Mary Hebert	[indistinct 00:22:57].	22:57
Carnetta Frierson	[indistinct 00:22:57] on your [indistinct 00:22:57].	22:57
Mary Hebert	Now, going to these ice cream parlors did you have to order from the back window or?	22:57
Carnetta Frierson	No.	22:57
Mary Hebert	No. You'd just go in and [indistinct 00:22:57].	22:57
Carnetta Frierson	Just go in at the end of the stool of sit right there in the stool and just go in there and order. We didn't have to go in from the back. [indistinct 00:22:57] go right on it and get it.	22:57
Mary Hebert	You couldn't eat it in there if you wanted to?	22:57
Carnetta Frierson	[indistinct 00:22:58] just take it and come right on and see. And lick it, eat [indistinct 00:22:58]. I don't want to speak. [indistinct 00:22:59] eat it and then walk home. And sometimes [indistinct 00:23:38] go on about our business and eat [indistinct 00:23:59].	22:58
Mary Hebert	Did the women in the community ever [indistinct 00:24:03] like quilting bees and things like that?	24:00
Carnetta Frierson	Ever do what?	24:08
Mary Hebert	You and your sister get together and make quilts and stuff like that. Did you all work together in those things?	24:08
Carnetta Frierson	We wasn't living too close together.	24:15
Mary Hebert	Y'all weren't close together?	24:17
Carnetta Frierson	No.	24:17
Mary Hebert	What about—	24:17
Carnetta Frierson	But I used to quilt a lot. Yeah, a lot. And I used to quilt for other people but sometime I make about four quilts a week.	24:20
Mary Hebert	[indistinct 00:24:31]?	24:29
Carnetta Frierson	Yes. Quilting on my hands.	24:30
Mary Hebert	Did you children help you, your daughters?	24:33
Carnetta Frierson	I don't have but one girl, but I had five boys and one girl.	24:39
Mary Hebert	You had [indistinct 00:24:43] just one [indistinct 00:24:46]?	24:39
Carnetta Frierson	But the boys didn't help me.	24:46
Mary Hebert	But your daughter?	24:47
Carnetta Frierson	No, my daughter, she younger than them. She was too young.	24:48
Mary Hebert	And what about you? Did your daughters help you with your quilting and stuff?	24:52
Mary Frierson	Yeah, Connie does.	24:56
Mary Hebert	Now they do? What about gardens? Did you have gardens around your house?	25:03
Carnetta Frierson	Oh, yes. Gardens. We had some of everything, too. Had tomatoes, some okra, some everything. We had sweet potatoes. Always had sweet potatoes.	25:03
Mary Hebert	[indistinct 00:25:28] having your own stuff. Did y'all ever sell any of it?	25:03
Mary Frierson	Yeah, [indistinct 00:25:40].	25:03
Mary Hebert	Y'all slaughtered a pig or a cow, did people ever come and help you?	25:49
Carnetta Frierson	Huh?	25:49
Mary Hebert	When y'all slaughtered a pig or a cow, did anyone come in and help you, neighbors or—	25:50
Mary Frierson	No.	25:53
Carnetta Frierson	No, me and the boys would help me.	25:57
Mary Frierson	The church help us sometimes.	25:57
Carnetta Frierson	You have [indistinct 00:26:13] got me.	26:12
Mary Hebert	Did y'all husbands lose jobs during [indistinct 00:26:15]?	26:13
Carnetta Frierson	[indistinct 00:26:15]?	26:15
Mary Hebert	Did they lose their jobs during Hoover's time?	26:15
Carnetta Frierson	Yeah, jobs.	26:15
Mary Hebert	Yeah, did they lose them, though?	26:17
Mary Frierson	They didn't have no jobs, nothing but on the farm.	26:21
Mary Hebert	Just the farm? But they weren't kicked off the farm or anything?	26:22
Mary Frierson	No. Mine didn't and never [indistinct 00:26:29].	26:23
Mary Hebert	[indistinct 00:26:28].	26:23
Mary Frierson	That's right. And I ain't never kicked off [indistinct 00:26:31].	26:23
Mary Hebert	[indistinct 00:26:31] job and [indistinct 00:26:34]? Did y'all work in the fields when y'all were married? Y'all still helped to—	26:30
Mary Frierson	Yeah. When we didn't have no young babies.	26:47
Mary Hebert	Would you bring the babies with you?	27:02
Mary Hebert	Yeah, did y'all bring y'all babies out with y'all to the fields when they [indistinct 00:27:07]?	27:02
Carnetta Frierson	That's right.	27:07
Mary Hebert	What did you do with them?	27:07
Mary Frierson	Had somebody to take care of them. [indistinct 00:27:13].	27:11
Mary Hebert	Was it an older woman who lived nearby?	27:12
Mary Frierson	An old [indistinct 00:27:20].	27:17
Mary Hebert	And when did you teach them to start picking cotton?	27:19
Mary Frierson	[indistinct 00:27:24]. You had to make little bags [indistinct 00:27:30].	27:27
Carnetta Frierson	It was fun then.	27:36
Mary Hebert	It was like a game for them [indistinct 00:27:40]?	27:38
Mary Frierson	Yeah, everyone was [indistinct 00:27:43]. Yeah. So, it wasn't so bad. They still [indistinct 00:27:47].	27:39
Carnetta Frierson	Yeah, been [indistinct 00:27:48]. [indistinct 00:27:49] Lord, we made it. We survived. That's right. Yeah.	27:48
Mary Frierson	[indistinct 00:28:07].	28:06
Carnetta Frierson	From somebody, same thing. Toting them big bag of cotton [indistinct 00:28:12] in one bag fifty pounds.	28:06
Mary Hebert	Fifty pound bags of cotton?	28:09
Carnetta Frierson	Yes, yes. Sometime jumped the ditch with it right on my back.	28:09
Mary Hebert	[indistinct 00:28:20] in the ditch [indistinct 00:28:26] hospital?	28:09
Carnetta Frierson	Ain't never been to a hospital to have a baby, ever.	28:09
Mary Hebert	You haven't [indistinct 00:28:31]?	28:09
Carnetta Frierson	No.	28:09
Mary Hebert	Did a mid-wife? You have a mid-wife?	28:09
Carnetta Frierson	[indistinct 00:28:35]. I [indistinct 00:28:36] to do that. No doctor.	28:09
Mary Hebert	What about when you got sick? Who took care of you? Was there a [indistinct 00:28:48] doctor or someone like that?	28:45
Mary Frierson	Yeah, [indistinct 00:28:50].	28:45
Carnetta Frierson	[indistinct 00:28:51] the doctor, right. Dr. Scoops now.	28:45
Mary Frierson	[indistinct 00:28:59]. No. Yeah, look like, Lord, this [indistinct 00:29:04]. [indistinct 00:29:08].	28:45
Carnetta Frierson	And nurse the babies.	28:45
Mary Frierson	And we breastfeed them and [indistinct 00:29:25].	28:45
Carnetta Frierson	I guess no baby—	28:45
Mary Frierson	[indistinct 00:29:27] job is [indistinct 00:29:30] milk in the bottle.	28:45
Carnetta Frierson	Right. And now I never had mine on a bottle, never, nary one with the bottle. Not enough breast milk.	28:45
Mary Hebert	How long did you stay in the home after you had the baby?	29:46
Carnetta Frierson	[indistinct 00:29:47].	29:46
Mary Hebert	And then you were back out working?	29:48
Mary Frierson	Right. Right back working.	29:50
Mary Hebert	And you'd bring the baby? And you'd bring the baby with you?	29:53
Mary Frierson	Somebody has to pick that baby up?	29:56
Mary Hebert	Would you go back and feed it during the day?	29:59
Carnetta Frierson	Oh, yeah.	30:00
Mary Frierson	Had to go back and nurse the baby.	30:04
Carnetta Frierson	At a certain time. [indistinct 00:30:09].	30:04
Mary Hebert	Did your children get to go to school?	30:18
Carnetta Frierson	Yeah.	30:22
Mary Frierson	Yes [indistinct 00:30:36]. Yeah, now the children went to school. Yeah. [indistinct 00:30:36].	30:35
Carnetta Frierson	Some of the boys [indistinct 00:30:36].	30:35
Mary Frierson	And that's my girl with the daddy keeping her. And one year before they finish high school.	30:37
Mary Hebert	Did he live near you?	30:41
Elease Marion Smith	Near the church, I think.	30:41
Mary Hebert	Y'all met in church?	31:12
Elease Marion Smith	Yeah.	31:12
Mary Hebert	And when you were courting, how did you— did he go over to your house to visit?	31:18
Elease Marion Smith	No, he would come see me to the house, yeah.	31:25
Mary Hebert	Did y'all have anyone else living in your home other than your brothers and your sisters and your mother? Did you have aunts or uncles?	31:31
Elease Marion Smith	In the house with us?	31:37
Mary Hebert	Yes.	31:38
Elease Marion Smith	Well, after my father died, my mother raised me. And she would always be the one [indistinct 00:31:49] all the time. Uh-huh.	31:39
Mary Hebert	What about your grandparents? Did you live close to them?	31:51
Elease Marion Smith	No, they died. So, right now, all of mine are gone. I'm the only one living. I don't have no brother or sister. All of them.	31:53
Mary Hebert	Did you ever go on trips? Did you travel at all?	32:09
Elease Marion Smith	Oh, yeah. But New York [indistinct 00:32:15].	32:12
Mary Hebert	You went to New York to [indistinct 00:32:16]?	32:15
Elease Marion Smith	Other than that, Oklahoma. Yeah, I've traveled some.	32:19
Mary Hebert	When did you do your traveling, the '50s or '60s?	32:21
Elease Marion Smith	Oh, I don't know. After [indistinct 00:32:34] it's [indistinct 00:32:34].	32:34
Mary Hebert	Did you ever work anywhere else?	32:34
Elease Marion Smith	Well, I worked for Miss Ann Corneous, David McClary. He lived right there in [indistinct 00:32:44]. I mean, he used to. He's dead now. But his [indistinct 00:32:48] still living. Huh?	32:35
Mary Hebert	You cleaned their houses?	32:50
Elease Marion Smith	Oh, yeah. Yeah.	32:51
Mary Hebert	And when I was talking to Miss Smith earlier she said she always had to go in the back door when she was cleaning a house [indistinct 00:33:02]?	32:57
Elease Marion Smith	Well, with me, yeah, I guess so because [indistinct 00:33:07] I worked all the time. I couldn't go in the front, had to go in the back.	33:02
Mary Hebert	Do y'all remember signs saying White's only water fountains and things like that, here in [indistinct 00:33:20]? Do they have those here? Like water fountains, bathrooms, those kinds of things?	33:14
Elease Marion Smith	No, I [indistinct 00:33:28] my husband had to put all that running water lines [indistinct 00:33:32]. [indistinct 00:33:32] we didn't have no bathrooms, had outside things. So, it was awful. But now we made it. Thanks the Lord for it.	33:27
Mary Hebert	Do y'all remember in the '50s [indistinct 00:33:47] having problems here with [indistinct 00:33:50] at school integration and those kinds of things?	33:46
Elease Marion Smith	I heard about it.	33:53
Mary Hebert	You don't remember any of it?	33:54
Elease Marion Smith	No. No, not a bit of that. I wasn't involved in it and I didn't [indistinct 00:34:03].	33:55
Mary Hebert	Well, is there anything else you want to tell me about that I didn't ask about?	34:05
Elease Marion Smith	No, I don't think so.	34:09
Mary Hebert	Okay, well, I'll stop this tape and—	34:13

Item Info

Title:

Carnetta Frierson (primary interviewee), Mary Frierson, and Elease Smith interview recording, 1995 June 21

Date:

June 21, 1995

Creator:

Contributor:

Hebert, Mary

Description:

Name: Carnetta Frierson; Date of birth: 1913-11-13; Place of birth: Summerton, SC; Occupation(s): agriculture; sharecropper; domestic; Residence: Summerton, SC. Name: Mary Lou Frierson; Date of birth: 1910-01-01; Place of birth: Summerton, SC; Occupation(s): agriculture; sharecropper;; Residence: Summerton, SC. Name: Elease Marion [Dolly?] Smith; Date of birth: 1919-05-22; Place of birth: Clarendon Co., SC; Occupation(s): agriculture; sharecropper; domestic; Residence: Summerton, SC [Smith's name was entered in the BTV database as Elease Marion Smith as well as Elease Dolly Smith.]
Informant ID: 1209; Informant ID: 1210; Informant ID: 1211; Interviewed by: Mary Hebert.

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Language:

English

Digital Collection:

Behind the Veil

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

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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.

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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.

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963acae8-abbd-46ac-809c-7913592b3dc9
behindtheveil
2563d06a-ac10-4dde-a502-e10de95bf95d
ark:/87924/r4kp8615m
2563d06a-ac10-4dde-a502-e10de95bf95d

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Carnetta Frierson (primary interviewee), Mary Frierson, and Elease Smith interview recording, 1995 June 21

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1. Carnetta Frierson administrative file, 1995

John Hope Franklin Research Center

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John Hope Franklin Research Center

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