RL00170-CS-0548_01
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Willie Davis Jr. | So what I thought, I said now Dad would give me sometime a quarter a week and a quarter go a long ways. You know? | 0:01 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 0:08 |
Willie Davis Jr. | And I said, "Now if I work and make this 75 cent, then that'd be more money he can give my sisters and brothers." | 0:08 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 0:15 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Now that's how I thought about it at the age of 12 and 13, and I start working. My dad bought me my last suit at age of 13. From that day forward, I started buying my own clothes because I always worked. I would always have work, although I wasn't making but 75 cent a day or something like that. And then it went up to—The boys were making a dollar and a half a day, and the mens were making two and a half a day. So one morning, we was eating breakfast, I was going down to Atlanta do some work there. He said, "You tell the boys—" One of two brothers. One of them named George Leonard, and the other name was Q.S. or Quentin Leonard. He say, "You tell Quent that he going to have to pay you man pay." Say you— | 0:15 |
Stacey Scales | How old were you then? | 0:58 |
Willie Davis Jr. | 12 years old. | 0:58 |
Stacey Scales | That's what your father told you? | 0:58 |
Willie Davis Jr. | But I was big. Yeah, I was big. And when we farm corn, I would cut two rolls like they did, breaking corn. That's when we break corn, throw it in the wagon, stuff like that, throw it on the ground. Then later on, we go back and throw it in the wagon and carry it to the barn. | 1:00 |
Stacey Scales | You got half pay at 12. | 1:12 |
Willie Davis Jr. | At 12. Yeah. That was just two dollars and a half a day. But that two dollars and a half went a long ways. So that night when we got through, [indistinct 00:01:26], and we got to the big house there, I said, "Mr. Quent." He said, "Yeah." I said, "You going to have to start paying me man pay." He said, "You know I can't do that. You ain't nothing but a boy. I can't do that." I said, "You want Daddy to come get it?" Exactly what I told him, just like that. He said, "Well, I give it to you today but I can't hire you no more." It was all right with me, Dad'll take care of me. You know? | 1:19 |
Stacey Scales | Yeah. | 1:48 |
Willie Davis Jr. | He went three months and wouldn't hire me. Now Quentin Moore, the Old Man Jim old boys, they was the same age I was, than one of them. And they did what he did, whatever the White man tells them to do. Now them boys would work for our dad. He had about 30 acres of cotton. He had a big family. And I had one, the oldest boy, he would haul cotton to the gin every day. When he go get up in the morning, 4:00, hook the wagon up and go to the gin. When he come back at 5:00 in the afternoon, when they weigh up the cotton that they had picked, that was another bale of cotton, they loaded up. That's all he did all week long. Going back and forth to the gin. And even on Saturday, they picking. He'd have a load of cotton to take to the gin on Monday morning. | 1:49 |
Stacey Scales | Really? | 2:29 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yeah. Because the gin be closed on Sunday and them boys would work for our daddy up until Saturday at 12:00. And that's the only pleasure we had was going to town and watch the movies, cowboy pictures and stuff like that. And that's something Dad always let me do on Saturdays. I work all the week, he'll let me go to the movie. | 2:32 |
Stacey Scales | Was it mandatory that you went to church on Sunday? | 2:55 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I'll get it that pretty soon. And so Old Man Leonard go by Old Man Moore house and say, "Hey Jim, I want to use your boys this season." And them boy be done took a bath, dressed to go uptown to go to the movie. He said, "All right, boys, y'all heard what Mr. Leonard said." And them boys had to go back and change clothes and work and they get to the movies at night And I go to movie with my dad that evening because he didn't make me do that. And getting back to, what was that you asked me now? | 2:57 |
Stacey Scales | Church. | 3:28 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Oh yeah. Yeah. And man, I got punished for that, man, when I was—Hey there, young lady. | 3:29 |
Wilhelmina MacKichan (?) | Hello. You going to get punched for sitting out here—how come you're not inside? | 3:37 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Because this man is interviewing me. I'm making history. | 3:40 |
Stacey Scales | That's right. | 3:42 |
Wilhelmina MacKichan (?) | Really? | 3:42 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yeah. | 3:43 |
Wilhelmina MacKichan (?) | How in the world? | 3:47 |
Willie Davis Jr. | You have to Murphy about it. Murphy put him on me. He told him I was a charter member, but he thought he meant that I was a charter member of the church. I'm just a charter member of the male chorus. | 3:49 |
Wilhelmina MacKichan (?) | Yeah, because you're not a charter member of the church. | 3:55 |
Willie Davis Jr. | No, not the church. I told him that. I didn't take that much credit in everything. | 3:58 |
Wilhelmina MacKichan (?) | Just wanted to check to make sure— | 3:59 |
Willie Davis Jr. | This is Reverend MacKichan. | 3:59 |
Stacey Scales | How you doing? It's nice to meet you. | 3:59 |
Wilhelmina MacKichan (?) | Hello, how are you? | 3:59 |
Stacey Scales | I'm Stacey Scales. | 3:59 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yeah, she one of my best friends. She— | 3:59 |
Stacey Scales | What's your name again? | 4:08 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Willie. Wilhelmina MacKichan. | 4:10 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. | 4:10 |
Wilhelmina MacKichan (?) | I'm an associate minister here. | 4:10 |
Stacey Scales | Oh, okay. | 4:10 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yeah. | 4:10 |
Wilhelmina MacKichan (?) | Were you here Sunday? | 4:10 |
Stacey Scales | Yes, I was here Sunday with the group. | 4:10 |
Wilhelmina MacKichan (?) | Okay, I was out of town Sunday. | 4:10 |
Stacey Scales | Yeah. | 4:10 |
Wilhelmina MacKichan (?) | [indistinct 00:04:20] | 4:10 |
Stacey Scales | We enjoyed the service. | 4:10 |
Wilhelmina MacKichan (?) | Yeah. | 4:10 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yeah, she— | 4:10 |
Wilhelmina MacKichan (?) | [indistinct 00:04:25] on Sunday. | 4:10 |
Willie Davis Jr. | See, she call me her turkey. | 4:27 |
Stacey Scales | Why is that? | 4:28 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Well, she know it doesn't bother me. She can call me anything. (laughs) She a real good friend though. She's real nice, as sweet as she can be. | 4:30 |
Wilhelmina MacKichan (?) | Let me get in here. I'm late getting over here. Every time I started out, the phone rang. | 4:35 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Oh, okay. Now I'm making history. I don't know if he going to print anything or do anything about it, you know, with it. (laughs) | 4:43 |
Stacey Scales | We going to tell them you're making history. | 4:46 |
Wilhelmina MacKichan (?) | [indistinct 00:04:52] somebody to participate. | 4:49 |
Stacey Scales | Yeah, right. | 4:52 |
Willie Davis Jr. | I told him Hastie Price, that he get to talk with Hestie Price. She definitely a charter member. | 4:54 |
Wilhelmina MacKichan (?) | Oh, yeah. | 5:00 |
Willie Davis Jr. | She definitely is a charter member. | 5:00 |
Wilhelmina MacKichan (?) | This young lady is 91 years old. She can tell you a lot. | 5:01 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Mm-hmm. Yeah. Especially about the church. | 5:05 |
Wilhelmina MacKichan (?) | [indistinct 00:05:07] still not quite. | 5:06 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. | 5:06 |
Willie Davis Jr. | And I get— | 5:12 |
Wilhelmina MacKichan (?) | Nice to meet you too. | 5:12 |
Willie Davis Jr. | And get back to me going to church. I had to go to church. I belonged to the church with my father, which was Walnut Grove Baptist Church. | 5:12 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 5:21 |
Willie Davis Jr. | My mother, she belonged to Nelson Chapel Baptist Church and they was right maybe three or four miles apart. | 5:22 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 5:28 |
Willie Davis Jr. | But on first Sunday, we're only having church once a month. First Sunday was Walnut Grove day. Second Sunday was mother's Nelson Chapel Day. So everybody visit churches like that. Nobody ever knew whose church a person belonged to unless they checked the records. You know? | 5:28 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 5:48 |
Willie Davis Jr. | So when I was about 16, 17, well, I'd just started driving the car. And when I came, I stayed out about 1:30 one Saturday night, shooting pool and stuff downtown and got home. Dad never said anything about me staying out late. Of course, mama used to fuss at him about it. He said, "Well, long as he catch that mule when I tell him and don't catch himself no shady tree sleep." | 5:48 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 6:12 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Said, "He'll get tired, he'll come in." And so this particular Sunday morning, I got in about 1:30. Dad didn't say a word. Went to bed, got up that morning. I got up and polished my shoes and laid out my little clothes and stuff. Usually when mama call you down to breakfast, you supposed to be ready to go to Sunday school. | 6:12 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 6:32 |
Willie Davis Jr. | See? But this morning I come down, didn't have on nothing to go to—Mama said, "Boy, ain't you going to church?" I said, "Nah." I said I'm grown. "Nah, I want to stick around here, I ain't going there." And Daddy sitting there, he said, "Well, the next time you stay out all night and don't get up and go to Sunday school," said, "You ain't going to get that car." Okay. Three months I was a good boy. Three months I was a good boy. I didn't care how late I stayed out, I went to Sunday school and church. | 6:32 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 7:02 |
Willie Davis Jr. | After a while, man, I messed around and pulled that same bonus. Come downstairs, boy, and didn't have—wasn't dressed to go to Sunday school. Mama said, "Boy, you ain't going Sunday school?" "Nah, I think I hang around the house today." Daddy ain't said a word. Didn't say a word. That evening, we come back from church, Daddy put on them overalls and when he put them on, I know he ain't going nowhere. I was like, "Dad, you going anywhere?" "No." I said, "Can I have the car, Dad?" "No, I told you next time you go out and stay all night you're not going to get that car." Boy, there I was. Well, that only happened twice. The first time, he told me. And the second time, he proved to me. He never forgot. He never forget. | 7:04 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Daddy whooped me about four times a year whether I needed or not. And each time I had three whoopings filed into one and I got them when he decided to give them to me. I got all three whoopings at one time. Now that's how he did. While mama would get me every day, he said, "Boy, I'm going to whoop you." I messed up about a couple weeks later, boy, "Well, I promise you one." Finally, he come up with the third one and he don't just grab me and whoop me then. He'll wait till I about forgot it. | 7:49 |
Stacey Scales | Oh yeah? | 8:19 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Then next thing I know he was latching on me. Now I can tell you one Sunday, we were living in this little—I was born in a little two-room house with a, what's called a loft upstairs [indistinct 00:08:30] or something like that. And so that Sunday, Daddy didn't go anywhere and we was cold. We was in there playing and all of a sudden, Daddy got up, he went out and when he come back, looked like he had a whole tree, a dogwood switch. And boy, that got my attention. Now I don't remember what I done. I didn't know what. And I was just wondering why he go get that switch. | 8:20 |
Willie Davis Jr. | And he set—had a radio about this high, play by battery. He set that at the corner and Mama had done—Back then, Mama and them would cook on Saturdays. They didn't cook on Sunday, maybe fix breakfast. But the dinner meal, all they had to do was warm that over. So I kept watching that switch. I couldn't enjoy playing because I didn't know why he get that switch. You know? | 8:52 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 9:14 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Mama calls in for dinner, we ate dinner. I kept my eye on that switch and Daddy didn't ever bother that switch anymore. So about 9:00, we were sleeping upstairs. We would get undressed downstairs and it was in the winter time, so I had on my little long underwear and it had the little trap door back there, that was all there, you know, and each of us had a little rocking chair. And that's what, when he said, "All right, y'all, time to go to bed," we'll get out of our clothes. And I would get on our knees there and prop our elbows in a little chair. | 9:15 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 9:45 |
Willie Davis Jr. | And this Sunday night, I had everything turned toward Dad, the little trap door and everything. And I said a little prayer about, "Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray my Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. Amen." When I got the Amen out, felt like a bunch of wasps was back there. When I got down on my knee, he got up and got that switch and he sit back there and I was in the [indistinct 00:10:13] chair, boy. When I said Amen, boy, I turned that chair. (laughs) I turned that chair over, boy. And I'll never forget that. | 9:46 |
Stacey Scales | He waited until you said Amen? | 10:23 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Uh-huh. Yeah. Then he lit that little trap door. I've learned to keep it fastened from then on. (laughs) And I tell that story, I tell people. Now my sister, she was in it too. But she don't like to talk about her. But to me, it's funny. I think about it. I tell people about that, boy, they would crack their side. I say, "When I got through saying my little prayers, I say, Amen." I said, "It felt like a bunch of wasps was in my wedgie there." (laughs) | 10:25 |
Stacey Scales | Oh, no. | 10:51 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yeah, so, boy, I'm telling you. And then another time, I was about 12 years old, my cousin father had died and I always sung. People get me singing on programs and stuff. And so you know how boys start smelling [indistinct 00:11:11] when they get a certain age, showing into manhood. They started getting confused. They don't know what's wrong. | 10:54 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 11:16 |
Willie Davis Jr. | And so every Mother's Day, my sister and I would sing. So this year, Mom says, "I want you to sing solo with Bessie." That's my sister. Well, my cousin William, he was living across the road and the field over there. And he didn't have to. His daddy was dead and his mom didn't—They wouldn't make him participate in programs and stuff. So all that week before Mother's Day, we were practicing on this song about having a little talk with Jesus. | 11:17 |
Stacey Scales | Yeah. | 11:44 |
Willie Davis Jr. | And I basically till I had that verse going (singing) "Now let us have a little talk with Jesus," you know. My sister, she would sang with me and all. So our big man didn't want the sing. If Buck didn't have to sing, why should I to be on the program? But every Mother's Day, just for the sermon, they would have a little— | 11:44 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Wonder what they do that car for it to jump like that? Must be, be a straight shift because that car jumped like somebody was cranking it with the clutch out. | 12:05 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 12:14 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Put it in gear. | 12:14 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 12:16 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Wouldn't it hit the back end of that car? | 12:16 |
Stacey Scales | Yeah. | 12:17 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yeah. And so all that week, Mama had me practicing. We were practicing. Now I did good around Ma, know better not to. You know? | 12:18 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 12:26 |
Willie Davis Jr. | She said, "Now if y'all do good," said, "I give you a quarter a piece." Well, that Sunday morning, I'm still trying to figure out how to get out of the singing. I'm, "But Buck don't have to sing, why I got to sing? Buck ain't in the program." So that Sunday morning, they always have dinner on Mother's Day and Mama fixed the gravy. I reckon she cooked about three or four chicken, fried chicken and stuff like that. And so we didn't have a automobile at that time. So she was waiting for somebody to come by and pick her up with the grocery and the basket of foods. | 12:27 |
Willie Davis Jr. | So she sent me on with my sisters and all us because we was in the side of the church. Sent us on the church. And she said, "You better sing too, boy." I said, "Oh boy, Mama ain't going to be there. I do like I want to do." You know? | 12:57 |
Stacey Scales | Mm-hmm. | 13:12 |
Willie Davis Jr. | But I had to sing and I got in there and they had my own program. I was named and we got to our name. I'm going to have a solo. No, a duet by Willie Junior and Bessie Davis. Got up there, boy. And I messed that girl—I didn't half sing. And Mama cousin, he was a man and had a king voice. When Mama got there, he said, "Sister." That what they call Mama. "That boy didn't half sing." Say, "He messed that gal up." That the way they talked in those days. Instead of saying "girl," they called a her "gal." You know? | 13:12 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 13:43 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Messed that gal up. So after the church program was over, after everything was over, they went out for dinner. They had a great long table. Them tables almost long here across the street to one of them. Everybody bring—See, I say everybody cooperated. | 13:43 |
Willie Davis Jr. | That was a girl, no wonder she did that. Yeah, that's what happened. She tried to crank it up with it. | 13:57 |
Willie Davis Jr. | So Mama and them, Mama, she would fix a plate and put it on table. Usually when I go to the basket, when Mama fix—The first plate she fixed, she would give it to me. | 14:04 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 14:14 |
Willie Davis Jr. | So she fixed this plate and I reached for it. She looked, "I heard about you." Put the plate on the table. But I still didn't know what mama was talking about. I still reaching for the plate. Mama said, "I heard about it." Kept putting it there. I don't know why mama treating me like this. Mama know I loved to eat. I was a little fat guy, love to eat. Mama kept saying, "I heard about it." All that old country-cured ham and fried chicken and all that stuff. And them homegrown butter bean, everything was on the plate. Mama set up on the table, you know? | 14:15 |
Stacey Scales | That's right. | 14:42 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Finally, she gave me a plate and she said, "I heard about you." And I didn't know Cousin Felix had told— | 14:44 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Now we can go inside if you want to, when we— | 14:49 |
Stacey Scales | That's all right. | 14:51 |
Willie Davis Jr. | So when we got home, Mama said, "Junior." I said, "Yes ma'am." She said, "Come here." We had to get out of our clothes. Called, "Come get out your clothes and put on your clothes to play in." And boy, I got in there and pulled my pants down and bent over to step out and then when she lit in on me. Boy, she whooped me good. She wore me out for not singing. | 14:54 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 15:18 |
Willie Davis Jr. | She said, "I heard about it. Felix told me about it." Boy, she just whooped me. And what hurt me the most was she promised us a quarter a piece if I did good. | 15:19 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 15:28 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Mama took my quarter and gave it to my sister. That hurt me worse than the whooping did. | 15:30 |
Stacey Scales | She gave your quarter away. | 15:32 |
Willie Davis Jr. | And ever since then, if someone said, "Willie Junior, want you to sing," I sing. | 15:36 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. | 15:39 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Ever since then. And just last year, the Eastern Stars were having a dinner down at Central and asked the male chorus here to sing. | 15:40 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 15:50 |
Willie Davis Jr. | But something happened where they couldn't go. Some of them went out of town, different things. And so I said, "Well, I'll go cover for them." I said, "I'll sing solo." And I walked in the place and they said, "Where the male chorus?" My sister say, "Right there, he the male chorus." They said, "He [indistinct 00:16:11]." "Ain't nothing, he'll sing." They say, "Oh, he ain't going to sing no song." "Yes he will," say "Every time Mama whooped his butt, since he been singing." (laughs) | 15:51 |
Stacey Scales | So she remembered it too, huh? | 16:18 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yeah, shoot, that tickled her, she just laughed. Somebody say, "We'll get Willie Junior to sing." They said, "I don't know if he going to sing." She say, "Yes, he will." Said, "He sang ever since Mama whooped that butt." (laughs) And I was a little bitty boy. | 16:18 |
Stacey Scales | In your area where you were growing up, did they have a NAACP or anything? | 16:34 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Didn't hear a talk of it until Martin Luther King days come up. Didn't hear nothing about it. Because what I said, it was a law that we couldn't be with the White folks in certain things. And back then, like I said, I mean, the Black people then, they feared God more and there was more love among one another then. | 16:39 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 17:01 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Like I say, if you got sick, they would tend to you, the wives would come. If your wife was sick, they would come and clean your house and they would cook for you. But now one woman won't let another woman in her kitchen. | 17:01 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 17:14 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Even when the babies were born, people come around and Mama didn't have to get up and do anything. The neighbors would come and do for Mama and see to it that the family got fed and stuff like that. | 17:14 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 17:24 |
Willie Davis Jr. | And the Black peoples, they would get together and have birthday dinners and birthday suppers and guitar playing all that kind of stuff and go— | 17:25 |
Stacey Scales | Did you have lot of those, the birthday dinners? | 17:34 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yeah. Well, not for myself but grown people, they would have and Daddy and them get off and work sometime and we'll go walk about half a mile to someone home that having a birthday dinner. They'd have ice cream cake and barbecue and somebody'd be there to pick a guitar and we turning ice cream freezers and stuff like that. And that was fun. We didn't get home sometimes for about 11:00, 12:00 at night. It usually be on Friday night. And they would get together, what they call, having fish fry. | 17:36 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 18:06 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Have a big fish fry. The Blacks would cooperate. And there wasn't a whole lot of fighting. Every once in a while, someone might have a little fist scuffle every once in a while. And the mens go out there in the back of the barn, stuff like that and drink a little corn liquor and stuff like that and come on back. | 18:07 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 18:22 |
Willie Davis Jr. | And it wasn't no fussing and fighting and everything. And that's the way we were brought up. People loved one another then. But now everybody for themselves now. If you broke, they don't care about you being broke. | 18:22 |
Stacey Scales | Yeah. | 18:39 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yes, sir. So that's the way I was raised. A lot of people don't like to talk about it, but I enjoy it. I think about it now. I'm just blessed to be here. I could have been dead. I could have been dead. He could have taken me away. | 18:40 |
Stacey Scales | It's been really wonderful, finding out all this detailed information. | 18:46 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Oh, man. A lot of that, I guess if I could just sit around and let somebody take a bow, 'cause [indistinct 00:19:05] and I reckon they would (laughs)—and get characters to play the part. Well, I was a very mischievous little guy when I was coming up and I had a auntie, she loved me to death. She was just as sweet as she could be. And she was scared of tobacco worms. | 18:57 |
Stacey Scales | Tobacco worms? | 19:22 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Uh-huh. Tobacco worms. She was scared of them. And I didn't really know she was afraid of them. And I had one day and she said, "Junior." That's what she called me. "Don't you put that, bring down, I'm scared of them." And I stomp in and she started crying. When she started crying, that just tore my nerve all to pieces. But she tried to catch me. She said, "Junior, if I could've caught you—" I was a little fat guy, but she couldn't catch me for nothing in the world. She said, "I would've killed you." And grandma started, "Leave that boy alone. Don't you hit that boy." | 19:23 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 19:49 |
Willie Davis Jr. | And after I find out, when she start crying, from that day, listen, I never bothered anybody. If they're afraid of something, they afraid of it. I don't play with nobody. I don't care what it is. And I tell anybody, "Don't play with people if they're afraid of something. If they're afraid of it, don't be messing with people. Either give them a heart attack or either they'll hurt you." | 19:50 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 20:08 |
Willie Davis Jr. | And I was little, I was only about nine, 10, something like that. And when she started crying and she was my favorite aunt. | 20:09 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 20:16 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Because she used to—she was going by our house, going to school, she went to high school and a lot of times she would stop off there and spend the night with us. | 20:16 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 20:22 |
Willie Davis Jr. | And she was good to me and I loved her. And I made her cry and that hurt, when I talking about hurt, that was worse than a whooping to me. And she never worried about me putting a tobacco worm on her again. Stuff like that. I just came up with a loving family, my aunts and all them. And right now here I am 60, almost 61 years old. And if she would get out of the car right now, first thing she'd do is squeeze me half to death. Yeah. | 20:22 |
Stacey Scales | Speaking of your family, I have here, this is a biographical document for information on your family history. And if I could just get some of the details, your name and address and some family members. | 20:49 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Let's see. | 21:06 |
Stacey Scales | Right there. So you are William or— | 21:06 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Willie. Willie Davis Jr. | 21:09 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. Oh, this is your last name? Willie Davis Jr. | 21:12 |
Willie Davis Jr. | I don't have a middle name. I'm just a junior. My father's Willie. | 21:22 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. | 21:23 |
Willie Davis Jr. | I still use Junior because so many Willie Davis's. | 21:25 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 21:30 |
Willie Davis Jr. | So one guy got killed by his girlfriend and I—while working at the company, the ladies came in that morning. Some of them said, "Willie, we heard that you got killed." And one lady said, "I knew it wasn't him because it wasn't his address." | 21:31 |
Stacey Scales | That's right. | 21:43 |
Willie Davis Jr. | I lived over here on South Street, that guy lived on Angier Avenue. | 21:44 |
Stacey Scales | His name was Willie— | 21:47 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Willie Davis. And the girlfriend killed him. And he married the girl that went to school with me. A girl named Polly. | 21:47 |
Stacey Scales | Oh yeah? | 21:54 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Uh-huh. And I had to go to the funeral home and see that guy. Everybody said, "Was Willie Davis dead?" A lot of folks had that with me. | 21:55 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 22:01 |
Willie Davis Jr. | And I wasn't dating nobody, was going around. I was living with my wife. | 22:03 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 22:06 |
Willie Davis Jr. | I didn't say I didn't do nothing bad or nothing I ain't supposed to do. That's when I didn't know much better. You know? | 22:07 |
Stacey Scales | Your current address? | 22:15 |
Willie Davis Jr. | 1513 South Street. | 22:16 |
Stacey Scales | South Street? | 22:18 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Mm-hmm. | 22:23 |
Stacey Scales | That's Durham? | 22:25 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yeah. Zip code 27707. | 22:26 |
Stacey Scales | And phone number? | 22:34 |
Willie Davis Jr. | 682. | 22:38 |
Stacey Scales | 682. | 22:38 |
Willie Davis Jr. | 8281. | 22:39 |
Stacey Scales | 8281. | 22:42 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Mm-hmm. | 22:46 |
Stacey Scales | Do you have a nickname or anything like that? | 22:54 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Not anymore. Nobody called about, but when I was coming up, you know how kids were in school. I had the name of Cannonball. | 22:59 |
Stacey Scales | Cannonball. | 23:06 |
Willie Davis Jr. | One time we were about five, there used to be a song about Mr. Five by Five. | 23:08 |
Stacey Scales | Five by Five? | 23:16 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yeah. Mr. Five by Five. Because I was big. I was short and fat. And then another one was Rolly Polly. (laughs) | 23:18 |
Stacey Scales | It doesn't matter? I could just put these down? | 23:27 |
Willie Davis Jr. | It doesn't matter. It don't matter. | 23:29 |
Stacey Scales | Rolly Polly? | 23:29 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Uh-huh. Yeah, Rolly Polly. And then there was a White man named me Preacher because he walked up on, I was having a little church service there in my yard, I was preaching away. And he slipped up on me, boy, that tickled him to death. And he named me Preacher and I carried that right there. Most of the White peoples in the neighborhood called me Preacher for a long time. Yeah. Called me Preacher now. | 23:31 |
Stacey Scales | Let me ask your birthday. When's your— | 23:55 |
Willie Davis Jr. | My birthday is October the 18th. I was born in '33. | 23:56 |
Stacey Scales | 1933. And that was Louisburg? | 24:01 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Louisburg, North Carolina. | 24:08 |
Stacey Scales | What county is that in? Do you know? | 24:15 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Franklin County. | 24:17 |
Stacey Scales | Franklin County. Okay. And currently, are you married, single? | 24:18 |
Willie Davis Jr. | No, I'm a widower. | 24:27 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. | 24:31 |
Willie Davis Jr. | My wife passed back in '82. | 24:31 |
Stacey Scales | What was her name? | 24:37 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Ruth Davis. | 24:39 |
Stacey Scales | Ruth Davis. | 24:39 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Her middle initials were Mabel. | 24:49 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. And when was she born? Do you remember her birthday? | 24:58 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Well, she was almost three years older than I am. She and my sister the same age. | 25:00 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. | 25:09 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Well, I was born in '33, so that meant they were born what? About '29? '29 or '30? About '30 or something. They was a little better than three years older, that birthday from October to January. She was born in January. She was a about three years older than I was. | 25:10 |
Stacey Scales | In the '30s? | 25:31 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yeah. She was born the first part of '30, I believe. Something like that. | 25:34 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. And where was she born? | 25:42 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Oh, she was born in Wake County. I don't know now. Down around Wake Forest. | 25:43 |
Stacey Scales | Do you know the city or the city was Wake Forest? | 25:54 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yeah, the city of Wake Forest. Yeah. | 25:57 |
Stacey Scales | Wake County? | 25:58 |
Willie Davis Jr. | But that's in Wake County. | 26:00 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. And what did she do? | 26:04 |
Willie Davis Jr. | When she died, she was a nurse. Not a registered, a LPN. In fact, she was going to LPN school when I met her. | 26:07 |
Stacey Scales | Did she do anything before that? | 26:22 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Well, I think she did. I think she cooked in a school or something like that. Elementary school. | 26:22 |
Stacey Scales | And your parents' name? | 26:30 |
Willie Davis Jr. | My father was named Will. Will Davis. Willie Davis. | 26:32 |
Stacey Scales | He was a senior, right? | 26:35 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yeah, he was senior. I was junior. | 26:36 |
Stacey Scales | And your mother's maiden name? | 26:49 |
Willie Davis Jr. | She was a Bell. Her name was Velaria. V-E-L-A-R-I-A. | 26:50 |
Stacey Scales | Bell. | 26:56 |
Willie Davis Jr. | uh-huh. | 26:57 |
Stacey Scales | And do you remember her date of birth and when she passed? | 27:02 |
Willie Davis Jr. | She was born August the 4th of 1910. | 27:03 |
Stacey Scales | 1910. | 27:04 |
Willie Davis Jr. | My father was born in March of—I don't know what date, but it was March 1906. | 27:12 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. And where was your mother born? What city? | 27:23 |
Willie Davis Jr. | She was born in Franklin County. | 27:26 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. The city? | 27:27 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Well, near Louisburg, I believe. | 27:34 |
Stacey Scales | What was her job? | 27:44 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Housewife. | 27:44 |
Stacey Scales | Housewife. | 27:44 |
Willie Davis Jr. | My mom didn't have to do too much. Womenfolk didn't want as much as they want now. She took care of the children. | 27:51 |
Stacey Scales | Your father was a farmer, right? | 28:19 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Uh-huh. Yeah. | 28:20 |
Stacey Scales | He was born in Louisburg as well? | 28:26 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yes. Mm-hmm. | 28:26 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. If you could give me some of the names of your brothers and sisters? | 28:26 |
Willie Davis Jr. | The one that are living too or you want all of them or just— | 28:43 |
Stacey Scales | All of them. | 28:45 |
Willie Davis Jr. | All of them. The oldest, well, his name was Joseph. | 28:47 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. Joseph. | 28:54 |
Willie Davis Jr. | He was a boy. Yeah. His name was Joseph Davis. | 28:54 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. | 28:55 |
Willie Davis Jr. | And then— | 28:55 |
Stacey Scales | And his birthdate? | 28:55 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Huh? No, I don't know his birth. And then my oldest sister Mary, Mary Davis. | 28:56 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. | 29:05 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Mary M. Davis. Her birthday is the 23rd of February. And like I said, she was somewhere along around the '30s. Because she and my wife were the same age and everything. And then I had a sister that passed named Ernestine. She died at age of three. | 29:05 |
Stacey Scales | Ernestine? | 29:29 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Ernestine Davis. | 29:31 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. | 29:32 |
Willie Davis Jr. | And I don't know exactly what year she was born in or month either. But she died at the age of three with pneumonia. And then me. I was on October the 18th of '33. | 29:33 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. | 29:53 |
Willie Davis Jr. | And then my sister, Bessie Olivia. | 30:00 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. Bessie. | 30:15 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yeah. And I can't think of what—Let me see. She was next to me. I was born in '33, so she must have been born around '35, I believe. Her birthday in June. | 30:16 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. | 30:30 |
Willie Davis Jr. | And then my brother Bobby, he was born the 7th of January and he four years younger than I am. | 30:30 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. | 30:35 |
Willie Davis Jr. | And then Lola Jean. | 30:35 |
Stacey Scales | Lola Jean? | 30:35 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Uh-huh. Lola Jean. And I don't know what month she was born in. Then after Lola Jean, and that was Margaret Scott and I can't give you her birthday either. | 30:42 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. | 31:11 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Then after Scott, that was Worthy. | 31:12 |
Stacey Scales | Worthy? | 31:15 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Worthy Davis. | 31:18 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. You had a large family. | 31:23 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Then the baby boy is Kery. | 31:32 |
Stacey Scales | Kery. How do you spell that? | 31:32 |
Willie Davis Jr. | K-E-R-Y. | 31:32 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. | 31:32 |
Willie Davis Jr. | And he is about 44 I believe, or something like that. | 31:34 |
Stacey Scales | He's 44 now? | 31:35 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Mm-hmm. And his birthday's in March. I don't know what date, but let's see. We had Mama funeral on the 20th, I believe. And he was born somewhere around the 20th or something like that of March. I don't know. | 31:39 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. This is for your children? | 31:53 |
Willie Davis Jr. | My children? | 31:55 |
Stacey Scales | Yeah. | 31:56 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Well, actually I only had one child by my wife. The rest of them was my stepchildren, which mean, they called me Dad. They still treat me—So whatever you want do. | 31:58 |
Stacey Scales | I'll put them all down there. | 32:09 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Okay. Well the oldest one is Alvin, Alvin Forte. That's a stepson. | 32:10 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. Fort. | 32:15 |
Willie Davis Jr. | F-O-R-T-E. | 32:17 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. | 32:19 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Then the next one is Myra, she's dead. Myra Sanders. Well, she was, married name or something. And then the next one is Wilma and she married, she is a Mayfield. | 32:19 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. | 32:40 |
Willie Davis Jr. | And then Herman Young, his maiden name was Davenport, he was a Davenport. | 32:40 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. | 32:50 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Because his father was a Davenport. And then, let's see, okay, how many there? That's four right there. Right then, Reginald. Reginald Leonard Davis. He's the one answered the phone this evening. | 32:53 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. | 33:06 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Okay. | 33:06 |
Stacey Scales | That's it? | 33:06 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Mm-hmm. | 33:06 |
Stacey Scales | Do you have any grandchildren? | 33:06 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yes, I do. | 33:06 |
Stacey Scales | How many? | 33:06 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Each, let me see. The two girls had three of each. | 33:22 |
Stacey Scales | So six? | 33:27 |
Willie Davis Jr. | No, got one. Then the oldest boy, Alvin, he has a daughter named Sandra. | 33:27 |
Stacey Scales | Sandra? | 33:30 |
Willie Davis Jr. | And Herman has a little girl. Her name was Elveny. Then the two girls, the oldest girl, Myra, the one today, she has a son, was 17, was it Monday? When was the seventh? Tuesday? | 33:32 |
Stacey Scales | Yeah. | 33:50 |
Willie Davis Jr. | He was 17 Tuesday. His name is Chris. | 33:51 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. They have just here for the number. | 33:54 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Oh, number? Oh, okay. Then I say about eight of them then. About eight of them. Yeah. Okay. And one great. Little girl. And her birthday's the same day as my mother's. | 33:58 |
Stacey Scales | Oh yeah? | 34:21 |
Willie Davis Jr. | August the 4th. | 34:21 |
Stacey Scales | All right. We talked about this a little bit earlier. The places where you have lived and the approximate dates. So how long you stayed in Louisburg? | 34:31 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Well, I stayed in Louisburg, in that township, about 19 years. | 34:38 |
Stacey Scales | Okay, so you was 19? | 34:47 |
Willie Davis Jr. | When I went in service. Yeah. | 34:51 |
Stacey Scales | And then you went to the service? [indistinct 00:34:57] around? | 34:55 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Huh? | 34:58 |
Stacey Scales | Where were you based? | 34:58 |
Willie Davis Jr. | I took my basic training in Louisiana, Camp Polk, Louisiana. Then I went from there to Korea, stayed in Korea about 19 months. | 35:01 |
Stacey Scales | So from basic training to Korea, that was about two years? | 35:13 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Well, I was in Korea 19 months. | 35:17 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. | 35:20 |
Willie Davis Jr. | And then I come back to the States and I was in Fort Benning from '55 to '58. | 35:20 |
Stacey Scales | Fort Benning from '55 to '58? | 35:34 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Uh-huh. Yeah. | 35:35 |
Stacey Scales | How long was basic training? | 35:37 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Four months. | 35:40 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. And you've been here since '58? About '62, right? | 35:49 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yeah, I came here in '62. Because I worked in Columbus, Georgia from '58 up until '62. When I got out of service there in Columbus, Georgia, Fort Benning is in Columbus, Georgia. And I was a cook in the Army. | 35:52 |
Stacey Scales | Oh yeah? | 36:09 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Mm-hmm. At least I took basic training as a infantry. And when I got to Korea, they put me in the engineering outfit. But I become a cook there in Korea. And I went to cook school there down in Fort Benning. | 36:10 |
Stacey Scales | So where were you in Louisiana? That was what city? | 36:32 |
Willie Davis Jr. | It was near Shreveport. | 36:51 |
Stacey Scales | Shreveport. | 36:51 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Mm-hmm. | 36:51 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. How long did you go to school? | 36:51 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Well, I went 12 years. I just didn't graduate. I lacked one semester of English short of graduating. You know? | 36:51 |
Stacey Scales | Yes. | 37:02 |
Willie Davis Jr. | I didn't have sense enough to know that in the 10th grade, I could have taken the ninth grade English too. | 37:03 |
Stacey Scales | Right. So you went from one to 12? | 37:08 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. | 37:09 |
Stacey Scales | And what was the name of the school again? | 37:14 |
Willie Davis Jr. | It was Franklin County Training School there in Louisburg. | 37:15 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. | 37:33 |
Willie Davis Jr. | It was amazing how they used to name the Black schools Franklin County Training School. And the White school was Louisburg High School. | 37:33 |
Stacey Scales | So the Franklin County Training School. | 37:43 |
Willie Davis Jr. | That was the high school I attend. | 37:51 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. | 37:51 |
Willie Davis Jr. | But then I started in elementary school was Eagle Rock. First school was Eagle Rock. | 37:51 |
Stacey Scales | So how old were you when you first started going to this school? | 37:53 |
Willie Davis Jr. | What, Eagle Rock? | 37:58 |
Stacey Scales | To— | 38:01 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Oh, oh. Ah, let's see. | 38:01 |
Stacey Scales | You went to Eagle Rock too? | 38:04 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yeah, that was the elementary school. I went there in what they call first grade or primer grade or something. And then from there to Mapleville School. I only went to three schools. | 38:06 |
Stacey Scales | You went to Mapleville, Eagle Rock and Franklin County Training? | 38:17 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Training School? Yes. Uh-huh. | 38:21 |
Stacey Scales | Mapleville. | 38:22 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Mapleville. I was in, so it was sixth grade to the eighth grade there, I believe. Something like that. | 38:26 |
Stacey Scales | To the eighth. And you was in Eagle Rock from one to six, one to five? | 38:31 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Uh-huh. Yeah, something like that. Yeah. | 38:36 |
Stacey Scales | And you started elementary school at about five years old, six years— | 38:42 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Mm-hmm. They somehow let me in. My birthday would've been in October, but they still let me start school in September. | 38:45 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. What would you say your most important previous jobs are? You mentioned you worked at the Duke— | 39:02 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Home Security Life, insurance company. I worked there for 24 years. And I enjoyed that. | 39:09 |
Stacey Scales | What year did you start? | 39:21 |
Willie Davis Jr. | April the 20th of '64. | 39:23 |
Stacey Scales | And you worked here for 24 years? | 39:24 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Uh-huh. I retired the 1st of November '86. | 39:36 |
Stacey Scales | And what'd you do? | 39:49 |
Willie Davis Jr. | I was in the maintenance department, cleaner, janitorial service, janitorial work. | 39:51 |
Stacey Scales | How about your job at Duke? | 39:59 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Same thing, but I went there the 19th of July of '62. In what they call in housekeeping. Housekeeping. | 40:01 |
Stacey Scales | And when did you finish that? | 40:11 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Well, I left Duke the 20th of April. | 40:17 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. 1964? | 40:20 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yeah, uh-huh. Yeah. | 40:21 |
Ms. Harrell (?) | Hi. | 40:26 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Hey there. How you doing? | 40:26 |
Ms. Harrell (?) | We done had our prayer meeting and go home, you still sitting out here. | 40:26 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Well, I making history. He taking my biography? | 40:33 |
Ms. Harrell (?) | Oh, don't give him nothing. | 40:37 |
Willie Davis Jr. | (laughs) That's Ms. Harrell and her daughter. | 40:37 |
Stacey Scales | It's nice to meet you. | 40:39 |
Ms. Harrell (?) | You should talk to my mama. She knows everything. | 40:48 |
Stacey Scales | Oh, I'll have to do that. | 40:48 |
Ms. Harrell (?) | (laughs) Don't you know everything, Mama? About what goes on around here? | 40:48 |
Stacey Scales | Do you have awards or honors or any offices that you'd like to include in the biography? | 40:52 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Any awards? | 40:56 |
Stacey Scales | Or anything? | 40:56 |
Willie Davis Jr. | No. No. No. | 40:56 |
Stacey Scales | And your current religious denomination— | 41:04 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Baptist. Yeah, Baptist. Mm-hmm. | 41:06 |
Stacey Scales | And your church affiliation is here, right? | 41:08 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yeah. Lincoln Memorial. Yeah. But I started out at Walnut Grove Baptist Church at age of nine. | 41:13 |
Stacey Scales | Walnut Grove? | 41:18 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Mm-hmm. | 41:18 |
Stacey Scales | That's where? | 41:18 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Huh? | 41:18 |
Stacey Scales | Where's that? | 41:18 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Louisburg. Walnut Grove Baptist Church in Louisburg. Near Louisburg, in township. | 41:24 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 41:28 |
Speaker 5 | And she start telling this person [indistinct 00:41:31] | 41:28 |
Willie Davis Jr. | I was baptized age of nine, back in around '41. Something like that. | 41:28 |
Speaker 6 | Yeah, I knew it. I saw you. [indistinct 00:41:33] | 41:28 |
Speaker 5 | [indistinct 00:41:33] That was in October of '92. I had that cardiac arrest. | 41:28 |
Stacey Scales | That completes the biography. | 41:28 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Okay. | 41:33 |
Stacey Scales | There's one more thing I wanted to share with you though. That is, here we have interview agreement. If you didn't mind this being shared? | 41:55 |
Willie Davis Jr. | I don't mind. | 42:05 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. | 42:05 |
Willie Davis Jr. | First time anybody ever interviewed me. | 42:05 |
Stacey Scales | How'd you like it? | 42:05 |
Willie Davis Jr. | I pretty well like it. Yeah. | 42:05 |
Stacey Scales | Bring back some old memories? | 42:19 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yeah. If you can find somebody to play my part, you can maybe have a cartoon made up, if you want (laughs) | 42:21 |
Speaker 7 | Excuse me? | 42:32 |
Stacey Scales | Yes, sir. | 42:33 |
Speaker 7 | It's a place called Phoenix Square. | 42:34 |
Stacey Scales | Phoenix Square? | 42:35 |
Speaker 7 | Yeah. And it's a barber shop. Jitterbug Barber Shop. | 42:36 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Oh yeah. That what I was telling him. Yeah. I didn't— | 42:43 |
Speaker 7 | If you go down there sometime and check with them, there will be a lot of guys in there that can help you also in some of this. | 42:47 |
Stacey Scales | Oh yeah? | 42:50 |
Speaker 7 | School teacher, preachers and everything go to there. | 42:53 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. That'd be good. Phoenix Square. Where is that now? | 42:56 |
Willie Davis Jr. | You know where Fayetteville Street is? | 42:58 |
Stacey Scales | Yeah. | 43:00 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Let me see. Trying to tell you how to get there. There's an old church there, old St Joseph Church there, right there on Fayetteville Street. They called it something else now. But anyway, right there, if you go down Fayetteville Street back this way, you can't miss it on Fayetteville Street. | 43:05 |
Stacey Scales | I'll have to look into that. | 43:22 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yeah. Yeah. There's a lot of—Even the Green Candle, you know the one I said was on—she's there. | 43:22 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. | 43:28 |
Willie Davis Jr. | The lady that run the Green Candle. Yeah. | 43:29 |
Stacey Scales | I appreciate that. | 43:31 |
Speaker 7 | You go out there, a lot of guys out there. | 43:31 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yeah. | 43:31 |
Speaker 7 | They've got all the school teachers, preachers and everything out there. | 43:31 |
Willie Davis Jr. | That was there. | 43:31 |
Stacey Scales | Appreciate it. | 43:31 |
Speaker 7 | Have a good evening. | 43:31 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yeah. | 43:31 |
Stacey Scales | Okay, if you could sign here. Signature of the interviewee. This one is saying that you the undersigned have read the above and voluntary offered the use of the information contained on tapes and transcripts. | 43:53 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Mm-hmm. | 44:13 |
Stacey Scales | And I could fill— | 44:13 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Okay. | 44:15 |
Stacey Scales | —that out. I really appreciate that. | 44:15 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Sure. I enjoy that. Now I go home and take my insulin and eat my supper. | 44:21 |
Stacey Scales | All right. Glad you— | 44:25 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Yeah, well, like I say, I tell my son, I say, "You ought to sit down and listen to the things that happened." Because he don't believe the things that I went through, things that I did— | 44:27 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 44:37 |
Willie Davis Jr. | —when I coming up. And see, he was born in '65 or '66, something like that. But anyway, the hot water heater went out and I didn't have the money to get the hot water heater right there. But I took a regular hot plate and put a big pot of water and I used that and even cooked. | 44:38 |
Stacey Scales | Yeah? | 44:55 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Because I let my daughter have my stove and I would cook full scale meals and they wonder how I do that, all that stuff. | 44:55 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 45:01 |
Willie Davis Jr. | I don't know, like I said, the Lord blessed me to be talented and I can think, how to do things. And I told him, I said, "Man, when I was a little boy, I used to have to get up on Monday morning for wash days. I used tote water from the well and then I would put it in the wash pots and build fire around it for mama and them to wash. And I had to wash the heavy stuff, overalls and stuff like that." | 45:01 |
Willie Davis Jr. | And old lady used to come by, just as good as I get in that tub washing overalls. And then she go, "Oh, look at that little girl." Boy, that would burn me up, boy. Whoo. And you couldn't sass, you couldn't say nothing. | 45:24 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 45:35 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Because Mom would've knocked me over in the tub. | 45:35 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. | 45:35 |
Willie Davis Jr. | And that's the way I came up. And right now I can go down from my home to any one of the churches, the people that are living today that knew me when I was a boy. They just say, "You always live so you can go back." | 45:35 |
Stacey Scales | Right. | 45:49 |
Willie Davis Jr. | And they still remember me. Sometimes I have to sing for them when I go down, stuff like that. And so I must have did pretty good. Mama and them did a pretty good job. | 45:50 |
Stacey Scales | Yeah, I think so. | 45:58 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Because whenever she did whoop me for something I done, she said, "Boy, you acting like you ain't been raised." | 45:58 |
Stacey Scales | Okay. | 46:02 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Okay, there. You can get— | 46:05 |
Stacey Scales | Appreciate it. I'm going to take this, take your microphone off. | 46:06 |
Willie Davis Jr. | Okay. | 46:08 |
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