Washington Polk interview recording, 1994 July 27

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Felix Armfield	Today is July twenty-eighth, 1994. I'm Felix Armfield and I'm the interviewer. I'm about to be interviewing Mr. Washington Polk at his home. Mr. Polk, would you please state your full name for the record.	0:07
Washington Polk, Jr.	Full name?	0:21
Felix Armfield	Yes, sir.	0:22
Washington Polk, Jr.	Washington Polk.	0:24
Felix Armfield	Washington Polk.	0:25
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	0:26
Felix Armfield	How long have you lived here in New Iberia, Mr. Polk?	0:29
Washington Polk, Jr.	Oh, about sixty or seventy-some years now.	0:30
Felix Armfield	When did you first come to New Iberia?	0:30
Washington Polk, Jr.	I'm from Loreauville.	0:31
Felix Armfield	Came here from Loreauville.	0:31
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yes, but that's still in the city limit of New Iberia.	0:31
Felix Armfield	Okay. So when did you come from Loreauville to New Iberia?	0:50
Washington Polk, Jr.	That's one— I don't know. I couldn't tell you too much about that part.	1:02
Felix Armfield	Why did you—	1:03
Washington Polk, Jr.	But I've been here a long time, here in New Iberia.	1:03
Felix Armfield	Why did you come here? What made you come to New Iberia?	1:10
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, for better condition.	1:15
Felix Armfield	Better conditions.	1:17
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah, working. I was working different jobs here and yonder. My first job was a railroad job, my first job.	1:19
Felix Armfield	When you first came to New Iberia?	1:30
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	1:32
Felix Armfield	What were those conditions like in Loreauville that you wanted to leave?	1:33
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, I was a young boy then. I didn't do now work over there. I followed my people, I followed poppa and momma.	1:37
Felix Armfield	Oh, okay, so you were young?	1:53
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yes. I was about maybe eighteen, I guess, or something like that. I hadn't reached twenty yet.	1:55
Felix Armfield	Okay.	2:05
Washington Polk, Jr.	No.	2:05
Felix Armfield	So what kinds of things did your parents do for a living there in Loreauville?	2:06
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, they working by the day on the farm.	2:08
Felix Armfield	What kind of things were they farming?	2:15
Washington Polk, Jr.	With mules and working for the big plantation when they left there.	2:18
Felix Armfield	They worked for, which plantation was it?	2:19
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah. Working by the day.	2:19
Felix Armfield	Okay.	2:29
Washington Polk, Jr.	Plowing in the field with mules.	2:30
Felix Armfield	Okay, okay. Now what were they working out in the field? What kind of fields were they?	2:34
Washington Polk, Jr.	Cane field, corn.	2:36
Felix Armfield	Okay.	2:36
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm. Cane field and corn, that's all they were making on that farm.	2:48
Felix Armfield	Cane field and corn?	2:51
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	2:53
Felix Armfield	Now what did you do to the cane?	2:53
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, when they cut it and time come to the wintertime and harvest time, you cut it. The same way with corn, you harvest it and break the corn, put it in the crib for the mules and things.	2:55
Felix Armfield	Now how did you have to go about cutting that cane? How do you cut cane?	3:14
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, you used to cut it with hand at that time.	3:17
Felix Armfield	And how did you do that? Would you just go along and knock it down or— I'm not sure how you did that.	3:21
Washington Polk, Jr.	You knock them down and throw them across the row. Until a certain time, maybe the next day go to loading them in a cart, a wagon and take them to the derrick. Had a derrick then.	3:27
Felix Armfield	Oh?	3:44
Washington Polk, Jr.	Then had the mill that it was for, and ship it in cars on the train.	3:46
Felix Armfield	Okay. All right.	3:50
Washington Polk, Jr.	Train was moving that, at that time.	3:52
Felix Armfield	Now how much cane are we talking about? Are we talking about a plantation that's full of nothing but cane? Or, I mean, when you talk about sugar cane, are you talking about a whole lot of sugar cane—	4:01
Washington Polk, Jr.	Oh, yeah. Mm-hmm.	4:09
Felix Armfield	— that you had to get ready?	4:10
Washington Polk, Jr.	Thousands of tons there.	4:11
Felix Armfield	Really?	4:11
Washington Polk, Jr.	Oh, yeah. Big—	4:11
Felix Armfield	Thousands of tons.	4:13
Washington Polk, Jr.	Oh, yeah.	4:16
Felix Armfield	Wow. Was it real hard labor, Mr. Polk?	4:19
Washington Polk, Jr.	Oh, yeah.	4:24
Felix Armfield	It was hard work?	4:25
Washington Polk, Jr.	Hard labor. When I come up, I was in New Iberia where you were driving around cutting cane on the plantation when the harvest time come up.	4:25
Felix Armfield	And when was harvest time?	4:39
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, in the wintertime. You see, when winter start, that's the time it's hollowed.	4:44
Felix Armfield	So late October, November sometime?	4:50
Washington Polk, Jr.	That's right. November.	4:53
Felix Armfield	Would be when you would get ready to start cutting the cane?	4:54
Washington Polk, Jr.	That's right.	4:57
Felix Armfield	And how long did it last?	4:59
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, sometimes it last for two months. Maybe sometime it'd even go into three months.	5:01
Felix Armfield	So it lasted up until about January?	5:11
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, yeah.	5:15
Felix Armfield	So you were still cutting cane when Christmas came?	5:15
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	5:17
Felix Armfield	Really?	5:24
Washington Polk, Jr.	That's right, that's years ago.	5:31
Felix Armfield	Hmm?	5:31
Washington Polk, Jr.	I said, that was years ago.	5:31
Felix Armfield	Oh, really? (laughs) When did you go to work in the mornings and when did you stop in the evenings? What time did your day start?	5:32
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, there was some time early in the morning. We'd leave the house around five, six o'clock sometimes, I guess. Well, my dad and them, years ago, they was working up way up in the nighttime, them.	5:38
Felix Armfield	Really?	5:56
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah.	5:59
Felix Armfield	You would call dad and having to work way into the night?	6:00
Washington Polk, Jr.	Oh, yeah, yeah.	6:03
Felix Armfield	How did they see how to cut the cane at night?	6:04
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, sometimes it was clear, sometimes the moon'd be shining.	6:07
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm.	6:07
Washington Polk, Jr.	They was one of those things in those days, way back there. Yeah. Yeah. Some of them had a hard time.	6:07
Felix Armfield	Yeah, yeah.	6:29
Washington Polk, Jr.	I remember the boss when they allow them to make the cane, for the cane to grow up. The boss— It was a gang of plows there. We had went had dinner, we were little boy.	6:29
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm.	6:47
Washington Polk, Jr.	Went tell mom and dad and them dinner. It was close to where we had dinner and we went look at them, plowing and putting on the hay, there looking at them. One of them mule come up there with one of the fellas there. Boy, that mule was not right. The man stopped, mule went ahead. And big boss was standing up there, he said, "What's the matter?" He said, "I don't want my mule blow. We were about to fall down, you know what I'm saying?" He said, "Oh, no! Return them mule, have that mule jumping in my pocket. Kill the mule, I'll buy another. Kill the nigger, I'll get another one." (laughs)	6:48
Felix Armfield	Oh!	7:28
Washington Polk, Jr.	That was way back down here. I was a little boy then, just a [indistinct 00:07:30] dinner. Had dinner, we walked down.	7:28
Felix Armfield	So the White man said, "Kill the mule, I'll buy another one."	7:30
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah.	7:49
Felix Armfield	"Kill the nigger, I'll get another one."	7:51
Washington Polk, Jr.	That's right.	7:53
Felix Armfield	Are you serious?	7:54
Washington Polk, Jr.	Hmm?	7:54
Felix Armfield	And that was pretty much the attitude that was—	7:57
Washington Polk, Jr.	That was years ago. That's been about seventy years back. Been about seventy years now. Because I'm eighty-one.	8:04
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm, yeah.	8:09
Washington Polk, Jr.	[indistinct 00:08:15].	8:09
Felix Armfield	Now when were you born, Mr. Polk?	8:09
Washington Polk, Jr.	Huh?	8:09
Felix Armfield	When were you born?	8:09
Washington Polk, Jr.	I was born on another plantation next to that.	8:18
Felix Armfield	What was the name of that plantation?	8:23
Washington Polk, Jr.	I don't know.	8:26
Felix Armfield	What's your birthdate?	8:27
Washington Polk, Jr.	That's what I don't keep up.	8:29
Felix Armfield	Hmm?	8:31
Washington Polk, Jr.	I don't keep that up.	8:31
Felix Armfield	You don't keep up with it?	8:33
Washington Polk, Jr.	No.	8:46
Felix Armfield	But you know you're eighty-one?	8:46
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah.	8:46
Felix Armfield	You're eighty-one years old?	8:46
Washington Polk, Jr.	That's right.	8:46
Felix Armfield	You just don't keep up with when you were born.	8:46
Washington Polk, Jr.	Eighty-one years old now.	8:46
Felix Armfield	Okay. I see.	8:46
Washington Polk, Jr.	There's a lot of thing I forget and I can't bring in my remembrance ago sometimes. Some people meet me, "No, you can't tell me?" I say, "I don't know, I forgot you." It's so long I haven't seen them. It's with one of those things now— I'm still, so far, pretty good.	8:47
Felix Armfield	Now how many brothers and sisters were in your family?	9:10
Washington Polk, Jr.	We was seven. But with my mother, we three.	9:14
Felix Armfield	Okay.	9:20
Washington Polk, Jr.	With my mother. My daddy remarried a couple times.	9:22
Felix Armfield	Okay. So you had three brothers and sisters? Or two brothers and sisters?	9:25
Washington Polk, Jr.	Oh, yeah. We were two, and one daughter.	9:34
Felix Armfield	Okay. Okay.	9:35
Washington Polk, Jr.	With my momma.	9:37
Felix Armfield	I see. So your mother was your daddy's second wife?	9:38
Washington Polk, Jr.	No. My mother was my daddy's first wife.	9:43
Felix Armfield	That was his first wife. I see. Now what do you recall your mother doing for a living, Mr. Polk?	9:47
Washington Polk, Jr.	What, who?	9:54
Felix Armfield	What did your mother do for a living, what kind of work did she do?	9:55
Washington Polk, Jr.	My mother worked in the White folks' kitchen.	10:00
Felix Armfield	Okay.	10:02
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah. She died pretty young. I forget her age or the time she died.	10:02
Felix Armfield	Were you an adult when your mother died?	10:08
Washington Polk, Jr.	No, I was— Let's see. Some say I was seven years old, some say I was eight, though, so I don't know what one, I was one of them.	10:18
Felix Armfield	So you were pretty young when your mother died.	10:19
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah.	10:21
Felix Armfield	What did she die of, do you know?	10:21
Washington Polk, Jr.	Baby birthing.	10:21
Felix Armfield	Childbirth, okay.	10:30
Washington Polk, Jr.	Childbirth, yeah.	10:31
Felix Armfield	Okay.	10:31
Washington Polk, Jr.	My brother, he lived in California, the one was the baby.	10:35
Felix Armfield	Okay. I see, I see.	10:38
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah.	10:42
Felix Armfield	Now when you said that your family moved here from Loreauville to New Iberia, what kind of work did you begin doing when the family moved to New Iberia? You said you were about eighteen years old.	10:43
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, he was jobbing about then, my daddy.	10:58
Felix Armfield	Jobbing about?	11:02
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah, he was jobbing about.	11:03
Felix Armfield	Now what kind of jobs were you able to find? What kinds of things were you doing?	11:06
Washington Polk, Jr.	He doing? Well, he'd work in the field and cut cane, like I said, different places. Yeah, that's the way he was working.	11:12
Felix Armfield	Okay.	11:24
Washington Polk, Jr.	Cut rice, rice field. He was doing all that, different job.	11:26
Felix Armfield	I see.	11:33
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah.	11:33
Felix Armfield	Now what kind of work were you doing, Mr. Polk?	11:33
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, I was too young to do anything but thought I learned in school and I didn't learn. That's what I still didn't learn.	11:41
Felix Armfield	How much schooling did you get?	11:51
Washington Polk, Jr.	First grade. Didn't leave out of first grade.	11:52
Felix Armfield	You got a first grade education?	11:57
Washington Polk, Jr.	That's right, that's all.	11:57
Felix Armfield	Now why is it that you—	11:58
Washington Polk, Jr.	I just could sign my name now.	12:00
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm.	12:02
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah. Then I start to working, I was jobbing about on different job, construction job.	12:03
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm.	12:17
Washington Polk, Jr.	Got a little—	12:19
Felix Armfield	Now why is it that you only got a first grade education?	12:20
Washington Polk, Jr.	Why, what?	12:25
Felix Armfield	Why is it that you only got a first grade education?	12:27
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, I couldn't get to school if I wanted to.	12:29
Felix Armfield	Couldn't get to school?	12:33
Washington Polk, Jr.	School was too far. School was—	12:35
Felix Armfield	How far was school from you?	12:36
Washington Polk, Jr.	Oh, it was miles away. Until we moved here in town, where I could've went to there in town, but didn't go.	12:41
Felix Armfield	Yeah. Got it.	12:48
Washington Polk, Jr.	Tried it.	12:48
Felix Armfield	You had aged so much by the time you got here in town.	12:49
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah.	12:53
Felix Armfield	Really.	12:54
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	12:55
Felix Armfield	Now I thought maybe that you didn't go to school because you had to work. But you said the school was just too far away.	12:55
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah.	13:08
Felix Armfield	I see. Now when you did move here, into New Iberia, did your life begin to change? Did you find better jobs? And if so, what kind of jobs did you find?	13:09
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, first job I went on a railroad. I've twelve years on the railroad.	13:19
Felix Armfield	Okay.	13:19
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah. But they only did me ten for my social security, when I went to draw social security— Excuse me. So I had to take what they'd give me. Sometime I had a mind to go check it over, see with them but I didn't go.	13:28
Felix Armfield	So you've had twelve years with the railroad?	13:56
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah, I'm sure.	14:01
Felix Armfield	What were you doing with the railroad?	14:05
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, we were working on the railroad and shovel and picks, and pulling tie, cross tie on the railroad and all that.	14:07
Felix Armfield	Okay.	14:08
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah.	14:08
Felix Armfield	Now what else did you do?	14:16
Washington Polk, Jr.	What else we would do, on the railroad?	14:18
Felix Armfield	Yes, sir.	14:18
Washington Polk, Jr.	That's all they had though.	14:18
Felix Armfield	So you worked with the railroad all your life?	14:23
Washington Polk, Jr.	Not all of my life, no.	14:25
Felix Armfield	But once you got to New Iberia?	14:26
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	14:28
Felix Armfield	Okay. And you said you were eighteen when you got to New Iberia?	14:30
Washington Polk, Jr.	Oh, yeah. Mm-hmm. When I got on the railroad, I was about in twenties, I believe.	14:34
Felix Armfield	You were what?	14:37
Washington Polk, Jr.	I believe I was about twenty, I believe.	14:37
Felix Armfield	Okay.	14:47
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah.	14:51
Felix Armfield	You said you had how many years with the railroad company?	14:52
Washington Polk, Jr.	I—	14:56
Felix Armfield	Where did you retire from? Where did you retire working?	14:58
Washington Polk, Jr.	I retired with the city.	15:00
Felix Armfield	From what? From the city?	15:02
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah.	15:04
Felix Armfield	Now what were you doing with the city?	15:05
Washington Polk, Jr.	Picking garbage.	15:07
Felix Armfield	Okay. How long did you do that?	15:07
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, pretty close to twenty years on the city.	15:07
Felix Armfield	Okay.	15:15
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	15:15
Felix Armfield	twenty years with garbage. Do you know about when did you start picking garbage with the city?	15:19
Washington Polk, Jr.	I didn't keep that up. And my poor wife's dead, I don't know if she'd write it down or what.	15:27
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm.	15:35
Washington Polk, Jr.	But I've got about twenty years with the city.	15:36
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm.	15:38
Washington Polk, Jr.	And I had hard time with the city, I had a hard time on the railroad. That railroad was a rushing thing, too.	15:46
Felix Armfield	Really?	15:51
Washington Polk, Jr.	At that time. Oh, yeah.	15:52
Felix Armfield	Why was it so hard with the railroad, Mr. Polk?	15:58
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, they put a Colored fellow boss in and they wanted to they put ten ties to two men working there, had to have to partnership. Ten ties a day. Some of them a limit, that ten ties a day. And some were pulling, some couldn't pull it. Them who couldn't pull it, "Well, didn't pull it, have to go!" Tell the other they had to go. But they didn't fire me because me and my partner always make it. We were the first ones got in the railroad union.	15:58
Felix Armfield	Oh, really?	16:30
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah. That's the best union going, that railroad union.	16:41
Felix Armfield	Now was this a Black Union?	16:43
Washington Polk, Jr.	Huh?	16:45
Felix Armfield	Was this a Black union?	16:46
Washington Polk, Jr.	A White union.	16:47
Felix Armfield	Okay.	16:48
Washington Polk, Jr.	That's the best union going, there. When the grocery or anything like that rise or go up, they go up their standards, too.	16:52
Felix Armfield	Okay.	17:04
Washington Polk, Jr.	[indistinct 00:17:05].	17:04
Felix Armfield	But you two were the first Blacks to get in the railroad union?	17:05
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah, we two, two of us.	17:09
Felix Armfield	Now how did you get into that union? How was it that you two got in?	17:11
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, the man just come tell us we were to join the union and stay on the railroad. That's all the fellow, the union man, said. So we two got in it. And the others wasn't, and some of them was laid off and said because they couldn't put in ten ties a day.	17:14
Felix Armfield	Okay.	17:34
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah.	17:37
Felix Armfield	Now did other Blacks want to get in the union?	17:37
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, yeah. They got Blacks join the union. Yeah, some of them joined.	17:40
Felix Armfield	Okay. Because it sounds like it was a sense of job security, that it allowed you to keep your job?	17:47
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah.	17:53
Felix Armfield	If you got in the union.	17:54
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah. That's right.	17:54
Felix Armfield	Now why did you leave the railroad and go to working for the city as a garbage collector?	17:56
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, laid off. We were laid off.	18:01
Felix Armfield	Okay, you got laid off.	18:02
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah, when they laid me off, that railroad was from New Orleans to Houston.	18:04
Felix Armfield	Okay.	18:16
Washington Polk, Jr.	It was ninety-something men laid off that day, that one. That's the way it is. We had laid by that track, you know?	18:16
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm.	18:26
Washington Polk, Jr.	But even ties, new ties and everything because they didn't need that many men. Right now, they haven't got many men working on the railroad. They've got machines now. Machine done took the job, now.	18:27
Felix Armfield	I see.	18:43
Washington Polk, Jr.	Just like in the cane field on these plantation. Everybody used to have 100 mules there. They've got two or three tractor working a thousand acres of land. That's the way it is. Oh, man, I tell you, the machine can really do anything right now. Oh, yeah.	18:43
Felix Armfield	Now tell me about how you got on with the city as a garbage collector.	18:52
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, when I got on with the city, it was through some work men. He called me up and tell me that he had a good job for me, a regular job if I wanted to get on a regular job. I told him, "Yeah." So that was on a Tuesday morning. He said, "On a Tuesday morning, go to the city barn." I went to the city barn on a Tuesday morning—	18:52
Felix Armfield	You went to the city mine?	18:52
Washington Polk, Jr.	City barn.	18:52
Felix Armfield	[indistinct 00:19:49]? Okay.	18:52
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah. And the three or four of them work fellas called me up here, said, "You're going to take that job in the morning?" I said, "Yeah." They said, "If you take that job, all you got to do, keep your eyes open and your ears open." Yeah, that's the way they told me. They knew it was something going to happen. They know it out there. They took them Cajun was on that truck job, they took him off and put him in the ditch, in order to put me Colored on the job. They had to hire Colored. You had a federal law. So that's why they forced you to go on that job. They didn't force us to go in there, no. But—	19:54
Felix Armfield	What happened to you?	20:42
Washington Polk, Jr.	That Saturday morning, the White fella picked us up. He tore us up. The other boy, the son knocked him out there, sent him to the hospital. Yeah. So that Saturday morning, the fella picked us up, under the gun. And he had done picked just one of the fellas up. And I was working by the schoolhouse on the Field Street over there, on that truck over there. That's why he picked me up by the schoolhouse. When he got to me, he said, "You, too!" So on and so on, "Get on that truck." He was holding his gun on me.	20:45
Felix Armfield	He had a gun on you?	21:33
Washington Polk, Jr.	Oh, yeah. He had a gun, and the gun was loaded, too. And he told me get on that truck. That work fella had done told me, "If you stay here with us, you'll join the union." I said, "Oh, yeah. I'll join the union." So when he said that, my mind took me— I worked in Texas on the [indistinct 00:21:56] tracks, you know?	21:34
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm.	21:56
Washington Polk, Jr.	And some fellas, they beat them up and took them away. I don't know what happened to some of them, died by beating them up and chasing them. I said, "Now I'm going to make him do what you've got to do," [indistinct 00:22:11]. So I went and I said, "I ain't getting on that truck. Where you going to take us?" "Don't worry about where I'mma to take you. Get on that truck." I said— or "Get on that car, on the hood." I wanted to get on the hood, the other fellas are on the hood.	21:58
Washington Polk, Jr.	So my aunt had done made that White man [indistinct 00:22:30], my aunt was still [indistinct 00:22:32] on Field Street down there, I believe it was Field Street, she said, "I'm taking him to the city barn." Came to the city barn, that's what she said, taking the other fella before he got to me. Well, when he got to me, he said, "Get on that truck," he had a truck but he's not getting me on that truck. So that why the fella talked to me and said, "Get on the truck. He said he was going to take us to the city barn." I said, "To the city barn?" I said, "You sure?" He said, "Yeah, you're all right."	22:25
Washington Polk, Jr.	So I got on the truck and went the city barn over there. When we got to the city barn, we sat down. "Now y'all go begging people pardon and tell them you don't have no work for the city no more." I said, "That's what you had pulled a gun on me for?" He said, "Oh, I don't need no gun. I don't need no gun." He unloaded the gun and put it on the car. And he passed by me and it just sort of rubbed me like that.	23:05
Felix Armfield	I see, I see. Now what was he telling you all to go do?	23:37
Washington Polk, Jr.	Huh?	23:42
Felix Armfield	What did he want you all to go do?	23:43
Washington Polk, Jr.	Begging people's pardon.	23:45
Felix Armfield	What people?	23:47
Washington Polk, Jr.	White fella working in the barn. City barn, the bookkeeper and all of that, you see?	23:48
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm.	23:53
Washington Polk, Jr.	And some more workers out there, that's what he meant, too.	23:55
Felix Armfield	So in essence, they felt that you had taken jobs that they should have had?	24:00
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah. Yeah.	24:05
Felix Armfield	Did you all go and apologize?	24:08
Washington Polk, Jr.	No, no.	24:10
Felix Armfield	And did you keep your job?	24:12
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah. He come back to the one fella who called the officers up, and to the gang officer come and pick him up, took him to the city jail. After that, the chief say, "No, can't go to the city jail. They have in the state jail." So they took him and put him, had him to the big jail.	24:13
Felix Armfield	In Baton Rouge?	24:38
Washington Polk, Jr.	No, here in New Iberia.	24:38
Felix Armfield	Oh, okay.	24:38
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah, the other jail now. We've got a city jail and—	24:38
Felix Armfield	The state jail.	24:38
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah.	24:38
Felix Armfield	Okay.	24:38
Washington Polk, Jr.	So the chief asked the policeman, "Three of y'all came over there?" The policeman said, "Yeah, oh, yeah." He said it took three of them to take the man to the state jail. I said, "I'll be darned [indistinct 00:25:06]."	24:38
Felix Armfield	When was this that this incident occurred, Mr. Polk?	25:13
Washington Polk, Jr.	Hmm?	25:16
Felix Armfield	When was it that that incident occurred with the garbage?	25:16
Washington Polk, Jr.	You mean how long that's been?	25:19
Felix Armfield	Yeah. About how long was it?	25:22
Washington Polk, Jr.	That ought've been about fifty years, I'd say.	25:26
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm. Were those kinds of things happening all over?	25:31
Washington Polk, Jr.	Forty-something or fifty years.	25:37
Felix Armfield	Yeah. Was that typical?	25:40
Washington Polk, Jr.	Hmm?	25:42
Felix Armfield	Was that typical? Did that kind of thing happen all the time?	25:43
Washington Polk, Jr.	Oh, no, it didn't happen. Uh-huh.	25:46
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm.	25:46
Washington Polk, Jr.	Now one thing they did, they left the others off and they had the fella who went on foreman and all, chaining on different truck. You had five truck and five different ward. Now they put me to take them fella's place, old fella, on the truck. And left them other fellas in the ditch and they put me in the truck. Now I don't know if I was a little clearer than them or what, they were darker. Dark fella, you know?	25:49
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm.	26:19
Washington Polk, Jr.	Dark one.	26:19
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm.	26:23
Washington Polk, Jr.	One of them was my brother-in-law, he was real Black, him.	26:24
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm.	26:26
Washington Polk, Jr.	So the real Cajun Country back then.	26:33
Felix Armfield	Okay.	26:34
Washington Polk, Jr.	And when they put them back on the truck, well, they took one of them and put him back there across the bar with the White folks over there, you know?	26:34
Felix Armfield	Oh, really?	26:43
Washington Polk, Jr.	He was a little clear, a little clear. He wasn't Black. But now the blackest one, they put him over here in the Colored settlement. They put in the real Cajun Country, that was the Cajun Country.	26:46
Felix Armfield	Okay.	26:55
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah.	26:55
Felix Armfield	So they put you in over there with the Cajuns?	26:55
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah. I don't know just think I was a little clear, little White.	26:55
Felix Armfield	Maybe they thought you were Cajun.	26:55
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah. I see, I see. I don't know but I looked into that, I said, "Uh-huh." One of those thing, one of those thing.	26:56
Felix Armfield	Now where did you attend church?	27:19
Washington Polk, Jr.	Hmm?	27:20
Felix Armfield	Has your family always been Baptist?	27:26
Washington Polk, Jr.	Baptist?	27:29
Felix Armfield	Yes.	27:29
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah.	27:33
Felix Armfield	Always were Baptist?	27:33
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	27:33
Felix Armfield	When you came from Loreauville to here, you were Baptist.	27:33
Washington Polk, Jr.	That's right.	27:34
Felix Armfield	Where did you go to church? Where'd you attend church?	27:36
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, I came from [indistinct 00:27:40]?	27:36
Felix Armfield	When you came to New Iberia, where did the family attend church?	27:41
Washington Polk, Jr.	Who I was kin to? I mean—	27:46
Felix Armfield	Where did the family go to church?	27:47
Washington Polk, Jr.	Oh, my wife church was in Freetown, right there.	27:48
Felix Armfield	Okay.	27:53
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm. But after I married, you see. When I go to New Iberia eight years, I married and my wife, she was from Freetown.	27:53
Felix Armfield	Now where is Freetown?	28:05
Washington Polk, Jr.	So I told her she'd go to Freetown and I'll go to Loreauville.	28:05
Felix Armfield	Okay.	28:10
Washington Polk, Jr.	So we made that bargain and a while after, I said, "Well, if I die before you, you bring my body to Loreauville."	28:13
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm.	28:23
Washington Polk, Jr.	And she said, "Well, if I die before you, you bring my body to Freetown."	28:24
Felix Armfield	To Freetown.	28:29
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah.	28:30
Felix Armfield	Now where's Freetown? I hear a lot of talk about Freetown.	28:30
Washington Polk, Jr.	Freetown's out that way.	28:34
Felix Armfield	Okay.	28:34
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm. Yeah.	28:34
Felix Armfield	Do you have any ideas as to why they call it Freetown?	28:38
Washington Polk, Jr.	No. You would have to ask them. Yeah.	28:41
Felix Armfield	I see, I see.	28:45
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah, I don't know.	28:45
Felix Armfield	Now where did you go to church here in New Iberia?	28:51
Washington Polk, Jr.	Where I go in New Iberia?	28:55
Felix Armfield	Where did you go— When you told your wife she could go to church out in Freetown and you were going to go here, where did you attend? Were you attending Mount Zion then?	28:58
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah.	29:08
Felix Armfield	Okay. So you've always attended Mount Zion?	29:08
Washington Polk, Jr.	Every Sunday.	29:09
Felix Armfield	Okay.	29:09
Washington Polk, Jr.	Every Sunday. Why, you went out there last Sunday?	29:09
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm.	29:09
Washington Polk, Jr.	Every Sunday, I go.	29:09
Felix Armfield	Every Sunday.	29:09
Washington Polk, Jr.	Every Sunday.	29:09
Felix Armfield	Okay.	29:09
Washington Polk, Jr.	I don't miss it.	29:09
Felix Armfield	How many children did you and your wife have?	29:21
Washington Polk, Jr.	None.	29:23
Felix Armfield	You had no children?	29:24
Washington Polk, Jr.	Just one.	29:24
Felix Armfield	Okay.	29:24
Washington Polk, Jr.	Just one child we got now.	29:26
Felix Armfield	Huh?	29:28
Washington Polk, Jr.	We adopted, we adopted.	29:29
Felix Armfield	Okay. So you have an adopted child. I understand. What kinds of things did you do here in New Iberia for fun?	29:38
Washington Polk, Jr.	What kind of thing—	29:43
Felix Armfield	After you worked all week and you worked hard all week, which is obvious, what kinds of things did you and the wife and the family do for fun? Where did you go?	29:45
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, my wife, she had started to work for a kitchen. Me, I was jobbing about. Like I told y'all, I was on the railroad and from the railroad to the city. That's it. That's it. From the railroad to the city. That was it. After that— Well, right now, I cut a little yard now and then and try to keep up my yard. Yeah. I've got a lot to do here now.	30:01
Felix Armfield	Hold on just a—	30:44
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm. We was only three with my mother.	30:47
Felix Armfield	Okay. What I'm going to get ready to do, Mr. Polk, is get some brief paperwork on you. And what you can do is just that that you can remember. You can tell me if you can't remember it, don't worry about it. Okay? Now your last name is Polk, right?	30:58
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	31:17
Felix Armfield	P-O-L-K?	31:18
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yes.	31:20
Felix Armfield	And your first name is Washington?	31:21
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yes, sir.	31:22
Felix Armfield	Do you have a middle name?	31:23
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, some people call me Red.	31:32
Felix Armfield	Okay. You want you use that for a nickname?	31:35
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah, that's a nickname they gave me.	31:38
Felix Armfield	Okay.	31:47
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	31:47
Felix Armfield	And the address is 637?	31:47
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yes, sir.	31:47
Felix Armfield	637 Robertson?	31:51
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yes, sir.	31:54
Felix Armfield	And this is New Iberia.	31:54
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	32:11
Felix Armfield	You said you don't know your date of birth, right?	32:13
Washington Polk, Jr.	No, sir.	32:16
Felix Armfield	But you're eighty-one.	32:17
Washington Polk, Jr.	Eighty-one right now.	32:18
Felix Armfield	Eighty-one.	32:18
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	32:18
Felix Armfield	We can figure it out. I'm going to tell you and don't you forget, okay?	32:19
Washington Polk, Jr.	Huh?	32:27
Felix Armfield	I'm going to tell you right now and don't you forget.	32:27
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah?	32:28
Felix Armfield	1913.	32:31
Washington Polk, Jr.	1913?	32:31
Felix Armfield	1913 is the year you were born. You don't know the month?	32:31
Washington Polk, Jr.	Know it March the twentieth.	32:31
Felix Armfield	March the twentieth, 19—	32:31
Washington Polk, Jr.	That's my birthday.	32:31
Felix Armfield	Okay, 1913.	32:31
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	32:31
Felix Armfield	Okay. Were you born in Loreauville?	32:31
Washington Polk, Jr.	No— Yeah, yeah.	32:31
Felix Armfield	In Loreauville?	32:31
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah, I was born in Loreauville.	32:31
Felix Armfield	Now what parish is Loreauville in? Is that in Iberia?	32:31
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah, that's Iberia Parish. [INTERRUPTION 00:33:17 - 00:34:35]	32:31
Felix Armfield	We're right about finished, hold on.	32:31
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm. [INTERRUPTION 00:34:36 - 00:35:35]	32:31
Felix Armfield	What's your phone number again, Mr. Polk?	32:31
Washington Polk, Jr.	Phone number? 364-1510.	32:31
Felix Armfield	364—	32:31
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	32:42
Felix Armfield	5—	32:46
Washington Polk, Jr.	1-0. 3641.	32:46
Felix Armfield	3641—	32:46
Washington Polk, Jr.	5—	32:46
Felix Armfield	1-0.	32:46
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	32:46
Felix Armfield	I got you. First name is Washington.	32:46
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	32:46
Felix Armfield	Middle name or nickname is Red. And last name is Polk, right?	32:46
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yes, sir.	32:46
Felix Armfield	There are quite a few Polks here in town.	36:20
Washington Polk, Jr.	Oh, yes, sir.	36:20
Felix Armfield	Are you all related?	36:21
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yes, sir.	36:22
Felix Armfield	Okay.	36:23
Washington Polk, Jr.	All kin. They're all over the world right now and some oversea.	36:25
Felix Armfield	Your birthday is March twentieth—	36:26
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	36:26
Felix Armfield	1913. You going to remember that, Mr. Polk?	36:26
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah, I hope.	36:26
Felix Armfield	You can remember it.	36:26
Washington Polk, Jr.	1913.	36:26
Felix Armfield	And your place of birth was Loreauville, right?	36:26
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	36:26
Felix Armfield	And you are widowed? Is your wife alive?	37:00
Washington Polk, Jr.	Widow.	37:04
Felix Armfield	She's dead. Okay. And what was her first name?	37:05
Washington Polk, Jr.	First name— She'd give her name, Lula. Lula Livingston.	37:05
Felix Armfield	Hmm?	37:05
Washington Polk, Jr.	That's the way she'd give me her name, Lula Livingston.	37:13
Felix Armfield	Lula?	37:16
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm. Livingston.	37:16
Felix Armfield	Okay. Livingston?	37:18
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm. That was her name when I married her.	37:19
Felix Armfield	Okay.	37:19
Washington Polk, Jr.	You've got to do all that writing.	37:46
Felix Armfield	Yeah.	37:48
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah? Mm-hmm.	37:48
Felix Armfield	Do you know her birthdate?	37:48
Washington Polk, Jr.	Her what?	37:48
Felix Armfield	Do you remember her birthdate?	37:58
Washington Polk, Jr.	No, she was a little older than me, she'd say.	38:02
Felix Armfield	Okay. Do you remember when she died?	38:14
Washington Polk, Jr.	About seventeen, eighteen years she's been dead.	38:24
Felix Armfield	About eighteen years?	38:26
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm. About sixteen or seventeen years she's been dead.	38:26
Felix Armfield	So about '77? Do you know where she was born? Was she born in Freetown?	38:26
Washington Polk, Jr.	She was born in Freetown, yeah.	38:38
Felix Armfield	And that's in Iberia Parish?	38:54
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yes, sir.	38:57
Felix Armfield	What did she do? Was she a housewife?	39:08
Washington Polk, Jr.	Housewife.	39:10
Felix Armfield	Or did she work?	39:10
Washington Polk, Jr.	No, she—	39:13
Felix Armfield	Did domestic work?	39:15
Washington Polk, Jr.	Huh?	39:17
Felix Armfield	She worked in houses, right?	39:18
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah.	39:19
Felix Armfield	She did domestic work.	39:19
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	39:25
Felix Armfield	Okay. Can I get your mother's first name? Do you know what your mother's first name was?	39:26
Washington Polk, Jr.	My mother?	39:28
Felix Armfield	Yes, sir.	39:31
Washington Polk, Jr.	My mother was Agnes Polk.	39:31
Felix Armfield	Agnes—	39:33
Washington Polk, Jr.	Polk.	39:33
Felix Armfield	— Polk.	39:33
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	39:33
Felix Armfield	Do you know what your mother's name was before she married?	39:41
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, she was a Broussard, old last name?	39:42
Felix Armfield	A who?	39:42
Washington Polk, Jr.	A Broussard. She was a Broussard, that's all I can tell you about it.	39:45
Felix Armfield	Okay. Do you know your mother's birthdate? Do you know when she died? You were about seven years old?	39:54
Washington Polk, Jr.	It should be seven. Some say I was seven, some say I was eight, so I don't know, I was one of them. (laughs)	40:01
Felix Armfield	You had to be one of them, didn't you?	40:01
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah. I was one of them.	40:01
Felix Armfield	Born in 1913. We're going to say that your mother probably died around 1920. But I'm going to put a question mark [indistinct 00:40:35]. Do you know where your mother was born, Mr. Polk?	40:01
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, she was born in Loreauville, that's all I can tell you, somewhere.	40:01
Felix Armfield	She was born over there in Loreauville?	40:01
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah. Mm-hmm.	40:01
Felix Armfield	What did your mother do? What kind of work did your mother do?	41:06
Washington Polk, Jr.	Hmm?	41:10
Felix Armfield	She was farm labor, did farm work right along with your daddy?	41:10
Washington Polk, Jr.	No, uh-huh.	41:14
Felix Armfield	Or was she a housewife?	41:16
Washington Polk, Jr.	She was a housewife.	41:16
Felix Armfield	Okay.	41:16
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah. And worked for a kitchen.	41:16
Felix Armfield	Okay. What was your father's first name, Mr. Polk?	41:34
Washington Polk, Jr.	Washington Polk, Sr.	41:37
Felix Armfield	Oh? So you're Washington Jr., huh?	41:40
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	41:42
Felix Armfield	Okay. Do you know your father's birthdate.	41:51
Washington Polk, Jr.	No, I don't.	41:56
Felix Armfield	Okay, if you can't think of it, it's no problem if you don't know.	41:56
Washington Polk, Jr.	No, I don't know. I know when he died, he was eighty-six when he died.	42:04
Felix Armfield	And what year was that, can you recall?	42:06
Washington Polk, Jr.	No, [indistinct 00:42:17].	42:13
Felix Armfield	Huh?	42:22
Washington Polk, Jr.	About ten years he's been buried, about ten years ago, I think it is.	42:22
Felix Armfield	So we'll say 1984. And he was how old?	42:29
Washington Polk, Jr.	Hmm?	42:32
Felix Armfield	Eighty-six when he died?	42:32
Washington Polk, Jr.	Huh?	42:33
Felix Armfield	How old did you say your father was when he died?	42:40
Washington Polk, Jr.	Ninety-six.	42:42
Felix Armfield	Oh, he was ninety-six?	42:56
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah, ninety-six.	42:56
Felix Armfield	Whoa. Whoa. He must have been born around 1888. Okay. Your father was born in and around Loreauville, also?	42:56
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	43:17
Felix Armfield	Can you remember the names of all your brothers and sisters?	43:52
Washington Polk, Jr.	Oh—	43:59
Felix Armfield	Beginning with the oldest to the youngest?	44:00
Washington Polk, Jr.	Myrtle. Myrtle Butner, she's a Butner now in marriage.	44:09
Felix Armfield	Okay, but what's the first name?	44:17
Washington Polk, Jr.	Myrt.	44:18
Felix Armfield	Myrt?	44:18
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	44:21
Felix Armfield	Okay.	44:21
Washington Polk, Jr.	You have to have all that?	44:21
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm. It's a whole lot of paperwork. And who's next? Who was after that?	44:28
Washington Polk, Jr.	Merlin, my brother.	44:40
Felix Armfield	Who?	44:42
Washington Polk, Jr.	Merlin Polk.	44:43
Felix Armfield	Merli?	44:43
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	44:43
Felix Armfield	Okay.	44:55
Washington Polk, Jr.	Then Ms. Durard. Ms. Durard, she's a Durard. She ain't a Polk no more.	45:14
Felix Armfield	What's the first name?	45:34
Washington Polk, Jr.	Ms.—. Let's see. Lela. Lela Durard.	45:34
Felix Armfield	Lela?	45:34
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	45:34
Felix Armfield	Okay. And who's next?	45:34
Washington Polk, Jr.	Elaine.	45:34
Felix Armfield	Who?	45:34
Washington Polk, Jr.	Elaine Hammond.	45:34
Felix Armfield	Elaine?	45:34
Washington Polk, Jr.	But she was a Polk, you know?	45:34
Felix Armfield	Okay.	45:34
Washington Polk, Jr.	But she married, she had the name Hammond.	45:34
Felix Armfield	All right. That's four.	45:36
Washington Polk, Jr.	And Robert Polk.	45:39
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm.	45:40
Washington Polk, Jr.	Sydney Polk.	45:44
Felix Armfield	Sydney?	45:46
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	45:46
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm.	45:52
Washington Polk, Jr.	I believe that's all of them.	45:52
Felix Armfield	Okay. And whose child were you?	45:52
Washington Polk, Jr.	Hmm?	45:55
Felix Armfield	First, second, third, fourth? Which child were you?	45:56
Washington Polk, Jr.	Me?	45:58
Felix Armfield	Yes, sir.	45:59
Washington Polk, Jr.	I was the oldest.	46:00
Felix Armfield	You were the oldest. You don't remember the birthdates and death dates of your brothers and sisters, do you?	46:01
Washington Polk, Jr.	Uh-huh. Let's see.	46:10
Felix Armfield	Were they all born in Loreauville?	46:13
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah.	46:17
Felix Armfield	Everybody was born in Loreauville?	46:17
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah.	46:17
Felix Armfield	And you have one adopted daughter?	46:31
Washington Polk, Jr.	Have what?	46:34
Felix Armfield	You have an adopted child, you said?	46:35
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	46:36
Felix Armfield	What's that child's name?	46:37
Washington Polk, Jr.	Glenda.	46:39
Felix Armfield	Glenda?	46:39
Washington Polk, Jr.	Glenda, mm-hmm.	46:52

Felix Armfield	And you've only lived here, in New Iberia, for the most part?	0:02
Washington Polk, Jr.	(hums) [INTERRUPTION 00:00:16 - 00:00:52]	0:43
Felix Armfield	The last job you held with the city as a garbage collector, right? Correct?	0:48
Washington Polk, Jr.	How do say now?	0:50
Felix Armfield	The last job you had was with the city, right?	0:56
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	0:58
Felix Armfield	Any awards or honors that you want to mention, Mr. Polk?	0:58
Washington Polk, Jr.	Now, what?	0:59
Felix Armfield	You got any awards or honors that you want to mention?	1:47
Washington Polk, Jr.	Hmm.	1:54
Felix Armfield	Your religious denomination is Baptist, right?	1:54
Washington Polk, Jr.	Religion?	1:57
Felix Armfield	Your religion is Baptist, right?	2:03
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah, mm-hmm.	2:04
Felix Armfield	And what's the name of the church again? Mount Zion Baptist Church?	2:05
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mount Zion Baptist Church.	2:13
Felix Armfield	Okay.	2:14
Washington Polk, Jr.	Number One.	2:14
Felix Armfield	Mount Zion Baptist Church, Number One.	2:14
Washington Polk, Jr.	Number One.	2:15
Felix Armfield	Why did you all put the number one on it?	2:16
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, because Number Two was up ahead.	2:18
Felix Armfield	There's another Mount Zion?	2:23
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah, another one.	2:25
Felix Armfield	So there's Mount Zion Baptist Church, Number Two?	2:26
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah.	2:28
Felix Armfield	All right, okay. Okay. You didn't serve in the military, did you, Mr. Polk?	2:30
Washington Polk, Jr.	In what?	2:47
Felix Armfield	Did you serve in the military?	2:51
Washington Polk, Jr.	If I what?	2:53
Felix Armfield	Did you serve in the military?	2:53
Washington Polk, Jr.	In the service?	2:53
Felix Armfield	Yes, sir.	2:53
Washington Polk, Jr.	Uh-huh.	2:53
Felix Armfield	Okay.	2:53
Washington Polk, Jr.	No, I ain't served.	2:53
Felix Armfield	What's your hobby? What do you like doing?	2:58
Washington Polk, Jr.	What I like doing?	3:02
Felix Armfield	Mm-hmm.	3:02
Washington Polk, Jr.	I ain't doing nothing right now. It's too hard to do nothing right now. Yeah. All right. You look all around here, I got trees growing. I want to cut them, I don't cut them. Its hard for an old man.	3:06
Felix Armfield	Okay. I'm going to need you to sign this form for me that you agreed to give us access to the information that we have acquired from you today. I'll just fill the rest of it out for you and I'll just need you to put your signature down. Is that okay?	3:23
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	3:40
Felix Armfield	And I think I dated this tape wrong in the beginning. Today is not the twenty-eighth, it is the seventh of July. And your name is Mr. Martin. I'm going to go and fill out this other side of the form for you, Mr. Polk.	3:40
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	4:31
Felix Armfield	You just had to put your signature on the agreement. Okay? And the address is 637 Robertson?	4:31
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	4:41
Felix Armfield	That's New Iberia. And the zip code here is 70560?	4:46
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah.	4:52
Felix Armfield	Okay. Can you sign your name right here for me, right there on that line.	5:02
Washington Polk, Jr.	This line, here?	5:10
Felix Armfield	That line, right there. Just one up above it. Right there. Start down here.	5:12
Washington Polk, Jr.	Oh. You want my full name?	5:17
Felix Armfield	Yes, sir.	5:22
Washington Polk, Jr.	W. Polk, Jr. won't do?	5:23
Felix Armfield	Yes, sir. Washington Polk.	5:25
Washington Polk, Jr.	W. Polk, Jr.?	5:27
Felix Armfield	Yeah, that's fine. Mm-hmm.	5:29
Washington Polk, Jr.	Well, I shortened it. But a full name is a long name in French, you know?	5:30
Felix Armfield	Okay. Well, whatever you would normally do. However you would normally put your signature down, just put it down.	5:37
Washington Polk, Jr.	All right.	5:41
Felix Armfield	Okay.	5:41
Washington Polk, Jr.	W. Polk, Jr.	6:20
Felix Armfield	Okay. That's good.	6:21
Washington Polk, Jr.	That all right?	6:21
Felix Armfield	That's fine. If that's your signature, that's your signature. Okay. Well, Mr. Polk, is there anything else you'd like to say, to add to this tape while we're here?	6:24
Washington Polk, Jr.	That you've got plenty of work if you do everywhere you went, you've got some job there.	6:43
Felix Armfield	Yeah. And this is what we're trying to do, everywhere we go.	6:48
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah.	6:48
Felix Armfield	Well, I thank you for your time this morning.	7:00
Washington Polk, Jr.	Thank you for coming and taking the time.	7:05
Felix Armfield	Oh, no. I was glad to hear your story.	7:08
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah.	7:09
Felix Armfield	And an interesting story you have—	7:09
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	7:09
Felix Armfield	— as one of the first Black men to work on the railroad and then join the union, and then to go to be one of the first Blacks hired by the city as a garbage collector.	7:17
Washington Polk, Jr.	Yeah.	7:21
Felix Armfield	You've got quite a story.	7:21
Washington Polk, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	7:21
Felix Armfield	Quite a story. But, that so ends our interview. Thank you, Mr. Polk.	7:21
Washington Polk, Jr.	All right—	7:21

Item Info

Title:

Washington Polk interview recording, 1994 July 27

Date:

July 27, 1994

Creator:

Polk, Washington

Contributor:

Armfield, Felix

Description:

Name: Washington Polk; Date of birth: 1913-03-20; Place of birth: Loreauville, LA; Occupation(s): agriculture; laborer; Residence: New Iberia, LA
Informant ID: 644; 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-1136
c2b6b65d-0744-4a92-988c-94c1f814185d
behindtheveil
7dc08d75-7f1f-4b57-92ac-a7760534a381
ark:/87924/r47w6kf48
7dc08d75-7f1f-4b57-92ac-a7760534a381

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r47w6kf48

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Washington Polk interview recording, 1994 July 27

Transcript

Item Info

1. Washington Polk administrative file, 1994

John Hope Franklin Research Center

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Washington Polk interview recording, 1994 July 27

Transcript

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John Hope Franklin Research Center

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