Altemus Sigue, Jr. interview recording, 1994 July 26

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Kate Ellis	Yeah. You talked about hunting and fishing. I'm not sure [indistinct 00:00:08] not because I think it's wrong. I just couldn't do it. Couldn't kill an animal.	0:02
Kate Ellis	Okay. You were just saying, I don't think the tape caught it, that when you were the Employee Federation representative at Exxon, you were the first Black person in that position?	0:35
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes.	0:44
Kate Ellis	Would you tell me again the name of your church?	0:48
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	St. Nicholas. N-I-C-H-O-L-A-S.	0:51
Kate Ellis	And that's in Lydia?	0:57
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	That's in Lydia.	0:59
Kate Ellis	And have you been a member of any other church?	1:05
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Oh yes.	1:06
Kate Ellis	What other church?	1:06
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I've been a member of St. Paul Church in Lafayette. I've been a member of the church of the parish that I belong to in Los Angeles, and also a member of the Church of the Parish that I belong to in Rochester.	1:09
Kate Ellis	Okay. Okay.	1:44
Kate Ellis	Can you list any other organizations that you belong to, and they could be civic, community, educational, political organizations.	1:44
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I'm a member of the Knights of Peter Claver.	1:52
Kate Ellis	What's that organization do?	2:00
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	It's the largest Black Catholic organization in the United States. And in other words, we help community, help friends, help the church.	2:02
Kate Ellis	And when you say help, what kind of—	2:23
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	All kind of ways. Financially and with whatever duties that are necessary. In other words, the church may need something done, we may have to go and move stuff and whatever's necessary. And we help the sick out. We contribute money towards our sick brothers and sisters. See, we have what we call councils and courts. We have a branch of the lady division and a branch of the men division. And I am Grand Knight and have been Grand Knight for about about fourteen years.	2:25
Kate Ellis	Should I put that under offices?	3:19
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Huh?	3:21
Kate Ellis	Should I put that under offices?	3:21
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	3:23
Kate Ellis	Where it says, have you held any offices? Is that kind of like—	3:23
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah, that's the Grand Knight. K-N-I-G-H-T. That's the top office in the council.	3:27
Kate Ellis	Oh, of Knights of Peter Claver.	3:34
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes. Council number eighty-five.	3:35
Kate Ellis	Council number eighty-five.	3:43
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Right.	3:43
Kate Ellis	Okay. Speaking of which, let me just ask you this. I know that there are a number of benevolent societies that have been started by various African-Americans in the whole parish. I know the True Friend benevolent society. Did your family ever belong to any kind of benevolent society, or was there an organization in [indistinct 00:04:14] that helped people in that way? Or that—	3:43
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	We have other organizations like— Oh my God. Honey, what's the other organization that we have, in other words?	4:18
Speaker 1	The Holy Name.	4:29
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah, the Holy Name Society.	4:30
Kate Ellis	The Holy Name Society.	4:31
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	4:32
Kate Ellis	And that's like a benevolent society.	4:32
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	That's like a benevolent, in other words. We contribute when deaths death take place in a family. We all pay dues. We contribute even a dollar a piece. And depending on how many members, in other words, let's say that this family has death in a family and they're a member of the Holy Name, they'll probably give them eight, nine hundred dollars depending on what the number of the membership is. And we pay these dues the night of the wake or within a week or so.	4:34
Kate Ellis	Have you been a member of that for a long time?	5:20
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I had been a member of that for about, oh, I guess maybe fifteen years.	5:22
Kate Ellis	Fifteen. What about when you were coming up? Did your parents belong to anything like that around here?	5:26
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah. Yeah, they belonged to the same organization, the Knights and the Holy Name.	5:30
Kate Ellis	The Holy Name. So you're still a part of it. It's called the Holy Name's Benevolent Society?	5:36
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Holy Name Society.	5:41
Speaker 1	No, just Holy Name Society.	5:42
Kate Ellis	Holy Name Society. Is the name plural or singular? Names or names?	5:47
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Holy Name, singular.	5:51
Kate Ellis	I'm getting out of here soon. I'm sure it's dinner time. Five more minutes. I promise. I didn't even realize it was that time.	5:54
Speaker 1	No, we got off track.	6:03
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No, we got [indistinct 00:06:07].	6:05
Kate Ellis	Okay. I put it as the Holy Name Society. And so your parents were a part of that society?	6:11
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes.	6:12
Kate Ellis	And that was, again, for this community?	6:14
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	6:16
Kate Ellis	Okay.	6:16
Speaker 1	This church.	6:16
Kate Ellis	This church. Which church?	6:17
Speaker 1	Well, it's mostly Blacks.	6:18
Kate Ellis	Mostly Blacks in the church?	6:22
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	6:23
Kate Ellis	Are there mostly Blacks in the church now?	6:23
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Oh, no. No, no, no, no.	6:25
Speaker 1	The society.	6:26
Kate Ellis	But it was, the society was for mostly Blacks—	6:28
Speaker 1	Yeah, yeah.	6:29
Kate Ellis	— Who belonged to the church. Is that right?	6:30
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah. Blacks who belonged to that particular church, yeah.	6:33
Speaker 1	Yeah, the Blacks that belonged to St. Nicholas Church.	6:35
Kate Ellis	But most people in this community belonged to this— Is Black and belonged to that church?	6:37
Speaker 1	Yes.	6:43
Kate Ellis	Okay. So any other organizations or societies or that you belonged— Community?	6:43
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No, that's all that I'm committed to.	6:50
Kate Ellis	And then are there any other activities or affiliations? And that could be hobbies and interests, labor unionizing, military service or anything.	6:53
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Hobbies, fishing, hunting.	7:05
Kate Ellis	Baseball.	7:12
Speaker 1	No?	7:15
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No, no. Too old for that now.	7:15
Kate Ellis	Fishing, hunting.	7:21
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah, fishing and hunting. I'm a great fisherman. I love to fishing. I love deep sea fishing.	7:23
Kate Ellis	Oh really?	7:27
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes.	7:27
Kate Ellis	Oh, great.	7:28
Speaker 1	He's got a nice boat out there.	7:28
Kate Ellis	Does he? Oh, okay.	7:32
Speaker 1	I wanted to sell it. Get rid of it.	7:32
Kate Ellis	Oh, don't do that to him.	7:35
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	See that, dear?	7:39
Speaker 1	I tell him if he goes before me, that's the first thing going up the sale.	7:39
Kate Ellis	Oh no. I doubt, I bet not. I bet if that was the case, you would want to—	7:48
Speaker 1	Who knows.	7:50
Kate Ellis	Well, who knows. Okay. Well that's it. I just need to ask you to read this interview agreement form, which asks you to give me permission to have this stored in the special collections library at Duke University. So I'm going to turn this off.	7:50

Kate Ellis	Tell me your name again.	0:02
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	My name is Altemus Sigue, Jr.	0:03
Kate Ellis	And when you were born.	0:06
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I was born September the twenty-ninth, 1933.	0:07
Kate Ellis	That makes you how old, sixty-one?	0:12
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I'm sixty. I'll be sixty-one.	0:16
Kate Ellis	Oh, September. [indistinct 00:00:30] It looks like it's positioned well. Can you tell me where you were born?	0:30
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I was born here in Iberia Parish.	0:30
Kate Ellis	You were born in Iberia Parish. What particular town?	0:35
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Town of New Iberia.	0:39
Kate Ellis	For his purposes, can you tell me the name of the first school you attended?	0:44
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	The first school that I attended was Lady of Lourdes, in the town of Abbeville.	0:48
Kate Ellis	Whoops. You were born in New Iberia. Can you tell me about the community that you grew up in?	1:04
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	What would you like to know about the community?	1:16
Kate Ellis	First of all, did you grow up in New Iberia?	1:18
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I grew up here in Iberia Parish, not in New Iberia, but in Iberia Parish.	1:20
Kate Ellis	Did you grow up in this area?	1:25
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	In this area here, yes.	1:26
Kate Ellis	Which is Grand Marais.	1:27
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Grand Marais.	1:29
Kate Ellis	Grand Marais. Okay. Then you went to Our Lady of Lourdes?	1:35
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I went to Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary School for a few years. It's rather hard to remember. I think that, possibly, for about three or four years, and then came back here and went to school here.	1:38
Kate Ellis	In Grand Marais?	2:10
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	In Grand Marais.	2:11
Kate Ellis	What school was that?	2:11
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Camellia Elementary. Then I think that I went back to Abbeville, and went to school until I graduated from elementary school into the ninth grade. Then I came back here. At that time, school buses, we had school buses. That was the first year that we had ever gotten school buses.	2:16
Kate Ellis	What? When you were going into your high school?	2:57
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	When I was in high school, when I was going into the 10th grade.	2:59
Kate Ellis	That was the first year?	3:08
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Right.	3:09
Kate Ellis	Which you would've been about — Let's see. That was around 1948 or something?	3:09
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I think '48. '47 or '48, I'm not quite sure.	3:15
Kate Ellis	What school was that that you went to?	3:18
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I went to — I think it was called Jeanerette — Oh, the other school in Abbeville was the Abbeville Training School.	3:20
Kate Ellis	Okay. First it was Our Lady of Lourdes.	3:27
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Our Lady of Lourdes.	3:27
Kate Ellis	Then Camellia Elementary. Then Abbeville Training. Is that what you said?	3:27
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes, Abbeville Training School. Then I came to — I'm trying to think what the name of the school was. I believe at that time it was Jeanerette Training School.	3:29
Kate Ellis	Oh, was that—	4:01
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Then from Jeanerette Training School, they built a new school in I think it was '49, and it was known as Jeanerette Colored High School.	4:02
Kate Ellis	Oh, yeah. Then Mr. Polk was the principal at this school, wasn't he?	4:17
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Mr. Polk was the principal. You're right.	4:21
Kate Ellis	Okay. That's how he met you in the first place. Is that right?	4:23
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	That's how he met me in the first place, yes. I think he had known the family before.	4:27
Kate Ellis	Oh, really?	4:34
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	But not me.	4:34
Kate Ellis	Okay. You were saying that that year, when you went into the 10th grade, was the first year you had school buses?	4:43
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	4:48
Kate Ellis	How did you get to school before that time, before there was school buses?	4:49
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	That's one of the reasons why I lived in Abbeville, because I had people that was living rather close to the school. Other than that, we had to walk.	4:52
Kate Ellis	Now we, that would be African Americans as opposed to—	5:05
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes.	5:08
Kate Ellis	You stayed with family in Abbeville during the school period?	5:11
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Correct. Right.	5:18
Kate Ellis	Did that mean that during summertimes, you—	5:18
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I came home.	5:18
Kate Ellis	You came home from Jeanerette.	5:18
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I came home, yes.	5:18
Kate Ellis	Okay. Your parents were in Grand Marais?	5:20
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Correct.	5:25
Kate Ellis	Okay. Trying to think. I'm curious, I guess, about a number of things. This area has what seems to be an interesting reputation — which I'm just learning about Grand Marais — as being a neighborhood that has a number of mixed race families in it. Is that right?	5:33
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	That is true to a point. Our foreparents, some of them came here from other places. I think my great-grandfather — and I'm not sure of that, but I understand that he migrated here from New York.	5:56
Kate Ellis	Your great-grandfather?	6:16
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes.	6:17
Kate Ellis	Now, why would he come down from New York?	6:19
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I can't answer that. I don't know. I don't know.	6:20
Kate Ellis	No, I only ask because so often I hear about folks from the South going up North, and you don't hear as much about people from the North going South, although I'm sure it happened a lot. Can you describe more about the community that you came up in? I mean the Grand Marais area, just as far as—	6:30
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	The Grand Marais area, in the years gone by, was really a French-speaking community. The greater majority of people who lived within the Grand Marais area all owned their own property. Some of them owned enough property that they were sugarcane farmers. I'm going to be 61 years old, and all I can remember here is sugarcane.	6:54
Kate Ellis	Really?	7:32
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	My father, if he was living, would be 90 years old. He was brought up within the sugarcane industry, right here.	7:33
Kate Ellis	Was that what he did as you grew up?	7:44
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	He was a sugarcane farmer.	7:45
Kate Ellis	He was a sugarcane farmer, but he owned on his own land?	7:48
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	He owned his own land.	7:53
Kate Ellis	Which is what probably would distinguish him from a number of people in the area?	7:54
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah. Most of the people in the Grand Marais area here, I would say probably ninety percent of them owned their own land. They were all hardworking people who believed in having something. They weren't the type of people that you might call tenant farmers or whatnot.	8:02
Kate Ellis	They weren't tenant.	8:32
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	They believed in owning their own.	8:34
Kate Ellis	How did they get their own land? That—	8:43
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	By buying. They purchased land.	8:46
Kate Ellis	But how did they even get the money to purchase their land?	8:52
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I would imagine through working.	8:59
Kate Ellis	Really?	9:00
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	9:01
Kate Ellis	Wow.	9:04
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I don't think any of them forefathers came here with money. I can't tell you how my grandfather got his, because I don't know.	9:09
Kate Ellis	Right. Did your father come up working?	9:18
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	My father came up working with his father.	9:25
Kate Ellis	Did his father own land?	9:29
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	His father owned land, yes.	9:30
Kate Ellis	Wow.	9:32
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Some of that land, all of that land that he owned, some of it was inherited from father to father. Or shall I say father to son?	9:34
Kate Ellis	Yeah. Did you inherit land from your father?	9:50
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I did.	9:52
Kate Ellis	Has your family owned this land here for a while?	9:54
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	This piece of land my father purchased about forty-five, forty-seven years ago.	9:59
Kate Ellis	But there's land somewhere around town—	10:10
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	There's a home estate that's not far away from here, that my father owned, that he had inherited from his father.	10:12
Kate Ellis	Wow. How long has this community of homeowners been in existence?	10:24
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I can't answer that. The only thing that I can tell you that I'm a Catholic, and ninety-nine percent of the people in the Grand Marais area who were born and reared here are Catholics. Our church has been here — Am I right if I say 147 years?	10:32
Speaker 1	A hundred and some years.	11:00
Kate Ellis	Wow. Wow.	11:02
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Or shall I say 147 years or more?	11:05
Kate Ellis	What church is that?	11:11
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	St. Nicholas.	11:12
Kate Ellis	St. Nicholas.	11:13
Speaker 1	They moved the church.	11:18
Kate Ellis	They moved the church?	11:19
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah, they moved the church. The church, at one time, was about three miles from here, in what they call Patoutville area.	11:20
Kate Ellis	Why did they move it?	11:24
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	They moved it in order to be a little closer to some of the parishioners and for growth.	11:28
Kate Ellis	So it could really be in the community, so you wouldn't have to go so far.	11:40
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Right. Correct.	11:41
Kate Ellis	Do most of the people in the community go to that church?	11:43
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes.	11:45
Kate Ellis	Wow. You all must really know each other. That sounds—	11:46
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Everybody knows everybody in this community.	11:52
Kate Ellis	Yeah. So you know when there's a stranger in town?	12:00
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	We all know.	12:03
Kate Ellis	Because you must just sort of — That seems—	12:03
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	And we know when a stranger comes to town.	12:03
Kate Ellis	That's what I'm saying. That's what I mean. You drive down the block, and they're probably like, "Oh, they're not from here." Did your mother also work, or was she a housewife?	12:05
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	My mother was a housewife. My parents and them also opened a grocery business back in, I think, 1945. She and my dad ran the store, both of them, and he did the farming with the help of people working for him.	12:19
Kate Ellis	He had some labor as he [indistinct 00:12:49].	12:48
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Right.	12:49
Kate Ellis	What was the name of the grocery store?	12:51
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Sigue's Grocery.	12:53
Kate Ellis	That makes sense. Is it still around?	12:55
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No, it's no longer in existence.	12:59
Kate Ellis	Where was it located?	13:02
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Only about two thousand feet from here.	13:04
Kate Ellis	So right nearby. Where did her family come from? What did they do?	13:07
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	My mother's family originated from, I think, Delcambre, Louisiana, from Delcambre to Abbeville.	13:14
Kate Ellis	Do you know what her family did?	13:29
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Her father was a rice farmer who, again, owned his own land.	13:33
Kate Ellis	Wow. Wow. Again, that's unusual, it seems. Not for this particular community, but in general, it seems like around that time it was unusual to own your own land.	13:45
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I don't know. I don't know.	14:06
Kate Ellis	Yeah. It wasn't unusual for you, obviously.	14:08
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	It wasn't unusual for us, because when you look back and see these people and know them and knew their age, and had they been living — I've got an uncle that's dead, and he was the eighth child of ten. If he was living, he would be ninety-five. That goes to tell you that there was seven older than him, seven girls. Even before that, his father owned his land.	14:10
Kate Ellis	His father owned his own land?	14:54
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	14:55
Kate Ellis	Oh, right. You mean, again, it's your mother's father?	14:59
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No, I'm talking about my dad's father.	15:03
Kate Ellis	Okay. So both your father's father and your mother's father owned	15:05
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	They were all landowners, yes.	15:14
Kate Ellis	All landowners in the community?	15:14
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	In their community.	15:15
Kate Ellis	In Iberia Parish?	15:16
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	In Iberia Parish for my father, but in Vermilion Parish from my grandfather, on my mother's side.	15:17
Kate Ellis	Okay, on your mother's side?	15:25
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	15:26
Kate Ellis	Okay. Wow. I'm struck, because it sounds like — I would just assume from what you're saying, coming from land-owning family, it sounds like they prospered to some extent. Am I—	15:26
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I would hope that they did.	15:55
Kate Ellis	They saved their money.	16:00
Speaker 1	They saved their money.	16:14
Kate Ellis	I see, uh-huh.	16:15
Speaker 1	That's what it's all about.	16:15
Kate Ellis	Just saving their money?	16:15
Speaker 1	Saving money.	16:15
Kate Ellis	So they saved their money and were able to purchase land and work their land and open a store.	16:15
Speaker 1	They could open it.	16:26
Kate Ellis	Right, because they saved their money. Wow. But given that this community was somewhat of a — that they were landowners, as you said, that people saved money, but it sounds like — and tell me if I'm wrong — that people here were still subject to Jim Crow laws. There was still—	16:26
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Very much so. Very much so.	16:54
Kate Ellis	— segregation from Whites, even though it was obvious that many of the people's ancestors were White. Is that fair to say?	16:56
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	That's fair to say.	17:08
Kate Ellis	I'm sorry?	17:09
Speaker 1	But they were still Black.	17:11
Kate Ellis	You were still Black. To the Whites, you were still Black, no matter what you looked like.	17:11
Speaker 1	No matter.	17:17
Kate Ellis	No matter whether you owned land, you were still White. Sorry. (laughs)	17:17
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	It's all right.	17:24
Kate Ellis	No, but I mean—	17:25
Speaker 1	[indistinct 00:17:27].	17:26
Kate Ellis	No, that's true.	17:27
Speaker 1	Our church was segregated.	17:31
Kate Ellis	Your church was segregated?	17:32
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Oh, yes. Our church remained segregated for years.	17:32
Kate Ellis	Let me just stop for one second. Okay. That's fine. That's fine.	17:34
Speaker 1	That's his neighborhood.	17:41
Kate Ellis	Okay. (laughs) Your church was segregated?	17:41
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Our church was segregated. As a matter of fact, I can remember, from a kid going to church, I can remember when I made my first communion. I don't remember what year it was, but our church really did not integrate itself until the church was moved from its original site. There was four rows of pews in the church, and we only had one quarter of the church.	17:44
Kate Ellis	You mean those four rows of pews—	18:29
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Three of them belonged to the White folks and one to the Colored, or the Afro-American.	18:31
Kate Ellis	However you want to want to call. Yeah, that's up to you. Now, that's—	18:41
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Once the church was moved, we had a new priest that came in, who—	18:45
Speaker 1	Father Hebert?	18:50
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	— he was—	18:50
Speaker 1	Father Hebert?	18:50
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah. Father Hebert came in. He was new, compared to some of the older priests that we had. He started making the changes of moving the church from where it was, for growth. In so doing, the church became integrated.	18:54
Kate Ellis	The church moved to your community here. Wait, first of all, Father Hebert, how do you spell that?	19:12
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	H-E-B-E-R-T.	19:16
Kate Ellis	That's what I thought. That is so curious. That looks like Herbert to me. [indistinct 00:19:21]	19:18
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Well, French Hebert.	19:21
Kate Ellis	I'm sure. I regret that I never took a speck of French in all my schooling. I only took Spanish.	19:25
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Father Hebert.	19:30
Kate Ellis	Yeah. So Father Hebert. Okay. He was partially responsible for moving the church to this community.	19:31
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	He was.	19:38
Kate Ellis	I'm sorry. Refresh my memory. Moving it from —	19:41
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Patoutville.	19:42
Kate Ellis	Okay. From Patoutville.	19:42
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	To Lydia. L-Y-D-I-A.	19:43
Kate Ellis	To Lydia?	19:50
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes.	19:50
Kate Ellis	Okay. Lydia is the name of the town or the name of the—	19:51
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Lydia is the name of the community that the church is now located in.	19:55
Kate Ellis	Okay. Which is near here?	19:59
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Which is only about five miles, about five miles from here.	20:00
Kate Ellis	Okay. Around what year was that?	20:04
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	In the '60s.	20:15
Speaker 1	Your mom died in '64, and the old church was still there.	20:24
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	The old church was still there when my mother died?	20:24
Speaker 1	Yes. [indistinct 00:20:28]	20:28
Kate Ellis	Really? So 1960s?	20:29
Speaker 1	It was a nice one.	20:32
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Would you say—	20:34
Speaker 1	[indistinct 00:20:35].	20:34
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	'65? Would you say '65?	20:34
Kate Ellis	It was a nice one.	20:34
Speaker 1	Jason was born in '65. '65, '66.	20:34
Kate Ellis	So it was moved. Okay, so I don't need the exact year, but the point is the church was moved and integrated in the 1960s.	20:37
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Right.	20:52
Kate Ellis	Now, why did it integrate when it moved? If this was a community, why did it in —	20:53
Speaker 1	That's what he wanted.	21:02
Kate Ellis	The Father wanted this?	21:03
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I think—	21:04
Kate Ellis	He wanted integration.	21:04
Speaker 1	[indistinct 00:21:06] he wanted it.	21:04
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I think that that was one of the reasons for movement, along with the growth of it. Let's put it this way. We had some White people here who had a little say in that the church property was donated by their ancestors, their foreparents. In doing what Father Hebert did, he had to answer to no one.	21:07
Kate Ellis	By White's ancestors. The property was there for the church to use.	21:46
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	For the church to use.	22:00
Kate Ellis	So he was—	22:01
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I assume that it was. I don't know how it was. I assume that it was given to the church. You understand?	22:01
Kate Ellis	By the ancestors of White people in Lydia?	22:06
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah. Not in Lydia. In Patoutville.	22:09
Kate Ellis	Patoutville.	22:10
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	In Patoutville.	22:10
Kate Ellis	Oh. Are you implying — I don't know what you're implying. Did people in Patoutville want the church moved to Lydia?	22:14
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No. Oh, no. You see, you've got to understand this, that we had very per few parishioners that lived near the church in Lydia. I mean in—	22:28
Kate Ellis	Okay. In Patoutville.	22:37
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	In Patoutville.	22:37
Kate Ellis	I see.	22:37
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	You understand?	22:38
Kate Ellis	Yeah.	22:39
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	You see, the Patouts are the one who gave the property. The Patouts were the owners of the plantations and sugar mill.	22:40
Kate Ellis	Oh. They were the ones who gave the property for the church in Lydia?	22:54
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No. For the church in Patoutville.	22:59
Kate Ellis	I mean for the church in Patoutville.	22:59
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Right.	23:01
Kate Ellis	Okay. Is it the kind of situation where the Patouts, since they were the owners of the plantation, did they pretty much just own all of Patoutville? Given the name of town—	23:02
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Most around Patoutville, they owned most of it.	23:22
Kate Ellis	So they owned the property that the church was on.	23:25
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Mm-hmm, at one time.	23:27
Kate Ellis	Who gave the property for the church to be moved to Lydia?	23:29
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	This was donated by some people who had passed away and left property for the church. You understand?	23:36
Kate Ellis	Yeah.	23:48
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I'm talking about who had passed away way before the church was ever moved, and they gave their property to St. Nicholas Church. You understand?	23:50
Kate Ellis	Yes.	24:01
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	In other words—	24:02
Kate Ellis	And they were White, too?	24:02
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	— we didn't have to go and buy property. In other words—	24:03
Kate Ellis	No, I get the point that it was given. I see. They were former parishioners of that church—	24:06
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Right.	24:14
Kate Ellis	— who gave the land to the church in their will or something.	24:15
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	In their will.	24:20
Kate Ellis	Yeah. Then the Father took advantage of that gift, to move the church closer to its parishioners.	24:22
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Then, you see, what happened was that the Weeks Island Mine, it had a lot of people living on the Weeks Island Salt Dome. They started moving away from Weeks Island. The salt company wanted these people to move from the island. Most of them were moving to the community of Lydia. So the church was put right there, right where the property was on. Actually, it was really the Lydia community.	24:29
Kate Ellis	I see.	25:10
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Then the Lydia community grew from that, from the people moving from Weeks Island.	25:11
Kate Ellis	From the island. Okay. Now, actually, now I'm thinking about it. Because, I guess, I went to Weeks Island a couple days ago. We went through Lydia. Okay. Now, were the people who moved off of Weeks Island — Which that movement took place in the '60s. Is that right? Or the late '60s?	25:16
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	In the late '60s.	25:38
Kate Ellis	Late '60s?	25:38
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah, in the late '60s.	25:39
Kate Ellis	Now, were most of the people who moved, were they Afro-American?	25:41
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Some of them were Afro-Americans. The majority of them were Caucasians.	25:45
Kate Ellis	Okay. But they all moved to Lydia? Did they move into—	25:56
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	The majority of them.	25:58
Kate Ellis	— segregated neighborhoods though?	25:59
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	They bought lots. Whites bought lots here. Blacks bought lots there. People have a tendency to segregate themselves.	26:00
Kate Ellis	That's what happened?	26:16
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	26:17
Kate Ellis	Do you know why the salt company wanted people to move off Weeks Island?	26:19
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I guess that for further growth of the island. They brought in chemical plants and et cetera. You understand?	26:26
Kate Ellis	There's some oil mining. Is there oil drilling there?	26:34
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	26:38
Speaker 1	[indistinct 00:26:39]	26:38
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No. This came about later. But then you had Exxon, who opened a gas plant on Weeks Island. You see, years ago, in the '40s, you couldn't get to Weeks Island from this road here.	26:43
Kate Ellis	From which road?	27:01
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Little Lydia Road. That was unaccessible. You had to go to the island from Baldwin.	27:02
Speaker 1	Really?	27:09
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah. It's the oil companies that really opened this road up.	27:11
Kate Ellis	Oh, I see. To make this area more accessible.	27:14
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Right. Once you leave Lydia, the first bayou you come to, it's called Bayou Blue.	27:18
Kate Ellis	Bayou Blue.	27:28
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	It was from Bayou Blue that there was a bunch—	27:29
Kate Ellis	I know what you're thinking. [indistinct 00:27:35]	27:34
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	— there was a bunch of boats there, you understand, that took these people to work out in the oil field.	27:35
Kate Ellis	Okay. They wanted to develop the land where people had been living, so they asked them to move off the island.	27:45
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Right.	27:52
Kate Ellis	But people still worked.	27:54
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	People worked there. Yeah, people still worked there.	27:55
Kate Ellis	I guess that's one reasons why they didn't move farther than Lydia when they got off the island, because it was so—	27:58
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I would imagine so. They were still employed over there.	28:02
Kate Ellis	Yeah. Then the church became integrated in the '60s.	28:04
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	28:10
Kate Ellis	When you say integrated, now, the White parishioners, and then — I have to ask you this, and I hope that it's not—	28:12
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Go ahead. No, go right ahead.	28:21
Kate Ellis	Do you call yourself Mulatto? Do you call yourself Creole? Do you call yourself Black? African American? Would you rather not be called anything at all?	28:23
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I know that I'm an African American. We don't classify ourselves. It's other people who classify us. You know?	28:32
Kate Ellis	Yeah.	28:44
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Let's be honest about it. Today, really, what do you have? You have either Black or White.	28:45
Kate Ellis	Right.	28:59
Speaker 1	Whether you're Mulatto or not, you're still Black.	29:05
Kate Ellis	What did you say? Whether you're Mulatto or not, you're still Black?	29:06
Speaker 1	You're still Black. They called us Black, yeah.	29:06
Kate Ellis	What? So you just call yourself Black?	29:09
Speaker 1	Yeah.	29:10
Kate Ellis	Right. Doesn't matter about your ancestry.	29:11
Speaker 1	It doesn't matter.	29:15
Kate Ellis	To White people, you're Black.	29:15
Speaker 1	To White people, you're Black.	29:15
Kate Ellis	But what about to Black people? To Black people, are you Black?	29:18
Speaker 1	Yes.	29:23
Kate Ellis	Yeah.	29:23
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	We're Black to them, even though that they—	29:23
Speaker 1	You have some [indistinct 00:29:25] We're not talking to the recorder, are we?	29:23
Kate Ellis	It's—	29:23
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah, she's recording it. You have some of them that'll refer to—	29:24
Speaker 1	Some of them will.	29:36
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Good friends. I met some friends of mine today, and one guy said, "Oh my God, where have you been?" He said, "I believed you moved out of the parish." No, I'm right here. Another friend said, "Well, no." He said, "I brought all you Black brothers together." He says, "No." He says, "He brought a White brother."	29:37
Kate Ellis	He meant you?	30:04
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah, but all a joke.	30:04
Kate Ellis	Joking around.	30:04
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah. Right.	30:06
Kate Ellis	So people joke about those things?	30:06
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah, we joke about them.	30:08
Kate Ellis	Again, I'm not doing this for my own, "Let me classify you." I'm asking only because it seems that these are questions, that these are things that concern people at time, that people talk about that, that—	30:09
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	It did. See, you weren't born and raised around here. It was almost an accepted thing. But you see, I can remember that even in the years gone by, when segregation was very, very much in bloom. Hey, our parents would leave here and go to Texas. That was a major trip. We had no place to stop and get anything to eat. Lunches were taken with us. I can even remember back in the '50s when I was in college, that I probably, in the gang, I was the only one that had a car. We would leave at twelve o'clock at night, going back to Baton Rouge. Sometime, you want to eat. We had no place to stop to eat unless I would get down and get the food. You see, the darker ones would stoop down in a car and I'd get out and go get the food. That's how we lived. Hey, that was the way of getting by it.	30:25
Kate Ellis	That's what you have to do.	31:31
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	31:32
Kate Ellis	Sure. Yeah. Quite honestly, since I've talked to a lot of people, many people have said, if they were darker, they'd say, "Yeah, we got my light friends to get us —" Or if they were light-skinned, they would say, "Yeah, my friends got me to —" It seems like that's what you had to do to get—	31:33
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	That's what we had to do.	31:49
Kate Ellis	— to get basic things that you should have—	31:49
Speaker 1	It was no fun.	31:53
Kate Ellis	No? It's no fun to do that? No.	31:55
Speaker 1	It was no fun.	31:58
Kate Ellis	Yeah. I don't mean to ask this naively, but what is not fun about it? What makes it hard?	32:03
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Wait. Tell me what you mean. What makes what hard?	32:13
Kate Ellis	She was just saying it's no fun to have to do that, to have, what some people call, passing, in order to get dinner for a friend.	32:17
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	You couldn't reveal your true identity. When you're hiding something, you're always a little guilty. You always have a little doubt.	32:29
Speaker 1	You go to the doctor, you had to pass through the side door.	32:42
Kate Ellis	What was that? When you go to the doctor, you have to pass through the side—	32:46
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah, we had to pass through. Doctors had two waiting rooms, one for Black, one for White. They had two water faucets, one for Negroes, one for White. Had them well spelled out, too.	32:49
Kate Ellis	From the huge signs for Colored.	33:06
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Oh, yes.	33:08
Speaker 1	We'd get books in school. We had torn books.	33:09
Kate Ellis	You had torn books?	33:13
Speaker 1	Torn books.	33:13
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah, we got books. We got books that they had used for maybe 10, 20 years.	33:14
Kate Ellis	That the Whites had used?	33:18
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Mm-hmm. We got the hand-me-downs. We worked. We paid taxes just like the White people did, you know?	33:19
Kate Ellis	I'm sorry. You what? You —	33:32
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No, I said we paid tax.	33:37
Kate Ellis	Yeah, right. Yeah. But you got second rate services.	33:38
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Or shall we say fifth rate? The fifth—	33:46
Kate Ellis	Fifth rate?	33:48
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	33:49
Kate Ellis	Really, second rate is really putting it mildly.	33:49
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	33:50
Kate Ellis	I know that it seems that African American found ways, were innovative and found ways to — I don't know — make do with what resources there were and enhance whatever it was they had, even though it was fifth rate. Do you remember? Do you remember what your teachers used to do to try to make things better for the students?	33:59
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	You got me there, but then let me say this, that we looked at them as being educated. Whoever is in school and goes to school, he's going for a reason. He wants to be educated. It's one way of becoming what you might want to be in life.	34:29
Kate Ellis	You mean to get an education?	34:54
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	To get an education. Hey, after all, we had Black doctors, dentists, chemists, engineers. We had a lot of Blacks who excelled it. This, in itself, showed us what an education could do.	34:54
Kate Ellis	Just by having these—	35:18
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	That's right.	35:19
Kate Ellis	— role models.	35:20
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Role models.	35:21
Kate Ellis	You're saying that, in itself, made you — what—	35:25
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Made you want to go to school. Made you want to get that education.	35:31
Kate Ellis	Despite the—	35:33
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	The hardship that it was. You see, because you got to understand this, that in this area here, we had poor families, too. We had kids who, during harvest time, had to work and help the family along.	35:35
Kate Ellis	But—	35:51
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	But — Go ahead.	35:59
Kate Ellis	No, you go ahead.	35:59
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	But we still persisted, sometime going to school only six months a year.	36:00
Kate Ellis	Right. But that wasn't the case for you?	36:07
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No. No, that wasn't the case for me. I didn't complete my college education, because, I guess, I had other things really on my mind.	36:14
Kate Ellis	Really?	36:22
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	But then again, I have no regrets to it. But I did see that my children were educated, that they all got their college education.	36:24
Kate Ellis	Really? Where did you go to college?	36:34
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I went to college at Southern University in Scotlandville.	36:36
Kate Ellis	In Scotlandville?	36:40
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Mm-hmm. A lot of people say Baton Rouge, but it isn't Baton Rouge. It's Scotlandville, Louisiana.	36:42
Kate Ellis	Oh, really?	36:49
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes. I've got four kids that attended USO.	36:50
Kate Ellis	Oh, okay. USO?	37:03
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	University of Southwestern Louisiana.	37:04
Kate Ellis	Oh, okay. Oh, USO. I'm sorry. I took me a while. In Lafayette?	37:07
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Right.	37:10
Kate Ellis	Okay. Four kids. Wow. That's great. Wow. Now, did your parents own some sort of — I don't know if it was a club or some sort of entertainment center or something?	37:11
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes.	37:38
Kate Ellis	What was that? What was that?	37:40
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	It was a nightclub.	37:42
Kate Ellis	What was it called?	37:42
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Sigue's Country Club. Just like Sigue's Grocery, Sigue's Country Club.	37:44
Kate Ellis	Sigue's Country Club. Why would I even ask?	37:49
Speaker 1	They played ball. They had a ballpark.	37:52
Kate Ellis	They had a ballpark there?	37:59
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah. We had a baseball team during the summer.	38:00
Kate Ellis	What else was there?	38:06
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	In what way, what else there were?	38:12
Kate Ellis	I mean you could play baseball there.	38:13
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	38:16
Kate Ellis	Could people come there at night to—	38:17
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No. People came during the daytime.	38:19
Kate Ellis	Okay. So it was pretty much like a sports kind of a—	38:21
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah. Just about every Sunday there was a baseball game with different teams throughout the state.	38:24
Kate Ellis	Oh, that must have been fun.	38:32
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	It was.	38:34
Kate Ellis	Now, those were probably all Black teams, at that point?	38:35
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes. At that, all Black teams.	38:45
Kate Ellis	They would come and play at the country club?	38:46
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Mm-hmm. We charged an admission. My parents charged an admission to come into the game. The gate picked up a hundred dollars or two-hundred dollars. The winner got sixty percent of it, and the loser got forty percent.	38:48
Kate Ellis	Really?	39:08
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	39:08
Kate Ellis	Wait, didn't your family make any make any kind of profit?	39:10
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No. No, we didn't make any profit off of that. We made a profit off the alcohol and the beverage.	39:12
Kate Ellis	Oh, okay. So you sold alcohol there.	39:18
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	39:18
Kate Ellis	Okay. So it wasn't a night spot, but you did serve beverages, so to speak.	39:20
Speaker 1	Oh, yeah. Oh, yes.	39:25
Kate Ellis	That sounds like fun.	39:25
Speaker 1	[indistinct 00:39:27].	39:25
Kate Ellis	You did have a nice — Yeah. Who would come? People come from all over Iberia [indistinct 00:39:35] or was it—	39:26
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Liberia. Abbeville, Franklin, throughout the little towns. People at that time loved baseball, and they wanted to see a good team. We always had a good team here.	39:37
Kate Ellis	Really?	39:51
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	39:51
Kate Ellis	At playing. Wow. You must, to this day, be a major baseball fan.	39:53
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I'm a major baseball fan.	39:57
Kate Ellis	Is that a safe bet?	40:05
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I love it. I love baseball. Yes.	40:05
Kate Ellis	That sounds nice. It sounds like your parents were very industrious, that they did a lot of different—	40:05
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	They did a lot of different things.	40:14
Kate Ellis	I'm sorry?	40:16
Speaker 1	They made a good living.	40:18
Kate Ellis	They made a good living?	40:19
Speaker 1	They did.	40:19
Kate Ellis	They did. She'll say it.	40:19
Speaker 1	They did. [indistinct 00:40:25]—	40:20
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I come up maybe a little fortunate—	40:26
Speaker 1	Yes, they were fortune.	40:27
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	— a little more fortunate than other kids, but you know that we never look down upon anybody. You understand?	40:28
Kate Ellis	Oh, yeah. No, it just sounds like what you're saying, that they worked. They're fortunate because they worked.	40:34
Speaker 1	[indistinct 00:40:43]	40:41
Kate Ellis	Yeah.	40:45
Speaker 1	There was no cash register, so when you get the money, you just put it in a drawer. Monday morning, got the iron out, and you iron the money.	40:45
Kate Ellis	Really?	40:45
Speaker 1	Then she'd take it to the bank.	40:45
Kate Ellis	Wow.	40:57
Speaker 1	Everybody [indistinct 00:41:00]. Nobody took it home.	40:59
Kate Ellis	Right.	41:02
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	During those years, a bottle of beer was about 25 cent a bottle.	41:06
Kate Ellis	Which means what?	41:12
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	As compared to today.	41:14
Kate Ellis	When it's so much more expensive.	41:16
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	At that time, people were making probably 75 cent an hour.	41:21
Kate Ellis	Right.	41:32
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Before that, they were being paid forty-five cent an hour.	41:32
Kate Ellis	Right. Wait, who was making seventy-five cents an hour?	41:34
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Say that again.	41:39
Kate Ellis	Who was making — Wait, you lost me.	41:40
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	People who worked every day, who worked on the farms. People who worked at different labor work, we got paid seventy-five cent an hour.	41:42
Kate Ellis	Wow. Is that—	41:53
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	See, like your minimum wage today is — What is it?	41:56
Kate Ellis	It's four twenty-five.	42:05
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Four twenty-five. At that time, in other words minimum wage was forty-five. Then minimum wage jumped from forty-five to seventy-five.	42:05
Kate Ellis	What? In the '50s?	42:11
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah, in the '50s. In the '50s.	42:15
Speaker 1	Then when we moved to New York, I was making eighty-seven cent an hour.	42:22
Kate Ellis	When you moved to New York, you were making — Did you all live in New York for a while?	42:23
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah, we lived in New York.	42:25
Kate Ellis	What did you do in New York?	42:33
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I worked for Bob Shalam Optical Company. After the Korean War, I was laid off and I went to work for General Motors.	42:34
Kate Ellis	Up there?	42:51
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah. I got laid off from General Motors, moved to California, went to work for Hughes Aircraft out in California. Worked there for about almost two years, and left California, and went back to New York, and went to work for the Pfaudler Permutit Company.	42:51
Kate Ellis	I'm sorry. The what?	43:19
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Pfaudler, P-F-A-U-D-L-E-R, Permutit, P-E-R-M-U-I-T-T-I.	43:23
Kate Ellis	What is that?	43:30
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	The manufacturers of glass line tanks and a lot of other stuff.	43:34
Kate Ellis	So you all have been all over?	43:45
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	We've seen the country.	43:48
Kate Ellis	You got a taste of everything. When did you come back down here?	43:50
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	'61.	43:53
Kate Ellis	Oh, okay. How long were you away from this area?	43:55
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Almost nine years.	44:02
Kate Ellis	You did all that in nine years?	44:04
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	44:06
Kate Ellis	Oh. Okay. Did you notice a lot of differences between the way that people of different races interacted up north, for instance, than they did down here?	44:10
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	We found out that there was very little segregation up north as compared to what we had here. We found out that California in itself was really a segregated area.	44:22
Kate Ellis	California was?	44:46
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes.	44:46
Kate Ellis	Where in California were you?	44:48
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Los Angeles.	44:48
Kate Ellis	And that was a segregated area?	44:50
Speaker 1	Oh, yes.	44:52
Kate Ellis	Really? Huh. Just as much as it was here? Huh.	44:53
Speaker 1	But it didn't bother us.	45:02
Kate Ellis	It didn't bother you.	45:03
Speaker 1	No, we just went on about our business.	45:03
Kate Ellis	Yeah.	45:05
Speaker 1	We were there to make a living.	45:06
Kate Ellis	I'm sorry. You could—	45:11
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No, she said we were there to make a living.	45:13
Kate Ellis	Right. You were there to make a living, not to—	45:14
Speaker 1	We were there to make a living. We weren't there to [indistinct 00:45:17].	45:14
Kate Ellis	Right. Wow. I see what you're saying. There was something I was going to ask. What was it? Something about your family.	45:18
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I come from a family of six kids. Mother and father's deceased and one brother, and five of us still living. Two of them are away from here. Three of us still lives here.	45:41
Kate Ellis	In this area?	46:00
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	In this area.	46:00
Kate Ellis	Oh, wow.	46:02
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Right next door to each other.	46:03
Kate Ellis	Oh.	46:07
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Brother's house next door. Sister's house next door.	46:07
Kate Ellis	So you stay together.	46:11
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes.	46:12
Kate Ellis	That's nice. Let me do this. I know that there are other things I'm going to want to ask you, but while I collect my thoughts, let me ask you some of these family history questions, if that's okay.	46:15
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Go ahead. Let's see if I can answer them.	46:30
Kate Ellis	Okay. Oh, I know what I was going to ask.	46:37

Kate Ellis	Do you remember much about World War II and how it affected this community?	0:01
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Well, the only thing that I can remember about World War II, and I can remember hearing over radio the fighting that was going on in Europe, Germany, and Japan. I can also remember my mother then having a grocery business that cigarettes were rationed, sugar was rationed, gasoline was rationed. You had to have coupons to get all of that. What else can I tell you about that?	0:14
Kate Ellis	I don't know. I guess I was just wondering if you remember lots of people leaving the area to go fight and if that sort of made a difference in the community.	0:54
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Well, I knew that we had several people from this community who were drafted into the service.	1:06
Kate Ellis	Yeah.	1:17
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I don't really think that we had any volunteers from here. In other words, most of the guys from this area who served were draftees.	1:19
Kate Ellis	Drafted?	1:28
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes.	1:28
Kate Ellis	Yeah, Did things seem much different once people came back from the war? Did things start changing around here much as people came back?	1:28
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I guess in a sense. To really pinpoint something, I can't pinpoint something and tell you. I know we got some of the guys who came back and learned trades and took up their trade.	1:41
Kate Ellis	Some went to school?	2:06
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Right.	2:06
Kate Ellis	Some—	2:06
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	GI Bill.	2:06
Kate Ellis	Some people— Uh-huh. So some people benefited from it?	2:15
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah, a lot of people benefit. In other words, all of the majority of the ex-veterans of the Second World War benefited because you had brick mason schools, you had carpentry schools, you had welding schools, and most of them took advantage of it.	2:17
Kate Ellis	Right. And they were able to once they got back from—	2:37
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	That's right.	2:39
Kate Ellis	— war?	2:40
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	And if I'm not mistaken, I think they were being paid a little to encourage them to attend.	2:41
Kate Ellis	Yeah.	2:47
Iona Sigue	I had two brother-in-laws that got paid.	2:47
Kate Ellis	Really. Two brother-in-laws that got paid—	2:50
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:02:52].	2:51
Kate Ellis	— to go to school?	2:52
Iona Sigue	Yes.	2:53
Kate Ellis	Wow. That must have been great for them.	2:54
Iona Sigue	They were [indistinct 00:02:56] so they older than us, but went to college.	2:56
Kate Ellis	A lot of your friends went to college?	3:01
Iona Sigue	Yeah.	3:03
Kate Ellis	Uh-huh, when they got back?	3:03
Iona Sigue	When they got back.	3:04
Kate Ellis	So it was really, for many people it sounds like, a path to upward mobility?	3:05
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes.	3:11
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:03:11].	3:11
Kate Ellis	Yeah. Wow. Do you remember much about— The incident I heard about that seems to be sort of infamous is the 1944 incident when the doctors in New Iberia were—	3:11
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Oh, were ran out of town.	3:27
Kate Ellis	Mm-hmm. I asked this because that was in the war period. Do you remember much from what that was about?	3:30
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Well, in other words, in talking with some of the older people, I now know what it was about.	3:36
Kate Ellis	You were pretty young then, huh?	3:44
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I was young then. As a matter of fact, I knew one of the doctors. I met him in California before he died. I met him about, I think it was about 15—	3:46
Iona Sigue	'71 we met him.	3:57
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	In '71?	3:58
Kate Ellis	In 1971? Who was that?	3:59
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Was that Dr. Jones?	4:03
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:04:05]. They ran him out of New Iberia. [indistinct 00:04:11].	4:09
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I can't think of what his— I can't think of his name.	4:11
Kate Ellis	But he's a doctor who went to California?	4:14
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah. Yeah, he moved to California and had a tremendous practice in California. As a matter of fact, I had a first cousin that married his daughter.	4:16
Kate Ellis	Really?	4:22
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	4:23
Kate Ellis	Did he talk to you at all about that 1944 incident?	4:23
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No. No.	4:27
Kate Ellis	No?	4:28
Iona Sigue	He wasn't well when we met him.	4:32
Kate Ellis	He wasn't well—	4:32
Iona Sigue	No.	4:32
Kate Ellis	— when you met him? So it wasn't the kind of thing he was about—	4:32
Iona Sigue	No.	4:34
Kate Ellis	— to start talking about?	4:35
Iona Sigue	And then maybe he [indistinct 00:04:38].	4:36
Kate Ellis	Oh, really? So he wasn't—	4:39
Iona Sigue	No.	4:41
Kate Ellis	Yeah. His recollections weren't so good.	4:41
Iona Sigue	Mm-mm.	4:44
Kate Ellis	Yeah. Huh. That's neat that you met him out there.	4:44
Iona Sigue	Yeah.	4:48
Kate Ellis	Was that by coincidence, or was that—	4:49
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No. In other words, I had a cousin that moved up there and he met this doctor's daughter and married her.	4:51
Kate Ellis	Okay, and that's how you—	5:00
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	5:02
Kate Ellis	I see. If that makes sense. Wow.	5:02
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	And the first thing I was told that he was one of the doctors who they had ran out of New Iberia.	5:05
Kate Ellis	You mean the first thing you were told when you got back here?	5:14
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No, no. I was told that by—	5:15
Kate Ellis	Oh, by—	5:15
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	— his son-in-law, you know?	5:16
Kate Ellis	Okay. Okay. Wow. Huh. Wow. Do you have a middle name?	5:17
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No, I have no middle name.	5:27
Kate Ellis	Okay. And so [indistinct 00:05:33] stuff. So what would you list as your principal occupation?	5:28
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	What would I list as my principal occupation?	5:40
Kate Ellis	Yeah. What has it been?	5:43
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Oh. Well, I have two. In other words, I have two principal occupations.	5:44
Kate Ellis	Okay. I can [indistinct 00:05:52].	5:51
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	And one is farming, and the other one is a flooring business.	5:53
Kate Ellis	Flooring business.	5:57
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Carpet and vinyl. The total floor.	6:00
Kate Ellis	So you still do farming?	6:02
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Oh, I still do farming.	6:03
Kate Ellis	Now, does that mean that you hire people to do it, or you—	6:04
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Oh, I hire people to.	6:07
Kate Ellis	To run your farm?	6:08
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	To work on the farm.	6:10
Kate Ellis	About how many acres do you have?	6:11
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I farm about four hundred acres.	6:12
Kate Ellis	Wow. Is it all sugarcane?	6:18
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	All sugarcane.	6:19
Kate Ellis	Wow. Huh. And again, that's been passed down through the family?	6:22
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	6:24
Kate Ellis	Okay. Okay.	6:24
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	And some of it is lease land.	6:29
Kate Ellis	Oh. Uh-huh. How would you like your name to appear in written documents?	6:34
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	How would I like it to appear?	6:40
Kate Ellis	Yeah. I mean, I guess just Altimus Sigue Junior?	6:41
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	6:46
Kate Ellis	Okay.	6:46
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes.	6:46
Kate Ellis	Some people have nicknames they like to include. Some people have middle initials [indistinct 00:06:53].	6:46
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I have a couple of nicknames, but all my kids refer to me and grandkids and a lot of other friends as Chief.	6:55
Kate Ellis	Chief?	7:03
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	7:04
Kate Ellis	Would you like that to be part of your official name?	7:05
Iona Sigue	His grandchildren call him Chief.	7:06
Kate Ellis	They call him Chief? That's great. I mean, should it be Altimus—	7:10
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	My sister calls me Chief also.	7:13
Kate Ellis	Is that your sister?	7:16
Iona Sigue	His sister Rose.	7:16
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	That's my sister. That's Rose.	7:16
Kate Ellis	Hi.	7:16
Iona Sigue	She's just getting off of work.	7:16
Kate Ellis	How are you? Okay. So I need your wife's full name. First, middle, last.	7:21
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Iona, I-O-N-A, Teresa. Now you want her maiden name, or?	7:29
Kate Ellis	What is her maiden name? Yeah.	7:41
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Auzenne. A-U-Z-E-N-N-E.	7:46
Kate Ellis	A—	7:49
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	U-Z-E-N-N-E.	7:49
Kate Ellis	Okay. And what is her date of birth?	7:57
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	10/10/33	8:03
Kate Ellis	Are you saying that under your breath? Kind of a sensitive? Okay. And she was born— Where was she born?	8:11
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	She was born in St. Landry Parish.	8:19
Kate Ellis	St. Landry Parish?	8:25
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes.	8:26
Kate Ellis	What town?	8:26
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Well, the closest town there is Opelousas.	8:28
Kate Ellis	Okay. And her occupation is what?	8:30
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	A housewife and— Let's call it housewife.	8:41
Kate Ellis	Okay. And what is your mother's full name?	8:47
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	My mother's full name was Mary Emma. E-M-M-A.	8:53
Kate Ellis	Mary Emma Sigue?	8:57
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes.	8:58
Kate Ellis	And what was her maiden name?	9:05
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Vallot. V-A-L-L-O-T.	9:08
Kate Ellis	V-A-L-L—	9:10
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	L-L-O-T.	9:12
Kate Ellis	Okay. And do you know her date of birth?	9:14
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No.	9:17
Kate Ellis	Let's see, do you know the year that she— Is she still alive?	9:20
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No, she passed away in '63.	9:24
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:09:28].	9:24
Kate Ellis	Nine [indistinct 00:09:30].	9:29
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:09:30].	9:29
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Nine eleven was here.	9:30
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:09:38].	9:34
Kate Ellis	So 1912?	9:42
Iona Sigue	Yeah. That [indistinct 00:09:46].	9:45
Kate Ellis	Okay. What about your father? When was he born?	9:48
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	August—	9:54
Iona Sigue	1905. I'll never forget that.	9:54
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	— month.	9:57
Kate Ellis	Of August?	9:58
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	What is it? Seventeenth date?	10:00
Iona Sigue	No, he was born the eighteenth. Oh, you was the eighteenth [indistinct 00:10:02].	10:01
Kate Ellis	So—	10:02
Iona Sigue	It was on the eighteenth of August.	10:02
Kate Ellis	So eighteenth of August?	10:02
Iona Sigue	Uh-huh.	10:02
Kate Ellis	When did he pass? What year?	10:13
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	What year did Pop—	10:20
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:10:21] he passed.	10:20
Kate Ellis	'88? 1988?	10:20
Iona Sigue	Uh-uh. '87.	10:20
Kate Ellis	Okay.	10:20
Iona Sigue	Because I break my back in '88.	10:20
Kate Ellis	Ugh.	10:20
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:10:27].	10:20
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Is it seven years?	10:28
Iona Sigue	Yes. Time has a way of passing [indistinct 00:10:35].	10:33
Kate Ellis	Yes, it does have a way of passing. So where was your mother born?	10:35
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I'm not sure. I believe she was born in Vermilion Parish.	10:40
Kate Ellis	Vermilion Parish. I know I ask these questions that— Vermilion Parish, Louisiana.	10:47
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Uh-huh.	10:55
Kate Ellis	And what was her occupation?	10:57
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Housewife. Boss.	11:05
Kate Ellis	Housewife? Was she a shopkeeper? I mean, did she have some—	11:06
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Well, she had the store. You know? Yeah.	11:08
Kate Ellis	So I'm going to say housewife store owner.	11:10
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	11:11
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:11:14].	11:11
Kate Ellis	I'm sure she worked hard. Your father's full name?	11:15
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	A-L-T-H-I-M-U-S.	11:21
Kate Ellis	Now that's interesting. (Sigue, Jr. laughs) How do you say his name?	11:26
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Althimus.	11:31
Kate Ellis	And how do you say your name?	11:33
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Altemus.	11:35
Kate Ellis	No. Really?	11:36
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes.	11:37
Kate Ellis	You're Altemus?	11:37
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	11:38
Kate Ellis	And he was Althimus?	11:39
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes. Now, you want to know how it got that way?	11:40
Kate Ellis	Yes. I want to know how it got that way.	11:42
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Okay. When you go to the priest and the priest says, "What name do you want to give him?" Said, "Well, we want to call him Altemus." And he spells it out. Altemus, as you pronounce it.	11:45
Kate Ellis	Oh.	12:04
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Now, if you would hear my godmother refer to me, it's Altemus.	12:04
Kate Ellis	Uh-huh.	12:08
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Even though my dad was Althimus.	12:09
Kate Ellis	Okay.	12:11
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	You understand?	12:12
Kate Ellis	Yes.	12:13
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	So the priest spelled it out that way.	12:13
Kate Ellis	I see.	12:14
Iona Sigue	He spelled it Altemus [indistinct 00:12:15].	12:14
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes.	12:14
Kate Ellis	Right, right. That's funny. Did he have a middle name?	12:20
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Simon.	12:25
Kate Ellis	Simon. When you tell people your last name, how do you say it?	12:26
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Oh, I say it all kind of ways.	12:34
Kate Ellis	Do you really say it all kinds of ways?	12:36
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah, I do. Because in other words, some people I may say, "Well, my name is Sigue." And they say, "What?" I say, "Siggy."	12:37
Kate Ellis	Really?	12:47
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Because I've been called cigarette and everything else, so it doesn't make any difference.	12:48
Kate Ellis	Okay. Where was your father born?	12:55
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	My father was born here in Iberia Parish.	12:57
Kate Ellis	Okay.	12:59
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	And I would imagine that's something else that I didn't tell you. I said I was born in New Iberia, but I was born here in Iberia Parish in Grand Marais.	12:59
Kate Ellis	Oh.	13:14
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	And I was born with the help of a midwife.	13:15
Kate Ellis	At home?	13:16
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes.	13:17
Kate Ellis	Mm-hmm. Because that was still during the time when—	13:18
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Oh, yes.	13:20
Kate Ellis	— you couldn't go to the hospital for that kind of thing. Right? Yeah. Uh-huh. How did your parents talk to you, or did they talk to you about segregation? I mean, did they ever explain why things were the way they were or have a way of talking about it with you?	13:21
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I don't know. I don't think it was— I don't think it was ever mentioned. It was just something that you were born into.	13:52
Iona Sigue	That you respected [indistinct 00:14:06].	14:03
Kate Ellis	You—	14:06
Iona Sigue	You respected [indistinct 00:14:08].	14:06
Kate Ellis	You respected everyone?	14:09
Iona Sigue	Everyone. They did not let you [indistinct 00:14:15].	14:11
Kate Ellis	They didn't let you disrespect anybody?	14:15
Iona Sigue	Never. See, like the kids today [indistinct 00:14:19].	14:16
Kate Ellis	So the kids aren't as respectful now?	14:20
Iona Sigue	No.	14:22
Kate Ellis	To anybody?	14:22
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:14:24].	14:23
Kate Ellis	So you were taught to respect people—	14:25
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	We were taught to respect people.	14:27
Kate Ellis	— Black or White?	14:28
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	14:29
Iona Sigue	Yes. Regardless of who they were.	14:32
Kate Ellis	Regardless of who they were?	14:32
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	And we never really had any problems—	14:34
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:14:35].	14:34
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	— with even White folks. We were very well-respected.	14:35
Kate Ellis	Yeah.	14:38
Iona Sigue	We didn't have no problems.	14:39
Kate Ellis	Mm-hmm. And so it wasn't like you were— I mean—	14:40
Iona Sigue	Never [indistinct 00:14:45].	14:44
Kate Ellis	You were never scorned?	14:46
Iona Sigue	No. Never.	14:47
Kate Ellis	Mm-hmm.	14:50
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	And I think some of the— I really think that some of the Whites looked up to my parents in that they were business people and rather successful in life.	14:55
Kate Ellis	Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, that makes sense. It sounds like they were very industrious people. Huh.	15:03
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yep.	15:10
Kate Ellis	There was something I was just going to [indistinct 00:15:19]. I don't know. So it sounds like it wasn't as much of a problem for you?	15:25
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Well, not really, in a way. In a way. In other words, I never had an urging to go into White places. I never ever had the feeling to want to associate with them.	15:27
Kate Ellis	Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.	15:48
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah, I went— Now, I had White friends who— And I'm talking about older fellows who thought the world of me. In other words, I fished with them and hunt and did everything else. In other words, hey, they came looking for me.	15:54
Kate Ellis	To go and do these things?	16:11
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah. Yeah.	16:13
Kate Ellis	Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.	16:14
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:16:18] wasn't free in life.	16:17
Rose	That's right.	16:20
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Oh, no. I—	16:20
Kate Ellis	You were never treated like a slave?	16:21
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Oh, no. I was— Oh, no. No. No way.	16:21
Kate Ellis	Mm-hmm. They treated you as an equal?	16:25
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	16:26
Kate Ellis	Mm-hmm.	16:27
Iona Sigue	We didn't socialize with them.	16:27
Kate Ellis	You didn't—	16:31
Iona Sigue	I still don't have no interest in socializing. I [indistinct 00:16:33].	16:31
Kate Ellis	Right. You don't socialize. I mean, when you say socialize, you wouldn't go someplace together for dinner, or is that what you—	16:34
Iona Sigue	Oh, unless we went for a special occasion.	16:46
Kate Ellis	Right. But you could hunt and fish and—	16:46
Iona Sigue	Oh, yes.	16:47
Kate Ellis	— and be courteous when you saw each other?	16:48
Iona Sigue	Yes. Church functions were together. [indistinct 00:16:59]. It never used to be like that. [indistinct 00:16:59] the church functions.	16:50
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No. You see and one thing about— Church fairs were never segregated.	17:00
Kate Ellis	They weren't?	17:02
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No.	17:03
Kate Ellis	You mean in your church they weren't?	17:03
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes.	17:04
Kate Ellis	So even though you had segregated pews, you didn't have segregated picnics?	17:06
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No.	17:11
Kate Ellis	You all met [indistinct 00:17:13]—	17:12
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No, we didn't have picnics. We had church fairs.	17:12
Kate Ellis	Church fairs?	17:14
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	17:15
Kate Ellis	Okay.	17:15
Iona Sigue	The called them bazaars.	17:15
Kate Ellis	Bazaars?	17:15
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Bazaars.	17:18
Kate Ellis	I know that.	17:19
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Fundraisers.	17:19
Kate Ellis	I know that one. No, believe it or not because that's a word that I— They had bazaars?	17:20
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	17:22
Kate Ellis	Okay.	17:23
Iona Sigue	They had bazaars.	17:23
Kate Ellis	Or did you say bazaars?	17:25
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Oh, bazaar. [foreign language 00:17:28].	17:27
Iona Sigue	Bazaars.	17:27
Kate Ellis	You said bazaars.	17:27
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	[foreign language 00:17:28].	17:27
Kate Ellis	I'm sure we'd spell it the same way. That's so—	17:28
Iona Sigue	How do you pronounce it?	17:33
Kate Ellis	I say bazaar.	17:34
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:17:36].	17:35
Kate Ellis	Right, right, right. It's just a—	17:36
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	You see—	17:39
Iona Sigue	The only thing bad— Let me tell you how we felt. Maybe we couldn't go to the bank and borrow money like we wanted.	17:40
Kate Ellis	You couldn't go to the bank to borrow money the way you wanted?	17:49
Iona Sigue	Yeah, a big amount of money.	17:54
Rose	But we bought cars. We paid cash for our car.	17:54
Kate Ellis	You paid cash for your cars? In other words, which was a good thing? Wait.	17:55
Iona Sigue	We didn't believe in borrowing any— I don't believe we knew what borrowing was.	17:59
Kate Ellis	Really? You didn't borrow? You only bought what you could buy?	18:02
Iona Sigue	Yeah.	18:07
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	18:07
Kate Ellis	With the money you had.	18:07
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	What you could afford. That's it.	18:07
Kate Ellis	Right.	18:08
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	What you could buy with the money that you had.	18:08
Iona Sigue	We didn't ever [indistinct 00:18:12].	18:09
Kate Ellis	So you knew that banks might discriminate against you if you wanted to get a loan, but you never wanted to get a loan—	18:12
Iona Sigue	Didn't have a loan.	18:18
Kate Ellis	— so it never really bothered you?	18:18
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:18:32].	18:31
Kate Ellis	I see. Huh. So yeah, I see.	18:31
Iona Sigue	Only thing bad was school.	18:31
Kate Ellis	The only thing bad was school?	18:33
Iona Sigue	The only thing bad was school. I walked to school. I never rode a bus to school.	18:34
Kate Ellis	Where was your school?	18:36
Iona Sigue	In [indistinct 00:18:38]. We had to walk a mile [indistinct 00:18:41].	18:37
Kate Ellis	Uh-huh. Well, you had to take the bus to school while you're—	18:43
Iona Sigue	I never had a— I never rode a bus.	18:46
Kate Ellis	You never rode a bus?	18:48
Iona Sigue	When I went to high school I had moved in town.	18:48
Kate Ellis	You did? Did you have family in town that you—	18:51
Iona Sigue	I had my godmother lived in town.	18:53
Kate Ellis	So when you had to go to high school, you lived with your godmother?	18:55
Iona Sigue	Yeah, to the Catholic school. They believe in sending me to public school.	18:57
Kate Ellis	Why didn't they believe in sending—	19:00
Iona Sigue	They didn't want me to socialize with low-class people.	19:04
Kate Ellis	Oh, so they— Oh, so your parents said, "You're going to Catholic school so you can socialize with a better class of people."	19:05
Iona Sigue	Yes.	19:11
Kate Ellis	"Therefore, you're going to stay in town with your godmother—"	19:12
Iona Sigue	Yes.	19:14
Kate Ellis	"— and go to this school." What school was that?	19:15
Iona Sigue	Holy Ghost.	19:17
Kate Ellis	Holy Ghost.	19:18
Iona Sigue	Today it's— What it is? [indistinct 00:19:25] Catholic School.	19:25
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I don't know, dear.	19:25
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:19:25] they're all together now.	19:25
Kate Ellis	So it's an integrated school now?	19:27
Iona Sigue	Now. Yeah, but it wasn't when I went.	19:29
Kate Ellis	Yours, right, it was—	19:31
Iona Sigue	We were Black. All-Black. Black nuns.	19:36
Kate Ellis	Uh-huh. Black nuns?	19:37
Iona Sigue	But we had White priests.	19:38
Kate Ellis	Black nuns, White priest—	19:38
Iona Sigue	Yes.	19:38
Kate Ellis	— who taught at the school. Uh-huh. But these were for— I mean, obviously, you're saying it was for students— It was for a better class of students.	19:39
Iona Sigue	For a better class. We had [indistinct 00:19:48].	19:46
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Well, I can't say a better class of students, honey. I think—	19:48
Kate Ellis	Well, you [indistinct 00:19:51].	19:51
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:19:51].	19:51
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	— I would say Catholic students.	19:51
Kate Ellis	It was Catholic students?	19:53
Iona Sigue	Was the best. To them old people a long time ago, a better class of people went to Catholic schools. A long time ago. That's how old people were.	19:54
Kate Ellis	Right. Yeah. And I mean, and that class of people probably had more money.	20:06
Iona Sigue	They had a little money that they could [indistinct 00:20:11].	20:10
Kate Ellis	I see.	20:11
Iona Sigue	I think my tuition was like maybe a dollar twenty-five a week, so that was a big deal.	20:18
Kate Ellis	Really?	20:18
Iona Sigue	Mm-hmm.	20:18
Kate Ellis	Would you consider that inexpensive? A dollar twenty-five a week for school? Yeah. But obviously, some people couldn't afford that.	20:19
Iona Sigue	No, some people—	20:26
Kate Ellis	They went to the public school.	20:27
Iona Sigue	You had good people, but they couldn't afford to go to Catholic school.	20:29
Kate Ellis	Right. Yeah. No, I see what you mean. Wow.	20:31
Iona Sigue	And they wanted you to have the best education.	20:34
Kate Ellis	Who? Your parents did?	20:40
Iona Sigue	Yes.	20:41
Kate Ellis	Wanted you to have the best education?	20:41
Iona Sigue	Yeah, they wanted [indistinct 00:20:43].	20:41
Kate Ellis	Yeah.	20:41
Iona Sigue	They paid for the school.	20:41
Kate Ellis	Mm-hmm. And it sounds like in those times, what they could afford for as far as the best education was the Catholic school.	20:48
Iona Sigue	Was the Catholic school.	20:54
Kate Ellis	Yeah, which was a good— I mean, I imagine it was a good school.	20:55
Iona Sigue	The was [indistinct 00:20:59].	20:58
Kate Ellis	Yeah. Yeah.	21:00
Iona Sigue	And you were taught by the sisters so you were taught manners. You know?	21:02
Kate Ellis	Mm-hmm.	21:05
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:21:06].	21:05
Kate Ellis	Yeah, that's what I hear that—	21:08
Iona Sigue	Yeah [indistinct 00:21:10].	21:09
Kate Ellis	That people were taught discipline in those times.	21:11
Iona Sigue	Yeah.	21:13
Kate Ellis	The sisters taught discipline and—	21:14
Iona Sigue	Yeah. Well, that's what they mean— We talked about the [indistinct 00:21:19].	21:15
Kate Ellis	Yeah.	21:15
Iona Sigue	Because the sisters taught right from wrong. They didn't [indistinct 00:21:24].	21:15
Kate Ellis	Yeah. So the sisters taught you morals?	21:26
Iona Sigue	You went to church. You went to confession. You had [indistinct 00:21:30].	21:28
Kate Ellis	Yeah. Yeah.	21:28
Iona Sigue	That's what [indistinct 00:21:34].	21:28
Kate Ellis	I've heard many people sort of say that that's often what's missing in kids' lives today is that kind of discipline. It sounds like that you're— that the Black nuns—	21:35
Iona Sigue	Yes.	21:47
Kate Ellis	— taught you.	21:48
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:21:50].	21:48
Kate Ellis	Yeah.	21:52
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:21:53].	21:52
Kate Ellis	Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.	21:54
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:21:57] the priest would come [indistinct 00:22:06], but we had quality education. [indistinct 00:22:08] about eight to a room, I guess.	22:01
Kate Ellis	You were eight to a room?	22:13
Iona Sigue	Eight students. [indistinct 00:22:14].	22:13
Kate Ellis	Eight students to a room in the country school you're talking about?	22:13
Iona Sigue	Yes.	22:16
Kate Ellis	That you walked the mile to?	22:17
Iona Sigue	Yes, and we were all Catholic [indistinct 00:22:20].	22:18
Kate Ellis	Even at this country school, you're saying everybody was Catholic?	22:22
Iona Sigue	Yeah.	22:24
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Well, you all were fortunate, dear, because when I went to community school, we were probably seventy-five or eighty in a one room with one teacher teaching all the subjects—	22:25
Iona Sigue	Yeah, but that's [indistinct 00:22:40].	22:38
Kate Ellis	Wow. That was—	22:38
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	— to all the different grades.	22:38
Kate Ellis	— Camellia Elementary School?	22:38
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah. Oh, yeah. Mm-hmm.	22:42
Kate Ellis	You mentioned this earlier, but that Camellia Elementary was in Abbeville.	22:45
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No, no, that was in—	22:54
Kate Ellis	Our Lady of Lourdes was in Abbeville.	22:55
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Our Lady of Lourdes was in Abbeville.	22:56
Kate Ellis	Camellia—	22:57
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Camellia Elementary was right here in Grand Marais.	22:58
Kate Ellis	Oh, okay. Grand Marais. Was that a public school or a private school?	23:04
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	That was a public school.	23:04
Kate Ellis	Okay. But it sounds like it was overcrowded.	23:07
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Oh, it was overcrowded.	23:09
Kate Ellis	Uh-huh.	23:10
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	It was overcrowded. One teacher taught from grade— from primary to I think it was the sixth grade.	23:11
Kate Ellis	Well, why didn't you go to Our Lady of Lourdes the whole time you were in elementary school?	23:22
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I don't know. I can't answer that.	23:29
Kate Ellis	Yeah. Uh-huh, but it sounds like you went there for a while then to Camellia.	23:31
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	23:34
Kate Ellis	Which it sounds like Camellia wasn't as good as Our Lady of Lourdes. Am I—	23:35
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No. Well, the Lady of Lourdes was a Catholic school that, again, we were thought by sisters and educated teachers.	23:39
Kate Ellis	Yeah.	23:53
Iona Sigue	But what you're not telling her is our teachers didn't have but a high school education [indistinct 00:24:03].	23:54
Kate Ellis	The teachers didn't have but a high school education in which schools? In the public?	24:02
Iona Sigue	In our little elementary [indistinct 00:24:08].	24:07
Kate Ellis	Oh, in the public elementary school?	24:07
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:24:08].	24:07
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Well, we had teachers— Most of our teachers here—	24:08
Iona Sigue	You [indistinct 00:24:13].	24:11
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah, most of our teachers over here were all graduates. College graduates.	24:13
Kate Ellis	Oh.	24:17
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:24:19] was a college graduate at the time?	24:17
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	24:17
Iona Sigue	Yeah?	24:17
Kate Ellis	Oh.	24:17
Iona Sigue	Let me tell you about our school. We went to school in that building. We went to church in that same building, and we had dances in that same building.	24:17
Kate Ellis	This was in the country school?	24:17
Iona Sigue	In the country school.	24:36
Kate Ellis	So you went to church there, you went to school there, you went to dances there?	24:38
Iona Sigue	Yes.	24:41
Kate Ellis	What sort of structure was it? Was it a—	24:41
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	A wood building.	24:44
Kate Ellis	It was a wood building?	24:45
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	24:45
Iona Sigue	Wood building.	24:45
Kate Ellis	And it pretty much housed all of the social functions?	24:46
Iona Sigue	All right in that same building.	24:49
Kate Ellis	Wow.	24:51
Iona Sigue	We would get ready for church. On Fridays, we'd set up the church. Then if there was supposed to be a dance that night, that Saturday night, we would set up for the dance. Then after the dance, we'd set up for mass the next morning.	24:52
Kate Ellis	Wow. Wow.	25:03
Iona Sigue	That's how we [indistinct 00:25:10].	25:03
Kate Ellis	So it was a well-used building.	25:10
Iona Sigue	Oh, yes.	25:11
Kate Ellis	What town was that in?	25:12
Iona Sigue	In Opelousas.	25:15
Kate Ellis	In Opelousas? Okay.	25:15
Iona Sigue	The building is still there.	25:15
Kate Ellis	Oh.	25:25
Iona Sigue	And they declared it as a— How would you say that [indistinct 00:25:26]?	25:25
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Well, what's it called? Andre Pont—	25:26
Iona Sigue	Andrepont [indistinct 00:25:31].	25:30
Kate Ellis	How do you spell that?	25:31
Iona Sigue	A-N-D-R-E-P-O-N-T.	25:38
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	25:42
Kate Ellis	Whoops. A-N-D—	25:42
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	R-E-P-O-N-T.	25:42
Kate Ellis	Andrepont School.	25:42
Iona Sigue	Andrepont.	25:42
Kate Ellis	Huh. So getting back to your father, he was a farmer?	25:43
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes.	25:48
Kate Ellis	And a storekeeper.	25:48
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Storekeeper. Nightclub keeper.	25:49
Kate Ellis	Wait. Okay, now what nightclub?	25:53
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Sigue's Country Club.	25:58
Kate Ellis	But you said it— I thought it wasn't a nightclub though.	26:00
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah. Well, you could call it a nightclub.	26:04
Iona Sigue	It was a nightclub [indistinct 00:26:06].	26:05
Kate Ellis	It was a nightclub?	26:07
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah, it was a nightclub.	26:08
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:26:09] nightclub. Yeah.	26:08
Kate Ellis	Okay. Well, see, that's what I was—	26:10
Iona Sigue	Yeah.	26:11
Kate Ellis	That what I was wondering. So people did come at night?	26:11
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes.	26:15
Kate Ellis	And listen to music.	26:15
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.	26:16
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:26:17] the park because there was no lights.	26:16
Kate Ellis	No, but you had a building—	26:17
Iona Sigue	Yeah.	26:17
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	26:17
Kate Ellis	— that people could come to?	26:21
Iona Sigue	We had that.	26:22
Kate Ellis	Okay, so nightclub. Nightclub owner. So was that a pretty popular place around here?	26:24
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Oh, it was very popular. It was the only place.	26:32
Kate Ellis	Really? So—	26:34
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	For years.	26:35
Kate Ellis	So it's where everybody came from this neighborhood?	26:36
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah. Mm-hmm.	26:38
Kate Ellis	Wow. That must have been a lot of fun.	26:39
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	And had, later on, later years, wedding receptions were given there.	26:43
Kate Ellis	Uh-huh.	26:48
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Wedding dances were given there. In other words, everybody who got married in the community or around the community usually had their reception there and their wedding dance there.	26:50
Kate Ellis	Wow.	27:04
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Now, his gift to them on their wedding night was the proceeds made at— collected at the door.	27:05
Kate Ellis	From the wedding?	27:15
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	From the wedding dance.	27:16
Kate Ellis	Oh, wow.	27:17
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	After the—	27:19
Kate Ellis	That's what your father—	27:20
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	After the band was paid, they got the balance of the money.	27:20
Kate Ellis	Wow. What did he get for himself in those situations?	27:24
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Well, he got it off of the alcohol.	27:28
Kate Ellis	Oh, okay. So again it was always off alcohol?	27:31
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Off of the— Yeah. Right.	27:32
Kate Ellis	Right. Right.	27:34
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	And he didn't have to do that, but he did that in a way of sharing.	27:35
Kate Ellis	Sure. I'm sure they appreciated—	27:39
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Because, and a lot of them will tell you, "Hey, that's where I got my start." In other words, "The night I got married, I collected eight-hundred dollars. Your daddy gave us eight-hundred bucks."	27:40
Kate Ellis	Wow.	27:52
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	27:52
Kate Ellis	That helped. Especially—	27:52
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Hey. Yes.	27:52
Kate Ellis	Now, what year did you all get married?	27:56
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Oh, we got married in 1952.	27:57
Kate Ellis	How did you meet?	28:00
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I think I met her at another wedding. I believe I met her at a wedding. At a wedding reception.	28:09
Kate Ellis	Uh-huh.	28:29
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I think. That's been forty-two years ago.	28:30
Kate Ellis	Yeah. Hey, okay, so what about sisters and brothers? How many do you have?	28:31
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I have two sisters and two brothers living.	28:39
Kate Ellis	Can you tell me the names of everybody and when they were born, or around when they were—	28:43
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No, I—	28:47
Kate Ellis	Okay. Well—	28:47
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I'll give you their age, but I can't tell you when they were born.	28:48
Kate Ellis	Well, age is fine.	28:51
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I have a brother by the name of James. He's fifty-nine. I have a sister by the name of Rose. She's fifty-five. I had a brother who is deceased who would have been about fifty-three years old. Paul. Then I have another sister, Maryanne, who I think is fifty-one, and I have a younger brother by the name of Albert. Albert Martin. He's forty-five.	28:51
Kate Ellis	Where did you fit in here? When were you born? I mean—	29:34
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I was the oldest.	29:37
Kate Ellis	Oh, you're the oldest?	29:37
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I'm the oldest.	29:38
Kate Ellis	Okay. So Paul, Maryanne, Albert Martin. Did Rose and Maryanne marry? Do they have other names? Married names.	29:43
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Rose was married. She's no longer married. She had a— Last name was Serrano.	29:58
Kate Ellis	What was it?	30:05
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Serrano. S-E-R-R-A-N-O.	30:06
Kate Ellis	Okay.	30:07
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	And Maryanne has never married.	30:11
Kate Ellis	Okay. [indistinct 00:30:22]. And then you said that Paul is deceased.	30:21
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	30:23
Kate Ellis	When did he pass?	30:23
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Paul— I would have to ask my wife. I think Paul has been dead now for about eleven or twelve years.	30:35
Kate Ellis	Okay. That's fine. Were you all born in Grand Marais?	30:49
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah, we were all born in Grand Marais.	30:50
Kate Ellis	Okay.	30:51
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Even though my kids, I have two of them that were born. One was born in Lafayette. The baby was born in Lafayette.	30:54
Kate Ellis	Okay. Well, actually, let me get to that now.	31:04
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Okay.	31:05
Kate Ellis	What were the name of your children?	31:05
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	My children, my oldest boy name is David. My second boy name is Richard. My third boy name is Kevin Altimus, and my daughter name is Lisa.	31:07
Kate Ellis	Altimus spelled your way or the way your father was spelled?	31:26
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No, spelled my way.	31:27
Kate Ellis	Okay. And if you don't remember— Do you have any grandchildren?	31:27
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes, I have seven grandchildren.	31:36
Kate Ellis	Oh, congratulations. Now—	31:38
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Three boys and four girls.	31:41
Kate Ellis	Now, where—	31:43
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No, four boys and three girls.	31:44
Kate Ellis	Oh.	31:45
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Okay.	31:45
Kate Ellis	Now, where were David, Richard, Kevin, and Lisa born?	31:46
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	David was born in New Iberia. Richard was born in New York. Kevin was born in New York, and Lisa was born in Lafayette.	31:50
Kate Ellis	Okay. And do you remember what years each of them were born, or do you want to give their ages now?	32:08
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	David is forty-one. Richard is thirty-nine. Kevin is thirty-five, and Lisa is twenty-nine.	32:13
Kate Ellis	Okay.	32:27
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Give me my ashtray, darling, please.	32:29
Kate Ellis	[indistinct 00:32:33]. Okay.	32:35
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	That air conditioning putting out?	32:36
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:32:38].	32:38
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	What is the temperature now?	32:38
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:32:40].	32:39
Kate Ellis	Okay. So now I need to write down your residential history, which is the cities where you have lived and when you lived there. So you were in Iberia Parish from—	32:43
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I left here in 1952—	33:01
Kate Ellis	Okay.	33:02
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	— and moved to Rochester, New York.	33:05
Kate Ellis	Rochester. And how long were you in Rochester?	33:07
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I stayed in Rochester until '55.	33:13
Kate Ellis	And then where did you go?	33:20
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Then I moved to California. I moved to Los Angeles	33:21
Kate Ellis	From 1955 to—	33:24
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	'55. '55, '56. I think it was '57 that we moved back to New York.	33:30
Kate Ellis	So back to Rochester?	33:38
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	33:39
Kate Ellis	And then you came back here in '61?	33:43
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Came back here in '61. Then moved to Lafayette, Louisiana for five years.	33:45
Kate Ellis	When? In?	33:55
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	In '62.	33:55
Kate Ellis	So you were here briefly from '61 to '62. Then Lafayette.	33:55
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	34:04
Kate Ellis	You said for how long?	34:07
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Five years.	34:09
Kate Ellis	So to '67.	34:10
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	We stayed in Lafayette about five years, didn't we, dear?	34:11
Iona Sigue	Yes. Lisa was born in '65. We moved the same year that she was born.	34:13
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Okay, that's four years.	34:19
Kate Ellis	Okay. '65, and then—	34:20
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	And then—	34:24
Kate Ellis	And then back to—	34:25
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Back to here. Right where we are now. Right where we're residing.	34:26
Kate Ellis	This is home.	34:29
Iona Sigue	[indistinct 00:34:31].	34:29
Kate Ellis	Yeah. Okay. Okay. Now I need your education history, which I sort of have but I just need to check it. The first school you went to was Our Lady of Lourdes.	34:31
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	34:54
Kate Ellis	Of Lourdes in Abbeville. From around when to when?	34:56
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Now, that's hard to say.	35:15
Kate Ellis	I know it is. We'll look—	35:15
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Okay. I went to school in Abbeville from Abbeville to Lady of Lourdes. Then Lady of Lourdes, and I came to school here at Camellia. I left Camellia school and I went back to Abbeville Training School until the ninth grade. I think I had gotten— I finished the ninth grade there, and then I came to Jeanerette, which I believe was Jeanerette Training School. And then the new school was built and it became Jeanerette Colored High.	35:15
Kate Ellis	Okay.	35:55
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	See, they always labeled us. You know?	35:55
Kate Ellis	Yep.	35:57
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	See, they didn't say Jeanerette White High.	35:58
Kate Ellis	Mm-hmm. That's a good point. But it's always Colored.	36:03
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	But we prevail though, you know?	36:09
Kate Ellis	What do you mean? Just that—	36:12
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	We're still here. Yeah.	36:15
Kate Ellis	Yeah. Yeah. Jeanerette Training School. And then you went to the college?	36:23
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Then I went to— attended Southern University.	36:25
Kate Ellis	What year did you graduate from the Jeanerette Colored— What was it called? Jeanerette Colored School?	36:31
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Jeanerette Colored High School. 1950.	36:35
Kate Ellis	Okay. So I'm going to say you went there from 1947 to 1950?	36:35
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah. Now, I can't remember the other years.	36:37
Kate Ellis	Okay, that's fine.	36:38
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Before.	36:58
Kate Ellis	That's fine. Now, just as far as Southern University is concerned in—	36:58
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I left Southern in my sophomore year.	37:02
Kate Ellis	What did you say the name of the town was?	37:03
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Scotlandville, Louisiana.	37:06
Kate Ellis	Scotlandville. And you went there from 1950—	37:11
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	1950 through—	37:11
Kate Ellis	'52?	37:11
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	'52.	37:11
Kate Ellis	Okay. Now I need your work history. Now what I—	37:20
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	What you want to know? What I did?	37:23
Kate Ellis	Yeah, and when I say that just— I only have to list your current, the most important previous job. So if there were jobs you feel that didn't—	37:26
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Oh, I can give you the jobs that—	37:34
Kate Ellis	Okay. So I need a job, employer, and place, and date. Do what you can and don't torture yourself with—	37:36
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Okay. Well, we're going to start back.	37:49
Kate Ellis	Okay, we're going to start back?	37:49
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	From now. From here.	37:52
Kate Ellis	Okay.	37:53
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Let's see. I've been self-employed now for about, I think about 26 years.	37:53
Kate Ellis	And is that self-employed as farmer and floor?	38:04
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	And floor covering business owner. Prior to that, I worked for—	38:06
Kate Ellis	One second. For about twenty-six years?	38:22
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	38:25
Kate Ellis	So I'm going to say '74— '84, '74— About '68.	38:25
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Prior to that, I worked for Exxon Oil Company.	38:35
Kate Ellis	As?	38:42
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	As a—	38:44
Kate Ellis	What was it called? Exxon?	38:48
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah. Well, actually when I first went to work, it was Humble Oil and Refining Company.	38:49
Kate Ellis	But now it's—	38:52
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Now it's Exxon. It became Exxon while I was still there.	38:53
Kate Ellis	What was it? Refinery, you said?	38:57
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Gas plant.	39:01
Kate Ellis	Exxon gas plant?	39:03
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	39:04
Kate Ellis	What was your job?	39:07
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	What was my job? Gas plant operator and maintenance mechanic.	39:11
Kate Ellis	And that was in Lafayette?	39:27
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No, that was Opelousas.	39:30
Kate Ellis	Oh.	39:30
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	And Garden City.	39:30
Kate Ellis	Opelousas—	39:30
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Louisiana and Garden City, Louisiana.	39:36
Kate Ellis	What year is that?	40:02
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I'm going to say '60. Let's see, when did I— I've been in business— I went in business what year?	40:03
Kate Ellis	About '68. About 1968.	40:09
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	'68. I would say probably about four years.	40:10
Kate Ellis	Okay. Okay.	40:19
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Or five years. I don't know.	40:19
Kate Ellis	All right.	40:20
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Then prior to that, I was manager of an industrial insurance company in Lafayette.	40:21
Kate Ellis	Industrial insurance company?	40:30
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Mm-hmm. Okay. Let's see.	40:48
Kate Ellis	For how long? Was that from 1960—	40:50
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	That was after I came home.	40:53
Kate Ellis	Okay, so about '61 to '64?	41:00
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	41:00
Kate Ellis	Uh-huh.	41:00
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Then after that— Before that, I worked for the Pfaudler Permutit Company.	41:00
Kate Ellis	What's it called again?	41:07
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Pfaudler Permutit.	41:09
Kate Ellis	Okay. Would you spell that again?	41:10
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	P-F-A-U-D-L-E-R.	41:11
Kate Ellis	Pfaudler.	41:12
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Permutit. P-E-R-M-U-I-T-T-E.	41:17
Kate Ellis	Company in—	41:22
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	In Rochester, New York.	41:24
Kate Ellis	So that was '57 to '61?	41:29
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	41:29
Kate Ellis	And what was your title again?	41:35
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I was a finish machine part inspector, tool and die.	41:36
Kate Ellis	Machine—	41:43
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Finish machine part, tool, and die inspector.	41:43
Kate Ellis	Okay. Okay. Next?	41:49
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Then I worked for General Motors.	41:55
Kate Ellis	And that was in—	41:59
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Delco division.	42:00
Kate Ellis	Wait, that was in LA?	42:02
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No, that was in Rochester.	42:03
Kate Ellis	Oh, okay. Wait. [indistinct 00:42:08] General Motors. What was your title at General Motors?	42:05
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I was a spot welder.	42:12
Kate Ellis	Spot welder. Oh, so that would've been— You were in—	42:19
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Well, you see, I worked twice for General Motors on two different occasions.	42:27
Kate Ellis	Okay.	42:33
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Then before that, I was living in California working for Hughes Aircraft as a machine operator. Lathe operator. L-A-T-H-E.	42:33
Kate Ellis	[indistinct 00:42:50] machine operator. And that was from '55 to '57?	42:49
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	43:00
Kate Ellis	So how long were you at General Motors in Rochester?	43:04
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Well, before that I was with General Motors for about two years	43:08
Kate Ellis	Before Los Angeles?	43:15
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yeah.	43:16
Kate Ellis	That was the whole time you were in Rochester.	43:17
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	43:19
Kate Ellis	What were you for General Motors at that time?	43:22
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	What was I doing? I guess I can say that I was a lathe operator	43:25
Kate Ellis	Lathe operator, and that was 1955— '52 to '55?	43:32
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	No, '53, '55.	43:48
Kate Ellis	Okay. Well—	43:52
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	And the first job that I had over there was with Bausch and Lomb Optical Company. Are you familiar with Bausch and Lomb?	43:58
Kate Ellis	Yeah.	44:07
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	The oldest eyeglass company in America?	44:08
Kate Ellis	Yeah, I am. Bausch and Lomb. And that was also in Rochester?	44:10
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Mm-hmm. Rochester is a very industrialized city.	44:14
Kate Ellis	Yeah, I get that.	44:21
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	The home of Eastman Kodak.	44:21
Kate Ellis	And that was from—	44:27
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	'53.	44:27
Kate Ellis	I thought you moved to Rochester in '52.	44:31
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Well, '52 to the time that I went to work for General Motors.	44:36
Kate Ellis	Okay. Okay. What did you do for Bausch and Lomb?	44:39
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	I was a mill operator.	44:44
Kate Ellis	Okay. Okay. And before that, you were in school?	44:46
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Yes.	45:04
Kate Ellis	Okay. Huh.	45:04
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	In school and working on the farm.	45:09
Kate Ellis	Okay. Have you ever received any awards or honors or held any offices?	45:13
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Well, I received award and honors when I was in the insurance business. Manager of the year and a couple of others.	45:23
Kate Ellis	Uh-huh. Like manager of the year?	45:40
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Mm-hmm.	45:44
Kate Ellis	Uh-huh. Have you held any offices?	45:54
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	You mean political offices?	46:00
Kate Ellis	No, I mean if you're a member of some sort of organization.	46:04
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	Oh, okay. Well, I was also for Exxon— What do we call them? What do we call ourselves? A federation representative.	46:07
Kate Ellis	A federation representative? Yeah. Is that a union? [indistinct 00:46:25].	46:22
Altemus Sigue, Jr.	It's not—	46:25

Item Info

Title:

Altemus Sigue, Jr. interview recording, 1994 July 26

Date:

July 26, 1994

Creator:

Sigue, Altemus, Jr.

Contributor:

Ellis, Kate

Description:

Name: Altemus Sigue, Jr.; Date of birth: 1933-09-29; Place of birth: Grand Marais, LA; Occupation(s): agriculture; entrepreneur; Residence: New Iberia, LA
Informant ID: 648; Interviewed by: Kate Ellis.

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-1142
RL00170-CS-1144
318e9502-2023-4f23-b49d-b99308c301af
behindtheveil
81bcb6dd-842c-4f6c-92e1-c119b9d42322
ark:/87924/r4377j43x
81bcb6dd-842c-4f6c-92e1-c119b9d42322

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https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4377j43x

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Altemus Sigue, Jr. interview recording, 1994 July 26

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1. Altemus Sigue, Jr. administrative file, 1994

John Hope Franklin Research Center

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Transcript

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John Hope Franklin Research Center

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