Eliza Briggs interview recording, 1995 June 16
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| Mary Hebert | I'm just going to start out by having you state your full name and when and where you were born. | 0:02 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, my full name is Eliza Gemble, married Briggs. | 0:08 |
| Mary Hebert | And you were born here in Summerton? | 0:15 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. | 0:17 |
| Mary Hebert | And what's your birth date? | 0:18 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | August the 15th, 1917. | 0:19 |
| Mary Hebert | And who were your parents? | 0:23 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Hester Mason Gemble and Rufus Gemble. | 0:25 |
| Mary Hebert | What did they do for a living? | 0:32 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Farm. | 0:34 |
| Mary Hebert | Did they own their own land? | 0:36 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. They did. | 0:38 |
| Mary Hebert | And how'd they get the land? | 0:42 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Through my grandfather, Mace Mason. | 0:44 |
| Mary Hebert | What was his name? | 0:47 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Mace Mason. | 0:48 |
| Mary Hebert | Mace Mason? | 0:49 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Mm-hmm. | 0:50 |
| Mary Hebert | Do you remember your grandparents? | 0:51 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. | 0:53 |
| Mary Hebert | What were they like? | 0:54 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, I was very small. And right now, I can't tell you what they're like because I was small when they died, but I remember them. | 0:56 |
| Mary Hebert | And did they live with your parents? Did your parents— | 1:06 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yep. My parents used to live with them, at the time. | 1:09 |
| Mary Hebert | — And when you were growing up you lived with them too? | 1:11 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. Yes. | 1:13 |
| Mary Hebert | Did you have brothers and sisters? | 1:15 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, I have, I think, three I sisters, they died early, at a early age, childbirth, I think. And I have two brothers, lived. | 1:22 |
| Mary Hebert | And when you were growing up, did you work on your parents farm? | 1:30 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Oh. Farm. Yes. Farm. | 1:32 |
| Mary Hebert | What kind of things would you do? | 1:33 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | We'd pick cotton, corn, potatoes, out of the garden. | 1:34 |
| Mary Hebert | And who worked in the garden? Was it your mother's garden? | 1:40 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. It was my mother's garden. | 1:42 |
| Mary Hebert | And you helped her in the garden? | 1:45 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Not too much. | 1:46 |
| Mary Hebert | Not too much? Did you have to go out and pick cotton and those kinds of things? | 1:47 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, we had our own cotton. Well, we did. | 1:51 |
| Mary Hebert | Did you? | 1:52 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, after I grew up, I did went out and helped other people. | 1:54 |
| Mary Hebert | But when you were a child, you just helped your parents out? | 1:59 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. | 2:03 |
| Mary Hebert | But when you were an adult, you helped other people pick cotton, you hired your time out? | 2:04 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. Yeah. | 2:08 |
| Mary Hebert | And how much, when you were working for these other people, did they expect you to pick in a day? | 2:10 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, I guess, it was up to you how much you were able to pick. | 2:14 |
| Mary Hebert | Oh. They didn't have a limit? No? | 2:17 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. They didn't have a limit. | 2:18 |
| Mary Hebert | Did you go to school? | 2:22 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. | 2:23 |
| Mary Hebert | What school did you go to? | 2:24 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | St. Paul. | 2:24 |
| Mary Hebert | And that's the one that's out in the country? | 2:28 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. | 2:29 |
| Mary Hebert | Yeah? | 2:29 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. | 2:29 |
| Mary Hebert | Out by Liberty Hill AME? | 2:30 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. Yeah. | 2:31 |
| Mary Hebert | Okay. And how many years did you go to school? | 2:34 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | In the 10th. | 2:41 |
| Mary Hebert | Was that unusual? | 2:41 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. | 2:41 |
| Mary Hebert | Do you think because your parents owned their own land, that you could go to school that long? | 2:41 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. I could go for that long. Mm-hmm. They tried to send me to college, but I don't know the reason why, I didn't go. | 2:50 |
| Mary Hebert | You didn't go to college? | 2:51 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. I didn't. | 2:52 |
| Mary Hebert | Were your parents educated? | 2:52 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. My mother, she went to [indistinct 00:02:58], I think she went there, but don't know for how many years. | 2:56 |
| Mary Hebert | But your father wasn't? | 3:03 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. | 3:05 |
| Mary Hebert | Did your brothers go to school too? | 3:05 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. I mean went, but not college. | 3:09 |
| Mary Hebert | Just not— Did they go 10 years, like you did? | 3:12 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I don't know about my older brother, but my younger brothers did. Yeah. | 3:15 |
| Mary Hebert | And before going to school, did you have a set of chores that you had to do every morning? | 3:20 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, we had to walk two and a half miles, so it wasn't too much you had to do in the morning. You had to get up and— | 3:23 |
| Mary Hebert | Get ready? | 3:28 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | — get ready. Walking two and half miles took you some time. You know? When we walked. | 3:30 |
| Mary Hebert | Did you parents insist you go to school every day? | 3:40 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. | 3:41 |
| Mary Hebert | What about other children that lived around you, did they get to go to school every day? | 3:43 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, yeah. They did. | 3:47 |
| Mary Hebert | Was there any reaction by the White community, to having Black children go to school? Did they try to keep y'all from going to school? | 3:51 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I don't know about the rest, but they didn't try to keep me. | 3:58 |
| Mary Hebert | Not you? | 4:10 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Mm-mm. | 4:10 |
| Mary Hebert | How long was the school year? When did it start, is what I mean. | 4:10 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. I can't— It was October, and go all the way up to May. I can't remember. No. | 4:10 |
| Mary Hebert | Was the White school year different, do you remember that, if the White school year was, that usually White kids went longer? | 4:15 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I can't remember. | 4:17 |
| Mary Hebert | Okay. Were there any teachers who were very important to you, who influenced you? | 4:21 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Not really. | 4:23 |
| Mary Hebert | Did your family attend church? | 4:23 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. | 4:23 |
| Mary Hebert | Which one? | 4:23 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Riverdale. | 4:23 |
| Mary Hebert | And who was the minister there? | 4:23 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | At that time, I think it was Reverend [Sumpter 00:04:46], but I'm not too sure. | 4:23 |
| Mary Hebert | Do you still attend Riverdale? | 4:23 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. I attended St. Mark's, after I married. Right there on the corner. | 4:23 |
| Mary Hebert | Right on the corner? | 4:23 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. | 4:23 |
| Mary Hebert | And when you were growing up, what were some of the places where people would gather in town, for entertainment? | 5:02 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, we lived two and a half mile out. | 5:06 |
| Mary Hebert | So you didn't— What about in your community, in your area, did y'all gather on weekends, for picnics, and— | 5:11 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. | 5:17 |
| Mary Hebert | — No? Did y'all do quilting, those kinds of things? | 5:18 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, maybe they did, but during my time— | 5:20 |
| Mary Hebert | Not? | 5:20 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | — No. Mm-mm. | 5:20 |
| Mary Hebert | What about when, say, the crops came in, did y'all help one another harvest them? | 5:25 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. When you have a large farm, you've got to partly work on your own. | 5:36 |
| Mary Hebert | Did you father hire people to come in and help? | 5:36 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. He did. | 5:36 |
| Mary Hebert | So he had— Do you know how many acres of farmland? | 5:36 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I can't remember how many acres, but it was— | 5:47 |
| Mary Hebert | It was large farm? | 5:48 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | — a large farm. People that see it would call it a two-horse farm. At that time, a two-horse farm was a large farm. | 5:48 |
| Mary Hebert | A two-horse farm? | 5:57 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. That's what they called. You know? | 5:58 |
| Mary Hebert | Did your parents teach you anything that helped you or made you willing to file that case and file the suit at the school board? | 6:03 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Not at that time. | 6:15 |
| Mary Hebert | What about little things? Did they teach you not to— Say, "Get off the road, when a White person is driving by," or things like that? | 6:15 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, there wasn't too many White— | 6:23 |
| Mary Hebert | Out where you lived? | 6:27 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | — out where I lived. Yeah. | 6:27 |
| Mary Hebert | Did y'all come to town to do shopping and things like that? | 6:31 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. I did. | 6:35 |
| Mary Hebert | You did? | 6:35 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | My parents went into to town. | 6:38 |
| Mary Hebert | Did they have a car? Or they would have the horse? | 6:39 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, they had a horse and buggy. Yeah. | 6:39 |
| Mary Hebert | Is that how y'all got around, most of the time, in the horse and buggy? | 6:47 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, something the wagon, but mostly the horse and buggy. Mm-hmm. We got a car later, but I can't remember what year. Yeah. | 6:50 |
| Mary Hebert | Did you ever travel, when you were growing up? | 7:01 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. | 7:01 |
| Mary Hebert | Mm-mm? Stayed, mostly, around the farm. | 7:01 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Right. Around the farm. | 7:01 |
| Mary Hebert | When did you meet your husband? | 7:01 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | 1932. | 7:01 |
| Mary Hebert | Was he from here? | 7:01 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. | 7:01 |
| Mary Hebert | Did he live near you? | 7:01 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. He lived away from us. They were on the same plantation, but a little farther down. | 7:21 |
| Mary Hebert | Okay. | 7:22 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. | 7:22 |
| Mary Hebert | Did he work for someone? | 7:25 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | During his time, because I really don't know, because— | 7:28 |
| Mary Hebert | Well, it was a long time ago. | 7:32 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | It was a long time ago. And right there, girl and boy get out, but during my time, he didn't get out to go anyplace. | 7:35 |
| Mary Hebert | How'd you court? I mean, did he come over to your house and visit? Is that— | 7:43 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I really don't know. I think at church, though. | 7:50 |
| Mary Hebert | You met at church? | 7:56 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. Yes. | 7:56 |
| Mary Hebert | Were there revivals and stuff at church, where you— | 7:56 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, I think they had revival meeting— | 7:56 |
| Mary Hebert | — Okay. | 7:57 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | — during the time. | 7:58 |
| Mary Hebert | And— | 7:58 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | And clean the graveyard. You know? There's people at the [Holy 00:00:00] [Grave 00:00:00], go and— Oh. About once a year, they go and clean the graveyard, they brought a hoe and rake. Well, see, now they got lawnmowers and credit. But at the time, they had a lot of people, certain days in a month, go there and— | 7:59 |
| Mary Hebert | — Would everybody go? Or— | 8:17 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. Everybody go. | 8:17 |
| Mary Hebert | And clean the graves? | 8:17 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. | 8:17 |
| Mary Hebert | What were funerals like, when you were young? Did they have long processions and those kinds of things? | 8:17 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, at that one time, it wasn't nothing but a wagon. | 8:31 |
| Mary Hebert | Okay. | 8:35 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. No. I didn't go to too many funerals, during that time. | 8:36 |
| Mary Hebert | Now, after you married, did you stay out in the trenches, or did you move closer to Summerton? | 8:46 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I moved closer to Summerton. | 8:47 |
| Mary Hebert | What did your husband do when you came here? | 8:47 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | He worked the filling station. | 8:54 |
| Mary Hebert | Did he? | 9:11 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. | 9:12 |
| Mary Hebert | Which one? An Exxon station? Or— | 9:12 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | It was Sinclair, at that time. Mm-hmm. | 9:12 |
| Mary Hebert | And when you had their children, were they delivered by midwives? | 9:13 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. One, delivered at the hospital. | 9:16 |
| Mary Hebert | Oh. Was that unusual, for a Black woman to have a child at the hospital? | 9:18 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. You were able to do it, even. | 9:30 |
| Mary Hebert | It was a segregated hospital? | 9:30 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I don't know. At that time, I don't know. | 9:30 |
| Mary Hebert | And how many children do you have? | 9:43 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Five. | 9:43 |
| Mary Hebert | Five? Okay. Now, were their doctors around, that you could take them to, if they were I'll. And— | 9:43 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | There is doctors, here in town. | 9:45 |
| Mary Hebert | And what was their offices like, do you remember? Was there a wall dividing the Black section and the White section? | 9:49 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I think so, now. | 9:56 |
| Mary Hebert | Did you work, after you got married? | 10:01 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. I worked, a little bit after I got married, at a motel. | 10:01 |
| Mary Hebert | Mm-hmm. Which one? | 10:01 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Summerton Motel. And there was two more, I worked on, for less of a time. | 10:12 |
| Mary Hebert | What did you do at the motel? | 10:20 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Chambermaid. | 10:27 |
| Mary Hebert | So you cleaned the rooms? | 10:27 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. | 10:27 |
| Mary Hebert | Were you working, when you filed suit? | 10:27 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. | 10:33 |
| Mary Hebert | At the Summerton Motel? | 10:33 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. Summerton Motel. | 10:34 |
| Mary Hebert | What was the reaction of your bosses? | 10:35 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, he, I guess, more— Well, more, besides me, were working there. I guess he didn't want us to go, but— And it put pressure on him. | 10:39 |
| Mary Hebert | Not to file a suit? | 10:49 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. The White Citizens Council, they put pressure on him. | 10:51 |
| Mary Hebert | Oh. | 10:57 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | That if he didn't let us go, that they'll stop trucks from coming in. | 11:00 |
| Mary Hebert | Did he fire you? | 11:03 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | He had to fire us. One particular morning, trucks didn't even come in to deliver. So then, not only me, one, the rest of them who were working there, he had to fire everybody. | 11:03 |
| Mary Hebert | He fired everyone? | 11:14 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | You know? Who had something to do with the suit. Yes. | 11:15 |
| Mary Hebert | And did your husband lose his job? | 11:24 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Huh? | 11:24 |
| Mary Hebert | Did your husband lose his job? | 11:24 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. He did. | 11:24 |
| Mary Hebert | How did you two become involved in this whole process? | 11:31 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I can't tell you. | 11:31 |
| Mary Hebert | Did Reverend DeLaine come to you and— | 11:41 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. See, Reverend DeLaine lived right on the corner, down there. | 11:45 |
| Mary Hebert | — Right near you? | 11:46 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. Right out at the highway. | 11:47 |
| Mary Hebert | [indistinct 00:11:50]. | 11:49 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Mm-hmm. | 11:50 |
| Mary Hebert | Did he come and ask you to file? | 11:50 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, I really just don't know how it started, but I remember he asked me for the meetings to be here, at the house. | 11:53 |
| Mary Hebert | So you held the meeting the here? | 11:59 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. | 12:00 |
| Mary Hebert | In this house? | 12:00 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. | 12:00 |
| Mary Hebert | And who came? | 12:01 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, all the people who signed that first petition. | 12:01 |
| Mary Hebert | So Mr. Georgie's father came? And was it— | 12:04 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Georgie. | 12:11 |
| Mary Hebert | — Robert Georgie's father, he did come? | 12:11 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. | 12:11 |
| Mary Hebert | And Miss Gibson, Annie Gibson? | 12:11 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. Mm-hmm. | 12:11 |
| Mary Hebert | And Miss Mazie Sullivan came over too? | 12:18 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | At that time, Mazie signed on the second— | 12:24 |
| Mary Hebert | Oh. Okay. | 12:26 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | — not the first one. | 12:26 |
| Mary Hebert | And who was the lawyer that came in and filed this suit? | 12:31 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I think, at the time in [indistinct 00:12:38], but I'm not too sure. I'm not too sure. | 12:39 |
| Mary Hebert | Did he come and tell you what was involved in filing? | 12:43 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. Maybe my husband might know, but no. | 12:45 |
| Mary Hebert | You didn't? | 12:51 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. I didn't. | 12:51 |
| Mary Hebert | When did they burn Reverend DeLaine's house, was that after the suit? | 12:54 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. After the suit. | 12:56 |
| Mary Hebert | Did they do anything to your home, on your way there? | 12:59 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. Mm-mm. | 13:02 |
| Mary Hebert | Did you have to stand guard, at night, watching? | 13:05 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. No. Mm-mm. Mm-mm. | 13:08 |
| Mary Hebert | Were you afraid? | 13:09 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, sometimes. | 13:09 |
| Mary Hebert | Yeah. How did the White community react? You said you lost your job. Were you harassed at any other time [indistinct 00:13:26]? | 13:13 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. No. | 13:24 |
| Mary Hebert | You didn't have any problems going to the supermarket, going to to the store? Or— | 13:24 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. I didn't have any trouble. | 13:26 |
| Mary Hebert | What did your husband do, after he lost his job? | 13:26 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | He moved back to Florida. No. He farmed for a while, but nothing too much on the farm. Because they didn't give him his cotton, and so he was— | 13:27 |
| Mary Hebert | They wouldn't give him his cotton? | 13:47 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. | 13:48 |
| Mary Hebert | Would they give him credit, like if he had to borrow money, [indistinct 00:13:55]? | 13:50 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. He had credit, one year. And the next year— You know? On the last year, they wouldn't give him credit. | 13:55 |
| Mary Hebert | They wouldn't give him credit? | 13:59 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. | 13:59 |
| Mary Hebert | Who were some of the people who were giving him credit, was it Mr. Davis? | 13:59 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. I really— | 14:09 |
| Mary Hebert | You don't remember? | 14:09 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. I can't remember. You see, I wasn't keeping up, at that time. | 14:09 |
| Mary Hebert | Right. Well, when did you become involved in the NAACP, too, were you involved before the suit? | 14:09 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I don't think so. | 14:22 |
| Mary Hebert | It was after? | 14:23 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. After. | 14:23 |
| Mary Hebert | And who in Summerton belonged to the NAACP? Or was it people who were mostly independent, who— | 14:29 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. | 14:37 |
| Mary Hebert | — owned their own businesses or their own land? | 14:37 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. That. Mm-hmm. | 14:40 |
| Mary Hebert | Now, I was talking to Mr. Georgie, the other day, and he was telling me that members of the White community got together and tried to prevent— Or make them take their names off of the roles, the NAACP roles. Do you remember when that happened? | 14:41 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I can't remember what year, but I remember that happening. | 14:56 |
| Mary Hebert | Did they try to make you take your name off? | 15:01 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. They did. | 15:04 |
| Mary Hebert | What did they do, to try to get you to do that? | 15:04 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | See, I was working at the Summerton motel. So they told [indistinct 00:15:11] that the ones who's working there, they must remove their name, or else he won't have the truck to deliver. Yeah. | 15:05 |
| Mary Hebert | And so that was when you were fired? | 15:19 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. | 15:21 |
| Mary Hebert | Because you wouldn't take your name off? | 15:21 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. I wouldn't take my name off. | 15:21 |
| Mary Hebert | Who were some of the other women who were working there that lost their job? | 15:25 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, I think Mazie. Well, I'm not too sure about Mazie working, but Annie was working there. Yeah. I can't remember who else, but some of them were working there, during that time. | 15:35 |
| Mary Hebert | Was Miss Minnie Wright working there, at that time? | 15:39 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. | 15:39 |
| Mary Hebert | She worked there later? | 15:39 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Maybe she did. I don't know where she worked at. At the motel I been to and worked for somebody else. I don't know. But if she did, that came after. | 15:46 |
| Mary Hebert | Right. | 15:55 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. | 15:56 |
| Mary Hebert | So were you forced to hide your membership in the NAACP? Or were some people forced to hide their membership in the NAACP? | 16:01 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I don't think so. | 16:02 |
| Mary Hebert | So you just stood out? | 16:02 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, you was with other members. You was with other members. | 16:02 |
| Mary Hebert | Did some people give money to the NAACP, but not have their name on the list? Or you weren't involved in the NAACP, at that time? | 16:03 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I wasn't involved with too much. Well, maybe they did, but I wasn't and officer, I wasn't nothing. | 16:21 |
| Mary Hebert | Who were the officers? Was Reverend DeLaine? | 16:25 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Reverend DeLaine, Reverend Seals, and Reverend Richburg. | 16:25 |
| Mary Hebert | Reverend Seals? | 16:25 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. | 16:25 |
| Mary Hebert | Were most of the meetings about the case held in churches, around here? | 16:39 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. | 16:43 |
| Mary Hebert | Which ones? | 16:45 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, Liberty Hill and St. Mark's. | 16:46 |
| Mary Hebert | Were they held at one, more than the other, or—? | 17:08 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, I can't remember. | 17:21 |
| Mary Hebert | Do you remember what those meetings were like? | 17:31 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. | 17:32 |
| Mary Hebert | Was there— | 17:32 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I didn't go to every meeting, during that time. | 17:32 |
| Mary Hebert | — Okay. But did they preach at the meetings? Did the ministers preach? | 17:32 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I think they talk a lot more than when they preach. | 17:32 |
| Mary Hebert | And did you have NAACP people coming from out of Summerton, to talk? | 17:32 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I don't remember. | 17:32 |
| Mary Hebert | Do you remember some of the NAACP people who were involved in the suit, like Bob Card, or Thurgood Marshall, did you meet with those people? | 17:32 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Marshall, I did. And I don't know the last one, I don't think met with him. | 17:38 |
| Mary Hebert | What was he like? | 17:38 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Who? | 17:38 |
| Mary Hebert | Thurgood Marshall. | 17:38 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Thur? He was a good lawyer. | 17:38 |
| Mary Hebert | Did he come into your home and talk to you? | 17:52 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. No. But he was here, living here. I don't think I was at that meeting and I don't know what happened, but I wasn't at the meeting. | 17:54 |
| Mary Hebert | Did your husband attend more meetings than you did? | 18:00 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. | 18:00 |
| Mary Hebert | Did he have to attend almost every one of them? | 18:12 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, he didn't have to, but I guess if he's around, he was there. | 18:12 |
| Mary Hebert | And when did y'all go to Florida? | 18:15 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | He went to Florida in 1953, I think. '53. | 18:17 |
| Mary Hebert | Did he go alone? | 18:25 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | My brother went with him. | 18:26 |
| Mary Hebert | And you stayed here? | 18:28 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. | 18:28 |
| Mary Hebert | Did you ever go and meet him there, and— | 18:28 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. I'd go down. But I moved down there for one year. Then I came back home because my daughter didn't want to graduate from Florida. | 18:37 |
| Mary Hebert | — She wanted to graduate here? | 18:44 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Back with her classmates, so I moved back here. '60, when she gradated. '61 was the year we went to New York. | 18:45 |
| Mary Hebert | And she graduated from Scott's Branch? | 18:51 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. | 18:51 |
| Mary Hebert | Now, when did they build the new school, that school right here? I mean, was that after you filed suit? | 18:57 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I think it was afterwards. I'm not too sure, but I think it was afterwards. | 19:04 |
| Mary Hebert | Now, I was reading a book about you going to court and having a seat in the courtroom. Did you go to court? Or did they get that wrong? | 19:11 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Where, Charleston? | 19:14 |
| Mary Hebert | Yeah. | 19:14 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. I went to court. | 19:14 |
| Mary Hebert | Now, was there a lot of people who went to court that day? Or court? | 19:15 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. I think it was busload from here went, but I can't remember were on the bus. | 19:15 |
| Mary Hebert | Now, did you have a seat in the courtroom? | 19:15 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | The first day, we didn't. | 19:15 |
| Mary Hebert | Y'all stood outside? | 19:15 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Outside. They had a room, two people can go in and— | 19:15 |
| Mary Hebert | And you stood in line? | 19:15 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. But you couldn't go in because you had to stay in the line. | 19:15 |
| Mary Hebert | And how'd you get in on the second day? | 19:18 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, I hadn't heard, but they asked, "Where was the plaintiffs?" And say, "They belong outside." So Marshall, must be, I don't know what he did, but we went in. | 19:52 |
| Mary Hebert | And where'd you have to sit in the courtroom? | 20:00 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, it wasn't not large place, just like a little— A good-sized room, like, that's all it is. | 20:10 |
| Mary Hebert | Did you have to sit in the back of the room? | 20:11 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, it wasn't that large. And no, we wasn't in the back. We was about a little ways. Yeah. | 20:15 |
| Mary Hebert | And so, was the people in the audience, was it segregated? I mean, did you sit in one spot and they sat on the other? | 20:25 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I can't remember. | 20:29 |
| Mary Hebert | You can't remember that? | 20:30 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. I can't remember that. | 20:31 |
| Mary Hebert | So who else got to sit in the courtroom? You and— | 20:32 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, everyone who went from here was inside. | 20:36 |
| Mary Hebert | So all the plaintiffs got to go in? | 20:39 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. Whoever it was. I don't know who. I can't remember by name or nothing. Mm-mm. | 20:43 |
| Mary Hebert | Do you remember what the judge said to them? And— | 20:50 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I remember— No. I don't remember the judge, but the lawyer. One of the lawyer Rodgers, I think Rodgers from here, he was a lawyer, but I can't remember the rest. | 20:57 |
| Mary Hebert | And do you remember anything about what went on in the courtroom? | 21:10 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. Not too good. | 21:12 |
| Mary Hebert | You said that a busload of people went, came from here, to Charlotte, to Charleston, I mean. Did y'all rent a bus? | 21:13 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I really don't know. | 21:27 |
| Mary Hebert | You don't remember? That's okay. Was there any kind of reaction to y'all going to that trial, by the White community here? | 21:28 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I don't think so. | 21:38 |
| Mary Hebert | Now, I had heard from some other people that there was a curfew in Summerton, a 9:00 curfew, and everyone had to stay off the streets at night. | 21:46 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | During that time? | 21:51 |
| Mary Hebert | Yeah. Do you remember that? | 21:52 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. No. Maybe they did, but I don't remember. | 21:58 |
| Mary Hebert | And once you moved to Summerton, from out in the country, after you'd gotten married, you went to the grocery store and things like that, right? | 22:00 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | After I got married, everything was already, at that time. | 22:10 |
| Mary Hebert | Did y'all use Mr. Smith's store? I mean, did y'all patronize that one, more than the other ones in town? | 22:16 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, I don't know whether he— During that time, I don't know whether he had a store, or a grocery. I don't know. But listen, when we moved here, you had a store around [indistinct 00:22:29], in front of— Where at. Young's Market, just over, on the other side of town. | 22:20 |
| Mary Hebert | Did y'all go to the movies or anything like that? | 22:45 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. The movies were here, but I didn't go. | 22:45 |
| Mary Hebert | You didn't go? | 22:46 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Mm-mm. | 22:46 |
| Mary Hebert | And what about clothing, where'd you buy your clothing? Or did you make it all yourself? | 22:51 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, I used to make most of mine. | 22:56 |
| Mary Hebert | What if you need a hat or something, I mean? | 22:56 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, they had a— I think they had— I think, I believe, a dry goods store, up there? | 23:01 |
| Mary Hebert | And could you try the hats on? | 23:05 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I really don't know. I don't remember buying a hat. | 23:09 |
| Mary Hebert | So they had dry goods stores and things like that, here in town? | 23:14 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. Right. | 23:14 |
| Mary Hebert | Were you friends with the DeLaines? | 23:14 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. | 23:14 |
| Mary Hebert | Mrs. DeLaine was one of your friends? | 23:14 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. Mm-hmm. | 23:14 |
| Mary Hebert | What were they like? I mean, I've just read about Reverend DeLaine. | 23:28 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, at that time, I was living here and they lived right around the corner, so [indistinct 00:23:39], "Hello. Goodbye." Yeah. | 23:29 |
| Mary Hebert | Would they come over and coffee with you? | 23:41 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, no. Everybody worked. Nobody had that much time to do. | 23:46 |
| Mary Hebert | Was one of the reasons that you took part in that suit was because you wanted your kids to have the same kind of education that White children had, in Summerton. | 23:55 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. Yes. But mine children didn't get it. | 24:05 |
| Mary Hebert | Did your grandchildren get it, I mean? | 24:05 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. I have some over here, in college. My grandson, he at Morehouse. And I got a granddaughter, she's at Virginia State. And I have some already finished college. | 24:09 |
| Mary Hebert | But your children didn't get the education? | 24:11 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. My children did not get it. I had a kid that got a scholarship for $2,000. [indistinct 00:24:35] but, during the time, he didn't have clothes, he didn't have books. And that $2,000 doesn't cover them, so he couldn't go and live with $2,000. No grant, anything else come in to help him, help that. | 24:12 |
| Mary Hebert | I mean, how were conditions Black school, as opposed to the White school. You say that the books— Were the books— | 24:52 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I mean, if he had to go to college off of $2,000. | 25:01 |
| Mary Hebert | Oh. He couldn't have gone to college? | 25:04 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | He couldn't go to college off of it. See, that's all he was offered, during that time. And he couldn't go off of $2,000. | 25:04 |
| Mary Hebert | Was he a good student? | 25:07 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. He was good. Mm-hmm. But I would like for them— I mean, they didn't have a chance to raise up with their daddy, like most children do. | 25:14 |
| Mary Hebert | Because he was— | 25:17 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | He had to leave and Lee was small. So when they got together in New York, Lee been— But out there, on their own. You know? | 25:20 |
| Mary Hebert | — Mm-hmm. | 25:28 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | So he didn't have a chance to raise him. They didn't raise up with him, like I would like them to raise up with their father. | 25:29 |
| Mary Hebert | Were you ever angry at your husband for doing this and having the children? | 25:33 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. No. I didn't get angry, but some things were hard when I was alone. Yeah. I didn't like it, but really didn't care. | 25:38 |
| Mary Hebert | Were you afraid that your husband was going to be killed, if he stayed here? | 25:48 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, I just in believe and help the Lord, he say he will do all things. Just trust in the Lord. | 25:53 |
| Mary Hebert | That's right. | 25:57 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. That's all. Mm-hmm. | 25:59 |
| Mary Hebert | What was the schools like, up here in Summerton, as the kids were going? Was the building falling apart? | 26:01 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. They have pretty good buildings. | 26:08 |
| Mary Hebert | Here? | 26:08 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. | 26:08 |
| Mary Hebert | They built that new school? | 26:09 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. | 26:12 |
| Mary Hebert | What about the books? | 26:15 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, I don't know. But I think you had to buy books over there, or whatever, at that time. | 26:16 |
| Mary Hebert | Were they new books, or used books? | 26:17 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I don't know whether my children's books were used books or new books. I think— I really don't know. | 26:23 |
| Mary Hebert | Now, you lived to close enough to the school that they could walk? | 26:28 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. Right across the road. | 26:33 |
| Mary Hebert | They walked across the street, to the school? | 26:33 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. Mm-hmm. | 26:33 |
| Mary Hebert | Did you have to work, after your husband went off to Florida? | 26:40 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. I worked. | 26:43 |
| Mary Hebert | Did you have trouble finding a job here in Summerton? | 26:43 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. I always had work at a motel. | 26:50 |
| Mary Hebert | Which one did you work at, after? | 26:50 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Summerton Motel. | 26:50 |
| Mary Hebert | That was the one that fired you? | 27:00 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. | 27:01 |
| Mary Hebert | But that was after he left? I mean, I was asking if you worked after he went to Florida? | 27:02 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. That'd be the time he moved to Florida. | 27:08 |
| Mary Hebert | It's all the same time? | 27:09 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. | 27:09 |
| Mary Hebert | Oh. And were there any women's organizations that you were in involved in? | 27:09 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | During that time? | 27:09 |
| Mary Hebert | Yes. | 27:23 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. | 27:23 |
| Mary Hebert | What about afterwards? | 27:23 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, I got involved at going to church, organizations in the church. | 27:23 |
| Mary Hebert | So this was in the '60s and '70s? | 27:23 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. I wasn't here during all the '60s. I moved back here in the '70s. I've been here for about— From '61, until '76. | 27:42 |
| Mary Hebert | Okay. So you moved to New York? | 27:42 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. | 27:48 |
| Mary Hebert | Did your husband go up there with you? | 27:48 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. He was in Florida and came to New York. | 27:48 |
| Mary Hebert | And so, I guess you were happy that your husband— | 27:48 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. Well, go back together. | 28:00 |
| Mary Hebert | — Why'd you decide to move to New York? | 28:01 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, it wasn't anything here. And my children in New York, they said, "Come to New York." So— | 28:01 |
| Mary Hebert | So your children moved to New York? | 28:08 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, the two oldest boys live in New York. | 28:08 |
| Mary Hebert | And your daughter had just graduated from high school? | 28:14 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. Mm-hmm. So I had three children here with me. Yeah. The two oldest ones in New York and three were here with me. | 28:15 |
| Mary Hebert | And so the other two went to school in New York? | 28:15 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. They did. | 28:15 |
| Mary Hebert | Did your children get to go to college, any of the others? | 28:15 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. | 28:15 |
| Mary Hebert | No? | 28:15 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. | 28:15 |
| Mary Hebert | But your grandkids are in school. | 28:15 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. My grandson. | 28:15 |
| Mary Hebert | How did you feel in 1954, when The Supreme Court ruled in favor? | 28:44 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, it was a good feeling, but it was so long before it worked out, like it should be. | 28:49 |
| Mary Hebert | Has it worked out, like it should? | 28:56 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, I think it worked out because the children is mixing, whatever it is. | 28:58 |
| Mary Hebert | Are there many places that they can mix here in Summerton, now? | 29:06 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I don't know. I think they have a private school here in Summerton, but I don't know about any White going to the Colored school. No. I don't know. | 29:13 |
| Mary Hebert | I think there's only one. | 29:23 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | One? | 29:23 |
| Mary Hebert | Mm-hmm. But I think, that's what I read. | 29:23 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. | 29:23 |
| Mary Hebert | But, I mean, you have grocery stores and things like that, where they— | 29:24 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. Well, they're mixing there, they're working. | 29:28 |
| Mary Hebert | — So there's been a change since— | 29:28 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. It was a change. | 29:28 |
| Mary Hebert | — Did they keep you informed about what was going on with the case, I mean, between the time that ruled on here, in South Carolina, until the time it went to— | 29:44 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. See I followed it a lot in New York, so I heard a little about it, but not too much. But we didn't go to any meetings in New York. Mm-mm. | 29:56 |
| Mary Hebert | — Did y'all stay involved in the NAACP in New York? | 30:00 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, he was a member, that's all I— I mean, you got out and go, you don't know where you're going. So— See, my husband worked at night, I worked in the daytime. So, quite naturally, wasn't too many places. And on the weekend, he worked on the weekend. | 30:05 |
| Mary Hebert | Where did you work in New York? | 30:19 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Oh. He worked— Let me see. 96th Street, right off of Broadway. It was parking lot. You know? Where they park cars. | 30:25 |
| Mary Hebert | Uh-huh. And what about you? | 30:26 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | I worked [indistinct 00:30:36] a hotel. | 30:26 |
| Mary Hebert | How was New York different than South Carolina? | 30:26 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, I— It was different. | 30:26 |
| Mary Hebert | Could you vote in New York? | 30:26 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. I voted in New York. | 30:26 |
| Mary Hebert | That was different, huh? | 30:26 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. That was different. | 30:26 |
| Mary Hebert | What about restaurants? [indistinct 00:30:26] | 30:26 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, I didn't go to too many restaurants because we leave on— I had to go out at 8:00 in the morning and get home right around 3:30. Ain't no restaurants, too much, you can go. | 30:26 |
| Mary Hebert | So you worked from 8:00 to— | 30:27 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, see, I'd get to work by 9:00, but you got to leave home early and get there and have a lunch break. And I got done, I think, around 3:00, or 3:30. | 31:04 |
| Mary Hebert | In the afternoon, you were off? | 31:23 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. Sometimes I rode on the subway. The subway would be so crowded, you can't get on. You got to wait until you can get on. So— | 31:25 |
| Mary Hebert | How were Black people treated differently in New York than they were in Summerton, do you remember? | 31:33 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, for me, everyone was going to the store together, they were on the subway together, on the bus together, so I don't see know— To me, it wasn't any different. | 31:39 |
| Mary Hebert | It was any different than— | 31:49 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Mm-mm. No. Because I would usually get in and find a seat to sit down, right where you're at. | 31:50 |
| Mary Hebert | — But, say, here, if you'd have gotten on a bus, you'd have had to— | 31:56 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. We'd have to go at back, at the back. Yeah. | 32:27 |
| Mary Hebert | — So that was different, that you could [indistinct 00:32:28]— | 32:27 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. You could sit in any seat or row. I didn't— My travels mostly been by subway. Yeah. | 32:27 |
| Mary Hebert | — In New York? | 32:27 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. I could get to work quickly with the subway. Yeah. | 32:27 |
| Mary Hebert | Did you like New York? | 32:27 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. I liked New York. | 32:27 |
| Mary Hebert | And when did you come back here? | 32:27 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | '76. | 32:27 |
| Mary Hebert | Why'd you decide to come back? | 32:27 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Because my husband retired and he wanted to come back home. | 32:27 |
| Mary Hebert | And so y'all came back? | 32:35 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. | 32:35 |
| Mary Hebert | Were y'all welcomed back here? I mean, y'all were living [indistinct 00:32:36]— | 32:35 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, when we went back home, everybody was glad to see us coming back. I guess some of them was glad and some wasn't. I don't know. Mm-hmm. | 32:35 |
| Mary Hebert | — Have you been honored, since then? | 32:47 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. Mm-hmm. | 32:52 |
| Mary Hebert | By the NAACP? | 32:52 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. Mm-hmm. [indistinct 00:32:55]. | 32:52 |
| Mary Hebert | Is that Reverend DeLaine, in that picture up there? | 32:52 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. There? | 32:52 |
| Mary Hebert | The one with— Is that you and— | 32:52 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Oh. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. | 33:01 |
| Mary Hebert | — Which one's Reverend DeLaine, is it the tall man? | 33:04 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. The tall man. | 33:07 |
| Mary Hebert | And is that your husband, next to him. | 33:07 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yes. Mm-hmm. | 33:07 |
| Mary Hebert | [indistinct 00:33:13] you've gotten so many plaques. | 33:07 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. I have more than that. I just, I didn't pull all of them out, I just— There was some in a box. | 33:13 |
| Mary Hebert | So did the NAACP honor you and [indistinct 00:33:24]— | 33:16 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. We be honored every year. Mm-hmm. | 33:23 |
| Mary Hebert | — So it was worth that struggle that you went through and had? | 33:24 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. Right. Mm-hmm. My husband, I got a plaque, on the 3rd, from The Black Panthers. He was inducted in The Hall of Fame— | 33:31 |
| Mary Hebert | Oh. Okay. | 33:35 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | — On the 3rd. | 33:35 |
| Mary Hebert | And I think I asked you this before, but he tell you that he was going to be there? | 33:37 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | What? | 33:37 |
| Mary Hebert | That he was going to take part in the suit, before he did it? | 33:37 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. No. | 33:37 |
| Mary Hebert | No? He didn't talk about it with you? | 33:37 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, see, he didn't know too much about it, until Reverend DeLaine asked me, this afternoon, saying, "Can I have a meeting at your house." It's a wonder he didn't throw me out the house, because I told him, "Yeah." You know? And so, until he came in. Well, people were coming here, I told him that Reverend DeLaine wanted to have a meeting here. But just to tell him just want it was all about, and I wasn't able to tell him that. You know? | 33:56 |
| Mary Hebert | No? | 34:22 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Mm-mm. | 34:22 |
| Mary Hebert | So Reverend DeLaine talked to you and not your husband? | 34:31 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. And I gave him permission to come in the house. | 34:32 |
| Mary Hebert | And how'd the other people get invited, do you know, did Reverend DeLaine— | 34:32 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Oh. We had a meeting at the church. | 34:32 |
| Mary Hebert | — Oh. | 34:32 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. | 34:32 |
| Mary Hebert | And what about, did you know much about the high school students who were protesting about their— | 34:37 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. No. Nothing about the [indistinct 00:34:43]. No. I don't know too much about that. | 34:40 |
| Mary Hebert | — And did St. Mark's have any probably with y'all having meetings there? | 34:47 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. They didn't care. | 34:55 |
| Mary Hebert | So the minister took part in the whole— | 34:55 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, see, Reverend Seals wasn't the minister. I can't remember who was the minister. I don't know who was the minister at the church. | 34:55 |
| Mary Hebert | — But they didn't mind you coming over there? | 34:55 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, I guess not. | 34:55 |
| Mary Hebert | Did a lot of women go to those meetings? | 35:14 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Well, at the time, yes. A lot of people were going. | 35:15 |
| Mary Hebert | Were some of your friends there, from the women you worked with? | 35:15 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | No. I don't think so. By the end of the year, yeah, about two or three more were there. | 35:15 |
| Mary Hebert | And who was there? | 35:15 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Annie Gibson and some more. | 35:21 |
| Mary Hebert | And Miss Mazie Sullivan was? | 35:21 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Yeah. | 35:21 |
| Mary Hebert | Yeah? | 35:30 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Mm-hmm. You going to talk to Mazie and Annie? | 35:35 |
| Mary Hebert | Yes, ma'am. | 35:42 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Oh. Yeah? | 35:42 |
| Mary Hebert | Yeah. I haven't gotten in touch with them yet, but I am. I think Dorothy [indistinct 00:35:50]. | 35:42 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Oh. Yeah? | 35:42 |
| Mary Hebert | I saw you in that picture with her. | 35:52 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Oh. Yeah. | 35:53 |
| Mary Hebert | That newspaper clipping. | 35:53 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Mm-hmm. | 35:53 |
| Mary Hebert | And I think Alice mentioned their names too. | 35:53 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Mm-hmm. | 35:53 |
| Mary Hebert | Several people have talked to [indistinct 00:36:11]. | 36:11 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Hmm? | 36:11 |
| Mary Hebert | Well, I think that's all I have for now. If I have any more questions, I may come back and talk to you. | 36:11 |
| Eliza Gemble Briggs | Okay. All right. | 36:11 |
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