Hortense Mayweather interview recording, 1995 June 26

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Paul Ortiz	— Mayweathers, Can you tell me when you were born and something about an area that you grew up in?	0:02
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	I was born November the 16th, 1919. I was born up in Fayette County at Galloway, Tennessee.	0:09
Paul Ortiz	Mrs. Mayweathers. What was Fayette County like when you were growing up?	0:23
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Well, we didn't do anything but just farm, like have cotton, and corn, and different vegetables, and all that. My father farmed all the time.	0:28
Paul Ortiz	What was Fayette County like for the Black people during those years?	0:45
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Well, it was kind of rough. It was kind of rough for Black people, my family at least. We did share cropping, and all that. They taken about all that from us and all that there. Yeah.	0:48
Paul Ortiz	So it was pretty unequal?	1:08
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Yeah, it wasn't equal at all. Unequal to Black people then.	1:09
Paul Ortiz	Was your family, you were working sharecroppers family. What was the neighborhood like that you grew up in?	1:11
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Well, the neighborhood was all right between the Black people. It was better then, than it is now out there. Then it was better, because we helped each other. Anybody needed help, we'd help them, you know. But it's not like this downtown Memphis, certain people and all.	1:22
Paul Ortiz	How would Black families, Mrs. Mayweathers, help each other during the time in Fayette County?	1:43
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Well, just like if all us had crops. If the one gets through first, they'd go over and help the other gather their crop. And just like if they didn't have milk, they'd buy their milk, butter, horses, whatever they had to share with one another. If you were sick, they'd sit up with you all night or something like that.	1:49
Paul Ortiz	Were there, do you remember elders in the community?	2:12
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Elder people?	2:16
Paul Ortiz	Yes.	2:17
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Mm-hmm.	2:18
Paul Ortiz	What kind of role did they play in the community? Were they looked up to or?	2:20
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Well, the older people, they was nice. They were, just like I said, visit, go to church on Sundays, every Sunday and all like that. We had good role models back then.	2:30
Paul Ortiz	Who were your role models?	2:43
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Well, my mother was my role model.	2:46
Paul Ortiz	And Mrs. Mayweathers, did your family go to church?	2:51
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Mm-hmm. Up until now. I go to church now every Sunday.	3:09
Paul Ortiz	What kind of church was it when you were growing up?	3:09
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Well we went to a Baptist church all the time. But we didn't have service every Sunday then. We had it every other Sunday out in the country.	3:09
Paul Ortiz	And Mrs. Mayweathers, you said during those times it was really rough.	3:18
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Hmm?	3:21
Paul Ortiz	You said during those times it was really rough for Black people?	3:23
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Mm-hmm.	3:26
Paul Ortiz	What were some of the examples of the abuses against Black people by White people?	3:27
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Well, Black and White didn't mix too good. A Black man couldn't say nothing to a White woman then. If he did they'll lynch him, do something bad to him or something like that.	3:39
Paul Ortiz	Do you remember lynchings or violence like that?	3:48
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Mm-hmm. Our friend, they said that he whistled at a White girl or something other, and they killed him.	3:55
Paul Ortiz	When you were little?	4:16
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Mm-hmm.	4:16
Paul Ortiz	And what happened? What led up to that?	4:16
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Well, White people just didn't care too much of Black men. They'll kill you, do anything to you. Ain't nothing to be did about it.	4:17
Paul Ortiz	How would you feel about that?	4:27
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Feel bad about it. And you couldn't say too much then, you know?	4:32
Paul Ortiz	Uh-huh.	4:33
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	And you know that, well down here in Mississippi, I think a few years back, he was a young Black boy. I think he whistled at a White girl. They lynched him. But now you see Black and White playing together, go to church together and all. It was rough back in them days when I come home.	4:34
Paul Ortiz	Back then there was much of Black and White playing together?	5:02
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Uh-uh. Didn't go to school together. Couldn't say too much to them children.	5:06
Paul Ortiz	Would you say things to each other about the situation? About how rough things were?	5:15
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	If we did, we said it amongst us Black people. We didn't— No.	5:20
Paul Ortiz	Mrs. Mayweathers, were there attempts to change things when you were growing up?	5:27
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Uh-uh. No. It was just rough back in those days.	5:39
Paul Ortiz	Well what kinds of chores did you do in your family?	5:50
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Well, it wasn't too much chores we would do, because we would go to school, and sometimes we couldn't go all the year through the school, because we had to— That's like my brother, he had to stop and help my father make the crop and all that.	5:57
Paul Ortiz	Would Whites try to get Black children to stay in the fields rather than go to school?	6:18
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Some of them tried to. Some of them tried to. But they let theirs go, but didn't want our colors to go. They had buses to ride them to school, and we had to walk miles and miles to school.	6:23
Paul Ortiz	I see. But would Black parents try to make sure that you attended school, that the children attended school?	6:35
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Mm-hmm.	6:46
Paul Ortiz	So that seems like that was a tension or some kind of a battle?	6:48
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Yeah, that's right.	6:53
Paul Ortiz	Mrs. Mayweathers, were there organizations in Fayette County, like maybe among Black farmers or groups that met during those days?	6:58
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Uh-uh. No.	7:10
Paul Ortiz	And Mrs. Mayweathers, earlier you mentioned school. What kind of school did you attend?	7:20
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	When I was in the country, I attended primary school from primary up until I graduated from the eighth grade out there. That's where I got in school, is eighth grade. My father wasn't able to send us to high school. And the most high school was a long way from home, like Somerville, Tennessee. That's a good way from here.	7:24
Paul Ortiz	From Fayette County?	7:46
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Mm-hmm. But after we finished school, we worked on a project. They called in NYA or something. We were making mattresses.	7:50
Paul Ortiz	Oh, okay.	7:51
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Different things. We did that after we got out of school. But we didn't have no college degree or nothing.	8:02
Paul Ortiz	Was your school in Fayette County, was that public school?	8:06
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Mm-hmm. Public school. Had to walk, I don't know how many miles it was, but it was a long ways from home. But we had, that's only school we could go to, because they didn't have too many schools then, in Fayette County.	8:12
Paul Ortiz	And you would have to watch the White kids be in buses?	8:26
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Mm-hmm. That's right.	8:30
Paul Ortiz	Would they say things to you when they were driving by you in the bus?	8:31
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Sometime they'd holler or do something, but they didn't say too much to us.	8:34
Paul Ortiz	Were there ever arguments between the Black school children and the White school children?	8:41
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Uh-uh. Because they didn't associate together.	8:45
Paul Ortiz	Mrs. Mayweathers, during those days when you were coming up, where would you get your news from?	8:53
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Now we later got a radio. That's all we had to play a radio then.	9:02
Paul Ortiz	Were there any Black newspapers?	9:10
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Uh-uh. If it was, we didn't have them.	9:12
Paul Ortiz	Okay. I was just wondering if you might have had the Chicago Defender?	9:21
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Uh-uh. Not in Fayette County, I know.	9:22
Paul Ortiz	Mrs. Mayweathers, when you were growing up, what were your fondest memories, your happiest memories about your childhood?	9:30
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	My memories going to school, and going to Sunday school, going to church, playing with my friends. That's about all of it.	9:45
Paul Ortiz	And had your family always lived with Fayette County?	9:59
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Mm-hmm. Until— Let me see. I come to Memphis in about '49, I think. And my mother moved out here in about '52 or something. But she was an older lady.	10:01
Paul Ortiz	Had your grandparents grown up in Fayette?	10:20
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Mm-hmm. They grew up in Fayette. And they found that they come to Memphis a little before I did.	10:25
Paul Ortiz	Did they ever talk about their experiences growing up?	10:31
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Not too much. Not too much. You know back then, it was just family talk. But they didn't. We got along pretty good though. Because on weekends my father used to care, so my mother's mother could spend the weekend or something like that.	10:36
Paul Ortiz	Mrs. Mayweathers, did any of the elders in the community, would they ever talk about slavery times?	10:56
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	No. My parents didn't talk about slavery times, because I don't think none of their people was in slavery. I don't think.	11:06
Paul Ortiz	And now you said earlier that you worked on the NYA project. How did you get that employment?	11:21
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	I really don't know now, but I think it was some of the children going to Fayette County High School up there. Because we weren't able to go. And I think they brought this project back to us, asking who wanted to, after finishing eighth grade, who want to work on this project, in the Somerville, Tennessee. And my me and my sister, we applied for it.	11:36
Paul Ortiz	Oh, okay. And so when you grew up, you had brothers and sisters?	12:01
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Mm-hmm.	12:06
Paul Ortiz	How many brothers and sisters did you have?	12:07
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	It was five. I had five sisters and one brother.	12:10
Paul Ortiz	Okay. Were you the oldest?	12:18
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Hmm?	12:18
Paul Ortiz	Were you the oldest?	12:18
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Uh-uh. I'm next to the youngest one. Because I don't have but, ain't but three of us sisters living now.	12:18
Paul Ortiz	So you're next to youngest?	12:30
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Mm-hmm.	12:31
Paul Ortiz	And Mrs. Mayweathers, when you finished eighth grade and you began working on the NYA, were you thinking in terms of leaving Fayette County? Did you see yourself, well actually maybe later when you were a teenager, did you think that you would stay in Fayette County? Or were you thinking maybe about moving?	12:38
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Well after then, after we had that part gone a long time, I think it went out of business. And we just stayed around home. And me and one of my sisters come to Memphis, in about, I think it was in '49.	13:01
Paul Ortiz	Okay.	13:17
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	And we started working at a place, it was called Memphis Steam Laundry. And then from then I went to Lamar Laundry. And I got sick and I had to come out on disability. And I haven't worked since.	13:19
Paul Ortiz	So you retired in 19—	13:39
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	'75.	13:43
Paul Ortiz	So Mrs. Mayweathers, when you moved to Memphis, you were around 29 or 30?	13:49
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Mm-hmm. I married when I was 29.	13:56
Paul Ortiz	Oh, okay. Did he meet your husband in Memphis?	13:59
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Mm-hmm.	14:01
Paul Ortiz	Oh, okay. And what neighborhood did you live in, in Memphis?	14:01
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	I lived at a place they called New Chicago. That was out in North Memphis, around Decatur Street and Capital Street or someplace like that.	14:08
Paul Ortiz	Oh okay. What were the boundaries of New Chicago, Mrs. Mayweathers?	14:15
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Well it was, I didn't stay out there too long, but the neighborhood was fine. Did you ever heard, maybe a Firestone who went out of business, did you hear?	14:25
Paul Ortiz	Okay, yeah.	14:38
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	It was out in that neighborhood kind of back then.	14:40
Paul Ortiz	So a lot of people that lived out there worked for Firestone?	14:42
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	That's right. Because my husband was working International Harvest then.	14:47
Paul Ortiz	I see. And now you said you only lived there briefly?	14:49
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	And then I moved out here to South Memphis.	14:57
Paul Ortiz	Mrs. Mayweathers, what was South Memphis like during that time when you first moved out there? What was the neighborhood like?	14:59
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Well the neighborhood I lived in was fine. Yeah it was good. But now since I lived on, right off of Everly Presley, but now they've torn. Down so many houses and not too long ago, I heard that two Black boys was found dead in one of the houses I lived next door to. It's more rougher now than it used to be when I first moved out here.	15:14
Paul Ortiz	Yeah, back when you first moved out there, were you living on Bellevue?	15:45
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	No, I lived on Elliston, off of Bellevue.	15:50
Paul Ortiz	Oh, okay. And what were the most important institutions in the community?	15:59
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Well at that time, when I stayed on there, there wasn't too much going on. Now about three houses next door, we would visit each other and they would just about all go to church on Sundays.	16:11
Paul Ortiz	And what role did women play in the neighborhood?	16:25
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	They didn't play no kind of role too much in that neighborhood.	16:30
Paul Ortiz	Seem like the men played? Who provided the leadership?	16:35
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	In the community?	16:42
Paul Ortiz	Yes ma'am.	16:43
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	It wasn't hardly no leadership in the community then.	16:44
Paul Ortiz	Did that begin to change at any point?	16:46
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	I think it done changed now.	16:50
Paul Ortiz	When did it begin to change?	16:53
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	After I moved from down there to where I stay at now. I've been out there ever since '69, I think. It's a pretty good neighborhood now.	16:56
Paul Ortiz	I see. Okay. Mrs. Mayweathers, what would you do in Memphis for recreation, leisure activities?	17:08
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Well we have a place you call a 48 City Ward Club now. And they take—	17:24
Speaker 1	You want to take that off for me?	17:40
Paul Ortiz	Oh. Oh, Mrs. Mayweathers, you were talking about the 48 Ward—	17:40
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	City Ward Club. Just like houses that need building up, or people don't keep up their yard like they ought to do. There's a lady, she stay up on Wilson, she get around. And she in with the police department and some of the officials here in Memphis on her.	17:42
Paul Ortiz	I see. So did that already exist when you moved in?	17:57
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	It's just a lady that started about five years ago, I guess, out in my community.	18:06
Paul Ortiz	But it had existed in other communities?	18:14
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Mm-hmm. I think so.	18:15
Paul Ortiz	Mrs. Mayweathers, now when you were growing up, Fayette County, as you were saying, was very rough, and very unusual. What was Memphis like? How would you compare Memphis when you first came here, to Fayette?	18:15
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Well Memphis was pretty good when I come here.	18:42
Paul Ortiz	How about in terms of race relations or segregation?	18:46
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Well I think it has always been like that, but now they're getting a little close to each other, White and Black enough now. The communication is better with each other. When I first come to Memphis it wasn't like that, you know.	18:53
Paul Ortiz	What was it like?	19:08
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	I don't know, the Black people stayed to their selves and the White folks stayed to their selves. We couldn't mix with them then. Now they make a mix with us a little bit, but we couldn't mix with them. Our Black boys couldn't sit aside White girls then.	19:11
Paul Ortiz	How would they mix with you?	19:30
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Well I always got along good with them. But they didn't mix with me like I mixed with them though. Because just like when we used to ride the buses, the White people would get on first. They wouldn't let us get on first. The White people would get on first, take up all the seat. And if you were sitting down on a seat, they ask you up out of your seat just for a White person to sit down. And ain't nothing we could do about it then. But it done get better now, because people are speaking out more.	19:35
Paul Ortiz	Did you ever hear about people speaking out then against that?	20:10
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Huh?	20:14
Paul Ortiz	Did you ever hear about people speaking out then against that?	20:14
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Mm-hmm. Because the way it is now, who should ever get on first, if the seat fills up, the White folks have to stand up. Ever fills up with Black, it's just equal now almost. But not in all cases is equal.	20:17
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	But just like riding the buses, or just like we used to go in these stores. They have cafes, eating places. We couldn't sit down and eat there. They'd have a little room for us to go to and eat and all that. Now still we spend our money in those stores. But it done changed from that now. We'd go eat anywhere we choose to. Just like in neighborhoods, Black folks couldn't stay in different neighborhoods, but now they can stay anywhere they wanted to stay.	20:32
Paul Ortiz	Were there stores that were better than others?	21:04
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Uh-uh. But they just didn't do Black people like they should do. And they were spending their money buying things just like White people were.	21:10
Paul Ortiz	Were there Black owned businesses?	21:18
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	No. Uh-huh, not too many. Not like they are now.	21:20
Paul Ortiz	Mrs. Mayweathers, where would you do most of your shopping at, during the 40s and 50s?	21:27
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Oh, like downtown at Goldsmith or Lorenstein's or someplace like that.	21:34
Paul Ortiz	How would they treat you as a Black woman when you would go in there?	21:40
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Well they treat us all right, but the folks on the outside would do all the dirty work. The peoples in the store treated you nice.	21:45
Paul Ortiz	Now who are the people on the outside?	21:54
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Just like if you go in the store and buying anything, the outside didn't want you to buy it, they'll say something to you or take your stuff or stuff like that.	21:57
Paul Ortiz	White people on the outside?	22:08
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Mm-hmm.	22:10
Paul Ortiz	They would be standing outside of the store?	22:12
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Mm-hmm.	22:13
Paul Ortiz	Okay.	22:17
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	They'll say something to you or something like that.	22:17
Paul Ortiz	Okay, some wise crack?	22:21
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Or something like that.	22:22
Paul Ortiz	What would they say?	22:23
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	They said, just like if they didn't want us— One time it was they had, let me see what they called it— Something about didn't want Black people to shop those stores and things. And right down here on Bellevue, used to be a store down there that they didn't want, what was it? No, it wasn't no curfew. I don't know what they called it then. But they didn't want nobody to shop there too much, Black folks anyway.	22:27
Paul Ortiz	I see Mrs. Mayweathers, what was your opinion about that back then? In the 40s and 50s, what were you thinking in terms about segregation and that treatment?	22:57
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	That I was just wondering, would it ever stop or get any better? And just like that. I used to wonder about that. But finally it got better.	23:16
Paul Ortiz	Would you talk to other Black people about that?	23:25
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Mm-hmm. We would get together and talk.	23:28
Paul Ortiz	Would it be mainly other women?	23:31
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Men and women, yeah.	23:34
Paul Ortiz	Where would you get together and talk about it?	23:36
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Now just like they used to have Bible Bands, meetings or such like that.	23:40
Paul Ortiz	So it'd be like churches?	23:47
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Mm-hmm.	23:48
Paul Ortiz	What role did the church play in the Black community in Memphis?	23:50
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Well, they played good roles in community. But whole lot of things we were talking about, we couldn't do it just right off. We'll talk about it and think about it, but it done get a lots better now.	23:58
Paul Ortiz	What have been the most important changes to you in Memphis?	24:10
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Well, the most important, children can go to college where they want to go now, and they can live where they want to live. They can go places where they want to go. That's the most important thing to me.	24:17
Paul Ortiz	Mrs. Mayweathers, you said that you worked in Memphis Steam Laundry. And how did you get your job there?	24:31
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	I don't know whether it was an ad in the paper. It may have been in the paper. I really don't know now.	24:40
Paul Ortiz	And what was it like working with the Steam Laundry during those days?	24:47
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	It was all right. It was fine.	24:49
Paul Ortiz	Did you work, were you pressing clothes?	24:54
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	No, I always did fold shirts. They appreciate, I was the shirt folder.	24:56
Paul Ortiz	Okay. And were mostly people that work there Black?	25:06
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Yeah, most of all of them was Black that worked there. But White people would be in the office.	25:07
Paul Ortiz	Oh.	25:07
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	They may hire one or two Black in the office before I left them out there. But I doubted, because all of them was White.	25:11
Paul Ortiz	Would the White supervisors ever bother Black workers with their supervising?	25:30
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Not too much. Uh-uh, not too much. They just want you to give them eight good hours and do your work good. But that's in all cases, I imagine. But they treat us nice so far.	25:40
Paul Ortiz	Mrs. Mayweathers, was there any ever any union activity or labor activity at the plants that you worked at?	25:55
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	I don't think no union was in the plant, I don't think at that time when I was working. Because I didn't have never worked on a union, place that they had unions there. Uh-uh.	26:06
Paul Ortiz	Did your husband have experience with that?	26:17
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Well yeah, because he worked in International Harvest. He had a good job. But I don't think there wasn't no confusion or nothing out there. Black and White just worked together in the International Harvest where he was.	26:21
Paul Ortiz	And at that time, did you start raising a family?	26:38
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Mm-hmm.	26:48
Paul Ortiz	Okay. And when was your first child born?	26:48
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	My first child was born in— He'd been about 56 now. Let see, what year was he born? '42.	26:53
Paul Ortiz	'42.	27:10
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	And my next son was born in '55. But both of them have passed now.	27:11
Paul Ortiz	Uh-huh. What schools did they attend, Mrs. Mayweather?	27:14
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	They attended this school here in Hamilton.	27:15
Paul Ortiz	Hamilton. Now when they were coming up, that was an all Black high school?	27:21
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Mm-hmm.	27:21
Paul Ortiz	Was that also a grade school?	27:25
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Yeah. The first school they went to was grade school on Wilson up here. And then this is the high school, they finished there.	27:26
Paul Ortiz	Oh, okay. Do you remember the name of that grade school?	27:35
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Now I think they called it Hamilton Middle School now, because they got an elementary school on the next street, on Everly Street. But see that school wasn't built when my children were going to school.	27:40
Paul Ortiz	I see. Mrs. Mayweathers, now you talked about your education, you were coming out. How would you compare your education to the education your children received here in school?	27:54
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Oh, it wasn't like that, because I didn't get too much education where I was going. I just finished eighth grade and then I just gradually finished eighth grade.	28:06
Paul Ortiz	As a parent, how would you judge the school system your children went to here?	28:16
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Oh, it's good. It was good.	28:21
Paul Ortiz	Did the school play a particular role in the community?	28:27
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Talking about here?	28:31
Paul Ortiz	Yes.	28:32
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Mm-hmm. Yeah, they did fine in school.	28:33
Paul Ortiz	Well, Mrs. Mayweathers, I know that it's getting time to eat, so I don't want to keep you too much longer. Just a couple more questions.	28:43
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Okay.	28:51
Paul Ortiz	What have been, in your estimate, the most important things for the Black community over your lifetime? What have been some of the most important, say wellspring of—	28:55
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	I didn't understand what you said.	29:06
Paul Ortiz	Oh, sorry. What have been the most important elements of the Black community over your life, the most important things?	29:07
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Most important thing. We'd get together or love, treat people like you want to be treated, something like that.	29:31
Paul Ortiz	I see. And what have been the things that have inspired you to keep striving, and throughout your life and reaching your goals?	29:44
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	Most important, just my health and serving God, you know. I know he's the maker of all things, everything like that. And meeting my friends, going to different clubs, meeting church and things. That's most important in my life.	29:59
Paul Ortiz	Mrs. Mayweathers, are there any other things that we haven't touched on that you'd like to share?	30:15
Hortense Broomfield Mayweather	I can't think of nothing. I can't think of nothing so far.	30:19

Item Info

Title:

Hortense Mayweather interview recording, 1995 June 26

Date:

June 26, 1995

Creator:

Mayweather, Hortense Broomfield

Contributor:

Ortiz, Paul

Description:

Name: Hortense Broomfield Mayweather; Date of birth: 1919-11-16; Place of birth: Fayette Co., TN; Occupation(s): laundress; domestic; Residence: Memphis, TN
Informant ID: 848; Interviewed by: Paul Ortiz.

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-0889
41c7e8a4-9929-47bf-b1d6-8960154390c1
behindtheveil
c01a67b5-06b5-4370-aef4-db663238738e
ark:/87924/r4x92ct2k
c01a67b5-06b5-4370-aef4-db663238738e

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4x92ct2k

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Hortense Mayweather interview recording, 1995 June 26

Transcript

Item Info

1. Hortense Mayweather administrative file, 1995

John Hope Franklin Research Center

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Hortense Mayweather interview recording, 1995 June 26

Transcript

Item Info

Related Items

John Hope Franklin Research Center

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