Community Memories: A Glimpse of African American Life in Frankfort, Kentucky

by Fletcher, Winona L.; Burton, Sheila Mason; Wallace, James E.; Winter, Mary E.; Boyd, Douglas A.

• ISBN13: 9780916968304
• ISBN10: 0916968308
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-01-01
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Kentucky

Summary

" Published by the Kentucky Historical Society and distributed by the University Press of Kentucky Winona L. Fletcher, Senior Editor Sheila Mason Burton, Associate Editor James E. Wallace, Associate Editor Mary E. Winter, Photographs Editor Douglas A. Boyd, Oral History Editor John Hardin, Consultant With a preface by George C. Wolfe Community Memories is a fascinating look into life recalled by African Americans who consider Frankfort their home. Featuring unique oral history recollections and over two hundred candid personal photographs collected from community residents, the book provides an enlightening expression of the black experience in Kentucky's capital. The memories focus on the elusive concept of community -- that which binds together individuals in the living of everyday life. A satisfying blend of public history and local accounts, Community Memories explores the neighborhood, familial, religious, occupational, social, and educational components of the daily community experience of twentieth-century African Americans in Frankfort. Winona L. Fletcher is professor emerita of theater and drama at Indiana University. Sheila Mason Burton is assistant director for research coordination at the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. James E. Wallace is assistant director of the Kentucky Historical Society. Mary E. Winter is special collections branch manager and photographs archivist at the Kentucky Historical Society. Douglas A. Boyd is oral history and folklife archivist at the Kentucky Historical Society. John Hardin, former dean of the Potter College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at Western Kentucky University, is is the university's assistant to the provost for diversity enhancement. George C. Wolfe, playwright, producer, director, and Tony Award winner, lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

FOREWORD	ix
PREFACE	xi
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS	xiii
INTRODUCTION	xv
"Blest Be the Ties that Bind"
Community	2	(46)
"He Ain't Heavy"
Family	48	(18)
"I Don't Feel No Ways Tired"
Employment	66	(22)
"Hallelujah Anyhow!"
Religion	88	(20)
"Being Somebody"
Education	108	(33)
CHRONOLOGY	141	(8)
PHOTO CONTRIBUTORS	149	(2)
LIST OF ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEWS	151	(2)
INDEX	153