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Civil Rights History Project Interview completed by the Southern Oral History Program under contract to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History & Culture and the Library of Congress, 2013...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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JM: I was born in Terrell County, Sasser, Georgia. HJ: And what year? What was your birth date? JM: February 4th, 1940. HJ: 1940. PN: Sorry. Can I cut a little bit?...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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Hasan Kwame Jeffries: Today is Saturday, March 9th, 2013. My name is Dr. Hasan Kwame Jeffries of the Ohio State University and the Southern Oral History Program at the University of North...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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HJ: Down here in Albany? JM: In Albany, Georgia, yes. He retired from there after about twenty-eight years. HJ: Do you remember life on the farm? JM: I didn’t like it. HJ:...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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JM: Thirteen, yes. HJ: How did life change for you when you moved to Sasser? JM: I can’t say that it was better, because we always had a good life. We had...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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HJ: Do you remember the name of your teacher? JM: My first teacher’s name was Fannie Wakefield, I believe. HJ: And what was it like going to that one-room school, Piney Grove?...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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JM: Yes. HJ: What was Carver like? JM: Well, it was an experience being in high school. I met a lot of other people that I didn’t know. It was cold most...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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JM: My parents didn’t know too much about segregation or, you know, about in the schools. But they knew that we didn’t have what we needed in order to be properly educated....
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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HJ: And so, what did you do during that year? JM: Babysat. HJ: In the neighborhood, or for your siblings? JM: Oh, I had an aunt who lived across the street, and...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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JM: Yes. HJ: What was their thinking behind that? Did they ever share with you why? JM: They wanted me to be a teacher. That wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted to...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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JM: Oh, yes. HJ: The administration—did it choose to do anything? JM: No. It didn’t seem to matter. The food wasn’t good. It was prepared badly. The—well, I won’t go into that....
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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JM: There was a march downtown—and I don’t want to get into something I can’t remember the full details, but it had to do with a young lady named Bertha Gober, and...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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HJ: You’re fearful of the police? JM: And didn’t know what my parents were going to say when they found out that I had been—participated in the march. HJ: So, you survive...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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JM: That’s alright. HJ: You’re still at Albany State, because you haven’t gotten sick yet. Do you get involved in other activities, other marches and demonstrations, at all? JM: No, that was...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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JM: Going to meetings. They were having meetings at one of the churches in Dawson. I believe either it was Zion Hill or Sardis Baptist Church, and they moved from there to...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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HJ: And where was the registrar’s office at the time? JM: In the courthouse, in the basement of the courthouse. HJ: The county courthouse? JM: And he would stand across at the...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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JM: [Inaudible] HJ: When your mom—do you remember your mother coming home, saying that she had been fired from Sasser? JM: Umm, kind of—it’s kind of dim. But, you know, it—we talked...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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HJ: So, they would physically show up at a mass meeting? JM: Yes! HJ: Now, when were the mass meetings held? JM: At Mount Olive. HJ: At Mount Olive. And they were—was...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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JM: Often, very often. They were very visible. They were always around. Somebody—if it wasn’t Sherrod, it was some of the other SNCC workers—somebody was always around. HJ: Now, were there any...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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JM: The white folk were not happy about what we were doing, and there were threats. So, we had to be careful. HJ: And being careful meant what? JM: You watch your...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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HJ: And who was this? JM: Reverend Wells. His name was Samuel Wells. I think he passed on. HJ: And you would do some sit-ins? JM: Some sit-ins. HJ: Where? JM: We...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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JM: Never any run-in with the police except at the church. HJ: When they would show up— JM: When they would show up. HJ: At the mass meetings? JM: Yes. HJ: So,...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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JM: Some of the people—Adell Sears, Terow Bell, Miss Catherine Mallory. They’re all now deceased. And it would be kind of fun. They enjoyed it. You know, if—when they would learn to...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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HJ: During the ’60s. So, you’re standing in—you’re a poll watcher, meaning that you’re in a poll— JM: And then, we’re watching, really, basically what’s going on, you know, if anybody tried...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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HJ: Behind the foundation? JM: The foundation. HJ: And your brother was working, was helping to rebuild that. JM: Yes. HJ: Do you remember how your father reacted? JM: Tears. And he...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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JM: Yes. HJ: Relatives? JM: Yes. HJ: Were they also active? JM: I had one uncle, my father’s brother, he was also active. HJ: But some of the others weren’t? JM: Didn’t...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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JM: Yes. HJ: So, after the tragedy at Mount Olive, what does the Movement do then? JM: There were people from the Justice Department that came down. We had—well, the GBIs came...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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HJ: [Laughs] And you just shared—? JM: [Laughs] We talked. HJ: Yeah. Did you think they were going to do anything? JM: I kind of felt like they would. After then, people...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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JM: Because it was. It was just—[pause] I never run into, really, when I was growing up, a whole lot of prejudice from the people, because our parents protected us from that....
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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HJ: And when did—when was this? When did you get—? JM: 1967. HJ: And then, where do you move to? JM: Topeka, Kansas. HJ: Topeka, Kansas? I mean, so you moved far,...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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JM: Some places I didn’t recognize. The “black” and “white” signs were down. You know, the black water fountains and white water fountains, the signs were down. It was kind of strange,...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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HJ: Was the NAACP very strong? JM: It was. HJ: Is this the Terrell County NAACP? JM: Yes. HJ: Okay. JM: It’s not as strong now as it used to be. HJ:...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
Date:2013
Film, Video
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JM: I—you know, I don’t know how to put this, but things are better on the surface. They look good, but there’s a lot that still needs to be worked on. You...
Contributor:
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.) - Jeffries, Hasan Kwame - McCullar, Johnnie Ruth
