Transcript
Index
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:00:23 - Family background in Houston, Mississippi area--family received land from slave master--uncles moved north in 1914, father in 1921--more on Gordon family as landowners
00:05:07 - Grandparents as slaves in Mississippi--the Ike Gordon family
00:08:17 - The Gordon farm in Mississippi--good relations with white people in and around Houston--father as a church deacon--the country school--children sheltered from racial hostility--the Gordons as relatively comfortable
00:17:56 - The decision to leave Mississippi--early problems in Beloit, no work available--especially difficult for mother Gordon--Anne Gordon Harris's positive elementary sohool experience in Beloit--mother's refusal to go to Chicago--train ride to Beloit from Houston
00:28:04 - Early impressions of Beloit--J.D. Stephenson and the YMCA for black people in Beloit
00:31:13 - Parents misgivings about Beloit--father obtained depression-proof job in Fairbanks-Morse power house--father as a man of faith--absence of hostility toward white people--Beloit teachers helped Anne's sister, Ethel, after mother died--scholarship offer to Ben Gordon from Fisk University--parents cooperated with school teachers
00:40:05 - Comparison of schools in Beloit and Mississippi--value of integrated schooling--father's attitudes toward children, child-rearing--“you learn something from everybody”--“homes where people didn't understand Negroes”
00:46:44 - The Gordon family and the church--father Gordon sought freedom in Beloit
00:48:23 - No recollection of discrimination in Beloit schools--no recollection of exclusion along racial lines
00:51:49 - Discrimination in Beloit businesses--segregated public swimming pool in Beloit--Anne's son, Gordon, helped to integrate the city swimming pool--painting of Gordon by Mrs. Neese--comparison of Beloit and Houston--race relations in Beloit worse in 1976 than in early days
01:00:21 - Black professionals in Beloit in the early days
01:01:27 - Continuation of comments on black professionals--Dr. Marshall not accepted on hospital staff, did not accept when finally asked--Celestine Smith, the singer--Dr. Parks, dentist
01:05:36 - Recollections of the Women's Community Club--emphasis on the WCC's social aspects--Rubie Bond led the club into civil rights activities--Anne's sister, Ethel, also an activist in the WCC--difference between Ethel and Anne, Ethel's “concern for advancement”
01:17:59 - Domestic work in Beloit--travels with Mrs. Arnold--cooking for Beta house when John Erickson and John Orr were members--work for the Neese family--using the cookbook--trip to England and Spain with the Gages
01:26:51 - Work at Hobart and Wingers--pay scale--pay scale for domestic work
01:30:42 - Organization of the Women's Culture Club
01:31:18 - Ethel Conwell as organizer of the Women's Culture Club
01:36:05 - Reaction to husband Neal's union activities--marriage and courtship practices--Neal, Jr.'s “radicalism”--enterprising children--grandmother Harris in the household
01:46:11 - More on Neal, Jr., as a radical--comments on other children, daughter as a public health nurse
01:48:45 - Comments on family reunions
