Transcript
Index
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:00:33 - Family background in Mississippi--parents as slaves, uncles sold and lost track of--Walter Ingram born in Pontotoc, Mississippi in 1892
00:04:46 - Mother recalled Yankee troops during the Civil War---house saved by a Masonic ring--grandfather as a “tough boy”, encounter with owner, refused whipping and prevailed--grandmother was an Indian
00:12:22 - Incidents under slavery--relative barely escaped over the Ohio River--importance of family on stories
00:15:10 - Ingrams as landowners in Mississippi after the War--cheap land, mother wanted to buy more, father feared debt--log house
00:18:36 - Walter Ingram's father worked for the railroad
00:21:06 - Family religious background--father Baptist, mother Methodist
00:23:41 - Schooling in Mississippi--W.I. as self-made--most teaching from parents and the Church
00:27:17 - Interracial relations in Mississippi--white neighbors--W.I. refused to work for a man in debt to him, angry confrontation
00:31:05 - Further comments on confrontation with W.I.'s debtor, “can't live on air”--visit to Uncle Frank in Jackson
00:37:18 - Father's fear of debt--taught W.I. to run from a fight--father helped build local cotton oil mill
00:39:54 - Walter Ingram's work in Mississippi--cleaning and pressing--restaurant business, problem with white men
00:48:09 - Leaving Mississippi for Beloit, the influence of John McCord who wanted W.I. as a baseball player
00:50:52 - W.I. as a hunter in Pontotoc, supplied local hotel and doctors
00:52:57 - W.I. as a baseball player, second baseman--triple play--played with Pontotoc team---played at Rust College once, they won by cheating
00:59:05 - McCord wanted W.I. to help challenge white teams in Beloit area--W.I.'s decision to play on Sunday
01:01:01 - more on baseball playing--W.I. as first black in the CIO baseball league in Racine--others followed, “we got one” story
01:04:09 - No returning to Mississippi--warned to leave Pontotoc, refused to leave until later
01:07:58 - Decision to leave Mississippi, the year of the boll weevil--W.I. as one of the first to leave for Beloit
01:11:06 - The trip to Beloit
01:13:00 - Andrew Davis story, the Yankee beggar in St. Louis
01:14:45 - Differences in Beloit--Mississippi migrants resented by original Beloit black families, feared trouble with whites
01:18:42 - John McCord's pitch about Beloit--better opportunities, no fear of lynching--encounter with Sheriff Woods of Pontotoc
01:26:41 - First job at Fairbanks-Morse--work in the power house--problem with foreman who fired blacks indiscriminately
01:30:08 - Further comments on problem with the foreman--W.I. relationship with Eugene Burlingame, F-M personnel director--problem with Italian-American workers, fights---fight with “Monk”--Italian workers threatened to quit--W.I. worked in the power house while recruiting workers from Mississippi
01:38:29 - Further comments on confrontation with Italians--Italians briefly quit work, marched downtown, 1916
01:45:14 - Further comments on work at F-M--W.I. tried to get along with everybody--hunting with friend Miles in Pontotoc, confrontation between Miles and W.I.--Miles later killed in auto accident
01:54:42 - Walter Ingram begins recruiting for Fairbanks-Morse--wages at F-M, more than John McCord, McCord confronted manager
01:58:23 - McCord introduced. W.I. to recruiting--recruiting money appropriated by George Ingersoll--W.I. operated out of Memphis, made contacts from there in the Pontotoc area
02:01:09 - W.I. went to Chicago during the 1921 recession---returned to F-M in 1922
02:06:45 - Walter Ingram's first recruiting experience--special car for groups over eighteen--Mr. Moore of the Illinois Central in Memphis, problem with tickets, lawyer needed to settle it
02:17:47 - W.I.'s reaction to Eugene Burlingame--recollection of Edgewater Apts
02:19:27 - Burlingame considered W.I. dependable--foundry work too hard for white workers
02:21:43 - Moving to Racine--getting a job from Mel Ward at Walker Manufacturing
02:27:08 - Need to organize a union at Walker
02:28:15 - Further comments on recruiting--used church-going people as contacts in Pontotoc area--emphasized wages--man willing to come north
02:32:21 - Story about John Reneau
02:34:07 - W.I. began recruiting soon after his arrival in Beloit--W.I. told Burlingame that he knew more people in Mississippi than anyone else in Beloit
02:35:45 - Dangers of recruiting, W.I. succeeded in avoiding most of them
02:37:13 - Duration of W.I.'s recruiting--comments concerning Charles Simmons--no additional pay for recruiting
02:40:26 - Seymour's impact on Fairbanks-Morse--spread work over entire year, Seymour as W.I.'s superintendent
02:42:33 - W.I. saw recruiting as a way to help his people--caused worry to his family--the next recruiter, Rogers, was arrested in Mississippi, too careless
02:45:35 - Burlingame made trip to Memphis with W.I. in 1917--W.I. laid off by F-M even though he was a steady worker--George Ingersoll took care of brother Jim's problem in the foundry
02:54:48 - W.I. considered recruiting to be the Lord's work, helped others to prosper--1957 trip to Pontotoc