Balance Your Body Clear Your Mind Shape Your Life

then when the fair came, the blacks had one day they could attend; that was fun. You had the carnival, and it was fun. The baseball team. My brothers would play baseball.

What do you remember about the circus?

Being afraid of everything. I was afraid of most everything back then. I was just a scared little kid, and I blame it all on my older sister. She protected me so much.

Did you eventually grow out of that?

Traveling around with my husband all the time, he made me tough. I would have to stay in hotels and motels, and so in that way I got to where I wasn’t afraid.

How about historical events, do you remember the Great Depression?

I wasyoung.Myfatheralwayshad some type of job, so we were never on welfare. His mother was living, and she had a big farm in Texas, and she supplied us with sacks of potatoes, peas and meat, and stuff like that. Then my mother’s mother lived around the corner, and she was very helpful. So my parents had their own welfare.

Obviously World War II was a big part of your life as well. What was it like for your husband to be away fighting?

It was scary. My second brother and my husband were in World War II.

Did Thomas enlist or was he drafted?

Oh no, he didn’t enlist. I didn’t know that he was moving around to keep Uncle Sam from getting him, to avoid the draft, but his family did [know that]. He was working with a band in West Texas, in Midland, and Uncle Sam was after him. So his mother — they all had moved to California — and they wanted him to go out there, but I didn’t want him to go. So he was just going to visit, and that’s where they got him, was in California.

When he went into the service, my mother wanted me to come home to Dallas because my father had died. So I came home, and that’s when I started working.

Another thing I’d love to hear about is your perspective on segregation in Dallas.

I spokeaboutthefairearlier.We had one day because the black people couldn’t go anytime. It was places like the big hotels or the big cafeterias that the black people couldn’t go. Oh, and we had streetcars instead of buses, and there was the sign up for coloreds and for whites. Coloreds had to sit behind the sign.

Working with young people now as a volunteer at Head Start of Greater Dallas, have you seen any change in the younger generation?

These children, they start out as children of all races, and they didn’t know the di erence. They had to be taught, and that’s the way it was when I was growing up, they had to be taught to not like certain people.

Since you traveled a lot, did you notice any differences between regions?

They said Texas was more prejudice, but there were a lot of places that we went, in the East and West coast, where they were more prejudice than here.

How about some flashback questions: Do you remember your first car?

Wedidn’thave a caruntil’51, a Chevrolet.

How about your favorite band?

I really liked Duke Ellington. That was rhythm and blues.

Did you have any favorite celebrities?

Letmesee...EllaFitzgerald,Sarah Vaughan, movie star Audrey Hepburn, Claudette Colbert.

Do you remember the first time you ever went to the movies?

I believe it was “Imitation of Life.” That was really something because it was on Christmas day. They let us go to the movie on Christmas and because it was a very, very popular movie it ran for two or three weeks. It was downtown at the Majestic Theater. Of course, colored people had to sit up in the balcony, but we got to see it.

Any favorite phrases?

Hm …

Like“cat’spajamas”didyouever say that?

Oh yes! Cat’s pajamas *laughs* How about fashion trends, any favorites?

In the ‘30s, everybody was wearing fishtails. And at one time everybody was wearing short haircuts. I wanted mine cut, and my mother didn’t want me to cut it, but finally she gave in.

Were there any fashion trends you didn’t like?

I remember I didn’t like the … what do they call those big legs? Oh, the bell bottoms. I really didn’t like the bell bottoms, but I had some because everybody else was wearing them.

Have you seen your outlook on life change as you’ve grown older?

I usedtodrawbackfrompeople. I wasn’t as friendly and outgoing. I really don’t know why. Maybe it came with age. And I used to be more critical than I am now. I’m Catholic, so maybe I’m taking my religion more seriously. I don’t make excuses, but I overlook things that people do more than I used to.