The collection dates from 1942 to 2014 and is arranged alphabetically into three series: Race and Memory Oral History Project series which is subdivided into the Interviews and Management subseries, Book series, and General Subject Files series. Interview transcriptions and supporting documentation for the “Race and Memory” oral history project conducted by Vida Sister Prince from 1993 to 1995 comprise the bulk of the collection. It also includes files about the management of the project; files about Prince’s book, That’s the Way It Was (The History Press, 2013), which resulted from the oral history project; and general subject files relating to Prince, black history, and prominent civil rights figures in St. Louis.

Sister Prince began this independent oral history project in 1993. The Missouri Historical Society offered limited support: advice and feedback, some transcribing, and a place to conduct interviews if needed. It was also understood that the tapes and transcripts would eventually be deposited with the Society’s Library and Research Center. In That’s The Way It Was, an article for Gateway Heritage (spring 1997), she described her project as:

"…an oral history project about how race affected people of color as they went about their daily lives. I wanted to know how people learned about themselves: how they became aware that there were people whose skin was a different color than their own, and that it made a difference, and where in the St. Louis landscape their memories took place.”

Sister Prince ultimately interviewed 40 people for her project, both African-American and Caucasian. Some interviews included relatives or spouses, but most were with a single individual. Interviewees ranged in age from thirty to over ninety.

In addition to the themes of family, urban life and neighborhoods, and social class, Prince’s interviews also included discussions of the East St. Louis race riot of 1917, segregation and sit ins by the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) at downtown department stores, education, politics, and union activity. She spoke with people from diverse careers, from a railroad porter who discussed segregation on the rails to the president of the construction company that built the Pruit-Igoe housing project. Many of the people that Prince interviewed lived in Mill Creek before it was demolished in 1959.

The Race and Memory Oral History Project series is divided into two subseries: Interviews and Management. Both subseries are arranged alphabetically. The Interviews subseries dates 1993 to 2011 and contains all documentation relating to the interviews for the project, usually, but not always, including a transcription of the interview(s), some of which are edited. In some instances, there are handwritten notes about the interview’s content and Prince’s impressions, biographical data about the interviewee, notes compiled for publication but which were not used, and obituaries. Prince asked the interviewees to complete a personal identification sheet and an attitudinal survey that she developed regarding race and racism in St. Louis. These two forms are not present for all interviewees.

Tape information sheets and tape indexes are two forms often used to help process the information in oral history interviews. The tape information sheets record how many cassette tapes were used in the interview and provide a place for the interviewer to summarize and/or record highlights from the conversation. The tape index is a way to specifically locate certain topics within the conversations. As with the forms mentioned previously, these are available for several interviews, but not for all of them. The presence of the forms is noted on the Folder List.

The Management subseries contains files relating to planning and carrying out the project from 1993 to 1996. There are documents relating to the support and advice given by the Missouri Historical Society, drafts of interview questions, blank forms used to document the interviewees and the interviews, and about transcriptionists and photographers.

The Book series, 1991 to 2018, contains the book proposal, an early draft of the book, correspondence with attorneys and publishers, and a list of expenses associated with the book. The publisher correspondence also contains reader reviews of the book manuscript.

The General Subject Files series is comprised of information on St. Louis civil rights leaders Frankie Freeman, Charles and Marian Oldham, and Ivory Perry. Prince served on the Marian Oldham Scholarship Committee for the University of Missouri-St. Louis. There are also files with notes about exhibitions at the Missouri History Museum on which Prince worked and notes about teaching oral history. There are two files of clippings on black history which date from 1942 to 2014.

Please see the Photo & Prints Department for photographs used in the book, That’s The Way It Was. Please consult the Moving Image and Sound Department for interview recordings.

Synopsis of Interviews

Anonymous (“D” and “W”): Interviewed October 6, 1994 -- Two gentlemen who were executives at Stix, Baer & Fuller in downtown St. Louis. They discuss segregation practices for employees and customers at the store before and after the integration of the public lunch counter by CORE (Congress on Racial Equality).

Morris Atkinson and Rev. Allen Winbush (1930- ): Interviewed on September 19, 1994 -- Both gentlemen worked as social workers at the Prince Hall Family Support Center at 4411 North Newstead in St. Louis and described its services. Rev. Winbush was born in Pennsylvania and did not encounter segregation until he moved to Washington D.C. at age 11, which he said was much like St. Louis.

Ruth Rothchild Bettman (1910-2010): Interviewed April 26, 1994 -- Bettman was chairman of the St. Louis Child Welfare Advisory Committee, appointed to the board of Human Development Corporation, and several other social planning commissions and comittees. The city’s welfare office had an additional office in Pruitt Igoe and mentions the conditions. She recalls the consequences of segregation with luncheon meetings when it was necessary to find an establishment that allowed both blacks and women, e.g. when Thurgood Marshall spoke at a conference luncheon for the Missouri Association for Social Welfare.

Stella Bouie (1928- ): Interviewed October 20, 1994 -- Bouie worked for Stix, Baer & Fuller from 1956 through the 1970s and discusses segregation by her employer and also her family and childhood experiences. She held several positions at Stix, including that of Display Maid.

Emma Bradford (1902-1996): Interviewed on May 12, 1993 -- Bradford’s family moved to East St. Louis in February 1917 and recalled that the women and children were gathered together in houses during the July race riot. She left her family in East St. Louis shortly after the riot and began in domestic service in St. Louis.

Demosthenes DuBose (1924-2012): Interviewed on 23 March 1993, 4 May 1993, and 8 June 1995 -- DuBose was born in St. Louis and lived in the Ville. He attended, and later taught in, the St. Louis Public Schools and served as president of the St. Louis Teachers’ Union Local 420. He recalls conditions at several schools. DuBose was in the army in WWII, stationed in Europe and served with integrated companies. Upon his return to the U.S., he and his friends found that their service did not nothing to change segregation.

George J. Elliott, Jr. (1920-2009): Interviewed on 24 June 1993, 30 August 1994, 13 March 1995, 7 August 1995, and 9 November 1995 -- Elliott was born in St Louis and grew up in the Elleardsville neighborhood. He attended the Cottage Avenue School, portable buildings near Sumner High School, from kindergarten through 4th grade. He was active with the YMCA and attended summer camps for many years. He became an educator and retired from Webster Groves High School.

Clifton Fitzpatrick (1923-1995): Interviewed on 14 December 1993, 14 September 1995 (phone), 20 September 1995, 16 October 1995, 1 November 1995 -- Fitzpatrick was born in St. Louis, grew up near Jefferson and Market in an area called “Little Memphis,” and moved to Carr Square with his young family in 1942 or 1943. Upon returning home in 1946 from serving in the Navy, he started working with the post office where he worked for 38 years.

Eula Flowers (c.1925- ): Interviewed on 5 May 1994, 11 January 1995, and 31 May 1995 -- Flowers was born in Louisiana, her family moved to St. Louis in the early 1930s, grew up in The Ville neighborhood. She graduated from Stowe Teachers College and earned a master’s degree from St. Louis University. She taught for the St. Louis Public Schools and served as principal of two elementary schools.

Roy Glasscock (1936- ): Interviewed on 10 September 1993 -- Glasscock grew up in Maplewood and became a policeman with the St. Louis Police Department. He worked in the 5th, 6th, and 9th districts and recalls observations on race and how the department has changed.

Melvin Hamilton (1912-1997): Interviewed on 27 October 1993, 10 November 1993, 27 August 1994, 30 April 1995, and 2 May 1995 -- Hamilton was born in East St. Louis and grew up in downtown St. Louis. He was a member of the first graduating class at Vashon High School in 1928. He earned a B.S. in mathematics at Ohio State and a master’s degree from Washington University. He taught math in the St. Louis Public Schools until his retirement in 1981.

Walter Lee Hayes (1923-1998): Interviewed on 21 June 1993, 22 September 1994, 7 February 1995 -- Hayes was born in Arkansas and moved to St. Louis in 1940 to complete high school at Vashon. He joined the Marine Corps in 1942 and he attended college on the G.I. Bill. From 1948 to 1970, he was an active member of CORE.

Vivian Howard (1911- ): Interviewed on 1 July 1995 -- Howard came to St. Louis at age 11 in 1922. She worked at Stix, starting as an elevator starter and explains conditions working there and at other department stores. She recalls her childhood in St. Louis and her family. Howard explained that she was light-skinned and had red hair and unknowingly found herself passing as white on occasion.

Clara Jackson (1908- ): Interviewed on July 21, 1993 -- Jackson was born in East St. Louis, moved to St. Louis in 1917, and at the time of the interview she lived in Detroit, Michigan. She was interviewed with her younger cousin, Salimah Jones, and Jones’s daughter, Kimberly McLean, while the three discussed thoughts and feelings among three generations. Jackson was 8 years old during the East St. Louis race riot and recalls events.

Salimah Jones (1941- ): Interviewed on 5 May 1993, 26 May 1993, 21 July 1993 (see Jackson B2/f.19-20), 3 November 1994 (phone), and 22 June 1995 -- Jones grew up in Carr Square Village and on St. Louis Avenue and graduated from Soldan High School in 1960. She explains what she learned from the black community and her strict upbringing, her experiences in school, and in trips downtown as a child. Her father, Hubert Ballentine was nicknamed “Dickey” and was a co-founder of the Mathews-Dickey Boys & Girls Club. Jones worked for 20 years as an investigator with the Civil Rights Enforcement Agency.

Clarence King (1930- ): Interviewed on 8 November 1993 -- King lived in Mill Creek near Union Station, shined shoes during WWII, and became a city alderman. He recalls school and how he spent free time. King enlisted at age 15 and was in Japan and the Philippines in 1946. He remembers how the Army segregated cities and towns in foreign cities for black servicemen. King went to work at Anheuser-Busch in 1970 and describes the brewery as the most segregated place in the city. He identified Percy Green and Bill Bailey as two of the city’s most influential civil rights leaders.

Eugene Z. Lewis (1902-1994): Interviewed on 17 April 1993 and 28 April 1993 -- Lewis was born in St. Louis, his mother was black and his father was white. He recalls his relationship with his father and his family. Lewis also remembers what is was like in St. Louis during the East St. Louis race riot. He worked for a streetcar company, later a bus company, for 48 years.

John W. Lewis (1922-2006): Interviewed on 14 March 1994 -- Johnnie Lewis was born in Mount Vernon and grew up mostly in southwest Missouri and attended Lincoln University while working mostly in restaurants. In 1944, he got a job with the railroad and traveled to St. Louis to work out of the commissary at Union Station. He first worked in the dining car as a waiter and recounts his responsibilities and experiences on the rails. In 1953, Lewis left the railroad and started working at Westwood County Club in St. Louis County. Lewis was a boy scout in Springfield, and later a scoutmaster, and explains the valuable life lessons he learned from scouting.

Edna McKinney (1929- ): Interviewed on 15 March 1994, 23 March 1994, 26 April 1994, 14 November 1995, 4 January 1996 (phone) and 23 February 1996 (phone) -- Edna McKinney grew up in a boarding house in Mill Creek with her mother, aunt, two uncles, and cousins. She graduated from Vashon High School. Her parents separated when she was young and she often spent summers at ger father’s home in The Ville neighborhood. McKinney recalled the differences between the two neighborhoods. She became a member of the Young Democrats at age 21 and was crowned queen of the Nineteenth Ward Regular Democratic Organization in 1959, a fund-raising competition spearheaded by Jordan “Pop” Chambers.

Kimberly MacLean (1962- ): Interviewed on 4 June 1993 -- MacLean is the daughter of Salimah Jones. She recalls her childhood and the violence that became prevalent in the St. Louis Public Schools in the late 1960s and 1970s. She describes her experiences at Crossroads in middle school and Mary Institute. MacLean explains her family ties and forays around St. Louis and downtown.

Richard Martin (1928-2008): Interviewed on 11 June 1993 -- Martin was a nephew of Josephine Baker, lived in Mill Creek, graduated from Washington Technical High School in 1943, and earned an Associate’s degree from Tucker Business College. He served in the Army from 1946 to 1949 in Japan. In 1985, Martin founded the Children’s Performing Arts Academy for talented, disadvantaged, low income children. He recalled his childhood as idyllic with an extended family in the Mill Creek neighborhood and how things changed after the development of the area.

Isadore Millstone (1907-2009): Interviewed on 6 and 7 September 1994 -- Millstone grew up in St. Louis, was a well-known philanthropist, and headed Millstone Constructions when it built the Pruitt-Igoe public housing project. He recalled what neighborhoods looked like when he was young, where different ethnic groups lived, and what Mill Creek was like before it was developed.

Ernestine Newman (1928-2011): Interviewed on 2 December 1993 -- Newman grew up in Mill Creek, graduated from Vashon High Schol, and graduated from Harri-Stowe in 1964 after her marriage. She recalls her own childhood and school days and also those of her daughters, who attended an integrated school. Newman felt she hadn’t experienced racism until her children encountered it at Scullin School.

Wanda Penny (1923-1994): Interviewed on 10 June 1993 -- Penny was born in Sparta, Illinois, and lived in Ohio and West Virginia before she and her brother came to St. Louis with their mother in 1932, she taught art in the St. Louis Public Schools and at Harris-Stowe College. They lived in Mill Creek and her mother was active with Jordan Chambers and his political organization. Penny recalled that Chambers helped people get jobs. After graduating from Vashon High School, Penny became active with CORE and recounted her experiences with the lunch counter sit ins and with CORE meetings and organization.

Ellawee Phillips (1913-2007): Interviewed on 18 April 1994 -- Phillips was born in St. Louis and lived at 2715 Papin Street in south St Louis. She always lived in integrated neighborhoods and played with white children but she recalled segregation at school, church, and at businesses.

Charles Poiner (1928-1994): Interviewed on 24 March 1994 -- Poiner was born in St. Louis, graduated from Vashon High School, and served in the Army during the Korean War. He drove a bus for Bi-State for 40 years, beginning in 1953 when the transit company allowed blacks to drive buses. Poiner recalled his youth, army days, and experiences driving a bus.

Pearl McFarland Shanks (1926-2000): Interviewed on 30 March 1993, Fall 1994 (phone), 28 July 1995 (no transcript), 15 August 1995 -- Shanks was born in St. Louis and grew up in Mill Creek. She and her brothers belonged to the Drum and Bugle Corps of the Tom Powell Post No. 77 of the American Legion. She recalled segregation in the departments stores, public transportation, and the Shapleigh Hardware Company. Shanks experienced Jim Crow policies on a visit to Virginia, compared that experience to St. Louis. She also explained feelings in the black community about those who could pass as white.

Karen K. Skender (1941- ): Interviewed on 20 August 1993 and 8 Sept 1993 -- Skender was born in St. Louis, graduated from Southwest High School, and her father was a white small business owner in south St. Louis.

Dorothy Strickler (1912-2007): Interviewed on 17 May 1994 and 11 August 1994 -- Strickland was a teacher and administrator for the St. Louis Public Schools for almost 40 years. She was in her second year as a principal when the district gave her one of three schools with an integrated faculty in 1954-1955. She explained how integration was accomplished and its challenges.

Catharine Weston (1909-2005): Interviewed on 6 April 1993, 27 April 1993, 26 October 1993, Fall 1994 (phone), 25 March 1995 (phone), 16 August 1995 -- Weston came to St. Louis in 1933 to work as a social worker with the St. Louis Provident Association. All cases were segregated and she was assigned to one of the city’s two black districts, Biddle. She also worked in Mill Creek and remembered visiting Hooverville in the 1930s. Weston lived in The Ville and shared her perceptions of the neighborhood, her experience shopping in downtown St. Louis, and stories of growing up in North Carolina.

Elizabeth R. Williamson (1918-1998): Interviewed on 26 January 1994 -- Williamson was born and raised in Yonkers, New York, earned her bachelor’s degree at Hunters College and her master’s degree in social work at Smith College. She recalled her childhood in New York, her college experiences including field work in Chicago, and her daughter’s experience at Wellesley College. She came to St. Louis in 1941 and worked with Family and Children ‘s Services to set up an office in Kinloch. Her husband worked for black newspapers in St. Louis and they sent their sons to the Thomas Jefferson School.

Gabrielle Jacquet Wilson (1944- ): Interviewed on 12 July 1994, 22 July 1994, 17 August 1994 -- Wilson was born in St. Louis, lived in the Central West End, and graduated from Rosati Kain High School. She recalled being able to go places that other members of her family could not go due to her light skin, a trait shared with her mother’s family. Wilson explained that she was mostly unaware of segregation. Her grandfather, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes Tyler was the first black doctor to practice in St. Charles.