Interview: Ponder, Runette
Item
Identifier
Mss-0282, Tape 68
Title
Interview: Ponder, Runette
Type
Sound
Format
.mp3
Language
English
Source
Black Heritage in the Upper Piedmont of South Carolina Collection
Rights
Interviews may only be reproduced with permission from Clemson University Libraries Special Collections and Archives. All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the Clemson University Libraries Special Collections and Archives.
Date
1990-08-10
Description
Runette Ponder was born in Abbeville County, SC on August 15, 1906. She was the wife of William Ponder. Though she spent much time living in Pendleton, SC, her employment with the Civil Service and domestic work took her to Washington, D.C. and New York City. She died on May 25, 1999 in Hampton, SC.
Side 1
00:07-8:50--Mrs. Ponder gives a brief family history before making comment on her job in Washington, D.C. with the General Accounting Office. She then gives reflections of her childhood in regards to her father's farm, her early education, and popular holidays such as Christmas and Easter. Mrs. Ponder had two sisters and six brothers.
8:56-17:05--Her parents attended the local African Methodist Episcopal Church; she herself was a Catholic. She joined the Catholic Church while she was doing domestic work for a doctor's family in New York City. She describes the ways in which funeral practices and wedding ceremonies were different when she was young. She states that her grandfather was a white man from Abbeville, SC.
17:10-31:22--Mrs. Ponder makes comment on the differences between white and black schools before giving her opinion that Clemson University was a good place for the employment of blacks before desegregation, and afterwards was a good place for education of the black community. She goes on to describe camp meetings, singing conventions, homemade quilting and sewing, as well as a tornado that her family experienced.
31:25--Audio ends.
Side 2
00:24--Mrs. Ponder discusses prejudicial behavior against blacks that she experienced as a child in the South. Blacks had to sit at the back of the bus, pay higher prices than whites for common household staples, were not allowed in many restaurants, and had to endure racial slurs.
4:57--Audio ends.
Side 1
00:07-8:50--Mrs. Ponder gives a brief family history before making comment on her job in Washington, D.C. with the General Accounting Office. She then gives reflections of her childhood in regards to her father's farm, her early education, and popular holidays such as Christmas and Easter. Mrs. Ponder had two sisters and six brothers.
8:56-17:05--Her parents attended the local African Methodist Episcopal Church; she herself was a Catholic. She joined the Catholic Church while she was doing domestic work for a doctor's family in New York City. She describes the ways in which funeral practices and wedding ceremonies were different when she was young. She states that her grandfather was a white man from Abbeville, SC.
17:10-31:22--Mrs. Ponder makes comment on the differences between white and black schools before giving her opinion that Clemson University was a good place for the employment of blacks before desegregation, and afterwards was a good place for education of the black community. She goes on to describe camp meetings, singing conventions, homemade quilting and sewing, as well as a tornado that her family experienced.
31:25--Audio ends.
Side 2
00:24--Mrs. Ponder discusses prejudicial behavior against blacks that she experienced as a child in the South. Blacks had to sit at the back of the bus, pay higher prices than whites for common household staples, were not allowed in many restaurants, and had to endure racial slurs.
4:57--Audio ends.
Subject
African Americans -- History -- South Carolina -- Anderson County
Interviewer
Lawrence, Audrey
Interviewee
Ponder, Runette
Spatial Coverage
Pendleton, Anderson County, South Carolina, United States, 34.64916, -82.78135, SC, 7172313, [34.64916, -82.78135] [id:7172313]
Publisher
Clemson University Libraries Special Collections and Archives Repository
