Interview: Williams, Lizealur M.
Item
Identifier
Mss-0282, Tape 106-107
Title
Interview: Williams, Lizealur M.
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
1990-07-07
Description
Lizealur M. Williams was born on June 8, 1911 [grave marker gives date January 8, 1911] in Anderson County, SC. She was married to James G. Williams, a local railroad employee. Mrs. Williams operated a hair salon and boarding house locally. She died in 2002.
Cassette 1
Side 1
2:48-12:06--Her grandmother Morris lived with the family in her elderly years. Mrs. Williams briefly touches on a variety of topics: her ten siblings; the keeping of family records through the use of bibles; her family owned their own house, land, farm, and car; she grew up in a racially mixed neighborhood; and the fact that her grandmother was a slave [she can no longer recall any stories her grandmother may have told, however]. Traditional funeral and wedding practices are briefly recalled. Aspects of childbirth are touched upon.
12:10-19:52--Mrs. Williams recalls her hair salon business in the Clemson area circa 1940. She was required to have a license to run the business. She goes on to detail hairdressing equipment, customers, and popular hairstyles. She also ran a boarding establishment for teachers and railroad workers. Jobs available to blacks when she was young mostly involved agricultural work. Her family shopped in Oconee and Anderson occasionally. During the flu epidemic of 1917-1918, her entire family became ill.
19:59-31:28--Mrs. Williams has belonged to both the Baptist and Methodist denominations. She is currently a member at New Holly Light. She was baptized near the Zion Community Church in Oconee County. She describes aspects of local camp meeting and describes shape-note singing at singing conventions. Williams received an eighth grade education. She had a brother who attended Seneca Junior College. The relationships between blacks and whites were, in her estimation, one in which they "...got along well." She briefly mentions that Christmas and New Year's Eve were important holidays in the black community.
31:32--Audio ends
Cassette 1
Side 2
Blank
Cassette 2
Side 1
00:06-5:40--Deas-Moore examines a family photo album and takes photographs.
5:48--Audio ends.
Cassette 2
Side 2
Blank
Cassette 1
Side 1
2:48-12:06--Her grandmother Morris lived with the family in her elderly years. Mrs. Williams briefly touches on a variety of topics: her ten siblings; the keeping of family records through the use of bibles; her family owned their own house, land, farm, and car; she grew up in a racially mixed neighborhood; and the fact that her grandmother was a slave [she can no longer recall any stories her grandmother may have told, however]. Traditional funeral and wedding practices are briefly recalled. Aspects of childbirth are touched upon.
12:10-19:52--Mrs. Williams recalls her hair salon business in the Clemson area circa 1940. She was required to have a license to run the business. She goes on to detail hairdressing equipment, customers, and popular hairstyles. She also ran a boarding establishment for teachers and railroad workers. Jobs available to blacks when she was young mostly involved agricultural work. Her family shopped in Oconee and Anderson occasionally. During the flu epidemic of 1917-1918, her entire family became ill.
19:59-31:28--Mrs. Williams has belonged to both the Baptist and Methodist denominations. She is currently a member at New Holly Light. She was baptized near the Zion Community Church in Oconee County. She describes aspects of local camp meeting and describes shape-note singing at singing conventions. Williams received an eighth grade education. She had a brother who attended Seneca Junior College. The relationships between blacks and whites were, in her estimation, one in which they "...got along well." She briefly mentions that Christmas and New Year's Eve were important holidays in the black community.
31:32--Audio ends
Cassette 1
Side 2
Blank
Cassette 2
Side 1
00:06-5:40--Deas-Moore examines a family photo album and takes photographs.
5:48--Audio ends.
Cassette 2
Side 2
Blank
Subject
African Americans -- History. -- South Carolina -- Anderson County
Interviewer
Deas-Moore, Vennie
Interviewee
Williams, Lizealur
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
