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Black Heritage in the Upper Piedmont of South Carolina

Reid Cassette 1 Side 1

Media

Part of Interview: Reid, Anna

Title

Reid Cassette 1 Side 1

Source

Anna Reid Interview

Date

1991-07-30

Description

Cassette 1

Side 1

0:22--Mrs. Reid gives some biographical information and Megginson gives some information on Mrs. Reid's involvement with the project.

1:13--Mrs. Reid first discusses the area in which she grew up before highlighting her involvement with the Black Heritage in the Upper Piedmont Project. She grew up in Westminster, but since her local school only provided an education through the 9th grade, she had to move to the Seneca area in order to finish her education at the Seneca Training School. After finishing high school she attended Friendship Junior College where she met her future husband, Lawrence. She recounts the story of their marriage in which they eloped on October 12, 1941. Reverend Collins preformed the ceremony. World War II soon broke out, and her husband joined the military and was stationed initially at Camp Killman, New Jersey. He was never sent overseas; rather, he worked with the Medical Corps domestically.

6:39--During the war years, Mrs. Reid lived in a Jewish neighborhood in The Bronx, NY with her sister-in-law Sara Kibler. While there, she worked for General Electric at the Emerson Radio defense plant. She describes the plant as multiracial and integrated; with whites the large majority but having large contingents of blacks and Hispanics as well. Most of the workers were women. Many southern blacks moved north to find employment in the war industry. She describes her first experiences working in an integrated environment. She made $50 a month at this job. She then moves on to educational aspects regarding the black community as she experienced them growing up. There were differences in black and white schools, such as having to walk to school versus white children who rode the bus. She then goes on to describe black social life in New York City during World War II, including nights at the "Savoy" being entertained by such stars as Cab Calloway and Leena Horne; a local South Carolina entertainer known as "Cootie" Williams played the northern night circuit as well. It took her a while to adjust to big city life, because small town rural life was all that she knew. She did have some exposure to popular entertainment acts of the day previously through visits to the Little John Grill in Central, SC.

16:40--After the end of the war, Mr. and Mrs. Reid returned to Clemson, SC. A local lady named Bernice Holt, who was influential in civil rights, encouraged Mrs. Reid to apply for a job at the local Five & Dime. She was the first black sales clerk hired at the white owned business. The black community was shocked and surprised, and her presence at the store generally intrigued the public. Soon other blacks applied for employment at the store. In 1966, she was approached in regards to a Federal job with the USDA. She was hired with the USDA's Market Quality Research lab, which tested the chemical make-up of cotton. Her husband Lawrence was influential in establishing the Interoffice Mail system at Clemson University and later worked at the Clemson University Post Office.

28:50--Audio ends.

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.