Rutledge Cassette 1 Side 1
Media
Part of Interview: Rutledge, James D.
Title
Rutledge Cassette 1 Side 1
Source
James D. Rutledge Interview
Date
1990-07-17
Description
Cassette 1
Side 1
00:00--Biographical Information
1:20--Rutledge states that his paternal grandparents were Jack and Bell Blassingame Rutledge. His maternal grandparents were Sonie and Laura Wright. He can remember only Bell Rutledge, who lived in a large house atop a hill in the "Many Forks" section of town.
4:00--His father was a sharecropper who worked in the Richland community for J.D. McMahan.
5:45--Most of his immediate family is buried at Oak Grove Cemetery.
6:00--Rutledge makes brief comment of funerals and weddings as they were carried out when he was younger.
8:00--A few of the families he is related to are the Rileys, Crafts, Browns, Grants, and Gilberts. His wife's surname was Bezzard (?).
9:20--His siblings are Lucille R. Poole, George, Johnny, Willie Mae R. Webb, and Elizabeth R. Reid.
9:55--Rutledge produces a family bible that was printed by the Southwestern Company of Tennessee.
11:37--His father was a sharecropper. He recalls his mother's work as a midwife. Many of his family members left the area to find work in places such as Ohio and Charlotte. Jobs available to black men were commonly carpentry, farming, and blacksmith work. Women usually were involved with domestic activities. He recounts his family's experiences shopping and eating in cafés in the Seneca area. One local black business owner was Joe Long.
21:37--Rutledge describes the relationships between whites and blacks in Seneca as cooperative. Dr. Sharp, who was black, cared for both white and black patients locally. Most café's and restaurants were segregated, however. His family shopped most often with cash to buy staples such as sugar and coffee. Most clothing was handmade by his mother, who used a spinning wheel. His grandfather Johnson Wright made furniture and chair backs for the house, some of which Rutledge still owns.
31:25--Audio ends.
Side 1
00:00--Biographical Information
1:20--Rutledge states that his paternal grandparents were Jack and Bell Blassingame Rutledge. His maternal grandparents were Sonie and Laura Wright. He can remember only Bell Rutledge, who lived in a large house atop a hill in the "Many Forks" section of town.
4:00--His father was a sharecropper who worked in the Richland community for J.D. McMahan.
5:45--Most of his immediate family is buried at Oak Grove Cemetery.
6:00--Rutledge makes brief comment of funerals and weddings as they were carried out when he was younger.
8:00--A few of the families he is related to are the Rileys, Crafts, Browns, Grants, and Gilberts. His wife's surname was Bezzard (?).
9:20--His siblings are Lucille R. Poole, George, Johnny, Willie Mae R. Webb, and Elizabeth R. Reid.
9:55--Rutledge produces a family bible that was printed by the Southwestern Company of Tennessee.
11:37--His father was a sharecropper. He recalls his mother's work as a midwife. Many of his family members left the area to find work in places such as Ohio and Charlotte. Jobs available to black men were commonly carpentry, farming, and blacksmith work. Women usually were involved with domestic activities. He recounts his family's experiences shopping and eating in cafés in the Seneca area. One local black business owner was Joe Long.
21:37--Rutledge describes the relationships between whites and blacks in Seneca as cooperative. Dr. Sharp, who was black, cared for both white and black patients locally. Most café's and restaurants were segregated, however. His family shopped most often with cash to buy staples such as sugar and coffee. Most clothing was handmade by his mother, who used a spinning wheel. His grandfather Johnson Wright made furniture and chair backs for the house, some of which Rutledge still owns.
31:25--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.