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Black Heritage in the Upper Piedmont of South Carolina

Vance-Robinson Cassette 2 Side 1

Media

Part of Interview: Vance-Robinson, Lenora

Title

Vance-Robinson Cassette 2 Side 1

Source

Lenora Vance-Robinson Interview

Date

1990-07-23, 1990-07-24

Description

Cassette 2

Side 1

00:20--Vance Robinson talks about her mother who, in her opinion, was the backbone of the family.

8:30--She talks about Charles Burgess and Mary Stark Vance. Mary died of the flu in 1919.

11:05--Megginson is interested to know if blacks may be more susceptible to disease. In her opinion blacks may well have been more susceptible, especially in those days, because of diet and poor living conditions. There was no focus on nutrition.

13:45--As a child she cannot recall people ever going to the hospital. Dr. Horton was local black physician who made house calls. She goes on to describe the work of local midwives (specifically Emma Vance--no relation), and medicines that were commonly available.

20:20--Her grandfather [Augustus T. Vance?] was a laborer and lay minister at Kings Chapel AME. He was born in April of 1888 and died in 1968.

22:42--Mrs. Vance Robinson's mother was Mary Louise Vance Martin. Clara Vance Weeks was one of her sisters.

23:08--Mrs. Vance Robinson recalls her stepfather, Lincoln Arthur Martin. He was originally from Oklahoma, but moved to New York at some point where he became an executive with the JC Penney Company. He met her mother there in New York. She had moved there from South Carolina in order to find better employment. Vance Robinson details their courtship (he was 30 years her senior). He was also a white man, who moved in very aristocratic circle socially. There were hardships as a result of the relationship, but he didn't seem to care. They were married on October 14, 1961 in Mount Vernon, NY. The family lived in Berksdale (?) for a time.

30:13--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.