Skip to main content

Black Heritage in the Upper Piedmont of South Carolina

Watkins Cassette 1 Side 1

Media

Part of Interview: Watkins, Ernest, Jr.

Title

Watkins Cassette 1 Side 1

Source

Ernest Watkins, Jr. Interview

Date

1990-07-21

Description

Cassette 1

Side 1

00:20--Biographical Information

1:25--After naming a few uncles and aunts on the Watkins side, he states that his maternal grandparents were Jeff and Hannah Jamison.

3:07--Harrison and Suzy Haywood were relatives; he gives the location of the old Haywood home.

4:41--Mr. Watkins parents were farmers; they worked around 48 acres.

5:13--Mr. Watkins had three siblings: Robert, Andell (Mickens), and Beatrice (Patterson).

5:50--Mr. Watkins recalls daily chores and the main crops grown at the farm. Most food was grown at home; the family had its own vegetable garden as well as livestock. He goes on to discuss the cotton-picking process as well as its price and to whom it was sold (Mr. Gaines of Central, SC).

9:35--The family shopped at Morgan's Store and Kelly's Meat Market locally.

10:05--Education--his sisters attended Tuskegee and Morris, respectively. He goes on to describe his own elementary school experience. He details the typical length of the school year, the grades available (1-7), the location of the building, hours of operation, his walk to and from school everyday, and where he bought his books. A few teachers he can recall are: Ella Williams, Professor Robinson, Rebecca Thompson, and Conyers Williams. While in school, black history was taught to the children; the works of G. W. Carver, Booker T. Washington, Mary McCloud Bethune, and Fredrick Douglas were commonly read. He goes on to detail some of his college experiences while in Clinton, SC and Trenton, Virginia.

25:25--Black newspapers available in his home as a youth were the Pittsburgh Courier and the Chicago Defender.

27:32--His parents received a grammar school education.

28:10--Books were always available in the home; his mother did laundry for Wesleyan College and people there would give her reading material.

30:03--His parents never owned a car, but had little trouble finding people who had cars that were willing to take them places.

30:45--Mr. Watkins talks briefly about the Jamison family.

31:10--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.