Owners and operators of A. B. McGill and Company General Merchants, Bertram, Texas. Ada’s family background; description of Ada’s father’s general store, Bertram; Bob’s family background; marriage to Ada and employment at McGill’s general store, 1939; discussion of losses on charge accounts during Depression; addition of Philco line of appliances…
Childhood and educational experiences as a resident of the Stop Six and Carver Heights neighborhoods of Fort Worth, Texas, and student at public schools including Dunbar High School. Family history. Experiences in the U.S. Army and National Guard and as an entrepreneur in Fort Worth.
His experiences as a resident of Hamilton Park, Texas, 1956-90. Early life in Corsicana; experiences in segregated schools; early employment; high school sports career; attendance at Samuel Huston College; move to Dallas; African-American housing in Dallas; employment with William Volker and Company; decision to locate in Hamilton Park, 1956; loan…
Her experiences as a resident of Hamilton Park, Texas, 1975-91. Segregated education in El Dorado, Arkansas; decision to buy home in Hamilton Park; home improvements; Pacesetter; church activities; Willowdell Park; the “Buy Out.”
His experiences in the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II. His volunteering for the draft, 1943; assignment to Burma, 1944; attachment to Merrill’s Marauders (5307th Composite Unit [Provisional]); combat around Myitkyina, Burma, 1944; medical evacuation to Ledo; assignment to the Mars Task Force (5332nd Brigade [Provisional]), October,…
Her experiences as a plant nurse at Red River Army Depot, Texarkana, Arkansas, during World War II and the postwar years. Hiring policies for African-Americans; racial problems; industrial accidents and plant medical facilities; social activities; U.S. Congressman Wright Patman’s role in her being hired; effects of depot on Texarkana.
Restaurateur. Impact of his family, the military, education, sports, and early business experience upon his personal development and philosophy of management; founding his first company; entry into food business with Jack-in-the-Box; starting a coffee shop (Brink’s); founding of Steak and Ale; growth and expansion into other states; partnership…
For the Skylab Oral History Project. NASA engineer. Education at Texas A&M University and South Texas School of Law; decision to join NASA; work in flight control operations and communications support on Apollo program; Skylab “wet workshop”; problem-solving on Skylab mission launches; monotony inherent in Skylab work-shift schedules and…
Civil rights activist and small business owner. Role played in the desegregation of Piccadilly Cafeteria in downtown Dallas in 1964 and in the Dallas civil rights movement more generally. Thoughts on other Dallas civil rights leaders and organizations. Childhood in Karnack, Texas; career in the women’s beauty business; thoughts on effects of the…
College professor, community activist. Her experiences concerning the activities of the Denton Christian Women’s Inter-Racial Fellowship during the 1960s and 1970s. Early organization and social activities; early experiences with discrimination; Denton power structure; desegregation of public facilities; group’s first meeting; tutoring program;…
For the Denton Women’s Interracial Fellowship Oral History Project. Childhood; interactions with African Americans; educational and professional background; segregation; Denton Women’s Interracial Fellowship; Denton desegregation; Civil Rights Movement; experiences in Turkey and oppression of Armenians; African American population and race…
Pharmacologist, civil servant. His experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Japanese bombing of Nichols Field; fall of Bataan and capture; Bataan Death March; Camp O’Donnell, 1942-44; hell ship to Formosa, 1944; liberation.
For the DFW Metroplex Immigration Oral History Project. Swiss-born Elisabeth Gertrud Brolin discusses the defining moment of her life including the decision to move to the United States (DFW, TX) as well as her Christian faith. More specifically, she includes the reasons for her immigration, the first impressions of the U.S., the positive aspects…
Journalist. His experiences as a reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram during the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the funeral of Lee Harvey Oswald.
Realtor, farmer. Family background, including founding of Brooks Dairy by his father; his early experiences on the farm and in Brooks Dairy; personal managerial experiences in dairy business; obtaining milk accounts with Denton public schools, College of Industrial Arts (Texas Woman’s University), North Texas State University, Denton State School…
For the Crisis at Mansfield Online Archive. Longtime African American resident of Mansfield, Texas. Childhood memories of Mansfield; segregation in social life and in public education; NAACP activity in Mansfield; membership in Bethlehem Baptist Church; changes seen in Mansfield since end of Jim Crow.
His experiences while employed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Childhood in Kentucky; joining the CCC; assignment to Company 547 at Camp Robinson near Jackson, Kentucky and Company 2513 at Camp Panaca in Panaca, Nevada; description of camps; life in camps.
Businessman. His experiences as an officer in the European Theater during World War II. Pre-war stateside training; forming and training the 741st Tank Battalion; amphibious training in England prior to the Normandy invasion; assignment as operations officer for the 741st; the fate of the DD tanks on D-Day; assignment as executive officer for the…
Member of the “Lost Battalion.” His experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Fall of Java and capture; Bicycle Camp, Batavia, 1942; Changi Prison Camp, Singapore, 1942; building the Burma-Thailand Death Railway, 1942-44; Chungkai, Thailand, 1944; Nakhon Pathom, Non Pladuk, and Nakhon Nayok, Thailand, 1944-45; liberation
For the UNT Multicultural Center Oral History Project. Former director of the UNT Multicultural Center. Career as a university administrator. Perspectives on student success and support initiatives at UNT.
Member of the “Lost Battalion.” His experiences with the 72nd Bomb Squadron at Bellows Field during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
