Civil Rights Movement | Oral History

Civil Rights Movement

OH 1942

Former member of the Tarrant County Commissioners Court. Memories of childhood and education in Markham, Illinois; marriage to Jim Bagsby; participation in the Arkansas civil rights movement; move to Fort Worth, Texas; career as an educator in the Fort Worth public schools; Jim Bagsby’s political career; her own decision to enter politics and winning campaign strategies; issues she had to face as a county commissioner; her travels; her family history.

OH 1922

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 1964 Civil Rights Act and contemporary civil rights issues.

OH 1828

For the Desegregating DFW Oral History Project. Civil Rights activist and local political figure. Participation with NAACP and SCLC; Juanita Croft; mother’s activism; impact of Civil Rights Act; participation in the South Dallas Information Center; the Black Panther Party; college experience; police brutality and shootings; city political involvement; Innercity Community Development Corp.

OH 1825

For the Desegregating DFW Oral History Project. Civil Rights activist and poet. Childhood in West Texas and Dallas-Fort Worth; family history; life during segregation; education; civil rights activism; process of desegregation; attending North Texas State University (now UNT); experiences with racism; poetry; John F. Kennedy assassination; church fellowship.

OH 1824

For the Desegregating DFW Oral History Project. Civil rights activist. Childhood in Tennessee; Dallas life during segregation; involvement in the Dallas Progressive Voters League; experiences with racism; SNCC and SCLC activities; Dallas NAACP; civil rights activism; son’s (Ernest McMillan) activism; influential figures in life; current state of civil rights in America.

OH 1837

For the Desegregating DFW Oral History Project. Childhood in Wheelock, Texas; attending Bishop College; career in elementary and middle-school education; community involvement; awareness of race; life under segregation; move to Dallas; Dallas school integration; history of Wheelock; importance of education; legacy of the Civil Rights Act.

OH 1786

For the Desegregating DFW Oral History Project. Texas Civil Rights activist and NAACP youth council member. Childhood in Dallas; desegregation protests of the State Fair of Texas, Picadilly’s, H. L. Green, and the Majestic; memories of Juanita Craft and NAACP youth movement; Civil Rights movement; Dallas Independent School District desegregation case; contemporary Dallas NAACP and continued activism.

OH 1392

Law enforcement officer. His experiences while serving with the Birmingham, Alabama, Police Department during the civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s.