Legacies Project Oral History: Elginne Johnson

Mon, 08/29/2022 - 11:49am

When: 2022

Transcript

[00:00:11] Elginne Johnson: [BACKGROUND]. [inaudible 00:00:45].
[00:00:45] FEMALE_1: Oh, really? Aren't you special.
[00:00:45] MALE_1: Who's the [inaudible 00:00:45].
[00:00:45] FEMALE_2: We already did. [inaudible 00:00:45] .
[00:00:45] MALE_1: Thanks for doing my job.
[00:00:45] Elginne Johnson: [LAUGHTER] I'll stop breathing then.
[00:00:58] FEMALE_2: Here again. Real close.
[00:01:05] Elginne Johnson: I don't have to do anything? [BACKGROUND] Hi there?
[00:01:13] FEMALE_1: [inaudible 00:01:13]. Looks like a true filmmaker. [LAUGHTER]
[00:01:34] MALE_1: Brittany lives it.
[00:01:38] FEMALE_2: I'm just going to read a little intro and then we'll get straight to asking you some questions. Hey, so I'm just going to read the intro again. This isn't an interview called The Legacies Project, which has students gathering oral histories and putting them into archives for future generations. The best of your ability, please ignore the camera. All your eyes can certainly wander, maybe look at me. Please do not look directly into the camera lens. Each video tape is around 75 minutes on. If you're in the middle of answering a question and you have to change the tape, I'll ask you to hold the thought while we change it. Everyone is time to turn off your cell phones. You could call for a break anytime you want.
[00:02:46] Elginne Johnson: Break. [LAUGHTER]
[00:02:47] FEMALE_2: Remember if there's a question you don't want to answer and let me know. I'm going to review a few of the questions you went after just so if you want to go into little bit more detail about specifically the historical events, we can get into that a little bit more. When thinking back on your school years, elementary school and high school, what important social or historical events were taking place at the time? Then what personal reactions to them?
[00:03:23] Elginne Johnson: Did I talk about World War II?
[00:03:25] FEMALE_2: A little bit, but you can go into more detail.
[00:03:30] Elginne Johnson: Well, I was 11 when I heard that the country was being bombed, Pearl Harbor and I was terrified because I didn't know where Pearl Harbor was. Since we were near the water, I thought maybe it might happen tonight. But anyway, it didn't. But I remember the fear I had. During that time, everything was shortage. Food was scarce because they were sending it over to the soldiers. Everything else was scarce. I think I mentioned that we were only allowed two stamps a year for shoes and of course, kids feet grow a little more than that. I remember my aunt giving me her shoe stamps to get new shoes. You'd go into the grocery stores and the meat section was empty. The shells were almost empty, so it was pretty hard to get food and if you found something, you got a lot as much as they would let you have. I remember I think it was June 6th during the war when Normandy got into trouble and I thought maybe that was some place I should be. I agonized over there because I didn't know where Normandy was. Fortunately, in my later life, I happened to be in France, and did see Normandy and I understood why it was such a grim thing. Because the enemies were up on a cliff and the Americans were coming there on boats and they just kill them all. But anyway, at the end of the war there was much rejoicing. People were coming home who hadn't seeing their families in two, three years. It took a long time to get back to normal. The soldiers had to have jobs and they took the jobs that previously held by the older people.
[00:06:35] FEMALE_2: You mentioned that you were 11 when you heard about Pearl Harbor? When was the first time you heard about Pearl Harbor? Where were you, who told you?
[00:06:45] Elginne Johnson: I was at home. What was the other part?
[00:06:51] FEMALE_2: Who told you? How did you find out?
[00:06:54] Elginne Johnson: I don't remember. Well, we weren't bombed that night, so I know it wasn't anywhere near. [LAUGHTER]
[00:07:10] FEMALE_2: Thinking back on your adult working life, what important social or historical events were taking place at the time? What was your reaction or any specifics you remember from that?
[00:07:23] Elginne Johnson: There was a war again. That was the war in Korea. That was quite significant because the guy I was dating got drafted and he went into the army and was shipped over in South Korea. After we got married, of course. He was gone for maybe 16 months and complained of being cold. It was cold over again. But he did not like it at all.
[00:08:14] FEMALE_2: Did you share any stories with the crew that were with you?
[00:08:20] Elginne Johnson: Just misery. He was trained to fix automobiles and tanks, and when he got there, they reassured him, they weren't no automobiles or tanks because they couldn't get them up the hills. They gave him a gun and he said, I don't know what to do with this. He said, you'll learn. He was very unhappy about that. But he was gone for sixteen months.
[00:09:21] FEMALE_2: This next set of questions is going to cover your retirement of employment and then your retirement. Is there any questions you'd like me to skip? You can let me know after I ask them. Describe the steps of the process involved in your job from start to finish? How did you get your job? How did you come by it and then how did it progress as time did?
[00:09:55] Elginne Johnson: Well, during that time, when he came back, we moved out to Michigan and I was still working as a lab tech and I had a hard time finding a job, but I did get employment out of the DA hospital. My job was to take human specimens, make slides of them, and give them to the pathologist. It went, well, they had some equipment I wasn't quite used to, but it worked out.
[00:10:36] FEMALE_2: You mentioned when we were talking in our first meeting that you were a teacher. Do you want to tell us a little bit about that.
[00:10:47] Elginne Johnson: Well, let me see. When we got to Ann Arbor, I found out that there were only two African-American who were hired by the school system. I was teaching in Sunday school and decided this kids aren't bad and I enjoyed working with my own kids. So I decided to go back to school and get them educated. [LAUGHTER] I went to Eastern, got my masters, and finally found a job in Ann Arbor so they must have been six of us.
[00:11:43] FEMALE_2: What grade do you cheat or did you teach? Where did you teach it?
[00:11:48] Elginne Johnson: My first assignment was at Dicken School, fourth grade and I left there and went to Scarlett which was a middle school the first time around from 6-8 grade and I taught there for about three years and they decided to put it back like it was so I went back to elementary school over at Clinton and I spent 11 years there. Then they decided to close Clinton and I had to move again so I moved to pattern Gill, which is one block from where I lived. I retired from there.
[00:12:47] FEMALE_2: Do you remember any of the specific classes you taught? Or the kids who taught or any stories about them?
[00:12:53] Elginne Johnson: Yeah. I guess I was known as the teacher who threw erasers. I didn't throw them to hit anybody, I just threw them for attention. You know, I got pretty good at hitting right on the desk, just to make him stop what they were doing and one time I tossed the eraser and the whole class went up and they started clapping and what is this? He said, that's your 50th hit. They have been counting all year. So the next day one of the parents came in with this big cake with me drawn on it, throwing an eraser so we had a party, that was fun. At the end of the year, teachers would take them to a park for a picnic and I live so close. I used to take my kids home with me for lunch and I retired.
[00:14:16] FEMALE_2: Were you closer with any of your colleagues when you were teaching?
[00:14:19] Elginne Johnson: Yeah.
[00:14:20] FEMALE_2: Tell us any stories about them.
[00:14:22] Elginne Johnson: There was one of my colleagues who is always bossing my kids around. We had some words. If they let me know, he would yell at them and I didn't like that. I did the yelling.
[00:14:48] FEMALE_2: What did a typical day like for you as a teacher?
[00:14:58] Elginne Johnson: We had the same schedule usually. The day I dislike most was Halloween. I often thought of calling in sick because very little got done. Everybody was hyped up about, let me see your costume and after lunchtime, it was putting on the costumes and then they would march around the neighborhood. Day wasted. I still don't care for Halloween. I don't know who invented that.
[00:15:48] FEMALE_2: You said you went back to college for another jury for teaching. What were your experiences in college like then?
[00:15:59] Elginne Johnson: Was nothing like young people. I took night classes and most of the people that were there were there because the same reason I was there. Yeah.
[00:16:25] FEMALE_2: This is a little bit of a change. What technology changes occurred during your working years? Like what were new inventions or like the things you had to adapt to, I guess,.
[00:16:38] Elginne Johnson: Computers. Yeah. Each class got a computer, just one and I had no idea what to do with it so the kids knew more than I did. If they were good, you get to spend 10 minutes on the computer. We used to use film, show movies, for different things and once I was showing a movie, you know what the film looks like, it's something real and we got so engrossed in talking about the film I did not notice that the film was not going on the real it was all going on the floor. That was a mess trying to get it back. Took me till 4:30-05:00, trying to get it back. But kids loved movies then of course we show it on the internet now. I don't know what they did with all those equipments. I Didn't think about that.
[00:18:13] FEMALE_2: What do you value most about what you did for a living and why?
[00:18:23] Elginne Johnson: What do I value?
[00:18:25] FEMALE_2: Yeah. What do you value most about what you did for a living and why?
[00:18:30] Elginne Johnson: Because occasionally I run into some of my students who are now parents, and I remember them, but I pat myself on the back. I met this family at a restaurant, and the boy was one of my students and he had this little fellow with him, he said, this is my son and the son was climbing up on his leg, his daughter, is she wander through the eraser. [LAUGHTER] He had told him about that. But occasionally I see some of my former students and I don't recognize them, one has four or five kids. It's a long time ago.
[00:19:38] FEMALE_2: What is the biggest difference in your primary field of employment from the time you started until now? If you could look at when you were a teacher and now, what are the biggest differences in your life?
[00:19:56] Elginne Johnson: My personal life? I had more chance to plant flowers. I like planting flowers and I spent two years repainting the inside and wall papering our house. That was long time ago and I had time to visit some of my old friends, literally old.
[00:20:36] FEMALE_2: Tell me about any moves you made during working years and then the retirement.
[00:20:49] Elginne Johnson: You mean at work? The first move I made I guess was I had spent seven years at Dickens School and I wanted to see some other schools and that's when I went down to personnel and they said there all the vacancies, pick one. Good. I chose Scarlett, the sixth grade, at Scarlett. I enjoyed that because we would team teach. I taught math and science and some other person taught reading and social studies. I was there for about three maybe four years, so when they decided to put the sixth grade back in elementary school, and I went back and had all these subjects to teach. I didn't want, this is too much work. But I made it, it was quite a difference.
[00:22:02] FEMALE_2: Now, with your personal life physically moving, did you make any major moves? I know you talked about moving to Michigan and then Ann Arbor. If you want to go into more detail about how that was.
[00:22:17] Elginne Johnson: Well, when we move to Ann Arbor, the only place my husband was in school, so we lived in student housing. Then when he got a job, we had to move out. We had a hard time finding a place to live, particularly because we're African-Americans. We had to move to Ypsilanti, and we stayed there for about two years. Then we built a little house over in Ann Arbor, two bedroom thing and we moved on Peach Street where big school is, used to be North side, I guess it's still North side school. Chris wake up. [LAUGHTER] Then we outgrew that house. It was only two bedrooms and we had three kids, and we had to go through this again trying to find a larger house and nobody would want to sell us a house. But one contractor we met said I have a lot I'll buy it. He was white and I'll sell it to you, so that's how we got the lot that we built a house on and that's where I've been since, it's over 50 years ago. It's half a century. Is that what you're looking for?
[00:24:12] FEMALE_2: Yeah. How do you feel about your current living situation?
[00:24:22] Elginne Johnson: It's new for me because my husband was in a care facility for four years and he died in November. My kids are all gone, so I'm living alone. I don't have any pets. Well, it's pretty good. I get lonesome some time and I just turn on the TV. But I do what I want to most of the time. I eat when I want to most of the time. It's changed quite a bit.
[00:25:18] FEMALE_2: We can take just a quick five-minute break.
[00:25:22] Elginne Johnson: All right.
[00:25:23] FEMALE_2: Could you have some water or anything? I'm just going to read an intro and then we'll start. This is an interview for the Legacies Project, which has students gathering oral histories and putting them into an archive for future generations. To the best of your ability, please ignore the camera. While your eyes can certainly wander, mainly look at me, and please do not look directly at the camera lens. Each video tape is about 75 minutes long. If you're in the middle of answering a question, we have to change the tape. I'll ask you to hold the thought while we change it and we'll pick up where you left off. It's time to turn off or silence your cell phones. You can call for a break anytime you want one. Also, remember if I ask the question you're uncomfortable with, just let me know and we can skip it. Thinking back over your entire life, what are you most proud of?
[00:26:29] Elginne Johnson: My children.
[00:26:33] FEMALE_2: Are there specific things that make you proud of them?
[00:26:37] Elginne Johnson: They have all done very well, and I'm really very proud of them. Susan here is Vice President of, what's that insurance company for? Talent Development and Diversity. I had one daughter who was a pathologist, and she passed away. The other one is a nurse practitioner. Well done.
[00:27:17] FEMALE_2: What would you say has changed most from the time you were my age to now?
[00:27:28] Elginne Johnson: Wow, that's a hardy, everything. Population certainly has changed. There are more people, there are more buildings. Things cost more, and just more decisions to be made.
[00:27:52] FEMALE_2: Socially, what do you say were the most important changes that you've seen?
[00:27:59] Elginne Johnson: People don't talk to each other anymore. They like these little friends that they hold in their hands and they're so in love with them that they don't converse with each other and that's a big problem to me. What else has changed? Oh, towns have grown more, so there's more congestion. Everybody has two cars. Apparently, the traffic is terrible. The form of entertainment has changed. We used to play cards and have little silly games going on, now people don't do that. My husband was a great bridge player, and he cards would get up at bridge game anytime he could. But there aren't very many people even know how to play bridge now.
[00:29:09] FEMALE_2: Yeah, I don't know. [LAUGHTER].
[00:29:10] Elginne Johnson: Yeah.
[00:29:15] FEMALE_2: What advice would you give to my generation?
[00:29:27] Elginne Johnson: You have to just get along with each other. No more of this factions or class. Because everybody has their own feelings and we don't want to hurt people's feelings. To try and know them, know their background so that the two of you can converse and exchange ideas.
[00:30:01] FEMALE_2: Is there anything you'd like to add that I haven't asked you about?
[00:30:04] Elginne Johnson: No.
[00:30:09] FEMALE_2: Okay. I'm just going to go back on a few different questions. We're just going to go back to historical or social events that happen during your lifetime. Where specifically we talked about the wars that happened. Your husband, you had over there. Is there anything you'd like to tell us about storylines that segregation on the random?
[00:30:59] Elginne Johnson: Yes. I grew up in South Carolina in the 30s, and of course everything was segregated then. The white kids had swimming pools, we couldn't do that. They had tennis courts, we couldn't do that. If we went to the movies, there was a space like an [inaudible 00:31:21] in the theater where we had to go to sit. But then I didn't do it. But some kids used to throw stuff down at them. The popcorn. There you go. We had to make up our own entertainment. There were no leagues, no place for us to swim except in the ocean. In the swimming pools and I thought that was the bomb. Swimming pool it looks so pretty. But their high schools had football teams and basketball teams and we didn't do that. Didn't have that. You went to school, you stayed there and then you went home. Of course, they're going home was fun because you always walked with your friends. You had a penny. You could get five little chocolate silver tips for a penny. If you had a nickel, you could feed the whole group. We used to do that if he had the money. Central heating we didn't have you had stoves or a fireplace. It was a big problem of getting fuel for the stoves or fireplace. We used wood. Of course, they brought the logs of wood so odd. It was our job to take an axle and cut them in sizable pieces. Some people used coal, C-O-A-L coal. But that was dirty stuff. It was black everywhere. But we did have running water. Some people didn't. My grandmother had a pump in the ground Where are you pumped the water and you had to take it in the house. Of course, on wash day that took a lot of time to fill all of those tops .
[00:33:51] FEMALE_2: So you mentioned walking from school with your friends. Are there any stories you'd like to tell us about your friends? Who they were? What personality did they have?
[00:34:02] Elginne Johnson: There were about four of us who habitually walked to school together. In South Carolina we didn't have freezing, it's very warm. But one time there was a cold spell and there was a puddle of water. On top of the water was this little piece of ice. I saw it. I went and got the ice and my friend, I think it was Mary came over and tried to take it from me. We got in a fight. [LAUGHTER] Of course, by the end of the fight, the ice was melted. [LAUGHTER] Didn't do either of us any good.
[00:34:52] FEMALE_2: How old were you when you saw that ice?
[00:34:54] Elginne Johnson: About eight [LAUGHTER] that's the only way I ever had though. Over piece of ice..
[00:35:02] FEMALE_2: Over piece of ice. Good thing you needed to clear that. You had siblings?
[00:35:09] Elginne Johnson: I had a brother.
[00:35:11] FEMALE_2: Would you like to tell us any stories about your brother?
[00:35:16] Elginne Johnson: Well, it seems to me he was a favorite son and because he was very smart, which helped him a lot and we got along pretty well. Mostly. I used to play marbles with him and baseball. I liked all those things. He graduated. Got through high school at age 15. Then he went to Morehouse College in Atlanta. That's when he and Martin King became friends. They remained friends for a long time because he used to make arrangements for Martin to come to have their conferences at one of the schools there. He spent most of his time. He went to law school. I'm trying to get help for the people, the black people who lived on the river or so. Because they want it to be down south and build their houses. They were just taking the land from the black people. They didn't have a title. They didn't even know what a title was. He spent most of his time trying to save their land so they could stay there. Consequently, he was not rich. [LAUGHTER] He got paid with oysters and shrimp and fish and whatever they had. But he died early and he was only 43. He's the only sibling I had.
[00:37:29] FEMALE_2: I know you told us a little bit about Martin with King Junior. When we first met [inaudible 00:37:35].
[00:37:39] Elginne Johnson: You don't remember?
[00:37:40] FEMALE_2: No, I remember.
[00:37:41] Elginne Johnson: [LAUGHTER] really? I don't remember that. Martin and my brother were very close friends at Morehouse and they stayed in touch with each other through the years. My brother Charles would get a place for him to be alone on one of the schools on the islands there. I met him when Martin and I were both in Boston. I was working with a group of kids in Sunday school and I asked him to come to speak to them. Then I would just first time I realize, this boy's got talent, but we didn't see each other back often. I still owe them $2.50 for a party we gave.
[00:39:01] FEMALE_2: We can take a quick five-minute break.
[00:39:04] Elginne Johnson: All right.
[00:39:07] FEMALE_2: Just relax.
[00:39:10] Elginne Johnson: Chris, how many more times should I come?
[00:39:13] FEMALE_2: Well, this is the last interview, but you'll come in a few more times. We'll let you know when you would come.
[00:39:20] Elginne Johnson: I will bring a needle and thread for Chris.
[00:39:21] FEMALE_2: [LAUGHTER] So you can fix his ripped jeans?
[00:39:24] Elginne Johnson: Yeah, I'll fix his ripped jeans, and somebody else's. [OVERLAPPING] You did that on purpose.
[00:39:31] FEMALE_2: We coordinated.
[00:39:32] FEMALE_3: I don't have ripped jeans. Chris does.
[00:39:37] Elginne Johnson: It blows my mind.
[00:39:44] FEMALE_2: Do you have some split jeans?
[00:39:44] FEMALE_3: [inaudible 00:39:44] .
[00:39:44] Elginne Johnson: Do you have some split jeans?
[00:39:47] FEMALE_2: Do you want some water?
[00:39:48] Elginne Johnson: No, I'm fine. Thanks.
[00:39:50] FEMALE_2: I have some ripped jeans. They haven't [inaudible 00:39:51] .
[00:39:55] FEMALE_3: Well, I have one pair, like the whole front is [inaudible 00:39:55] .
[00:39:55] FEMALE_2: What?
[00:39:56] MALE_1: I started seeing those [inaudible 00:39:57].
[00:39:59] FEMALE_2: [OVERLAPPING] [inaudible 00:40:05]
[00:40:05] MALE_1: As if you will have [inaudible 00:40:05].
[00:40:05] FEMALE_2: [inaudible 00:40:05]
[00:40:05] MALE_1: I see they're like threads that hold most of the bottom section of the pant and the top section of the pants and is a giant gig.
[00:40:15] FEMALE_2: That sounds different.
[00:40:18] Elginne Johnson: Where is the rest of it?
[00:40:19] FEMALE_2: I know. Who knows where it went?.
[00:40:22] Elginne Johnson: Oh gosh.
[00:40:24] FEMALE_2: The styles that we have now are so strange.
[00:40:28] Elginne Johnson: What do you do after this. Is it your lunchtime?
[00:40:32] FEMALE_3: No. We have one more class and then we go to lunch. Then we we have two more classes after lunch.
[00:40:39] FEMALE_2: Sometimes have lunch next hour though, after school, eats next hour and then we eat another half [inaudible 00:40:45] .
[00:40:45] FEMALE_2: You lunch at 1:30?
[00:40:45] FEMALE_3: Yeah.
[00:40:45] MALE_1: Yeah.
[00:40:48] FEMALE_2: We all eat lunch super early. What time you start school?
[00:40:52] FEMALE_3: 7:45.
[00:40:53] MALE_1: Really 7:30.
[00:40:56] FEMALE_3: Yes, 7:30 usually. [inaudible 00:40:59] .
[00:40:59] MALE_1: A lot of us are here a long time after school.
[00:41:07] FEMALE_3: After school, every day.
[00:41:12] Elginne Johnson: What do you do after school?
[00:41:13] FEMALE_2: I'm in a lot of different clubs so I have something after school every day. Today I'm staying even later because I'm helping setting up for an event that we have.
[00:41:26] Elginne Johnson: When you go home, do you introduce yourself to your grandmother?
[00:41:30] FEMALE_2: Sometimes
[00:41:34] Elginne Johnson: Who are you? Which one are you? [LAUGHTER] What are we going to do the next thing? She told me.
[00:41:51] FEMALE_2: Next time, it's going to be a while.
[00:41:51] Elginne Johnson: Next time we meet, it will be third trimester, so it's going to be in the spring.
[00:41:55] Elginne Johnson: I'll be too old. [LAUGHTER]
[00:41:58] FEMALE_3: We will be done with the interview. You don't have o wear same outfit. You can wear something different.
[00:42:07] Elginne Johnson: Do you know Jay Nelson?
[00:42:12] FEMALE_2: Yes.
[00:42:13] Elginne Johnson: What does he do?
[00:42:14] FEMALE_2: He works with C-SPAN, right guys?
[00:42:18] MALE_1: Yeah.
[00:42:18] FEMALE_2: No, he works for CTN.
[00:42:22] MALE_1: CTN [inaudible 00:42:22] .
[00:42:23] FEMALE_2: He basically CMVP with the legacy project.
[00:42:31] Elginne Johnson: He doesn't only work here, he work other places.
[00:42:35] FEMALE_2: No, he doesn't work here. He just comes in sometimes to help us out. But he works with CTN, not with us. I only met him twice but I didn't really meet him. He just was here when some [inaudible 00:42:48] interviewers or narrators.
[00:42:53] Elginne Johnson: That's good.
[00:42:56] FEMALE_2: We forgot to call you.
[00:42:57] FEMALE_3: Yeah, I know. We were going to call you to wish you happy birthday, but we forgot.
[00:43:02] Elginne Johnson: Well, happy birthday to me. It was a good day.
[00:43:07] FEMALE_2: That's good.
[00:43:07] Elginne Johnson: Yeah. Both my girls came and they gave a little party and some friends I hadn't seen in a long time. We looked at each other, are you still living? [LAUGHTER] Where have you been? [BACKGROUND] Who plays sports in here?
[00:43:43] MALE_1: After school.
[00:43:44] FEMALE_2: After the school.
[00:43:44] Elginne Johnson: What?
[00:43:44] FEMALE_2: I said, just lacrosse.
[00:43:44] Elginne Johnson: Lacrosse. That's a hard game.
[00:43:51] FEMALE_2: I can't play sports anyway.
[00:43:52] FEMALE_3: Yeah, I'm not on any sport team.
[00:43:53] Elginne Johnson: Why?
[00:43:55] FEMALE_2: Had too many injuries.
[00:43:56] Elginne Johnson: Well, that's a good reason. I don't like football but I know somebody.
[00:44:08] FEMALE_2: I got two bone grafts.
[00:44:08] MALE_1: I got two concussions from football and I was like, you're done.
[00:44:08] FEMALE_2: I had six concussions in a year.
[00:44:08] MALE_1: Six?
[00:44:08] FEMALE_3: Wow.
[00:44:08] Elginne Johnson: From soccer?
[00:44:14] FEMALE_2: And you did stop playing.
[00:44:15] MALE_1: [inaudible 00:44:15] .
[00:44:15] FEMALE_3: [inaudible 00:44:15] I don't know.
[00:44:24] FEMALE_2: It was in Dundee.
[00:44:27] Elginne Johnson: Dundee is south of here.
[00:44:29] FEMALE_2: Yeah.
[00:44:29] MALE_1: I was in trial teams.
[00:44:33] Elginne Johnson: What did they do in Dundee? People just worked.
[00:44:39] FEMALE_2: Not much.
[00:44:40] Elginne Johnson: They come down over the work.
[00:44:41] FEMALE_3: They drive their tractors to school.
[00:44:45] FEMALE_2: Oh my gosh.
[00:44:45] FEMALE_3: Yes. That is an actual thing.
[00:44:48] Elginne Johnson: What?
[00:44:49] FEMALE_2: They drive their tractors to school because there's like a specific day where the whole school drives their tractors to school. There's a few oddballs who just don't live in a house where you need a tractor.
[00:45:05] FEMALE_3: A few oddballs that don't have a tractor.
[00:45:07] Elginne Johnson: Then you have to hitchhike. [LAUGHTER]
[00:45:13] FEMALE_2: I know.
[00:45:13] MALE_1: Tractor carpool.
[00:45:14] FEMALE_2: There's legit day where everyone drives their tractor, even the principal. [LAUGHTER] It's really embarrassing.
[00:45:19] Elginne Johnson: I can see them.
[00:45:25] MALE_1: Just shows the different worlds people live in. You want to start.
[00:45:37] FEMALE_2: Sure. Already gone through almost all the questions.
[00:45:40] Elginne Johnson: You probably can answer the rest of them.
[00:45:44] FEMALE_2: I'm just asking you [inaudible 00:45:45] weird.
[00:45:48] Elginne Johnson: What?
[00:45:49] FEMALE_2: His headphones are weird.
[00:45:50] MALE_1: They're the new ones.
[00:45:52] FEMALE_2: Are they nicer?
[00:45:54] FEMALE_3: No.
[00:45:54] MALE_1: There is an issue with quality but they're small.
[00:45:55] FEMALE_3: I don't feel like I can hear as much.
[00:45:59] MALE_1: Really?
[00:45:59] FEMALE_3: Really.
[00:46:00] FEMALE_2: Well, we still have the old ones. [inaudible 00:46:02].
[00:46:02] MALE_1: I don't remember them. Ms. Jenkins switched these [inaudible 00:46:05] .
[00:46:08] Elginne Johnson: You can't reach it.
[00:46:18] FEMALE_2: Chris, you're not tall to do that. A for effort.
[00:46:24] Elginne Johnson: I know you needed an excuse for your [NOISE] brain not working. [LAUGHTER]
[00:46:33] FEMALE_2: I put up the ripped jeans this morning.
[00:46:34] MALE_1: Exactly.
[00:46:34] FEMALE_2: [inaudible 00:46:34] . How many concussions have you had?
[00:46:45] MALE_1: Two.
[00:46:46] Elginne Johnson: That's terrible.
[00:46:46] FEMALE_3: I'm surprise you don't have one, Elginne. You should all be wearing jeans.
[00:46:56] Elginne Johnson: Oh my God.
[00:47:01] FEMALE_2: We can all be matching.
[00:47:03] FEMALE_2: Matching Oboe. Yeah, yeah, of course. No.
[00:47:08] FEMALE_2: Alright, let's see here.
[00:47:09] FEMALE_2: They don't make clothes for old small people.
[00:47:19] FEMALE_2: Would you like to share anything about your political views with us?
[00:47:34] Elginne Johnson: I guess so. [LAUGHTER] I'm very disappointed in our president now. I think he has a mental problem. I think he really doesn't know what he's doing and he won't stop to find out. I have the idea that he's making a rift between people that really wasn't there. It probably was there, but he's making it wider. I would like to see somebody there that brings people close together because that's the only way you get stuff done is when you work together and he's insulted a lot of people. I don't think that's quite presidential. No, I don't. I am waiting to see if his followers are going to bail him out and elect him again. At my age, I probably won't know. But you guys take care of that. What was the other part?
[00:48:53] FEMALE_2: That was pretty much it. Other past president, is there a certain one that was your favorite and why?
[00:49:04] Elginne Johnson: I didn't know why he was my favorite, but Roosevelt, my mother and my family loved that man. They still talk about him years after he was dead because he brought us out of the depression. That was a pretty bad thing where people couldn't find jobs or there was not enough food and he came and made us go a little farther. In spite of his physical handicaps, he did a lot and my family, they just almost cried when he died. They thought the world was coming to an end. I think the President we got now are the least like I don't know. But we'll see after our next election, if he will be elected again. If not, you guys have a lot of work to do. [LAUGHTER]
[00:50:19] FEMALE_2: I know in the last interview we did asked you a little bit about the depression and you shared with us the story about your shoes and your incoming pressures too, do you have any other stories, similar or just experiences during the depression that you had?
[00:50:36] Elginne Johnson: I know I was pretty big before I got a new dress because I had some cousins who were older than I and I got their dress close when they wore out. But I don't remember it affected me. I thought it was cool to have these pretty new dresses. Didn't bother me to ham them up. Well, just food was just hard to get if you didn't have a garden which my grandmother who lived about 60 miles from us. She had a garden and they used to bring us stuff out of that garden. She raised chickens too.
[00:51:41] FEMALE_2: We're working on another project right now or at least we're starting on. It's called the C-SPAN competition.
[00:51:48] Elginne Johnson: C-SPAN.
[00:51:49] FEMALE_2: C-SPAN competition and we basically in a five-minute video to answer questions, so we just thought we ask you. The question is, what does it mean to be American?
[00:52:06] Elginne Johnson: What should it mean or what does it mean?
[00:52:09] FEMALE_2: You can do both.
[00:52:12] Elginne Johnson: I think being an American can be very liberating. But there are some factions that just don't get along. I'm happy for those people who worked to try to bring people together because I think you can accomplish more with more people working toward the same goal. I suppose there always will be people who are anti whatever you think, but you'd have to just ignore them and go and do what you think is right and hopefully, someday we'll all live in harmony. Color won't matter, where you came from won't matter. Just as long as you've got two feet and two arms and can think a little bit. That's significant.
[00:53:23] FEMALE_2: Are there any stories that you can think of from your youth that you didn't cover that you'd like to tell us about? It can be from when you were really young to teenage years.
[00:53:37] Elginne Johnson: Old. Does Mary McLeod Bethune mean anything? She was a black educator who founded the Bethune Cookman College down in Florida somewhere. She came and spoke to our high school and I thought that was really great. She's a very good speaker. My grandmother, on my father's side says that, what's the man's name [inaudible 00:54:16] Help me. He worked there as a scientist.
[00:54:29] FEMALE_2: Carver.
[00:54:30] Elginne Johnson: Who?
[00:54:32] FEMALE_2: Carver.
[00:54:33] Elginne Johnson: Yeah. [LAUGHTER]
[00:54:36] FEMALE_4: George Washington Carver.
[00:54:37] Elginne Johnson: George Washington Carver. There you are. Thank you Susan. He came to our town once and he was really well-known because he had developed a lot of stuff. He came up to visit my grandmother. The only thing he could think of to say about him was he needed to press his clothes. [LAUGHTER] We all thought that was very peculiar. I'm trying to think of somebody else. Can't right now. Soon as I leave it will come to me.
[00:55:24] FEMALE_2: That's all right. Is there anything you'd like to add for the Legacy Project? Because this is our last interview. If there's anything you'd like to say.
[00:55:41] Elginne Johnson: I think it's a great idea.
[00:55:43] FEMALE_2: Thank you.
[00:55:45] Elginne Johnson: Whose idea was this?
[00:55:47] FEMALE_2: This was originally Jay Nelson is the one who I think started the idea of having at least us do it because they're adult firms that do legacy project. But having students do.
[00:55:59] Elginne Johnson: I think it's a great idea. It doesn't take too much of your time, does it?
[00:56:12] FEMALE_2: This is good stopping point. Yeah. We are finishing right now.
[00:56:16] MALE_1: Oh Perfect. Okay. Because we did get some things, so sorry.
[00:56:19] Elginne Johnson: No problem.
[00:56:23] MALE_1: Until we change it the second the door openings and everything below. .
[00:56:29] Elginne Johnson: Oh.
[00:56:32] MALE_1: Yeah. That's crazy [OVERLAPPING]
[00:56:43] FEMALE_2: I had a question.
[00:56:49] MALE_1: Yeah.
[00:56:49] FEMALE_2: We're doing another interview or audio.
[00:56:51] MALE_1: Okay. Oh, shoot. How can you focus this thing again? It's been so long since I've done [OVERLAPPING],.
[00:57:00] Elginne Johnson: Why can't he just use what I have told him before? [LAUGHTER]
[00:57:05] FEMALE_5: Well, we're going to use most of that you're going to add a few other things. Then also towards the annual schedule, the same Mr. Dunbar called a scanning party, and that's where I'll break something. You'll bring in like pictures or magazine clippings or like things that you have that we want to put in our video about you.
[00:57:35] Elginne Johnson: That means I have to come back.
[00:57:38] FEMALE_5: Just one more time. But next time we won't be filming, we'll just be scanning your picture then just talking.
[00:57:52] Elginne Johnson: Okay. [inaudible 00:57:55] [OVERLAPPING]
[00:57:57] FEMALE_2: [inaudible 00:57:57].
[00:58:04] Elginne Johnson: Where do you go to buy staff like that?
[00:58:07] MALE_1: Amazon.
[00:58:07] FEMALE_2: Amazon.
[00:58:08] Elginne Johnson: What?
[00:58:10] FEMALE_2: Internet.
[00:58:10] MALE_1: Internet online shop
[00:58:12] Elginne Johnson: If you can to do better at salvation [LAUGHTER].
[00:58:20] MALE_1: [inaudible 00:58:20] You wanted something like it? [inaudible 00:58:21]
[00:58:41] Elginne Johnson: My friend is probably [inaudible 00:58:43].
[00:59:00] MALE_1: Yes.
[00:59:03] Elginne Johnson: That looks like a hockey stick. [OVERLAPPING].
[00:59:15] MALE_1: Well, I balance it again. [OVERLAPPING].
[00:59:28] Elginne Johnson: What are you doing?
[00:59:29] FEMALE_2: We're doing a light balance?
[00:59:30] Elginne Johnson: A what?
[00:59:31] FEMALE_2: A light balance so the camera adjusts to the light for white background and then [inaudible 00:59:35].
[00:59:36] Elginne Johnson: Will it take all wrinkles. [LAUGHTER]
[00:59:47] FEMALE_2: That's great. We went over all of the interview material that we got the other interviews and then we decided on a focus story. We're going to focus on your experience during war and then we have some more interview questions for you to go over.
[01:00:16] Elginne Johnson: Okay.
[01:00:20] FEMALE_2: Do you want to adjust it? You can turn the mic. The end of it, you can turn it.
[01:00:24] MALE_1: You can point it towards you.
[01:00:26] FEMALE_2: Here, like that. What was it like growing up when your father was gone?
[01:00:48] Elginne Johnson: Well, it was like any other family whose parents had gone off to war. The greatest thing I remember is the lack of food because they sent all the food over to the people fighting the wars. We were limited to how much you could buy, kids only could buy two pairs of shoes a year. You had stamps for that and you had stamps for gasoline for your car, and stamps for shoes. I just said, I didn't? Still two pairs and not four. We had practices of what to do if the airplanes came to bomb our city. We didn't even know about our city but anyway, they would turn off all the lights and everything was dark and we supposed to go outside and we thought that was fun. I do remember when they announced that the war was over. Everybody was really happy. They could buy stuff and their relatives were coming back. That's about all I remember. Now we're talking about World War II, not World War I. [LAUGHTER]
[01:02:40] FEMALE_2: When your dad was gone, how did your mother adjust to care for you and your family?
[01:02:52] Elginne Johnson: I didn't notice any adjustment. Things went pretty well the same.
[01:03:03] FEMALE_2: Earlier now and then also at different interview you told us a few stories about going to the store and being unable to buy certain things with the shoot stamps. Can you tell us a few more stories about how your every day to day life was different.
[01:03:21] Elginne Johnson: Well, meat was very scarce. By the time that we knew, we the Black folks knew that there was some meat, it was all gone.
[01:03:36] MALE_1: [inaudible 01:03:36].
[01:03:41] FEMALE_2: Sorry, go ahead.
[01:03:49] Elginne Johnson: I was swear, it was all gone because they would call their friends and let them know that we had meat. By the time we got there, it was clean and it seems as though everything was scarce. I remember everybody, not everybody, a lot of people in the South ate grits for breakfast and that was hard to get. They tried to substitute cream of wheat, but nobody liked that, and I remember coffee was very scarce also.
[01:04:37] FEMALE_2: They specifically would disclude you?
[01:04:39] Elginne Johnson: Pardon?
[01:04:40] FEMALE_2: They would specifically disclude you and other African-American?
[01:04:43] Elginne Johnson: Yeah, everybody.
[01:04:49] FEMALE_2: Do you know what influenced the decision for your father to go?
[01:04:56] Elginne Johnson: Well, it was mostly because there wasn't any work there and it was right after the depression. He was a lawyer and nobody could afford him so he turn down.
[01:05:17] FEMALE_2: How long was your father gone for?
[01:05:20] Elginne Johnson: About two-and-a-half, three years.
[01:05:26] FEMALE_2: Do you think your life would be different if your father hadn't gone and if so, how would it have changed?
[01:05:33] Elginne Johnson: I don't think it would've changed.
[01:05:38] FEMALE_2: Was there anything that you did in specific to help the war effort?
[01:05:42] Elginne Johnson: Yes. We wish to gather papers and something else, tin cans. We used gather that too for them to make ammunition I suppose. Those are the only two things I can remember.
[01:06:12] FEMALE_2: Did you do that with other kids around your age or with your family?
[01:06:17] Elginne Johnson: Yes, the kids did it. Actually we gathered them and took him to our school. They had a big pile of tin cans.
[01:06:31] FEMALE_2: Did you ever think about wanting to join the war?
[01:06:35] Elginne Johnson: No, ma'am.
[01:06:36] FEMALE_2: Is there a reason why you didn't want to?
[01:06:40] Elginne Johnson: I guess I'm afraid to get. There are too many rules.
[01:06:52] FEMALE_2: How do you think the war influenced who you are today?
[01:06:59] Elginne Johnson: Well, that's deep. Well, I've learned to get along without a lot of stuff. I don't think it really did. There's a difference between then and now. I didn't want the same things then that I want now. It seemed as though I had the stuff that I needed and if I didn't, I didn't know any better.
[01:07:39] FEMALE_2: Who would you say your biggest influence was when your father was gone?
[01:07:47] Elginne Johnson: My brother.
[01:07:51] FEMALE_2: Do you want to talk a little bit about how your relationship with your brother was when he was gone.
[01:07:55] Elginne Johnson: We fought less and he was a little kinder to me. He shared more and we found a lot of things to do together like shooting marbles and hopscotch, and stuff like that.
[01:08:19] FEMALE_2: How was school different when the lowest [inaudible 01:08:21]? We talked about how you guys did drills. Could you talk a little bit more about how teachers and other students responded to things like that.
[01:08:33] Elginne Johnson: We had drills in school where I think as I remember, you get under your desk and then at home, they would turn out all the street lights and we would lie on the ground until the siren came on again. That was to teach you what to do if your city got bombed. Nobody knew where my city was so no problem there. [LAUGHTER] [NOISE]. What's that?
[01:09:26] MALE_1: We can do one question, and wait because it's going to be next film.
[01:09:30] FEMALE_2: We can just take a pause because there's going to be another round of bells after this. Do you want water? Okay.
[01:09:35] MALE_1: [inaudible 01:09:35] .
[01:09:42] Elginne Johnson: Where are the other two that were here?
[01:09:47] FEMALE_2: The other two? Savannah.
[01:09:48] Elginne Johnson: Savannah.
[01:09:49] FEMALE_2: She was there. She got sent to Florida right now. She's in vacation.
[01:09:54] Elginne Johnson: On vacation?
[01:09:59] FEMALE_2: Yeah. I know. [inaudible 01:09:59] yeah we have our spring break early. On Friday we have a week off after that.
[01:10:05] Elginne Johnson: You got there? [LAUGHTER].
[01:10:14] MALE_1: [inaudible 01:10:14].
[01:10:14] FEMALE_2: I don't think there wasn't [inaudible 01:10:14] was there?
[01:10:17] MALE_1: I think I go to each helped him one time.
[01:10:19] FEMALE_2: No, that goes in for the interview. [OVERLAPPING] She's just not here. Thanks.
[01:10:43] MALE_1: [inaudible 01:10:43].
[01:10:46] Elginne Johnson: April, you found out where we were?
[01:10:49] FEMALE_3: Yeah. [LAUGHTER] I remember when we came last time, we had to give our driver's license and all of that.
[01:10:59] Elginne Johnson: No, we didn't. Left at the front.
[01:11:01] FEMALE_2: There are a lot of new things because there's a lot of school shootings going on.
[01:11:06] FEMALE_3: You can open the staff entrance door by this tab [inaudible 01:11:08] person who handicap. He doesn't know because his handicapped.
[01:11:18] Elginne Johnson: They had a scare on campus this weekend. Found out there was balloons.
[01:11:24] FEMALE_2: A lot of girls screaming [inaudible 01:11:27].
[01:11:35] FEMALE_3: [inaudible 01:11:35].
[01:11:35] FEMALE_2: Well, we're done with these. [OVERLAPPING]
[01:11:50] MALE_1: [inaudible 01:11:50] It's like when you don't want them to.
[01:11:54] FEMALE_2: It will rain.
[01:11:55] MALE_1: It will rain.
[01:11:56] FEMALE_2: No I don't think so because it's the third hour.
[01:11:59] MALE_1: The third hour goes rain.
[01:12:01] FEMALE_2: No. It's relate early could be over.
[01:12:04] MALE_1: Where?
[01:12:04] FEMALE_2: [inaudible 01:12:04].
[01:12:06] Elginne Johnson: There's only what?
[01:12:07] FEMALE_2: [inaudible 01:12:07].
[01:12:09] Elginne Johnson: I don't know.
[01:12:10] FEMALE_2: Meaning yes, sorry. [inaudible 01:12:10] I'm not 100% sure, but I thought it was [inaudible 01:12:14].
[01:12:15] MALE_1: [inaudible 01:12:15] Starts at 11:34.
[01:12:24] Elginne Johnson: I talk [BACKGROUND] Didn't bring my Purse, didn't I?.
[01:12:48] FEMALE_2: Yeah, you did. I saw it. [NOISE] It's right here, do you need it?
[01:12:53] Elginne Johnson: Not right now. It's a permission slip in there.
[01:13:03] FEMALE_2: You mentioned that your husband also went to war. Do you want to talk a little bit about his experience? [NOISE] [LAUGHTER]. There is, not going to be another bell one minute from now.
[01:13:18] MALE_1: One minute from now.
[01:13:19] FEMALE_2: [NOISE] Then there's four minutes, then there's the five minute.
[01:13:24] MALE_1: That's the four-minute bell.
[01:13:25] FEMALE_2: That's the minute bell, then there's the late bell after. We're going to wait one more minute.
[01:13:31] MALE_1: It's done I don't understand why.
[01:13:34] FEMALE_2: There's apparently attorney problem people being late to class, so they added a minute Bell.
[01:13:38] MALE_1: [inaudible 01:13:38].
[01:13:41] Elginne Johnson: Who's the principle here?
[01:13:42] FEMALE_2: Mr. McNamile.
[01:13:44] Elginne Johnson: Who?
[01:13:45] FEMALE_2: His name is Mr. McNamile.
[01:13:47] Elginne Johnson: I don't know.
[01:13:49] FEMALE_2: McNamile. No one else would say his name.
[01:13:54] Elginne Johnson: I've been retired for 30 years. It just started building this building.
[01:14:03] FEMALE_2: [BACKGROUND] here it is coming. [NOISE] That's it. We're good.
[01:14:25] Elginne Johnson: [inaudible 01:14:25] Where did you get yours from?
[01:14:31] FEMALE_2: I made it.
[01:14:33] Elginne Johnson: I didn't make mine.
[01:14:41] FEMALE_2: [LAUGHTER] You mentioned that your husband also went to war. We want to ask you a bunch of questions about that as well. How long was he gone for?
[01:14:52] Elginne Johnson: Sixteen months.
[01:14:55] FEMALE_2: Do you know what influenced his decision to go?
[01:14:59] Elginne Johnson: Yes. He got drafted.
[01:15:03] FEMALE_2: Was he upset about that or was he fine with that?
[01:15:06] Elginne Johnson: No, he was very upset.
[01:15:09] FEMALE_2: Do you know why?
[01:15:13] Elginne Johnson: He just didn't want to go, he was in the Korean War, and we had just gotten married 10 days before.
[01:15:29] FEMALE_2: How did your husband having to leave affect you?
[01:15:35] Elginne Johnson: Well, it made me write letters and I missed him, but 16 months is a long time when you're newly wed.
[01:15:58] FEMALE_2: Was there anything that you did to help the war effort then?
[01:16:01] Elginne Johnson: No.
[01:16:07] FEMALE_2: Do you know if that war influenced you in any way?
[01:16:15] Elginne Johnson: I can't remember being influenced in any way because this is something that we expected. All the guys had to sign out and give all the information. We knew that they had it. They were going to use it and they did.
[01:16:42] FEMALE_2: How did your day-to-day life change?
[01:16:48] Elginne Johnson: Not much I still worked. I was working as a Med tech at the time.
[01:16:57] FEMALE_2: Did you notice how society, and the people around you and the community change?
[01:17:03] Elginne Johnson: No.
[01:17:05] MALE_1: Were there more job openings?
[01:17:10] Elginne Johnson: I guess so, I got my job during that time.
[01:17:22] MALE_1: Were you working at the lab that was in New York?
[01:17:25] Elginne Johnson: Boston.
[01:17:25] MALE_1: Boston. How was it working in Boston as an option had been like?
[01:17:31] Elginne Johnson: I was working.
[01:17:33] MALE_1: How's it working as in Boston as [inaudible 01:17:35].
[01:17:35] Elginne Johnson: It was fine because the laboratory where I worked was Jewish and they had all these free days, holidays in the fall. Then I had all my holidays. There sometimes I don't even worked two days a week. That was a plus.
[01:18:05] FEMALE_2: Do you guys have any other question?
[01:18:09] FEMALE_4: Here earlier, you said that growing up during the war it didn't affect you much, why would you say that?
[01:18:18] Elginne Johnson: Because everybody else took it in strike.
[01:18:22] FEMALE_4: The confidence of the people around you made you confident?
[01:18:28] Elginne Johnson: Yeah, we thought all this stuff was funny like playing dead in the streets and keeping your lights off. I guess because everybody else was doing it. It was just the thing to do. In the school year you hid under your desk. Nobody thought, what would happen if the desk collapsed. See you. [LAUGHTER]
[01:19:06] FEMALE_2: Are there any other stories you'd like to share with us or even like us to include in a short story about your experiences?
[01:19:13] Elginne Johnson: During the war? Well, I remember when it was over, there was great joy. People were blowing and shooting guns and bells were ringing. Just like New Year's. Everybody was happy. They're people back home. There were some that didn't make it back. It was one guy in my town who got killed at Pearl Harbor. He showed me what I personally know.
[01:19:55] FEMALE_4: I have a question. You said that since you were just newly married to your husband, what did you do in the time that he was gone? Did you have other family there?
[01:20:12] Elginne Johnson: Yes, I had other family, [OVERLAPPING] and I was working. I had friends that two-week still saw each other. Sunday was card day after we went to church, we went someplace and play cards.
[01:20:33] FEMALE_2: How was your relationship with your brother, when your husband was gone? Were you near him or did you speak to him?
[01:20:40] Elginne Johnson: We weren't near. He said that he was in Atlanta in college.
[01:20:48] FEMALE_2: That's all.
[01:20:59] FEMALE_2: Thank you very much.
[01:21:02] Elginne Johnson: Do you get tired holding that thing?
[01:21:13] FEMALE_2: Yeah. It's very light though it moves a lot.
[01:21:21] Elginne Johnson: Tell me this. What are you going to do with all this information?
[01:21:28] FEMALE_2: We're going to review it by just watching over it. We're basically just going to choose certain clips that we like, different answers that you gave us and just patch together into a little video.
[01:21:41] Elginne Johnson: You're going to show it where.
[01:21:44] FEMALE_2: We will have a showing at the Michigan Theater downtown. You will be invited of course.
[01:21:49] Elginne Johnson: Are you serious?
[01:21:51] FEMALE_2: Yeah.
[01:21:52] Elginne Johnson: When?
[01:21:52] FEMALE_2: There's little Festival and all of the teams will show different legacy projects since there are other people being interviewed. We'll give you more information I think it's later in the year.
[01:22:03] FEMALE_3: In the spring..
[01:22:05] FEMALE_2: In the spring.
[01:22:07] Elginne Johnson: You better hurry up, I'm old.
[01:22:08] FEMALE_2: Yeah. We're really excited for that.
[01:22:17] Elginne Johnson: I think it's a wonderful project. Who came up with this idea? You don't know?
[01:22:24] FEMALE_2: Well, I know that a lot of other programs have done it. We just decided to do our own little type of thing. Hey, Chris, do you know the organization that has done this?
[01:22:40] Elginne Johnson: I know I get contacted by a guy named Nelson. Does he work here?
[01:22:50] MALE_1: He facilitates. He is the person behind why we do the legacies project. I don't know exactly.
[01:22:58] FEMALE_2: He doesn't work with us but he works with our teachers.
[01:23:02] MALE_1: Yeah.
[01:23:13] Elginne Johnson: Is this a social studies class, or a history class, or photography class?
[01:23:25] FEMALE_2: Yeah, it's a little bit of everything. The magnet program, we have electives and we have our core classes. Our core classes are going to be like the science, math, history.
[01:23:38] Elginne Johnson: You can't get away from that.
[01:23:39] FEMALE_2: Yeah those are lots we have to do. Then we have elective spaces where we can choose to do extra classes like photography. There's photography class, there's different art classes. You can do choir, music and then there are all the magnet program. This is one of the elective classes. But with all the magnet programs, you also get one of your required credits. For this class, we got our government credits, so we don't have to take the government class. Since last year part of our class was worrying about how the government is run and doing projects based on that.
[01:24:13] Elginne Johnson: Have you figured out how the government is run? [LAUGHTER] It is run into the ground?
[01:24:20] FEMALE_2: Oh, yeah [LAUGHTER].
[01:24:25] Elginne Johnson: Right into the ground. I'm sorry you guys have to fix this mess that we have. But it is what it is.
[01:24:41] FEMALE_3: Everyone has to fix some bit of mess.
[01:24:47] Elginne Johnson: But this is a big mess. How many more times do I have to come or is this it?
[01:24:59] FEMALE_3: It was one more interview.
[01:25:00] FEMALE_2: There's one more interview. We're going to go through the footage, and come up with some more follow-up questions and go into more depth. Then I know you're going to have to come in again with like all of your pictures and things and we'll just spend some time.
[01:25:15] Elginne Johnson: I thought you said you had no pictures.
[01:25:18] FEMALE_2: No. We're going to have you come in with pictures from you. Like that you bring. That's going to be a different time.
[01:25:25] FEMALE_3: [inaudible 01:25:25].
[01:25:27] FEMALE_2: Yeah, That's super casual. We're not going to be videotaping you or anything. Yeah, we're calling it a scanning party. We're going to scan all your pictures and you can tell us something.
[01:25:37] Elginne Johnson: No, you don't do that. I have tons of pictures.
[01:25:40] FEMALE_2: Oh, yeah. We don't want all of them but we'll take some of them just to scan them and we can put them in the video. Then anything besides that. Then we have the screening at the Michigan Theater.
[01:25:57] Elginne Johnson: That's pretty cool.
[01:25:58] FEMALE_2: Yeah.
[01:25:59] Elginne Johnson: How many credits do you get for this?
[01:26:04] FEMALE_3: I mean, we get points.
[01:26:06] FEMALE_2: We get elective credits. Fairly classic. We get graded I think.
[01:26:14] Elginne Johnson: Do I get to grade you? So far you passed, don't mess up now. [LAUGHTER].
[01:26:34] FEMALE_3: How can you signify your product. [OVERLAPPING].
[01:26:46] FEMALE_2: All set?
[01:26:46] Elginne Johnson: Yeah.
[01:27:00] FEMALE_2: This set of questions will cover your retirement years to now. If there are any questions that I ask that you'd like to skip, let me know. How did family life change for you when you and your spouse retired and all of your children were gone?
[01:27:26] Elginne Johnson: I had less to cook and more time to work in the yard. I decided that inside of my house needed painting and wallpaper and I did that two years. Then I was into golfing and bowling and walking. Yeah. That's about it and church work, I did a lot of that to cut my time.
[01:28:12] FEMALE_2: Are there any stories you'd like to tell us about you and your spouse?
[01:28:23] Elginne Johnson: Not really. He was a handyman. He could do anything. He could fix, my oldest daughter that was her first sentence, papa fix.
[01:28:44] FEMALE_2: What is a typical day like for your life currently?
[01:28:49] Elginne Johnson: Oh my goodness. I do the things that need to be done, what I can do at age 88. There were a lot of things that I used to do that I can't do now. Lifting and walking, I guess. My downfalls. Nothing wrong with my mouth. But since I'm living alone, I eat when I get hungry. I do laundry when I don't have anything else to wear. I still do my grocery shopping. I don't do too much of that too. But yeah. What else?
[01:29:57] FEMALE_2: How often do you see your kids?
[01:30:01] Elginne Johnson: My daughter who lives in Ohio comes about every three weeks. I have one that lives in Connecticut who comes about three or four times a year.
[01:30:18] FEMALE_2: When you guys see each other, what do you do together?
[01:30:23] Elginne Johnson: I don't do anything. I sit back and let them do all the work.
[01:30:29] FEMALE_2: You tell them what they need to do?
[01:30:30] Elginne Johnson: No, I don't even do that.
[01:30:36] FEMALE_2: What are your personal favorite things you do for fun?
[01:30:40] Elginne Johnson: Sleep.
[01:30:49] Elginne Johnson: Transplant flowers. I used to read but I don't read as much as I used to. I guess I do absolutely nothing, exist.
[01:31:12] FEMALE_2: Are there any special days, events or family traditions that you participate in, like holidays?
[01:31:22] Elginne Johnson: Well, yeah, Christmas was a big thing with us in the olden days. Most of the people who would come over, I didn't know. That has dwindled down. We used to have 40 people for dinner and we'd be so close. We'd eat each other's plate and never knew it.
[01:31:56] FEMALE_2: When thinking about your life after retirement up till now, what are important social or historical events that are taking place? I guess just sharing your opinion about them.
[01:32:11] Elginne Johnson: I guess the most thing that is going on is with the leadership of our country. I don't particularly care for Trump because he's so bossful and he doesn't know what he's doing. It's my personal opinion. I keep up with the news just more than I used to, to see what he's doing today.
[01:32:57] FEMALE_2: Thinking back on your entire life, what important historical events had the greatest impact?
[01:33:16] Elginne Johnson: I guess when Martin Luther got killed. He was especially very important during that time.
[01:33:42] FEMALE_2: Do you want to go into more detail about when you found out that he was killed, and what exactly was happening with people around you when it happened?
[01:33:54] Elginne Johnson: Well, I thought I was not hearing right when it came over the TV. I kept really listening for more details and they showed more pictures. He was there because he was trying to help the people who worked for the city so they could keep a job. The whole country was in a turmoil, especially since John Kennedy who had just recently been shot, and his brother had recently been shot. I just think that people should not have guns because they don't know what to do with them, know when to use them.
[01:35:00] FEMALE_2: On the first minutes you were talking really casually and not tell me anything. You told us the story about how you knew him, and how you were supposed to have paid some money for a birthday party. I don't know if you want to retell that story so we have it on the recording.
[01:35:19] Elginne Johnson: His girlfriend at the time wanted to give him a birthday party. She asked his friend, his friend said, pay $2.50 for this party. He had the party, and I never did pay my $2.50.
[01:35:41] FEMALE_2: You still went to the party?
[01:35:42] Elginne Johnson: Oh, yeah. [LAUGHTER] I had planned to do it. I didn't have any money with me. But this was in January, and they left in June. I didn't get to see him. Somebody in church told me that including interests, I probably owe them about $22,000. [LAUGHTER]
[01:36:13] FEMALE_2: Do you remember the party or do you want to tell us any stories about what happened there?
[01:36:19] Elginne Johnson: I just remember eating and laughing. He tried to get us to sing happy birthday and what the old folks call common meter. Not like we sing it, but anyway, we sang it to him and you go.
[01:36:50] FEMALE_2: What are some family heirlooms or keepsakes that you have, and do you have any stories behind them and why they're important to you?
[01:37:00] Elginne Johnson: Yes. I have a rocking chair that my grandfather sat in and I would sit in his lap. Those days he had cigars and there's a ring around the cigars. I would sit in his lap and he would take the ring off the cigar and put it on my finger, and I thought that was the coolest thing. I have a big spoon that one of my grandmothers used to dip soup and staff with. It's silver, a ladle, I guess you'd call it. I still have some pieces of my mother's glassware that were given to her as a wedding gift. That's pretty old and I didn't know what to do with them. None of my kids wanted. There you go.
[01:38:18] FEMALE_2: [inaudible 01:38:18]
[01:38:23] Elginne Johnson: She's busy.
[01:38:31] FEMALE_2: I think we're going to wrap up for today. Then I'm going to go check the schedule, and I'll let you know when your next meeting will be.
[01:38:42] Elginne Johnson: I think you guys should have some name tags on for all folks.
[01:38:46] FEMALE_2: [OVERLAPPING] We'll do that.
[01:38:50] Elginne Johnson: Yeah.
[01:38:52] FEMALE_3: Well, I'm in a tag the next time we see you.
[01:38:53] Elginne Johnson: Yeah. You.
[01:38:57] MALE_1: Guys. [OVERLAPPING]
[01:39:01] FEMALE_5: Photograph, somebody come.
[01:39:02] FEMALE_2: That'll come later?
[01:39:03] FEMALE_3: Yeah.
[01:39:04] FEMALE_5: What kind of photographs are you looking for?
[01:39:10] Elginne Johnson: You can put that down.
[01:39:12] UNKNOWN_1: Please make sure, if have any of your old school [OVERLAPPING] that for a bathroom break.
[01:39:22] UNKNOWN_2: Say your name and spell your name.
[01:39:25] Elginne Johnson: My name is Elginne Johnson, E-L-G-I-N-N-E, and you can handle Johnson
[01:39:34] UNKNOWN_2: What is your birth date including year?
[01:39:39] Elginne Johnson: Ten, 12, '30.
[01:39:40] UNKNOWN_2: How old are you?
[01:39:41] Elginne Johnson: I'll be 88 in a couple of days.
[01:39:44] UNKNOWN_2: How would you describe your ethnic background?
[01:39:51] Elginne Johnson: I'm African-American. Didn't you notice?
[01:39:56] UNKNOWN_2: What is your religious affiliation, if any?
[01:39:59] Elginne Johnson: I go to the Apostle church.
[01:40:03] UNKNOWN_2: What is the highest level of formal education you have completed, and did you attend any school or formal career training beyond what you read?
[01:40:14] Elginne Johnson: Repeat that, please.
[01:40:15] UNKNOWN_2: What is the highest level of formal education you have completed, and did you attend additional school?
[01:40:23] Elginne Johnson: Masters.
[01:40:25] UNKNOWN_2: Where did you get your masters?
[01:40:27] Elginne Johnson: The Eastern.
[01:40:29] UNKNOWN_2: What is your marital status?
[01:40:31] Elginne Johnson: Widowed.
[01:40:34] UNKNOWN_2: How many children do you have?
[01:40:37] Elginne Johnson: I had three; one died, two lived.
[01:40:41] UNKNOWN_2: How many siblings do you have?
[01:40:44] Elginne Johnson: None now.
[01:40:48] UNKNOWN_2: What would you consider your primary occupation?
[01:40:55] Elginne Johnson: Survival.
[01:40:58] FEMALE_2: At what age did you retire?
[01:41:01] Elginne Johnson: 59.
[01:41:06] FEMALE_2: Now we can begin the first part of our interview. Do you know any story about your family name?
[01:41:11] Elginne Johnson: No. I'm still trying.
[01:41:14] FEMALE_2: Are there any naming traditions in your family?
[01:41:18] Elginne Johnson: My brother was a junior.
[01:41:22] FEMALE_2: Why did your ancestors leave to come to the United States?
[01:41:26] Elginne Johnson: We were born here.
[01:41:29] FEMALE_2: Do you know, any story about how your family first came to the United States, and if so, where did they settle?
[01:41:34] Elginne Johnson: I don't know.
[01:41:36] FEMALE_2: How did they make a living either in the old country or in the United States?
[01:41:44] Elginne Johnson: My maternal grandfather was a tailor, my other grandfather was a lawyer and that's all. Their wives were homemakers and baby-makers.
[01:42:06] FEMALE_2: Describe any family migration once they arrived in the United States and how they came to live in the area.
[01:42:12] Elginne Johnson: I have no idea.
[01:42:14] FEMALE_2: What possessions did they bring with them?
[01:42:16] Elginne Johnson: I don't know.
[01:42:19] FEMALE_2: To your knowledge, did they make an effort to preserve any traditions or customs from their country of origin?
[01:42:26] Elginne Johnson: I don't know.
[01:42:35] FEMALE_2: What stories have come down to you about your parents and grandparents or more distant ancestors?
[01:42:45] Elginne Johnson: Well, the one that I can remember and I always get a chuckle out of. Since my grandfather was a lawyer, he had client and the client was waiting to be called and the judge came by and said, are you the defendant? He said, no, I'm the one that stole the watch. [LAUGHTER]
[01:43:15] FEMALE_2: Do you know any courtship stories, how your parents, grandparents, or other relatives came to meet or marry?
[01:43:22] Elginne Johnson: No.
[01:43:35] FEMALE_2: Today's interview is about your childhood up until you began attending school. Even if these questions jog memories about other times in your life, please respond with memories from this early part of your life. Where did you grow up and what are your strongest memories of this place?
[01:43:54] Elginne Johnson: I grew up in Buford, South Carolina and my memories, it was hot. In the summer it was very hot. We lived near the water so we could walk to swim, of course, I didn't swim, still can't. What else did we do? Is that what you want? I played football and hopscotch and dodge-ball and pick-up sticks. You don't know what that is, do you?
[01:44:40] FEMALE_2: No, I don't.
[01:44:40] Elginne Johnson: You don't know what pickups sticks is? Puzzles. They didn't have scramble back then.
[01:44:50] FEMALE_2: How did your family come to live there?
[01:44:55] Elginne Johnson: I don't know.
[01:44:57] FEMALE_2: What was your house like?
[01:45:00] Elginne Johnson: It had a roof.
[01:45:02] FEMALE_2: I would hope so. [LAUGHTER]
[01:45:06] Elginne Johnson: Three bedrooms, a kitchen, dining room, living room, and a room in the middle where we kept books.
[01:45:24] FEMALE_2: How many people lived in the house when you were growing up, and what was the relationship too?
[01:45:29] Elginne Johnson: We were a family of 4. My brother, my mother, and my father.
[01:45:38] FEMALE_2: Who were you closest with?
[01:45:40] Elginne Johnson: My mother.
[01:45:44] FEMALE_2: What languages were spoken in or around your household?
[01:45:49] Elginne Johnson: Mostly English, but I can understand Gullah too.
[01:45:55] FEMALE_2: Did your parents teach you?
[01:45:57] Elginne Johnson: No.
[01:46:01] FEMALE_2: Were different languages spoken in different settings such as home or in the neighborhood or local stores?
[01:46:08] Elginne Johnson: Would you say that again?
[01:46:10] FEMALE_2: Were different languages spoken in different settings such as at home or in your neighborhood or different stores?
[01:46:16] Elginne Johnson: No.
[01:46:19] FEMALE_2: What was your family like when you were a child?
[01:46:24] Elginne Johnson: I guess they were a combination of me.
[01:46:28] FEMALE_2: What work did your father and mother do?
[01:46:31] Elginne Johnson: My father was a lawyer also. My mother taught.
[01:46:36] FEMALE_2: What did she teach?
[01:46:37] Elginne Johnson: Second grade.
[01:46:39] FEMALE_2: What is your earliest memory?
[01:46:45] Elginne Johnson: I don't know if it's the earliest. When I was about five or six we went to church and some boy was teasing my brother and I beat him up and got in trouble because there was blood on my dress.
[01:47:07] FEMALE_2: Was your brother younger than you?
[01:47:09] Elginne Johnson: No.
[01:47:10] FEMALE_2: He was older? [LAUGHTER] What was a typical day for you, in your preschool years, if you can remember?
[01:47:20] Elginne Johnson: I can't remember that far back.
[01:47:22] FEMALE_2: What did you do for fun?
[01:47:25] Elginne Johnson: Playing hopscotch, marbles, football and I wasn't too much on baseball because we used to have to use tin cans for a ball and they hurt when they got on your finger, and I did marbles. Do you know what that is? Gosh. [LAUGHTER]
[01:47:53] FEMALE_2: Did you play with your siblings or your friends around the neighborhood?
[01:47:58] Elginne Johnson: Yes.
[01:48:02] FEMALE_2: Were there any special days, events or family traditions you remember?
[01:48:11] Elginne Johnson: Not off hand. I remember my eighth birthday party because I had a party, the first party, and there was cake and ice cream and I was five, I think.
[01:48:30] FEMALE_2: Is there anything else you would like to add about any of your earliest memories or your childhood?
[01:48:38] Elginne Johnson: I remember that my mother had an awful time getting me to take piano lessons and she played the piano. She gave up and she sent me to another friend and he gave up and another lady that my mother knew and when my mother saw her, he said, I want to pay you for alternative lessons and she was so surprised, she [inaudible 01:49:07] so I didn't go all the time. [LAUGHTER].
[01:49:13] FEMALE_2: You told your mom you were going and you didn't? Now I will discuss your time as a young person about the time that school attendance [inaudible 01:49:25] did you go to preschool?
[01:49:28] Elginne Johnson: No.
[01:49:30] FEMALE_2: Did you go to kindergarten?
[01:49:31] Elginne Johnson: No.
[01:49:32] FEMALE_2: Did you go to elementary school?
[01:49:34] Elginne Johnson: Yes.
[01:49:34] FEMALE_2: Where did you go?
[01:49:36] Elginne Johnson: Robert Smalls School.
[01:49:38] FEMALE_2: What do you remember about it?
[01:49:42] Elginne Johnson: Recess. [LAUGHTER] We would play dodge-ball and have fun and if we had a long enough, we would eat our lunch that we brought. They didn't have lunch served at school and I enjoyed recess.
[01:50:04] FEMALE_2: Do you remember any of your teachers?
[01:50:07] Elginne Johnson: Yes.
[01:50:09] FEMALE_2: What about them do do you remember?
[01:50:10] Elginne Johnson: The good ones or the bad ones?
[01:50:13] FEMALE_2: All.
[01:50:19] Elginne Johnson: My first-grade teacher kept getting sick and they finally realized that she had tuberculosis, which was very bad then, and she died and then my class went and sang a song at her funeral and nobody wanted to stand next to the casket so it was a little pushing and shoving. What else was that you asked?
[01:50:54] FEMALE_2: Just about your teachers and your memories [inaudible 01:50:56].
[01:51:00] Elginne Johnson: Another thing, they used to have some suckers on a stick, they were called BB Bats, and the candy was really hard and sticky and I had one in my desk, and I put my head down to take a lick at my teeth got suck in the sucker [LAUGHTER] and I got caught.
[01:51:25] FEMALE_2: Oh, no. Are there any other memories of elementary school you would like to share?
[01:51:31] Elginne Johnson: No.
[01:51:35] FEMALE_2: Did you go to high school?
[01:51:37] Elginne Johnson: Yes. [LAUGHTER]
[01:51:39] FEMALE_2: Where did you go?
[01:51:39] Elginne Johnson: I went to a boarding high school.
[01:51:43] FEMALE_2: Where was it?
[01:51:44] Elginne Johnson: About four miles from my hometown.
[01:51:50] FEMALE_2: What do you remember about it?
[01:51:52] Elginne Johnson: They were very strict. It was an all-girls school, it was a boarding school, and I stayed there during the week but I went home for the weekend. You did not get out of line there. Every girl had a chore to do every day and we would switch around. They even had us ironing the teachers clothes.
[01:52:26] FEMALE_2: What was a typical day at your high school like?
[01:52:30] Elginne Johnson: Pardon.
[01:52:31] FEMALE_2: What was a typical day at your high school like?
[01:52:35] Elginne Johnson: Dull.
[01:52:37] FEMALE_2: Do you remember any of your teachers there?
[01:52:39] Elginne Johnson: Oh, yes.
[01:52:41] FEMALE_2: Are there any stories you would like to share about them?
[01:52:45] Elginne Johnson: In our math class, the teacher was aged, she was up in years and she would quite frequently go to the wrong classroom and start teaching. And she would be teaching other classes lesson to us and nobody would say anything [LAUGHTER] until the class was almost over, and somebody would say, Ms. Cottrell, this is the eighth-grade math glass. [LAUGHTER]
[01:53:26] FEMALE_2: Since you didn't go to preschool or kindergarten, why didn't you go, and what did you do during that time?
[01:53:35] Elginne Johnson: I didn't go because there was no kindergarten and what?
[01:53:39] FEMALE_2: Preschool.
[01:53:42] Elginne Johnson: Preschool. It was years after I had left that they decided to have kindergarten for African-Americans.
[01:53:54] FEMALE_2: What did you do during that time?
[01:53:56] Elginne Johnson: I don't remember.
[01:54:01] FEMALE_2: Did you go to school or career training beyond high school such as to college?
[01:54:06] Elginne Johnson: Yes.
[01:54:07] FEMALE_2: Where did you go?
[01:54:09] Elginne Johnson: Hampton University in Virginia.
[01:54:13] FEMALE_2: What do you remember about it?
[01:54:17] Elginne Johnson: It was fun place. I got a chance to do a lot of sports I've never heard of like soccer. I found some friends who like football too, got caught playing football in the field when I was supposed to be in some program in the big building. But I didn't get punished. She just told me to get on in there. That's where I met my husband. What else do I remember? I enjoyed all my classes except physics, it did not like me.
[01:55:10] FEMALE_2: Are there any other stories you'd like to share about college?
[01:55:21] Elginne Johnson: Not really.
[01:55:25] FEMALE_2: Please describe the popular music of the time you were growing up.
[01:55:29] Elginne Johnson: Nat King Cole.
[01:55:31] FEMALE_2: What's it your favorite song?
[01:55:35] Elginne Johnson: Everything he sang, I loved. I tolerated [inaudible 01:55:43] , but Nat King Cole was the man.
[01:55:54] FEMALE_2: Did the music have any particular dances associated with it?
[01:55:58] Elginne Johnson: Yes, I always danced with my boyfriend.
[01:56:03] FEMALE_2: Where did you guys dance?
[01:56:05] Elginne Johnson: In the gym.
[01:56:08] FEMALE_2: Were there popular clothing or hairstyles at this time?
[01:56:14] Elginne Johnson: I don't remember.
[01:56:16] FEMALE_2: Can you describe any other fads or styles?
[01:56:25] Elginne Johnson: I think a couple of girls had fur coats and I thought that would blew my mind. But there were all regular clothes. My roommate was majoring in tailoring, so all her clothes were fine. She redid some of mine.
[01:56:48] FEMALE_2: Do you want to tell us more about your roommate?
[01:56:54] Elginne Johnson: She is the one that told me once and I have never forgotten. I came in the room once and threw my books and coat on the bed, she says, hang your coat up and make your bed. Ever since then, I have hang my coat up and made by bed [LAUGHTER] .
[01:57:16] FEMALE_2: Was she older than you?
[01:57:17] Elginne Johnson: No, but she was a very neat person.
[01:57:25] FEMALE_2: Were there any slang terms, phrases, or words that were used then that aren't common today?
[01:57:37] Elginne Johnson: I don't remember.
[01:57:40] FEMALE_2: What was a typical day like for you in college?
[01:57:48] Elginne Johnson: I went to class and I lived with a family, the guy taught at the school, so after my classes, I would go there. I didn't live in the dorm anymore. I would help with their young kid who was about three. I enjoyed him. He's about to retire.
[01:58:19] FEMALE_2: Where is he retiring from?
[01:58:21] Elginne Johnson: I don't know.
[01:58:24] FEMALE_2: What did you do for fun?
[01:58:27] Elginne Johnson: We went to dances and I liked games. I had tried to play tennis, not very well. There was a soda shop that we used to hang out at. Took two hours to drink Coke.
[01:58:49] FEMALE_2: Who would you hang out with for fun?
[01:58:51] Elginne Johnson: Some of my friends. Wilma and, I used to call her Banana Knows. But anyway, there were three of us that usually went there.
[01:59:05] FEMALE_2: Are there any stories about your friends you would like to share?
[01:59:08] Elginne Johnson: I just did about Wilma telling me to make up my bed and hang up your coat. [LAUGHTER]
[01:59:17] FEMALE_2: Were there any special days, events, or family traditions you remember?
[01:59:23] Elginne Johnson: Christmas, Memorial Day was a big thing. We used to call it Decoration Day because they got all the African-American kids to come out and put flags in the veteran's graves. They have a national cemetery there. We thought that was great because we got up, had to be there 6:30, and we had fun early in the morning and people would set up food stands and bands, and have parades.
[02:00:11] FEMALE_2: What about your traditions on Christmas?
[02:00:18] Elginne Johnson: We got up and looked for toys. [LAUGHTER] I remember once I had asked for football, and when I went down to the tree, there was this little white doll with little fuzzy, frilly dress. I was really very disappointing. About lunchtime, I took the doll outside, undressed it, it was made out of rubber, and kicked it around
[02:01:09] FEMALE_2: Did your family have any special sayings or expressions around this time?
[02:01:17] Elginne Johnson: I don't remember.
[02:01:20] FEMALE_2: Were there any changes in your family life during your school years?
[02:01:26] Elginne Johnson: My dad went off in the World War II. Hes was gone a long time.
[02:01:35] FEMALE_2: How did that affect your family life?
[02:01:40] Elginne Johnson: It didn't really.
[02:01:48] FEMALE_2: Which holidays did your family celebrate besides Christmas and Memorial Day? Are there any more?
[02:01:56] Elginne Johnson: It's always Easter and somebody else's birthday.
[02:02:07] FEMALE_2: What did you do on Easter?
[02:02:10] Elginne Johnson: We had ham like everybody else and we got a new dress. It was usually very lovely day, sun shining.
[02:02:22] FEMALE_2: What's special food traditions did your family have? Have any recipes been passed down in your family from generation to generation?
[02:02:34] Elginne Johnson: We always had rice. We might not have ever had anything else, but we had rice for dinner, grits for breakfast, and whatever else that could go with them. It didn't matter if they went or not, you just eat it. On some Sunday mornings, my mom would make some salmon croquettes. That was good.
[02:03:09] FEMALE_2: Are there any family stories connected to making food?
[02:03:14] Elginne Johnson: No.
[02:03:15] FEMALE_2: What was your favorite food to eat when you were younger?
[02:03:19] Elginne Johnson: Fried chicken.
[02:03:28] FEMALE_2: Thinking back on your school years, what important social or historical events were taking place at the time?
[02:03:37] Elginne Johnson: World War II started. I had just turned 11, and we had just been out of town to visit my mother's mother. We came back, I was 11 years old, and I was really afraid because I thought they were going to bomb our town. They bombed Pearl Harbor. I was very upset about it. A lot of the young men in town went, joined the armed forces, either the Navy, or the Army. Then we lived very close to the marine base called Parris Island. There always were marines up and down the streets, and my mother limited when I went out because some of them weren't very nice.
[02:04:44] FEMALE_2: How did World War II personally affect you and your family?
[02:04:50] Elginne Johnson: Everything was rationed. We had to have little stamps for almost everything. I know we had stamps for sugar and meat, practically everything, and shoes. The kids were only allowed two pairs of shoes a year. Gas was rationed. They could only have five gallons of gas. Seems as though everything was rationed.
[02:05:34] FEMALE_2: Were there any situations where you found rationing to be unfair?
[02:05:38] Elginne Johnson: Yes. Because my feet grew, and I only had two times and my aunt gave me her ticket stamped to get a pair of shoes.
[02:05:51] FEMALE_2: Is there anything else you'd like to share about that time in your life?
[02:06:00] Elginne Johnson: No, not really.
[02:06:03] FEMALE_2: Thank you. We're going to take a quick break.
[02:06:05] Elginne Johnson: Okay.
[02:06:08] FEMALE_5: What I said, who's going to win first prize now? Robert Smalls, the school she attended was named after him.
[02:06:17] MALE_2: That sound so familiar who's rockers?
[02:06:27] FEMALE_5: Elton tell who Robert Smalls was?
[02:06:31] Elginne Johnson: Robert Smalls was a slave in my town and his master used him as much as he could. Then he sent him to Charleston, South Carolina. He worked there, and that was during the war. But the war was at Revolutionary War, [LAUGHTER]. He had the audacity to learn all the signals from the boats. He got his family and some friends, put them on a boat and took off.
[02:07:14] MALE_2: Stole a confederate gunboats and pretended to be solder. Confederate soldiers use the signals to get through.
[02:07:23] Elginne Johnson: He had his family with him in.
[02:07:27] MALE_2: All the weapons and everything on the boat were handed over to the new name. He was given a reward.
[02:07:35] Elginne Johnson: Yes, he was so popular. He was a congressman.
[02:07:42] MALE_2: Reconstruction. Here is the congressman from South Carolina. Welcome Robert Smalls. You'll get an idea about both. Why won't we eat rice down there. [OVERLAPPING] Just about some rice with it, right?
[02:08:11] Elginne Johnson: No rice was by itself. If you had some gravy, that would be good if you [OVERLAPPING].
[02:08:20] MALE_2: Rice and indigo. Cotton crops grown on this slave plantation and they'll go.
[02:08:31] Elginne Johnson: Yeah, and they didn't have cars back then like they do now. The blue color was the rage. Something.
[02:08:42] MALE_2: Do I add you more water?
[02:08:45] Elginne Johnson: No, just wanted to sip. What you guys do in the afternoon? No, after this.
[02:08:56] FEMALE_2: Oh, we got classes. This is just the beginning already. Second hour. I'll be at five.
[02:09:04] Elginne Johnson: Oh, wow. What time do you get out?
[02:09:11] MALE_3: I come back at six o'clock.
[02:09:13] Elginne Johnson: Why? What do you do?
[02:09:23] MALE_4: They won't let me go downstairs because there's barely any [inaudible 02:09:26] .
[02:09:26] MALE_2: Are you doing any close up, some getting closer or just sticking with.
[02:09:36] MALE_4: When the project is like filmed in everything, it's basically like I said, I'm so like this is her wonderful three sides. She's closer to the left side, in the middle, then on the right side. But we're going to be using the left side and just because like the human eye lids and she's on the Santana songs at narrator. If someone's office on a screen, your eyes naturally divert a little to the right, because no one would watch a film directly in the center like that for like five minutes. You're like, okay, I was looking at cinema screen for this long. But if you put over here, we can even add stuff on the side. If a green screen, the background can have more space to do stuff because there's.
[02:10:22] MALE_2: [inaudible 02:10:22].
[02:10:26] MALE_4: Yeah. Because of the noise.
[02:10:32] FEMALE_2: Will also we can change everything. Let me start meditating.
[02:10:39] Elginne Johnson: This is a communication class [LAUGHTER].
[02:10:42] FEMALE_2: Communication, media and public policy.
[02:10:45] Elginne Johnson: I got part of it [LAUGHTER].
[02:10:47] MALE_2: They need all that extra stuff so that they get approved for all the stuff is school like wants them to do, and then this is the big portion of the program.
[02:10:56] FEMALE_2: We do other smaller projects. This is definitely the biggest one we've done yet.
[02:11:02] Elginne Johnson: You seem to be enjoying it?
[02:11:04] FEMALE_2: Yeah.
[02:11:05] MALE_4: This C-spans other one on.
[02:11:07] Elginne Johnson: C-SPAN.
[02:11:08] FEMALE_2: Yeah.
[02:11:09] Elginne Johnson: Wow.
[02:11:11] FEMALE_2: We're making short videos and we have to answer the question, what does it mean to be an American?
[02:11:20] Elginne Johnson: That's heavy.
[02:11:21] FEMALE_2: It is very heavy.
[02:11:22] Elginne Johnson: [LAUGHTER] It all depends who you're talking to. You came from somewhere out of town?
[02:11:37] FEMALE_2: All over the place.
[02:11:38] Elginne Johnson: Yes. I remember that you would.
[02:11:43] MALE_3: Are you friends to them?
[02:11:44] Elginne Johnson: No [LAUGHTER] everywhere else. [LAUGHTER]
[02:11:54] FEMALE_2: What else? Boring chapter second grade schools. Then I moved up north, looked on Shutter Island and to save my way, and I went third through sixth grade, I moved in February of sixth grade and move to Dundee. I was there from the age of six to the age of eight.
[02:12:24] Elginne Johnson: You can write a book on the schools [LAUGHTER] [BACKGROUND]. Oh, really?
[02:12:39] FEMALE_2: Because they can always get the ice cutters.
[02:12:42] Elginne Johnson: I couldn't do that.
[02:12:55] Elginne Johnson: That's good.
[02:12:55] FEMALE_2: We're going to start. This set of questions covers a relatively long period of your life. From the time you completed your education, entered the labor force, or started a family until all of your children left and you and your spouse retired from work. We're possibly talking about a stretch of time spanning as long as four decades. After you finished high school, where did you live?
[02:13:33] Elginne Johnson: I lived in Virginia Atlanta basically. When I finished there, I lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
[02:13:44] FEMALE_2: Why did you live in Massachusetts?
[02:13:47] Elginne Johnson: Got a job there.
[02:13:50] FEMALE_2: What was the job?
[02:13:52] Elginne Johnson: I was a lab tech.
[02:13:57] FEMALE_2: Did you remain there or did you move around through working?
[02:14:00] Elginne Johnson: I stayed there for two-and-a-half years.
[02:14:06] FEMALE_2: I'd like you to tell me a little bit about your married and family life. First, tell me about your spouse. Where did you meet?
[02:14:19] Elginne Johnson: We met at Hampton at a dance and we dated from my sophomore year until we finished. He got drafted into the army and went to Korea. But we were engaged three weeks and then we got married then he left. [LAUGHTER]
[02:14:49] FEMALE_2: Tell me what it was like when you guys were dating.
[02:14:55] Elginne Johnson: We didn't do too much. We went to movies most of all, and activities on campus and went for walks and so forth. Nothing. There was always a dance going around somewhere.
[02:15:18] FEMALE_2: Tell me about your engagement.
[02:15:21] Elginne Johnson: It was quick. Very quick.
[02:15:24] FEMALE_2: Same as your wedding?
[02:15:28] Elginne Johnson: Yes. I think we decided on December 3rd to get married before he went overseas. Then we got married on December 20th. He left for Korea on December 31st, and I never saw him for 16 months. I had this feeling should I shake his hand or give him a kiss, it had been so long. But anyway, he decided to come to Michigan to go to school and we ended up here that was 1953.
[02:16:14] FEMALE_2: Are there any other stories you'd like to tell me about him?
[02:16:16] Elginne Johnson: You are too young. [LAUGHTER]
[02:16:24] FEMALE_2: Tell me about your children and what life was like when they were young.
[02:16:33] Elginne Johnson: We were married about six years before we had our first child. She was a girl, Carie, and very bright kid. After that, we had Tamera. After that we had Susan. They all turned out really well I'm proud of each one of them. Carie died about 12 years ago. My husband died about three months ago. His sister died about six months ago. Life goes on. It's not my turn yet.
[02:17:17] FEMALE_2: What was life like around the house and they were young and still living with you?
[02:17:23] Elginne Johnson: Busy. All of them were really busy. I remember after I had a full day of teaching and trying to rest, there was somebody upstairs practicing their horn. There was somebody asking for help, and then was Susan outside with her tennis racket knocking the ball against the garage door and the dog was barking. Somebody was practicing piano, and I was very glad when it was time to go to bed.
[02:18:01] FEMALE_2: Are there any specific memories you would like to tell us about?
[02:18:08] Elginne Johnson: Damn, I put her dog out at night and a skunk got caught him. [LAUGHTER].
[02:18:16] FEMALE_2: Go ahead.
[02:18:18] Elginne Johnson: He went running around the house. He was upset. He didn't know what was wrong with him. He stayed several days down in the basement house where she dutifully washed him was tomato juice.
[02:18:39] FEMALE_2: Tell me about your working years.
[02:18:43] Elginne Johnson: Well, I first started out as a med tech when I was in Boston. I worked at Mass General for a couple of years then when we came here. I worked out at the VA hospital. Then I learned that they were no African-Americans. Well, they were about three African-American teachers in this whole system. I went and dapsone education hours so I could get certified. I changed careers. I enjoyed sixth graders because I could threaten them. They knew what I meant. During that time, there was a great stream my daughter Carie had lupus and she was sick quite a lot. Then there was my mother who had Alzheimer's who needed care. After two years of that, I thought I was just too tired to do it again. But I think I should've taken a year off going back. What else do you need to know?
[02:20:12] FEMALE_2: What was a typical day like during working years in school life?
[02:20:17] Elginne Johnson: Oh, yes. I'm still talking about that. I also made a point to go home for lunches to make sure they got their lunch and go back to school where I taught. It was their duty to clean up behind themselves. Then I would come home and take somebody to dance class or piano lessons, or some ball game. Then they expected to eat.
[02:21:00] FEMALE_2: What did your family enjoy doing together when all your kids were at home?
[02:21:05] Elginne Johnson: When they were young, we went camping a lot.
[02:21:09] FEMALE_2: Where did you go camping?
[02:21:13] Elginne Johnson: We went as far as New Hampshire wild camp and took them in around Boston. But it had changed in the sense that we lived there. They found their own things to do. At that time all the schools had summer programs where the kids could come. They enjoyed doing that. They were there waiting for the grownups to come so they could go. They'd come home for lunch and then they'd be waiting to go back. I didn't need a babysitter. They were gone all the time. They enjoyed, they played hard.
[02:22:08] FEMALE_2: Were there any specific memories of your camping trips that you'd like to share?
[02:22:12] Elginne Johnson: Yes, one. Once we were up somewhere up north and my husband took the kids for a walk, I just got in the car and carrying the radio, and I heard Martin Luther King's address from Washington where tons of people were, and I was glad I was alone.
[02:22:50] FEMALE_2: What were your personal favorite things to do for fun when you had kids?
[02:22:55] Elginne Johnson: Survive [LAUGHTER], I was into needle-pointing at that time too and I sowed their clothes, most of them.
[02:23:22] FEMALE_2: Were there any special days, events, or family traditions you practice that differed from your childhood traditions?
[02:23:31] FEMALE_2: No.
[02:23:34] FEMALE_2: Were there any traditions that you kept with from when your childhood?
[02:23:45] FEMALE_2: Some tradition, I can't think of any. You can skip that one.
[02:24:02] FEMALE_2: As an adult, once your kids had moved out, what were the popular music at that time? If you can remember.
[02:24:15] FEMALE_2: I remember out of the bridge, some kind of waters, trouble. I wasn't into popular music too much really. Yeah, I like classical piano and I played that a lot.
[02:24:46] FEMALE_2: What were popular clothing or hairstyles at that time?
[02:24:53] FEMALE_2: That's when the Afro came into being. Yeah. My oldest daughter had her Afro and one time he came to show me her paper and it was smudged. What is this? She said, well, when I take my shower in the morning it gets wet and by the time I walk to school, it freezes. Then when I get in the class, it melts all over my work. [LAUGHTER] That's it.
[02:25:34] FEMALE_2: Can you describe any other styles of that time?
[02:25:39] FEMALE_2: I remember they wore more than one pair of socks so they could have two colors. You turn one down and I said this has to stop. [LAUGHTER] Like three times five, that's a lot of socks. I do remember that one.
[02:26:04] FEMALE_2: Thinking back on your adult working life, what important social or historical events were taking place at the time?
[02:26:16] FEMALE_2: The Civil Rights Movement took up most of the time, most of them. Space and just listening to how people thought they could solve it and it didn't work and they tried something else and it didn't work. I remember when they were crossing that bridge. What's the name of the bridge?
[02:26:43] UNKNOWN_3: Sauna.
[02:26:47] FEMALE_2: The one in Sauna.
[02:26:51] FEMALE_2: Yeah. That was terrible. It's terrible the way they were treated. Part of me wanted to do something. But what can you do when you got three kids at home? You can't take them with you. I felt a lot of guilt.
[02:27:22] FEMALE_2: Were there any other choices of the civil rights movements you'd like to share with us?
[02:27:28] FEMALE_2: Yes, we had one in Ann Arbor because of housing. The housing in Ann Arbor wasn't very kind to African-Americans. They could buy property on the north side. It's funny because now the property's value has gone up because of the new school, the [inaudible 02:27:55], so we had to fight to get a place to live. Nobody wanted to sell their house to us. We decided to build. We found a lot, but the owner of the lot wouldn't sell it to us so the person who owned the building company bought it from him built our house and then we could move in.
[02:28:36] FEMALE_2: We're going to wrap up for today. Thank you so much for coming in.
[02:28:41] FEMALE_2: Is this it?
[02:28:43] FEMALE_2: I think we have a few more dates. I can let you know we have it written down on a clipboard over there.
[02:28:51] FEMALE_2: Who is this Mr. Nelson?
[02:28:53] FEMALE_2: I don't know him very well. I'm not sure. Is he the one who contacts you?
[02:29:01] FEMALE_2: Yeah.
[02:29:02] FEMALE_2: He's the coordinator of all of the narrators. He does all the scheduling.
[02:29:08] FEMALE_2: Does he work for the Ann Arbor school?
[02:29:14] FEMALE_2: I think he works for the C-SPAN the other video projects we were talking about. I think him and Mr. Dunbar the teacher.
[02:29:25] FEMALE_2: I knew Mr. Dunbar when he was a kid.
[02:29:28] FEMALE_2: It's so funny it's such a small world.
[02:29:31] FEMALE_2: Yeah. He used to play all the time with my nephew. Well, I'm going to get up from here and I'm going to ask that lady over there to take me home.
[02:29:46] FEMALE_2: Thank you so much for coming.
[02:29:47] FEMALE_2: Thank you. I enjoyed. Do I have another date?
[02:29:51] FEMALE_3: Yes. Your next interview will be next week on Monday

Media

2022

Length: 02:29:52

Copyright: Creative Commons (Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share-alike)

Rights Held by: Ann Arbor District Library

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Legacies Project