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Legacies Project Oral History: Sandra Wray-McAfee
Sandra Wray-McAfee was born in Durham, North Carolina. Her father ran a taxicab business and was a talented brick mason and carpenter. Her mother taught elementary school. She received her PhD from the University of Michigan and went on to teach in the Mathematics and Statistics Department at the University of Michigan Dearborn for 21 years. She retired in 2008.
Sandra Wray-McAfee was interviewed by students from Skyline High School in Ann Arbor in 2016 as part of the Legacies Project.
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Legacies Project Oral History: William Hampton
William Hampton was born in 1948 in Tyler, Texas, and his grandmother was the midwife. He remembers attending church revival picnics, the Texas Rose Festival, and the Juneteenth parade in his hometown. While attending college in Arlington, Texas, he was active in the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He went on to launch a Section 8 subsidized housing program in Arlington and in Ann Arbor, where he worked in the community development office. Mr. Hampton has been president of the Ann Arbor chapter of the NAACP since 2005.
William Hampton was interviewed by students from Skyline High School in Ann Arbor in 2015-16 as part of the Legacies Project.
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Legacies Project Oral History: Wanda Capps
Wanda Capps was born in 1926 in Chicago, Illinois to Polish immigrant parents. As a young woman, Capps worked as a bank clerk and saved money to go to Illinois College, where she met her husband. After stints in Nebraska, Alabama, and Detroit, they settled in Ann Arbor with their three children. Her husband worked in a pharmaceutical laboratory. The family enjoyed traveling and spent summers in Grand Traverse Bay. She enjoys quilting and volunteering in the library at Glacier Hills Senior Living Community.
Wanda Capps was interviewed as part of an internship at Applied Safety and Ergonomics in Ann Arbor in 2008 as part of the Legacies Project.
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Legacies Project Oral History: Victoria Loomis
Victoria Suane Milton was born in 1933 and grew up in River Rouge, Michigan. Her mother was of French creole background from New Orleans. In 1938 her father, Samuel B. Milton, founded one of Michigan’s first Black-owned hospitals, Sidney A. Sumby Memorial Hospital. He was also the first Black Wayne County coroner. After getting her BA in social work from the University of Michigan in the 1950s, Victoria returned to work at Sumby Memorial Hospital in purchasing and housekeeping. She and her husband John Loomis had six children, including a set of triplets. She passed away in 2021.
Victoria Loomis was interviewed in partnership with the Museum of African American History of Detroit and Y Arts Detroit in 2009-2010 as part of the Legacies Project.
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Legacies Project Oral History: Titus McClary
Titus W. McClary was born in 1937 and spent his childhood in Georgetown, South Carolina. After moving to Detroit, he attended Highland Park High School and worked at his uncle’s North End restaurant. During his time in the army in the early 1960s, he picketed a segregated theater and restaurant in Killeen, Texas. In 1965 he became the third Black police officer in Highland Park. McClary ran the juvenile division and helped found a Black officers’ organization. He served as mayor of Highland Park and remained a city council member until he passed away in 2017.
Titus McClary was interviewed in partnership with the Museum of African American History of Detroit and Y Arts Detroit in 2010 as part of the Legacies Project.
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Legacies Project Oral History: Thomas Overmire
Thomas G. Overmire was born 1926 in Indianapolis, Indiana. His father was a banker and the family saw firsthand the difficulties caused by the Great Depression. He served in the army during World War II before getting his BA from Indiana University in Bloomington. Overmire’s evolving career included teaching high school biology, getting his PhD, serving as a college dean, working at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, and writing a biology textbook, The World of Biology (1986). He and his wife Joan have two sons, a daughter, and several grandchildren. He enjoys playing piano and bridge.
Thomas Overmire was interviewed by students from Skyline High School in Ann Arbor in 2010 as part of the Legacies Project.
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Legacies Project Oral History: Shirley Northcross
Shirley Northcross was born in 1936 and grew up near Dayton, Ohio. Her father ran the Miami View Golf Course, and she recalls visits from famous athletes like Joe Louis. She was the first Black student to graduate from Fairmont High School in Kettering, Ohio. After getting a degree in physical education from Michigan State University, Northcross started out a substitute teacher and a counselor for the Camp Fire Girls of America. She taught physical education at Northwestern High School in Detroit for over 30 years.
Shirley Northcross was interviewed in partnership with the Museum of African American History of Detroit and Y Arts Detroit in 2010 as part of the Legacies Project.
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Legacies Project Oral History: Shirley and David Northcross
Shirley and David Northcross have been married for over 50 years. They met in the late 1950s at Michigan State University, where Shirley played field hockey and David played football. They were married in Shirley’s hometown, Dayton, Ohio. After a few years in California while David was in the Marine Corps, they returned to his hometown, Detroit. David was a financial advisor for Merrill Lynch and Shirley taught physical education at Northwestern High School. They had three boys who were active in swimming and baseball. Shirley and David coached Little League for 19 years, and they enjoyed playing golf and tennis.
Shirley and David Northcross were interviewed in partnership with the Museum of African American History of Detroit and Y Arts Detroit in 2010 as part of the Legacies Project.
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Legacies Project Oral History: Ruth Carey
Ruth (née Dorsey) Carey was born in 1937 and grew up in West Virginia, Georgia, and Ohio. She attended Greenbelt College in Illinois and nursing school in Cleveland, Ohio. She and her husband had two children and moved to Ann Arbor to pursue graduate education. She graduated from the University of Michigan School of Public Health and went on to teach at the School of Nursing. She is passionate about educating new parents about health and nutrition. During retirement she began visiting inmates at the federal prison in Milan as a volunteer with the Prisoner Visitation & Support program.
Ruth Carey was interviewed by students from Skyline High School in Ann Arbor in 2015-16 as part of the Legacies Project.
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Legacies Project Oral History: Russ Fuller
Russell M. Fuller was born in 1924 and grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. He married Barbara Stauffer in 1948 and they both attended the Disciples Divinity House at the University of Chicago. After moving to Ann Arbor, they became active in the Civil Rights and anti-war movements and in 1965 they helped found the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice. Russ was chairman of the Human Relations Commission in the late 1960s. He also served as pastor of Memorial Christian Church for 40 years, retiring in 1995. Russ passed away in 2020, six years after Barbara.
Russ Fuller was interviewed by students from Skyline High School in Ann Arbor in 2015 as part of the Legacies Project.