There Went The Neighborhood - Audio Interview: James Bryant

Sat, 08/10/2024 - 5:55pm

James Bryant attended Jones School from kindergarten to fifth grade. When Jones School closed in 1965, he was bused to Pattengill Elementary, and he remembers a tumultuous period of racial conflict. He helped form the Black Student Union at Tappan Junior High and Huron High School.

More interviews are available in the There Went The Neighborhood Interview Archive.

There Went The Neighborhood - Audio Interview: Martha Monk Hill

Sat, 08/10/2024 - 5:51pm

Martha Monk Hill attended Jones School from kindergarten through sixth grade, and she grew up on North Fifth Avenue with her foster parents Arnell and Bill Ridley. She recalls how her neighbors supported one another, especially parental figures like Carroll and Annette McFadden and Waltstine Perry.

More interviews are available in the There Went The Neighborhood Interview Archive.

There Went The Neighborhood - Audio Interview: Gina Perry

Sat, 08/10/2024 - 5:43pm

Gina Perry shares memories of her grandfather, Waltstine Perry, who was a custodian at Jones School. He lived in Ypsilanti and commuted to Jones School every day. Many former students remember Mr. Perry as an important role model.

More interviews are available in the There Went The Neighborhood Interview Archive.

There Went The Neighborhood - Audio Interview: Robert Allen

Sat, 08/10/2024 - 2:21am

Robert Allen attended Jones School from kindergarten through sixth grade in the 1950s. He remembers walking to school along Beakes Street and playing softball on the playground, with custodian Waltstine Perry as pitcher. He never had a Black teacher in the Ann Arbor Public Schools.

More interviews are available in the There Went The Neighborhood Interview Archive.

There Went The Neighborhood - Studio Interview: Theresa (Dixon) Campbell

Wed, 08/07/2024 - 1:53pm

Theresa (Dixon) Campbell attended Jones School from 1957 to 1965, and she recalls being involved in Black student activism at Huron High School. She shares memories of her parents, William and Minnie Dixon, who did custodial work and owned a home in “The Old Neighborhood.”

This interview was filmed during the making of the documentary film There Went The Neighborhood: The Closing of Jones School, produced by the Ann Arbor District Library and 7 Cylinders Studio. More interviews are available in the There Went The Neighborhood Interview Archive.

There Went The Neighborhood - Studio Interview: Omer Jean (Dixon) Winborn

Wed, 08/07/2024 - 1:51pm

Omer Jean (Dixon) Winborn attended Jones School from kindergarten to sixth grade, from 1955 to 1962. She recalls having many strong Black role models, including her parents William and Minnie Dixon, the Jones School custodian Mr. Perry, her pastor Rev. Carpenter, and U-M professor Albert H. Wheeler.

This interview was filmed during the making of the documentary film There Went The Neighborhood: The Closing of Jones School, produced by the Ann Arbor District Library and 7 Cylinders Studio. More interviews are available in the There Went The Neighborhood Interview Archive.

There Went The Neighborhood - State Theatre Interview: Yael Gannett

Wed, 08/07/2024 - 11:31am

Yael Gannett was interviewed after a preliminary screening of the documentary film There Went The Neighborhood: The Closing of Jones School at the State Theatre on April 16, 2023. She remembers attending Jones School and Wines Elementary.

More interviews are available in the There Went The Neighborhood Interview Archive.

There Went The Neighborhood: Old Neighborhood Walking Tour

Tue, 07/23/2024 - 6:20pm

This filmed walking tour was created during production of There Went The Neighborhood: The Closing of Jones School by the Ann Arbor District Library and 7 Cylinders Studio (7CS). Led by three former Jones School students–Roger Brown, Cheryl (Jewett) O’Neal, and Omer Jean (Dixon) Winborn–the tour describes changes that have taken place in the neighborhood surrounding the school over the past several decades. Key stops in order of appearance include the former Jones School, Ann Street Black Business District, Dunbar Center, Bethel AME Church, Wheeler Park, and Second Baptist Church.

The route (although filmed in a different order) was inspired by the Living Oral History Project’s Walking Tour of a Historically Black Neighborhood in Ann Arbor, which was created in partnership between the African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County (AACHM) and the Ann Arbor District Library. Check out that tour to view these locations in person alongside historical photographs and interview excerpts!
 

Learn More

There Went The Neighborhood - Audio Interview: Christine Steeb Koning

Fri, 03/03/2023 - 3:27pm

Christine Steeb Koning attended Jones School as a preschooler in the late 1950s. Her mother, Jane Steeb, was a teacher at Jones School. Koning recalls visiting her mother’s classroom and hearing her speak on the radio about the planned closure of Jones School in the mid-’60s.

More interviews are available in the There Went The Neighborhood Interview Archive.