By Lori Myers-Steele
Title: Blount County Black History Project -Then and Now as Told by Those Who Lived It
Predominant Dates:2007-2015
Primary Creator: CDJ Media Productions
Extent: 1.0 Linear Feet
Arrangement: The collection is arranged in two series: 1: Interviews; 2: Supporting Documentation and Other Materials.
Subjects: African American civil rights workers, African Americans--Civil rights--History--20th century, African Americans--Education--Southern States, Appalachian region, Berea, (Ky.), Blount County (Tenn.), Civil rights movements, Civil rights movements--Southern States--History--20th century, School integration--United States
Languages: English
Charles Pride, Dorothy Kincaid, and Jo Davenport formed CDJ Media Productions to conduct and record interviews with black Blount County residents who helped shape the community during and after the integration of the schools in 1969. Their idea for collecting interviews was formed in 2007 when they identified an urgency to preserve, in an accurate and positive way, Blount County’s rich black history. Their work resulted in “Blount County’s Black History — As Told by Those Who Lived It — Then and Now.”
Among the interviews making up the collection are interviews of:
Ronald S. Coffin, a native of Blount County (born Aug. 23, 1947) who was reared in Maryville and educated until 1963 at the W. J. Hale School, a segregated school for “colored students.” Coffin is one of the first four students to integrate Maryville High School on Sept. 3, 1963--six days after the March on Washington led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Tanya Darlene Martin (née Henderson) is the first of five children of Cecil and Freddie Mae Henderson and the fourth generation of her family to live in Alcoa. She attended Charles M. Hall School, a segregated school, from the first through tenth grade. In September 1963 she was among the first fifteen African-Americans to attend Alcoa High School. In 1965, Martin became one of the first four African-Americans to ever graduate from Alcoa City Schools.
Constance “Connie” Hooper Scott was born on Feb. 22, 1948, in Maryville. She attended W. J. Hale School until June 1963 and on Sept. 3, 1963 she became one of the first four students to integrate Maryville High School. Scott was the first African American to be inducted into the National Honor Society at Maryville High School. After graduating from Maryville High School in 1966, she attended Knoxville Business College where she received an associate’s degree.
Sylvia Y. Porter, is one of the first four students to integrate Maryville High School in September 1963. She was born in Maryville on Sept. 23, 1947 and attended W. J. Hale School until 1963.
Dexter and Marjorie Stewart, Sharon Ferguson, Bill Murrah, Garry Hill, Stone Carr, Judy Knight, Sylvia Porter, Felicia Samuels, Cora Goss, Kaye Tate, Mary Scott, Geraldine Upton, Dan McCord, R.J. Miller, Jr., Paulette Pace, Juanita Usher, Thelma Brown, Dorothy Mynatt, Richard Turney, Charles McNear, Larry Brown, Robert and Alma Davis, Clara Stevens and Darlene Sudderth.
African American civil rights workers
African Americans--Civil rights--History--20th century
African Americans--Education--Southern States
Appalachian region
Berea, (Ky.)
Blount County (Tenn.)
Civil rights movements
Civil rights movements--Southern States--History--20th century
School integration--United States
Repository: Berea College Special Collections and Archives Catalog
Accruals: Andrew Baskin (March 2017) - Provided bound series (4) of additional oral histories (see Series 2)
Access Restrictions: Records can be accessed through the Reading Room, Berea College Special Collections and Archives, Hutchins Library, Berea College.
Use Restrictions:
Berea College does not retain copyright and intellectual property rights to the materials in this collection. The donors (CDJ Media) grant the College permission to use the materials for research or non-commercial purposes. Any commercial use must have the permission of the donors.
Some records within the collection may be restricted as they contain personal information.
Acquisition Source: Dorothy Kincaid, Jo Davenport and Charles Pride of CDJ Media
Acquisition Method: The collection was donated to Berea College Special Collections and Archives in March 2015 by Dorothy Kincaid, Jo Davenport and Charles Pride of CDJ Media. The transfer was the result of a close collaboration between CDJ Media in Alcoa, Tennessee, and Andrew Baskin, Program Chair and Associate Professor of African and African American Studies, and Rachel Vagts, Head of Special Collections and Archives. Please see Restrictions note below for more information.
Preferred Citation: [Record identification], Blount County Black History Project – Then and Now as Told by Those Who Lived It, Berea College Special Collections & Archives, Berea, KY.
Processing Information: The collection was open to researchers in 2015. The finding aid was created by Lori Myers-Steele, College Archivist in 2015. Links to available digital recordings added 2017-2018.
Other Note:
The collection was open to researchers in 2015.
Collection Number: BCA 0157
Item 1: Peggy Miller
Item 2: David Davis
Item 3: Albert Davis
Item 4: Elbert and Millie (Henley) Prater, Sr
Item 5: Mrs. Carr
Item 6: Ms. Dorothy Dean
Item 7: Photograph from Interview at Cedar Lawn Cemetery
Item 8: Judy Knight
Item 9: Kaye Tate
Item 10: Cora Mae Goss
Item 11: Sallie Bell Carter
Item 12: Barbara J. Dean
Item 13: Presentation at Blount County Library, January 22, 2015 (large group)
Item 14: Presentation at Blount County Library, January 22, 2016 (man)
Item 15: Presentation at Blount County Library, January 22, 2016 (woman and young child)
Item 16: Woman (unknown)
Item 17: Family at church (young boys)
Item 18: Kaye Tate, Dorothy M. Kincaid, Mary Scott
Item 19: Sylvia Porter
Item 20: Dorothy Valentine
Item 1: Cora Mae Goss
Item 2: Dorothy Valentine
Item 3: George Tanya Brenda Ms Usher Ms Thelma Brown Geraldine Upton
Item 4: Interview at Cedar Lawn Cemetery
Item 5: Judy Knight
Item 6: Mrs. Barbara Jean Dean
Item 7: Mrs. Kaye Tate
Item 8: Mrs. Mary Scott
Item 9: Sallie Bell Carter
Item 10: Sylvia Porter
Item 11: Thelma Brown Carr
Item 12: 2015 Albert Davis
Item 13: 2015 David Davis
Item 14: Albert Davis
Item 15: Charles M Hall School
Item 16: Church Activities 1959
Item 17: Church Activities 1959
Item 18: Cora Mae Goss
Item 19: Courts of Colanthians
Item 20: David Davis
Item 21: David Davis
Item 22: Dorothy Valentine
Item 23: Elber and Millie (Henley) Prater Sr
Item 24: George Tanya Brenda Ms Usher Ms Thelma Brown Geraldine Upton
Item 25: Interview at Cedar Lawn Cemetery
Item 26: Judy Knight
Item 27: Miller and Father Ralph Miller
Item 28: Millie Barton
Item 29: Mr. Beatrice Huffine
Item 30: Mrs. Carr
Item 31: Mrs. Dorothy Warren Dean
Item 32: Mrs. Barbara Jean Dean
Item 33: Mrs. Kaye Tate
Item 34: Mrs. Mary Scott
Item 35: Ms Clark
Item 36: Ms Geraldine Clarke Upton
Item 37: Ms Harper
Item 38: Ms Mary Reese -2
Item 39: Ms McGhee
Item 40: Ms Ruth Rainer
Item 41: Peg Miller
Item 42: Peggy and friends
Item 43: Peggy and Logan's Marriage
Item 44: Peggy Miller Hill & Son
Item 45: Peggy Miller
Item 46: Ronnie Nunn
Item 47: Sallie Bell Carter
Item 48: Sylvia Porter of ALCOA
Item 49: Tanya Henderson Martin
Item 50: Wade Houston
Item 51: No. 1 Dorothy Mitchell
Item 52: Chas M Hall
Item 53: Clarke Upton
Item 54: Collage of Teachers 2
Item 55: Collage of Teachers
Item 56: Craig
Item 57: Fitzgerald
Item 58: Huffine
Item 59: Lenoir Rainer
Item 60: Lenoir Reese
Item 61: Mrs. Clark
Item 62: Mrs. Coleman
Item 63: Mrs. Dorothy Warren
Item 64: Mrs. Harper
Item 65: Mrs. Huffine
Item 66: Mrs. McGhee
Item 67: Mrs. Reese
Item 68: Teeter
Item 69: Thelma Brown
