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all ready to start okay so today's oral

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history interview is a part of a project

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organized by chick history in

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partnership with the humanities

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Tennessee

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I am famille Jonica a member of the

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Memphis area branch association for the

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study of african-american life in

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history with assistance from our host

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location the National Civil Rights

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Museum Rose college Lemoore neuron

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College and the University of Memphis I

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would like to thank our participant

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today Miss Gertrude guide Bridgeforth

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for her contribution to this project on

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women's history in Tennessee and ask her

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to start this interview by telling us

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the name of the neighborhood that you

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grew up in and the full names of your

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family members my grandmother my right

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with you we use guys lived in Southaven

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Mississippi which if that time was Horn

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Lake instead of white a South Haven the

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mother town stood the one-room school in

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South Haven a Harley I went to Baptist

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industrial high school which was a

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agricultural school where we grew the

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vegetables and things that we ate and I

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live with my grandmother this school was

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financed by the African American Baptist

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churches in South and

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Herndon take caveny and Marshall County

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I graduated from Babson in Tustin high

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school in 1942

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and so you when you graduated from high

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school

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could you tell us something about your

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teachers that you have real well

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professor Kyle he was a math teacher and

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this had a cop was I English teacher

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they were very strict and you had to

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speak correct and you had to participate

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in your math and professor Cobb always

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put the boys ahead of the girls he

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always wanted the boys to be a leader

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and I was always very competitive I

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always wanted to be at the top of my

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class I was in there

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we had a bathing team we sang we were

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traveling them teach you music teacher

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was miss Butler and we traveled all this

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state raising money for the glee club

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raising money for our school and

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when I graduated from high school in

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1942 I came to Memphis and I attended

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Henderson Business College and living in

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LA today where professor Henderson was

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the founder and the president of

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Henderson Business College I graduated

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there every two-year certificate and

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then I worked there for about two years

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until 1946 when I married and moved all

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his mouth and Henderson I was a register

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sending out letters to high school

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graduates inviting them to come to

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Henderson to enroll giving them the

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details of how to enroll and what it

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cost and veteran was good Henderson to

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veterans also yeah dr. Yunus it was a

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very Street and he was a perfectionist

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me working in the office didn't now let

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us you had to put the stamp on the

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letter just right oh you'd have to take

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it off and put it back please

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Oh correct it is said to be just right

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and yet the space you name of the

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student that way every was going just

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right he wasn't very strict about

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how they let us and would look when they

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go out to the difference to this you

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mentioned working with Henderson and dr.

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Henderson were they any women women

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teachers miss bleeding was a teacher

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Irene bleeding that was her name anyway

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I knew it was bleeding and English and

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Shorthair teach you I have problems

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talking but anyway miss gray was a

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shorthand an English teacher

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what would courses over talks someone

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what would the courses that were taught

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at the business school

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oh shorthand English bookkeeping mr.

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Satterfield was our bookkeeping teacher

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this great old English and Shorty and

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tighten and Henson was a boarding school

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and Miss Glenn was really over the

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diamond tori and she would prepare the

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meals for the students for the boarding

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students know the did nearby business

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town

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what neighborhood was the school located

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in located the cone a lot of Dale in

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Linden where where uh where the church

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is now now ollie

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it was right next door to my rabbit in

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that time it was a white church it

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wasn't my rather just move there but it

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was a white church I can't remember the

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name but in a way we had a a glee club

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that sing at Henderson and we would go

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over the this white church and was sing

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for them and the minister I can't

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remember his name either

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we need a way he said he told faster

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Henderson when he got to heaven he would

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go come down go down where the color

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folks was and listen to him sing

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you've mentioned in high school too that

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yeah we're saying that you saying so

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were there any women singers that

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inspired you or were mentors one she was

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a t-shirt music teacher and she was

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directed she was over the choir at

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baptism dozen high school I don't

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remember who the quiet Henderson but for

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for your high school what places did you

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go to what cities everybody's a Jackson

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Mississippi and down to Grenada we went

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to church you to do we sing a radio from

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Jackson Jackson Mississippi Oh what was

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your family church my family church my

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mother was a member of brown Baptist

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Church in Southaven she was secretary of

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that for 52 years in her Nana we belong

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to Second Baptist Hernandez and my

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grandmother Church we called her mama

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and then was Elizabeth do you have any

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stories of some of their activities do I

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have anyone any stories of your mother

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or your grandmother's activities in the

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church or any mama was a member but she

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saw to it that the children and the

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grandchildren went to church but mom and

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she didn't participate in anything she

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was not mother did mother was a she she

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was sons go teaching she

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was a member of a club in Southaven

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where they would help people and she

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like I said she taught school a tyrant

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there she built the school she raised

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money they were having a school in a

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church in Phoenix AME Church and mother

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raised money she raised five hundred

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dollars to Bill this one-room school and

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the men in the community built the

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school in this County gave her $500 so

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she ate $1,000 dad to build this

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one-room school and this is in Hernando

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this is in Southaven something

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you mentioned some of the other things

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that your mother was involved in and

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helping didn't know what type of help

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was provided for people well if anybody

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just got sick see we had to walk

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everywhere we go so the communities

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everywhere right here on state line and

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the club would meet on Sunday and they

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would raise money and if someone in the

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community needed they would give them

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small donations of this is them take

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them food and give them clothes whatever

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was needed they'll see if we walked

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everywhere we went in the roads were

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dirt roads so we didn't get to fog maybe

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one person in the whole neighborhood had

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a car and that was missing that was back

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in this follow this and the fifties too

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for World War two did they mention any

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service to any of these soldiers are

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helping any of the veterans no no way no

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my husband came home in February 1946 he

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went in the service in 1942 he came home

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in 1946 in February they didn't do

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anything

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most of the veterans came home that was

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african-americans they went back to

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farming I went to Memphis so several

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ever worked at the airport

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cuz my mother worked at Apple for a

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while when he came home I don't know man

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a service that they gave to veterans

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anything do you have any activities that

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you know that people from outside this

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area came to speak

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yeah those was a man named Bob who came

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from from the North I don't know exact

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way I don't know what town he came from

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my city but he came down and with him

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helped me and my daddy fill out papers

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for the peoples of paid poll tax and

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then we would go round to the churches

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every Chapel in one of the churches I

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remember really

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there was another church in there but I

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can't remember

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we would go around in the introduce Bob

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and he would help fill out the papers

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phone YouTube and collect the money to

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pay Paul Jackson we would take the

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manager and when I said we I mean my dad

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and I would take the money to Hernandez

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to the coat house and paid poll tax we

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paid the poll tax but suppose still

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couldn't vote and Bob would make the

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talk and I don't know Bob his last name

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I don't that look like but I noticed

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first but he stayed at our house then he

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was stay and some of the rest of the

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people cuz there was a man named mr.

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Williams who hope we vote and that was a

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man named Bob is mr. mr. dobbins he was

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he was him Bob state is his house

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some and then he stayed at our house so

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this was in the last fathers and the

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fifties

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so were there any attempts to vote after

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that time yeah that was a gym - no but

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she's still tweeting vote they would

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they they would give you some questions

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hang the questions that you couldn't you

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couldn't answer and a lot of the people

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couldn't read and so they didn't know

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what was on these questions and you you

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couldn't vote still and they never did

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arrest me

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my daddy Bob they would intimidate us

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the shafts and constables and just white

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me it would be standing all around the

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church when we come out when we dismiss

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from the meetings but we never was

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arrested

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you mentioned before about your your

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mother

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mother and teacher and a worker in the

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community in the church and in the

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community she would have people right

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that is whatever business they had the

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changes she was helping with that she

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even had two men that she hope right

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they were preachers and she would write

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their sermons father was my uncle

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another one was just a man who lived in

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the neighborhood when any of the letters

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that she wrote were they about any of

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the issues that people were having with

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the law no it wasn't it was just

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biblical

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did you ever hear of any activities that

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had names like the young women's

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Christian Association are the NACP or

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any of the national groups yeah well

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yeah I am a member of the n-double a-c-p

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I won the Andrus award for the egg wait

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a minute him wrong that is AARP

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[Music]

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yeah I I won the Anderson war you know

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dr. Anderson she is the one who found it

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the ARP that's what I'm trying to say oh

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you go after this issue because I'm not

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my thing this is bad and I'm studying

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okay well we will take that okay we will

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take that hmm yeah and what year was

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this

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was it recently agent 9 even though okay

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maybe maybe less than ever I any just

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ask you so are there any stories that

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you have by some of the information that

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you brought today you brought some

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things to be scanned I didn't bring it

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doctor

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Russian name they've brought her

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yesterday okay okay so uh what's up some

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of the things that they looked at do you

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have any stories that we missed I'm just

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trying to see if we missed it of the

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stories - and so the last one the last

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question that I wanted to ask you is one

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this is a sad topic and if it's too hard

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of you for you to answer we can just end

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our interview but do you have any

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experiences of racial violence between

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1920 and 1949 any racial oh nothing but

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just being intimidated by now between

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that in the fifties and sixties I

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marched with dr. King and when the riot

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broke out old bill I was between 3rd and

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2nd and we ran out I ran all the way

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back to Linda because they started

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breaking out the windows and everybody

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already then I was at dr. King's last

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speech when he spoke at Mason temple and

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in 91 that's reason but for 15 years I

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volunteered at the National Civil Rights

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Museum as a tour guide and I campaigned

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I'm going back now I can't pay for

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congressman Childress in Mississippi

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[Music]

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eight years ago and he won and I went to

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President Obama's

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President Obama's but I didn't get in

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and because they cut the line off just

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as I got up and it was so cold that they

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said we went to the over to Union

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Station man wasin

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and that's where I looked at the

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inauguration but President Obama's first

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State of the Union message

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congressman Childress because I

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campaigned for him I made pictures and

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and travel over the state with him and

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with different ones of his staff and he

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gave me a trip to washington d.c to the

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state of the first State of the Union

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message and I mean we had to bet get

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Clarence because I went to I visit all

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the congressmen that African American

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and the in Windows State of the Union

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message was over some of us went

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downstairs and made pictures with the

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President and mrs. Obama so I have

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pictures that I made with them and not

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only their mom a teaching me John Lewis

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I went to his office I went to

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[Music]

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he's third in command

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[Music]

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congressman Cleveland from North

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Carolina me unless you check that out

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ways from but anyway I've made pictures

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with him then they came to to

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Mississippi to campaign for congressman

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serious and cousin Smith

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said the last time people didn't

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Mississippi they sitting to pasta I

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can't call this name now John Lewis he

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was and so we told him if he come back

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to Mississippi

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we wouldn't send him to Barney take it

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this time

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well you certainly could you tell us

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your age right now I'm 95 thank you for

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your service and just in the last four

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just one last thing could you tell us

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then what is it then or who is a from

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your youth would you say then really

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influenced you to remain as active as

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you've been especially in your later

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years my grandmother my mama taught me

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how to cook mama taught me how to speak

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she would have you to stand up and speak

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before a speech before huh and she and I

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remember wanna tell her she said what

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you gonna do with your hands you know

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you had to stand and hold yeah it's a

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certain way and mama said what you and

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I'm gonna tell us so matter don't throw

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my way but anyway mama she would if you

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would write something if she write your

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lesson do your homework you'd have to

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write one for Mama and give it to her so

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she could check that one you keep one

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and take it to school she would see she

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was telling me how to make macaroni and

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cheese and greens candied yams fried

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chicken and she had me do it all I was

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the oldest grandchild and

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see mother top school and here in South

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Haven and I stayed with Mama

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and went to school and no class mom I

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get all confused but last week all his

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name was Sydney

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he went to World War one and he got

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wounded in France and he drew a check

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for and mama got a check from him and

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that's the way we lived out of this is

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check Plus what a little bit mother was

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making goes my grandfather dies and

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early age and left mama with about

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fifteen church a raise and what mother's

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graduated from eighth grade she started

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teaching because you got started and

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that's where she with the lamorne in des

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moines d in the summer she went to

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Lemoine for five weeks so she can renew

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her license and go in back in

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Mississippi and teach then she finally

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graduated from Ruff's college I attended

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Russ but I never did graduate and mother

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tended to normal they call them normals

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and she would see with some summer she

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would go to

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lamorne and then in one day it was just

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plain Lemoine and she would go to the

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moon and

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see we go to mourn some summers in here

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sometimes she would go to Rus

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nice

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so I've had a real good life I've raised

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three boys and and the husband 67 years

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my husband passed two years ago and I

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was living by myself I stayed in the

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house for one year half DFAS and now I

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live in a senior citizen huh I'm so

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blessed I don't have to cook that don't

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have to clean up I don't have it thanks

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oh I am really blessed

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well we're blessed thank you