Bookmark this page or copy and paste URL to Email message

African American Pioneers in Flagstaff Oral History Collection1998-2002

NAU.OH.79


Descriptive Summary

Creator: Maxwell, Carol
Collection NameAfrican American Pioneers in Flagstaff Oral History Collection,
Inclusive Dates: 1998-2002.
Physical Description20 interviews
Abstract The interviews in this collection chronicle the growth of Flagstaff's African American community. Following World War II, a significant migration occurred when African American sawmill workers from the southern states found they could earn a higher income in the southwest. In Flagstaff, they found a small logging town unaccustomed to their culture. According to their place of origin, some migrants perceived the city to be relatively accommodating while others did not. Most interviews include informal discussion of the timber industry, World War II, civil rights, and the Flagstaff police department. Project funded by the Arizona Humanities Council.
Collection NumberNAU.OH.79
Repository Cline Library. Special Collections and Archives Department.
Northern Arizona University
Box 6022
Flagstaff, AZ 86011-6022
Phone: 928 523 5551
Fax: 928 523 3770
Email: Special.Collections@nau.edu

Scope and Content Note

The interviews in this collection chronicle the growth of Flagstaff's African American community. Following World War II, a significant migration occurred when African American sawmill workers from the southern states found they could earn a higher income in the southwest. In Flagstaff, they found a small logging town unaccustomed to their culture. According to their place of origin, some migrants perceived the city to be relatively accommodating while others did not. Most interviews include informal discussion of the timber industry, World War II, civil rights, and the Flagstaff police department.

Organization

This collection is organized into two series.
I. Interviews 1-10
II. Interviews 11-20.

Restrictions

Restrictions

None.

Copyright

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Arizona Board of Regents for Northern Arizona University, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright.

Related Material

Flagstaff Public Library Oral History Collection, NAU.OH.28
Arizona Lumber and Timber Company Collection, NAU.MS.266
Saginaw and Manistee Lumber Company, NAU.MS.43
Arizona Lumber and Timber Company Collection, AHS-NAD manuscript collection #47
Wilson and Louise Riles Manuscript Collection, NAU.MS.324
Arizona Lumber and Timber Company Photograph Collection, NAU.PH.676
May Hicks Curtis Hill Photograph Collection, NAU.PH.91.7
Fronske Studio Photograph Collection, NAU.PH.85.3
Wilson and Louise Riles Photograph Collection, NAU.PH.97.3

Access Points

Subject(s)
African Americans--Arizona--Flagstaff--Interviews.
African Americans--Arizona--Flagstaff--Migrations.
Flagstaff (Ariz.)--History.
Race relations--Arizona--Flagstaff.
Sawmill workers--Arizona--Flagstaff--Interviews.

Administrative Information

Credit Line

African American Pioneers in Flagstaff Collection, NAU.OH. 79, Cline Library. Special Collections and Archives Dept.

Container List

Series one, African American, interviews 1-10 ,
The interviews in this collection chronicle the growth of Flagstaff's African American community. Following World War II, a significant migration occurred when African American sawmill workers from the southern states found they could earn a higher income in the southwest. In Flagstaff, they found a small logging town unaccustomed to their culture. According to their place of origin, some migrants perceived the city to be relatively accommodating while others did not. Most interviews include informal discussion of the timber industry, World War II, civil rights, and the Flagstaff police department
Box-folder
79.1 Clarence Brook, Sr., October 4, 1999.
Born in Texas on November 17, 1934, Clarence Brooks, Sr. discusses his family's former status as sharecroppers in San Augustine, TX and the lynching he witnessed there as a child. He later describes his experiences in Arizona, first as a sawmill worker in McNary, Arizona, then as a construction worker at the Glen Canyon Dam. He relates his perception of African Americans in Flagstaff and his conclusions in working with people of different races through the years.
Videotape, audiotape, and electronic and hard copy transcript (39 pp.) available.
Box-folder
79.2 Daniel Broomfield, August 8, 1999.
Born in Franklin, Louisiana in 1925, Daniel Broomfield moved to Flagstaff with his mother and stepfather, John L. Williams, in 1945. Broomfield tells how he illegally sold liquor to Native-Americans before he was able to secure a position at Saginaw Lumber Company. In addition, he relates many colorful tales of injuries and race relations on the job, incidents at El Rancho Grande, and other accounts of the early African American community of Flagstaff.
Videotapes (part 1 and 2), audiotapes (part 1 and 2), and electronic and hard copy transcript (63 pp.) available.
Box-folder
79.3 Sally V. Chapman, January 26, 2000.
Sally V. Chapman moved to Flagstaff from Mississippi in the mid-1940s with her husband, Lloyd, a log sawyer. Chapman's husband eventually owned and operated El Rancho Grande, the first African American business in Flagstaff. This saloon was a popular night spot for Flagstaff's early African American community, and, as a result, is mentioned in several other oral histories of this collection. Chapman also discusses the small restaurant that she owned and operated and the boarding house they managed for sawmill workers.
Videotape, audiotape, and electronic and hard copy transcript (61 pp.) available.
Box-folder
79.4 Ollie Mae Cottrell , October 21, 1999
Ollie Mae Cottrell was born in 1931 in the logging camp of McNary, Arizona and fondly describes her childhood and adolescence there. In 1944, she moved to Flagstaff and describes the city as more prejudiced than McNary. Cottrell recalls acts of racial discrimination in the city at that time and remembers the sit-in at El Charro Restaurant (date unknown).
Audiotapes (part 1 and 2) and electronic and hard copy transcript (26 pp.) available.
Box-folder
79.5 Katherine Hickman, January 12, 1998.
Katherine Hickman moved to Flagstaff with her husband, brother, and father in the mid-1940s. Originally employed by a logging camp in Alco, Louisiana, the camp's sudden closure led them to seek work and residence elsewhere. Hickman=s uncle, already employed by McNary's sawmill, encouraged the men to relocate in Arizona. Seeing an opportunity, her uncle rented a large house in order to board other in-coming workers. Hickman recalls her part in maintaining the boarding house, remembers the sit-in at El Charro Restaurant, and comments on race relations in Flagstaff.
Audiotapes (part 1 and 2) and electronic and hard copy transcript (23 pp., single-spaced) available.
Box-folder
79.6 Mack Jones, September 9, 1999.
Born in Mississippi October 27, 1930, Mack Jones moved to Arizona in 1951 to seek a high paying position in the sawmills. He immediately found work in Williams, Arizona and settled there. Not long after, he was hired by Southwest Lumber Company in Flagstaff, but didn't move there from Williams until nearly forty years later. Jones discusses the differences in race relations in Arizona and Mississippi and describes the details of his mechanical job at Southwest. He recounts his encounters with Flagstaff law enforcement through the years and his experiences as a preacher for the Baptist church.
Incomplete videotapes (part 1 and 2), audiotapes (part 1 and 2), and electronic and hard copy transcript (78 pp.) available.
Box-folder
79.7 Sarah Knight, December 7, 1999.
Born in Sand Hill, Mississippi November 3, 1914, Sarah Knight moved to Flagstaff with her husband in 1941. In this interview, Knight relates a detailed description of rural life in Mississippi. In addition, she recalls her husband's alcoholism and infidelity, but fondly remembers her experiences working as a housemaid for Flagstaff residents Dr. and Mrs. Fronske.
Videotape, audiotape, and electronic and hard copy transcript (41 pp.) available
Box-folder
79.8 Ben Shird, August 12, 1999.
Ben Shird moved to Flagstaff, in 1945, to work for Saginaw Lumber Company. At times he lived at Happy Jack logging camp. Shird was also involved in bootlegging and recalls the lively atmosphere of El Rancho Grande.
Videotape, audiotape, and electronic and hard copy transcript (31 pp.) available
Box-folder
79.9 Alfred (Okie) and Ruby Taylor, September 30, 1999.
Originally from Oklahoma, this couple moved to Flagstaff from Tulsa in 1953. They discuss the advantages of growing up in Tulsa's large, segregated African American community and the challenges of moving to a small, integrated town. In addition, they compare their schooling in a segregated system with their children's experiences in Flagstaff's integrated system. They share opinions on Flagstaff's police force and legal system, remembering an incident where a white officer killed a Black man. The Taylors speak of their youth, in particular of Okie's service in World War II and his brief career with the Negro American Baseball League.
Videotapes (part 1,2,3 ), audiotapes (part 1,2,3), and electronic and hard copy transcript (93 pp.) available
Box-folder
79.10 John L. Williams, December 14, 1999.
Born April 13, 1910 in Columbia, Mississippi, John L. Williams moved to Flagstaff in 1946 to become a log sawyer. After boarding at Lloyd Chapman's, Williams eventually saved $750 for a lot on the corner of Lone Tree and Butler and built his own house over the course of several years. In addition, Williams discusses the El Rancho Grande, bootlegging, his service in World War II, and his perspective on race relations in Flagstaff.
Videotape, audiotape, and electronic and hard copy transcript (51 pp.) available.
Series two, African American, interviews 11-20 ,
The interviews in this collection chronicle the growth of Flagstaff's African American community. Following World War II, a significant migration occurred when African American sawmill workers from the southern states found they could earn a higher income in the southwest. In Flagstaff, they found a small logging town unaccustomed to their culture. According to their place of origin, some migrants perceived the city to be relatively accommodating while others did not. Most interviews include informal discussion of the timber industry, World War II, civil rights, and the Flagstaff police department
Box-folder
79.11 Ollie Marion Dorsey Hawkins,
Videotape, audiotape copies available.
Box-folder
79.12 Grady Graham, April 22, 2002.
Grady Graham was born in Carthage, Mississippi on March 24, 1913. Mr. Graham talks about his life with his family growing up in Mississippi and his eventual move to Flagstaff, Arizona.
Videotape, audiotapes (part 1,2), and electronic and hard copy transcript (55 pp.)available.
Box-folder
79.13 Reverend Raymond Flemons, May 29, 2002.
Raymond Flemings was born in 1922 in Pineland, Texas. He described his upbringing in his community and some of the persecutions of his fellow church members. He joined the army and served in the South Pacific during World War II. He then went to Los Angeles where he received his desire to serve his church. He came to Flagstaff in 1946 and eventually became a pastor.
Videotape, audiotape (part 1,2), electronic and hard copy transcript (48 pp.)Available.
Box-folder
79.14 Melton Williams, August 3, 2002.
Melton Williams was born in Greenville, Mississippi on March 5, 1942. He moved to Flagstaff with his family a few months after his birth. He talks about his life growing up in Flagstaff.
Videotape, audiotape, and electronic and hard copy transcript (45 pp.) available.
Box-folder
79.15 Robert Joe and Jack Peters, May 1, 2002
Robert Joe was born in Williams, Arizona on September 28, 1939 and Jack Peters was born in Columbia, Mississippi on September 23, 1938. They both moved with their families to Flagstaff where they eventually met and became friends in elementary school. In this interview they recount their lives and experiences living in Flagstaff during and after the segregation and civil rights era.
Videotape, audiotape, and electronic and hard copy transcript (48 pp.) available.
Box-folder
79.16 Jonnie Lee Egan, April 29, 2002
Jonnie Lee Egan was born in Louisiana on February 15, 1929. Jonnie Lee talks about his life growing up in Flagstaff and his experiences with various Flagstaff residents.
Videotape, audiotape, and electronic and hard copy transcript (39 pp.) available.
Box-folder
79.17 Dora Knight,
Audio tape only available
Box-folder
79.18 Felton "Gene" Combs, October 1, 2002
Felton Combs was born in Bienville Parish, Louisiana on November 28, 1938. He grew up in Louisiana and after high school followed a friend who had already moved to Flagstaff. He moved around a bit to various places before settling in Flagstaff.
Videotape, audiotape, and electronic and hard copy transcript (42 pp.) available.
Box-folder
79.19 Darlin Peoples, November 14, 2002
Darlin Peoples was born in Jonesboro, Louisiana on March 7, 1943. His family moved to the Las Vegas area when his father went to work on the Hoover Dam but the family soon moved to Flagstaff when the job didn't work out. He talks about his life in Flagstaff with reflections on desegregation.
Box-folder
79.20 James W. Williams, May 13, 2002
James Williams was born near Brookhaven, Mississippi on July 8, 1914. He grew up on a farm in the country. He worked for a public works timber project and moved to Arizona in 1937 to work timber. He ended up on Flagstaff in 1942. He talks about his experiences living and working in and around Flagstaff.
Videotape, audiotape, and electronic and hard copy transcript (42 pp.) available.