Interview with Rosa Jackson
In this interview, Rosa Jackson talks about living through the depression and the civil rights era in Birmingham, Alabama. Jackson recalls how she worked for white people from the age of eight, first as a nurse and later as a cleaner of office buildings. Her husband was a steel worker, laid off just...
| Format: | Electronic |
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University of Alabama Libraries
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| Online Access: | http://purl.lib.ua.edu/54313 |
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Electronic |
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Working Lives Oral History Collection |
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University of Alabama Libraries |
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University of Alabama Libraries |
| topic |
Oral histories |
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Oral histories Interview with Rosa Jackson |
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Oral histories Jackson, Rosa--Interviews; interviews; transcripts |
| description |
In this interview, Rosa Jackson talks about living through the depression and the civil rights era in Birmingham, Alabama. Jackson recalls how she worked for white people from the age of eight, first as a nurse and later as a cleaner of office buildings. Her husband was a steel worker, laid off just before the Depression. She recounts how they lived through the Depression: "I just figured I'd make it somehow with the Lord's help, and I did make it through. It was tough. I'm not going to tell you there were any good points about it... " She added that "you could get by if you used your head." Jackson talks about getting aid from the Red Cross, how they didn't make it difficult for people, but everyone had to stand in long lines. There was no segregation in the food line; everyone was "in the same line 'cause they was in the same position." She also recalls how her husband got coal from boxcars, a dangerous practice because of the hoboes. Jackson expresses her admiration for FDR, who she calls a "dear beloved man," for starting the Social Security system, and she admired him for overcoming being a cripple: "He made himself a mountain." Jackson discusses her role in the civil rights movement at length, saying she did what she could, but she tried to be peaceable because she was scared both of breaking the law and of the Ku Klux Klan. She said everyone was afraid of having their house burned; during that time, she says it wasn't smart for blacks to be out after 9:30. She also talks about Jim Crow laws and how she was once brought in on charges for making beer, which were dropped because the beer hadn't fermented yet and couldn't be proved as such.The digitization of this collection was funded by a gift from EBSCO Industries. |
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Interview with Rosa JacksonJackson, Rosa (Interviewee); Hamrick, Peggy (Interviewer)Sound; Text1984 July 23engelectronic; image/jpeg; 2 audio cassettes; 2 transcriptsIn this interview, Rosa Jackson talks about living through the depression and the civil rights era in Birmingham, Alabama. Jackson recalls how she worked for white people from the age of eight, first as a nurse and later as a cleaner of office buildings. Her husband was a steel worker, laid off just before the Depression. She recounts how they lived through the Depression: "I just figured I'd make it somehow with the Lord's help, and I did make it through. It was tough. I'm not going to tell you there were any good points about it... " She added that "you could get by if you used your head." Jackson talks about getting aid from the Red Cross, how they didn't make it difficult for people, but everyone had to stand in long lines. There was no segregation in the food line; everyone was "in the same line 'cause they was in the same position." She also recalls how her husband got coal from boxcars, a dangerous practice because of the hoboes. Jackson expresses her admiration for FDR, who she calls a "dear beloved man," for starting the Social Security system, and she admired him for overcoming being a cripple: "He made himself a mountain." Jackson discusses her role in the civil rights movement at length, saying she did what she could, but she tried to be peaceable because she was scared both of breaking the law and of the Ku Klux Klan. She said everyone was afraid of having their house burned; during that time, she says it wasn't smart for blacks to be out after 9:30. She also talks about Jim Crow laws and how she was once brought in on charges for making beer, which were dropped because the beer hadn't fermented yet and couldn't be proved as such.The digitization of this collection was funded by a gift from EBSCO Industries.Jackson, Rosa--Interviews; interviews; transcriptsUnited States--Alabama--Jefferson County--BirminghamThe University of Alabama Libraries Special CollectionsWorking Lives Oral History Projectu0008_0000003_0000033http://purl.lib.ua.edu/54313Images are in the public domain or protected under U.S. copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code), and both types may be used for research and private study. For publication, commercial use, or reproduction, in print or digital format, of all images and/or the accompanying data, users are required to secure prior written permission from the copyright holder and from archives@ua.edu. When permission is granted, please credit the images as Courtesy of The University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections.http://cdm17336.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/u0008_0000003/id/55 |
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Interview with Rosa Jackson |
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Interview with Rosa Jackson |
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