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These oral histories and photographs present a rich picture
of Black family life in McLean County. Interviewees include teachers,
domestic workers, restaurant and other business owners, barbers and
office workers. These people and their experiences represent many
hidden stories, and their contributions to local Black history are
unique.
The Bloomington-Normal Black History Project
was founded in 1982, and it's collections span the 19th and 20th
centuries. The collection contains photographs and portraits, booklets,
articles and photocopies related to clubs, organizations and churches
of the local Black community. In 1989 the Black History Project was
affiliated with the McLean County Historical Society, which serves as a
repository for the Project's collections.
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| Name |
Dates |
Summary |
| Wilbur
Barton |
1914 - 2005 |
Early Normal family, ISNU grad
& athlete, WWII veteran, teacher/principal |
| Howard
& Elaine Bell |
1922 - living 1923 - 2005 |
Early Bloomington family, WWII
veteran, Depression era history, Elaine was active in community
service. |
| Richard
& Rose Anna Bell |
1910 - 1988, 1909 - 2002 |
Business owner and farmer, Rose
Anna from early McLean County family, Illinois Soldiers & Sailors
Home, domestic |
| Robert
& Lillian Boykin |
1896 - 1989, 1908 - 1999 |
Social clubs, Union Baptist
Church, domestic,yard & railroad work, farm life &
sharecropping in the South |
| Lue Anna
Clark |
1892 - 1992 |
Father was slave, WWI era
restaurant business, boarding of ISNU students |
| Kathryn Dean |
1910 - 2001 |
State Farm Ins. employee, civic
& social clubs, grandfather was Civil War veteran |
| Robert
Gaston |
1918 - 1993 |
Barber, WWII veteran, Chamber
of Commerce Board member |
| Claude
Hursey |
1905 - 1990 |
3rd Ward Club (owner),
African-American businesses in Bloomington, Republican, WWI era
memories, Revy Rhoades |
| Merlin
& Beulah Kennedy |
1926 - living, 1923 - 2002 |
Active in civil rights, NAACP,
Youth Council, employment & housing issues |
| Ethel
Murray |
1917 - 1990 |
Domestic for prominent
families, social service work, civic & social clubs |
| Lucinda
Posey |
1908 - 2000 |
Pre-Civil war Bloomington
family, Dir. of Medical Records (Brokaw Hospital), community &
civic boards, Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church |
| Josephine
Samuels & Reginald Whittaker |
1919 - 1999, 1925 - living |
Normal, IL family, business,
work at Woolworth's, GTE, Baha'i |
| Roy
& Delores Shavers |
1905 - 1990, 1902 - 1998 |
Melody Gospel Choir,
African-American business in Bloomington & Clinton, St. Mary's
Catholic Church |
| Oscar
& Ruth Waddell |
1917 - 1990, 1923 - living |
WWII veteran, skilled
employment at GE, breaking employment barriers, home ownership, Willis
Stearles |
| Caribel
Washington |
1914 - living |
Depression era, early civil
rights work, YWCA, Wayman A.M.E. Church, civic work, WIlliam Shields |
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A grant from the Illinois State
Library, and the assistance of the Illinois Digital Archives,
has made it possible to make this material available on the Internet.
A special thanks to Jack Muirhead who transcribed most of the tapes,
provided biographical materials, did extensive research to verify
spellings and other information, assisted in locating and choosing
images, and put together the bibliography.
Thanks also to Bill LaBounty and David Leatherman for providing
technical expertise.
Pat Hamilton, Librarian/Archivist of the McLean County Museum of
History coordinated the project.
Candace Leatherman is responsible for the design and implementation of
the project as well as image scanning and editing.
The Illinois Digital Archives located at: http://eli.sls.lib.il.us/ida/
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