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Interviews will document African-American history

May 20, 2012|By BRENDA S. EDWARDS | Contributing writer

The congregation at St. Peter AME Church in Harrodsburg posed for this photo in the 1960s. The members, from left, are: Front row, Brenda McKitric, Joy Thomas and Linda McKitric. Second row, Annie Roach Hayes, Elizabeth Edison Reed, Martha Harris and Mary Harris. Third row, Mary Hines Chenault, Vivian Wilson, Mallie Brown, Fannie Thomas, Martha Ann Morgan, Alma Johnson, Frances Pittman Winn and Margaret Short. Back row, Garnett Pittman, the Rev. H.L. Parks, James H. Pittman and Lee Alexander.

HARRODSBURG — The idea of an oral history project to document the African-American experience in Harrodsburg and Mercer County from the 1930s to the present came about in 2010 when the James Harrod Trust sponsored a ground census of the Maple Grove Cemetery.

The census was taken to generate a database for burials in the cemetery that the city could use and also put on the Internet, said Kandie Adkinson, project director.

“As we did research in the cemetery with representatives of the African-American churches and the James Harrod Trust, we realized that research was needed in African-American history,” she said.

“The James Harrod Trust applied for a grant for the oral history project in 2011 and got approval this year,” Adkinson said. The Trust and planning committee of the West Side School Reunion decided the focus of the project would be on the Broadway Street Neighborhood.

Adkinson said the project will cover social changes through integration of schools and businesses in the 1960s. It will focus on segregated schools, students, teacher and sporting traditions, and also the church influence and job opportunities for African-American in the mid-20th century.

“We are interested in all aspects of history the person being interviewed would like to share,” Adkinson said.

“Our first interview was with Margaret J. Harris, age 105. She was born in Washington County, and has resided in Harrodsburg most of her life,” said Adkinson. “When women were granted the right to vote in the 1920s, she proudly cast her ballot. She remembered she voted for Herbert Hoover and said that was her first and last time to vote. She also provided much needed information on her family history and the history of her husband and his employment.”

Lolita Short, a school teacher and daughter of Frances Short, who attended the West Side School, is excited about the oral history project. She said many of the participants will be of her mother’s generation who are in their 80s.

“We don’t have a big base of that age group,” said Short. “Many have passed away or moved to other places. We hope to get people from out of town who attend the West Side School reunion this summer to do interviews about their memories,” she said.

Adkinson said this is the beginning of a county-wide project to do oral histories and more African-Americans will be interviewed in the future.

The majority of the the oral history interviews will be done by Sharyn Mitchell, president and charter member of the African-American Genealogy Group of Kentucky and former teacher at West Side School.

To suggest an candidates for interviews or to schedule an interview, contact Pat Linton or Anna Armstrong at (859) 734-6260. They are coordinating the interviews.

The Kentucky Historical Society’s Oral History Commission in Frankfort is assisting with the project.

Adkinson said the Mercer County Public Library has been supportive and librarian Robin Ison and her staff co-hosted a recent meeting with the African American Genealogy Group.

“In an effort to build the library’s genealogy collection, the library welcomes lineage charts and family histories donated by families with ties to Mercer County,” said Adkinson.

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