OH257 Grace Majors Oral History

Authors

Bill Peyton

Collection Title

Jackson Purchase Oral History Project - Schools and Education

Series Number

OH257

Interviewee

Majors, Grace Grubbs

Interviewer

Peyton, Bill

Date Interviewed

June 13th, 1979

Processed By

O'Daniel, Hannah

Date Processed

March 7th, 2014

Description

1 sound disc (24 minutes)

Abstract

Grace Majors begins the interview by providing her educational experiences in elementary, high school and college. She discusses the negative attitude towards African Americans in McCracken County, Kentucky, how education has played a role in her life and recounts her time at West Kentucky Industrial College in Paducah. She recalled the difficulty of attending an elementary school that was two miles away from her home and how the distance resulted in her missing school frequently. She discussed the occupations of her parents and her family's rocky financial situation when she attended high school during the 1910s. She chronicles her various teaching positions, beginning with her first in 1917 in McCracken County. She discusses the differences in disciplining students in schools from when she began teaching in one room schools to more recent times. She describes the general physical conditions of the schools that she taught at and how the school buildings were maintained. She recounts President D. H. Anderson's efforts in establishing and obtaining state funding for West Kentucky Industrial College. She concludes the interview with an assessment of social changes for African Americans in the Jackson Purchase, citing that racial integration improved education but that there continues to be a lack of advancement in work opportunities for African Americans.

Biographical/Historical Note

Grace Grubbs Majors was born in McCracken County, Kentucky on January 4th, 1899. She was one of eight children to Walter and Rachel Grubbs. She attended a segregated elementary school in the White Oak community of McCracken County and high school at West Kentucky Industrial College in Paducah. She completed two years of college courses at West Kentucky Industrial College. She began teaching in the fall of 1917 in McCracken County. She received her Associate Bachelor Degree in 1935 from Kentucky State College. Before retiring in 1964, she taught in counties of McCracken, Ballard, Graves, and Shelby, Kentucky. At the time of the interview, she resided in Paducah. Majors died in Paducah on August 11th, 1996 at the age of 97.

General Information

No user access to original recordings. Use audio user copies, digital derivatives, transcripts, and/or tape indexes. This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code). Permission for reproduction must be requested from Murray State University.

Subject Headings/Descriptors

Majors, Grace Grubbs, 1899-1996.

Segregation in education – Kentucky.

Education – Kentucky -- Paducah – History.

African Americans – Kentucky – History. Kentucky – Race relations.

McCracken County (Ky.)

White Oak (Ky.)

West Kentucky Industrial College (Paducah, Ky.)

Loading...

Media is loading
 

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS