OH105 Vivian M. Hale Oral History
Collection Title
Jackson Purchase Oral History Project - Lifestyles
Series Number
OH105
Interviewee
Hale, Vivian M.
Interviewer
Anderson, Margaret R.
Date Interviewed
November, 15th 1988
Processed by
Tara Marcum
Date Processed
May 24th, 2011
Description
1 sound disc (1 hour 8 minutes)
Abstract
Vivian M. Hale recalls her life in Murray, Kentucky from the 1930s to the 1980s. She discusses the effects of the Great Depression and Prohibition Era and how she witnessed bootleggers stealing sugar from a factory down. She mentions an old cotton gin and other businesses that operated in the city. When attending Murray State College (presently Murray State University) during the Second World War, she recalled that the only men on campus were in the Navy flight program or teaching at the college. She remembered that she heard of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death on the radio and that the community was stunned by the announcement. Hale also discussed segregation at the college prior to the 1960s and that black students had their own separate study halls and a special filing cabinet for their grades.
Biographical/Historical Note
Vivian M. Hale was a lifelong resident of Murray, Kentucky. Her mother, Ruth Skinner Hale, was a homemaker and her father, Leon Hale, worked for the Kentucky State Department. She attended local public schools and graduated from Murray High School in 1942. She later graduated from Murray State College (presently Murray State University) in 1945 with a degree in accounting and bookkeeping. After graduation, she taught briefly in Shelbyville, Illinois but returned and began work as an administrative secretary at Murray State College. She worked in the Office of the President from 1946 to 1986.
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
Hale, Vivian M.
Murray (Ky.) – History.
Murray State University – History.
State universities and colleges – Kentucky – Murray.
Prohibition – Kentucky – Murray.
African Americans college students – Kentucky – Murray.
Recommended Citation
Anderson, Margaret R., "OH105 Vivian M. Hale Oral History" (2025). Lifestyles. 18.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/oh-lifestyles/18
Audio Transcript
