OH125 Ananais Whittemore Oral History
Collection Title
Jackson Purchase Oral History Project - Lifestyles
Series Number
OH125
Interviewee
Whittemore, Ananias
Interviewer
Marable, Addie. C.
Date Interviewed
November 14th, 1979
Processed by
Tara Marcum
Date Processed
July 25th, 2011
Description
November 14th, 1979
Abstract
Ananias Whittemore discusses his childhood while growing up in a African American household in rural Graves County, Kentucky during the first half of the 20th century. He describes the segregated school he attended as a child, daily activities and working in the clay pit alongside his father. He explains the process of growing sugar cane and made making molasses. He began skimming and making molasses with his father at the age of five. He remembers selling molasses for twenty-five cents per gallon. After school, he began working in the clay pits at age fourteen where he worked ten hours a day making 18 cents an hour. He also worked at the local sawmill for a brief time. Whittemore also discusses the two churches that he served as a preacher for and his work in the ministry.
Biographical/Historical Note
Ananias Whittemore was born near Boaz, Graves County, Kentucky to Willie Dock and Caroline Tennie Whittemore. His father was a minister at Shelton Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church and a farmer. He attended elementary school at Shelton Chapel until the eighth grade when he began working in the clay pit. At the time of the interview he had preached at two different churches for close to fifty years.
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
Whittemore, Ananais
Graves County (Ky.) - History
Shelton's Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church (Boaz, Ky.)
African Americans - Kentucky - Graves County.
African American Methodist Episcopalians
Recommended Citation
Marable, Addie C., "OH125 Ananais Whittemore Oral History" (2025). Lifestyles. 44.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/oh-lifestyles/44
Audio Transcript
