rg now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country. I hope this is working! I’m not going to use your name, I’m just going to use your initials, which would be EW – that’s what I’m going to call you today, EW, and, uh I just want you to see if you remember anything that you’d like to tell me of your past, you just told me you were from Charlotte [uptake] ew yeh rg yeah. Do you remember anything in your family about your your your past? growin’ up here in charlotte --- unintell: not much – but yes rg anything about your family or your work or anything you wanted to tell me today, whatever you wanted to talk to me about, whatever you remember ew …[ they tell me about this son’s age rg ok he say he was 89 rg ohhhh my father in law was 89. ew yeh rg yeh. I was wondering how old you were and you told me you were 77, ew yeh rg and uh um but I was I was just telling you about him in case you may have remembered – he lived here in charlotte but – anything you want to tell me today about uh your growing up or your past or anything .You said you were from charlotte. ew yeh rg Where did you live? ew I lived in Greenville section rg oh yeah. Do you remember Greenville when you were growing up? how was it? ew yeh, well, um, it was well it was about 77 rg ‘bout 77. ok yes. I, I, I do that. And you went to charlotte schools? ew yeh rg Umm-hmm. Who do you remember about that time? ew I remember back in them days ew well, [I don’t know] when I started to school rg Umm-hmm ew it was around nineteen and twenty, somewhere [] rg ok ew so I figured that uh we’d be in that same age back at [that time] [you see] rg ok, that’s what I was thinking. I thought you and he might be in the same age bracket, too ew yeh rg ‘bout 1920, back in that, back in that time. ew yeh rg Where did you go to school – and you went to Greenville I went to ---- ‘Salyure’ school [Sallier? Salyer] rg oh, ok ew /did I say it was Greenville? rg that’s not far from Double Oaks ew yeh mmhumm Double Oaks. ew that’s right rg that’s right. Well, did you have brothers and sisters? ew did I have brothers and sisters? I had a sister. She would have been in her teens, something like that. rg What else do you want to tell me about growing up in Charlotte? ew Let me tell you about some of my folks that I came up with rg ok ew Sss -- See -- in other words, in other words, that would be about that same time rg ummhumm. mmmhumm. That’s right. ‘Bout that same time. ew yeh yeh. ‘Bout that time. What was Charlotte like back then? ew Well. It was like [about the same time?] [crowds?] like [ ] that right? ew yeh rg mmmhmm. It was -- Greenville at that time was the country, wasn’t it, back then? It wasn’t much like a city ew no, it wasn’t much like a city. But it was almost like a city. rg it was? yeh rg lots of people in the neighborhood? ew yeh rg mmhumm ew quite a few rg mmhumm ew people in the neighborhood at that time ew well, it was, back in them days, I guess, you could look, look at it like this, you could look at it and say, we growing up at that particular time rg mmhumm ew yeh rg mmhumm ew yeh rg They had uh indoor plumbing and all of that back then too? ew no, no, no rg =no?= ew =no= didn’t have any plumbing back in them days rg mmhmm ew [ ] but uh she came up back in the in the Greenville days rg mmhmm Your sister? ew Yeh rg One sister? ew Yeh rg Just you and your sister? ew Ye-uh rg And is she still living? ew Yeh, she’s still living. She’s still living rg Umhmm. Still living ew Yeh. She’s twenty- She’d be twenty-one now rg She’d be ‘bout twenty-one now? ew Yeh rg OK. ew True rg Well. You had that one sister and you back then. What else do you remember about that time? ew About that time? rg Mmmhmm ew Back then, back in them days we had – I had sister growing up, growing up, she growing up rg Mmm ew So. I figured back in them days that that they’d they’d they’d be grown about now rg You’re sure ew She’d be grown about now rg Yeah, that’s right ew yeh rg What do you remember about school then, ew [hmmhmm] and and your working – anything you remember about your working and school during that time? ew What, then, and school? rg About working. ew Working. rg Mmmhmm. About the kind of jobs you had ew I ,I ,I, I worked kinda hard rg You did? What’je do? ew Huh? rg What did you do? ew I did a lot of extry work. Down in the day rg Mmhmm. What were you doing then? ew mMMPH rg What were you doing then? Did you work for the railroad? Did you work construction? ew Nah rg Hmm? ew I worked. Construction – uh - rg My father-in-law worked construction ew Yeh. rg Mm-hmm, cement finisher ew huh? rg He was a cement finisher. ew Cement finisher? rg Uh-huh. ew That’s what he did rg Uh-huh So what, what – Did you do cement finishing, too? ew Yeah rg OK Well , that – That was – those were good times. Did you think they were good times? ew No, they wasn’t good times rg [Laugh] They weren’t? Well, what made them not? ew huh rg what made them not good times ew What make ‘em not good times? Cause I had to work so hard. [laugh] for my folks that live in my area rg mm-hmm ew So, did times ever get better? Well, Times got better. Actually, times got better during my barbering cabeer - career. rg OK. Tell me about that ew Well, I worked hard as a barber rg Mmhmm. Ok. How’d you learn to do that? ew How’d I learn to do that? I took it up. At school. rg Oh, OK ew Yeh rg You took it up in school, and you did it for many years? ew Yeah rg OK. And you, did you work in the Greenville area? ew Yeh. I worked in that, in the Oaklawn area. rg Wonder if you were anywhere near this Mr. Neal’s – do you remember Neal’s Barber Shop? ew Yeah, I ‘member seein’ Neal rg mmm ew I member meeting uh Mr. Neal rg he was – Fuller J. Neal I think his name was – I think he may still be there, Mr. Neal’s barber shop ew No, he’s, he he grew up and and moved away rg OK. Ok. Well, that’s an interesting profession, cause you get a lot of people coming into your shop, talking a lot. ew Yeh rg Is that what you liked about it, the people part of it? ew Yeh, I liked it, I liked that part of it, I did.Yeh rg Yeh ew Yeh rg So, you did that for many, many years. Right in the Greenville area. ew Yeh rg OK. Did you, uh, ever leave Charlotte? ew eh? rg Did you ever leave Charlotte or did you continue to work here most of your life? ew I worked here most of my life. rg Mmm. So did you just give up barbering and retire? ew Yuh. ah. I retired. After so many years rg mhmmm ew after so many years. rg Got a chance to retire ew yeh rg That’s the good thing about working hard, you get a chance to retire ew yeh rg yeh ew aw rg Did you ever have any children at all? You told me about your sister. ew Yeah, I got some sister mm-mhmm rg Any brothers? ew Any brother? rg Mmmhmmm ew Brothers. I had some brothers. rg You had some brothers, too. Do you want to tell me any more about your work when you were a barber? ew eh? rg Do you want to tell me any more about your work when you were a barber? ew Barber. rg Mmhmm ew Well, I had cooperation when I was growing up. To be a barber. I had cooperation rg mmm-hmm. You had co- Tell me about that ew well they grew grew up, the small kids, they grew up… They were on the small side rg Mmm. That’s interesting. I was going to see if there was anything else you remembered about the past you were willing to tell me, about growing up in Charlotte ew Yeah, well I grew up to be a b – a grown man here in Charlotte rg Well, those were - Charlotte has grown since you were younger. Do you see the changes now? ew No. I’ve struggled all my life. rg Well, you’ve done really well, you’ve done really well to have gotten up to where you are right now ew Yeah? rg Yeah. That’s a good feeling, isn’t it? ew Yeh. it’s a good feeling rg [Laugh] It is. Well, did you have any questions for me? ew For you? rg Un-huh ew Yeh working hard back in them days rg Well, that’s how come you were able to be successful and become a barber and able to do that for so long. Yeah. And go to school for it, too. ew Yeh rg Yeh. They still have at least two barber shops that I’m aware of, over in that Greenville area, still today. ew Yes. it’s true, it’s a good two barber shops there, yeh rg It might be the one that you worked in, years ago ew Yeh rg Yeh. Well, I have enjoyed talking with you today. And telling me what you remembered from your past. And tell me again how old you said you were? ew I’m fifty now rg You’re fifty now. Well, OK. Well, you’ve lived to a good age, lived to a good age. Well, I’m going to cut this off right now… and put this back on. I didn’t tire you out? ew No rg Good I’m glad I didn’t tire you out. So do you come here every day – ew Here to Charlotte? rg No, come to this day care every day? ew Yeh rg You do? ew Yeh rg OK ew I come to stay rg You come where ew To stay. I stay here rg Ok. Did you say you stayed here? ew Yeh rg Oh, OK. So you live here? ew Yeh rg Ok. All right. Well, I’m going to shut this off now, and I’m going to get my next person. And it’s been such a pleasure to talk with you today. It’s been such a pleasure ew OK rg And I’m going to stop this here.