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2017 Interviews
Oral History
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Interviewer
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David Lacy
Interviewee
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Linnie McAdams
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Oral History Interview with Linnie McAdams (2017; 3 of 7)
Subject
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reflections of the Denton Women's Interracial Fellowship, race relations, segregation, civil rights
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Excerpt of an Oral History Interview, Linnie McAdams, black resident of Denton, Texas, recollects on her experiences with the women in the Fellowship. Additionally McAdams discusses civil rights today.
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Linnie McAdams, David Lacy
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Oral History Interview with Linnie McAdams (2017)
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UNT Oral History Program
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March 2, 2017
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open
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Oral History Interview with Linnie McAdams (1987)
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mp3
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English
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2017 Interviews
Oral History
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David Lacy
Interviewee
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Linnie McAdams
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Oral History Interview with Linnie McAdams (2017; 2 of 7)
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reflections of the Denton Interracial Fellowship, race relations, segregation, civil rights
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Excerpt of an Oral History Interview, Linnie McAdams, black resident of Denton, Texas, recollects on her experiences with the women in the Fellowship. Additionally, McAdams discusses civil rights today and how much farther we have to go.
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Linnie McAdams, David Lacy
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Oral History Interview with Linnie McAdams (2017)
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UNT Oral History Program
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March 2, 2017
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open
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Oral History Interview with Linnie McAdams (1987)
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mp3
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English
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Photo of Catherine Bell
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Catherine Coleman Bell Elementary
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circa 2016
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2017 Interviews
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Oral History Interview with Ann Barnett (2017; 17 of 17)
Subject
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music, education, Ann Barnett
Description
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Excerpt of an Oral History Interview. Ann Barnett, white resident of Denton, Texas, discusses her interest in music.
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Ann Barnett, Sarah Robinson
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Oral History Interview with Ann Barnett (2017)
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UNT Oral History Program
Date
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March 10, 2017
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Open
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Oral History Interview with Ann Barnett (1987)
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.mp3
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English
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Photo of Alma Clark at church.
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Oral History Interview with Ruby Cole and Alma Clark (2017: 4 of 7)
Subject
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Ala Clark, Denton Women Interracial Fellowship, meetings
Description
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Alma Clark discusses her beginnings with the DWIF.
Creator
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Alma Clark, Brian Elliott
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Oral History Interview with Ruby Cole and Alma Clark (2017)
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UNT Oral History Program
Date
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March 28, 2017
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Open
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Oral History Interview with Alma Clark (2006)
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English
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2017 Interviews
Oral History
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Interviewer
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Andrew Huebner
Interviewee
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Mae Nell Shephard
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Ms. Shephard's home
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Aproximately 55 minutes
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Oral Interview with Mae Nell Shephard (2017: 4 of 6)
Subject
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voter registration, poll tax, 1964 election
Description
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Excerpt of an oral interview. Ms. Shephard, a black resident, talks about registering voters for the 1964 election in Denton
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Mae Nell Shephard; Andrew Huebner
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May 2017
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University of North Texas Oral History Program
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Open
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MP3
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Audio File
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Celebrating Our Story: Trinity's Continuing Journey with God
Subject
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Trinity Presbyterian Church, Paul Young, Denton Women's Interracial Fellowship
Description
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Pages from a booklet written to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Trinity Presbyterian Church. Articles from the booklet include a biography of pastor, Paul Young, and a history of the Denton Women's Interracial Fellowship.
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Dorothy Adkins, Euline Brock, Jean Kooker
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Celebrating Our Story: Trinity's Continuing Journey with God
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Trinity Presbyterian Church
Date
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2010
Format
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.pdf
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English
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U N I V E R S I T O F N O R T HT E X A S
Y
C
ORALHISTORY OLLECTION
NUMBER
{636
l n t e r v l e ww l t h
ALMACLARK
29
SEPTEMBER,2OO6
of
Place lnterview:Denton,
TX
Interyiewer:
Sherelyn
Yancey
Termsof Use:
Open
Approved,
(r-lt^e
Co 6aJtt
Date:
er
+Lq -0 b Septemb 29,2006
�Copyright ©2006
THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS
IN THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information
storage or retrieval system without permission in writing from the Director of the Oral History
Program or the University Archivist, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas 76203
�Oral History Collection
Alma Clark
Interviewer: Sherelyn Yancey
Date: September 29, 2006
Place of Interview: Denton, Texas
Ms. Yancey:
My name is Sherelyn Yancey. I’m from the
University of North Texas Oral History Program.
I’m here to interview our narrator today, who is
Mrs. Alma Clark. We’re doing this interview in
her home at 1129 East Hickory in Denton, Texas.
Today’s
date
is
September
29,
2006.
For
the
benefit of any listeners in years to come, we
are going to discuss the Quakertown legacy from
the point of view of African Americans who lived
[in
the
neighborhood]
relocate
and
dismantle
it
move
to
and
out
build
a
of
new
were
forced
Quakertown
African
to
and
American
community in Solomon Hill, east of the railroad
tracks. We want to talk a little bit about how
that happened and why that happened. So, do I
1
�have your consent, Mrs. Clark to interview you
for this?
Clark:
Yes, you do.
Yancey:
Feel free to use that voice I know you’ve got,
and I will, too. Where we always begin is: where
were you born, and what is your birth date?
Clark:
I was born in Lampasas, Texas, January 24, 1928.
Yancey:
Who were your parents?
Clark:
My parents were Cliff Espy and Ruby Espy.
Yancey:
All right. What year did you graduate from high
school?
Clark:
I graduated there in 1944, but it only went to
the
tenth
grade
because
it
was
an
all-black
school. Therefore, I went to Austin, Texas, and
completed
the
eleventh
and
twelfth
grades
in
Austin, Texas, and I graduated from Anderson High
School.
Yancey:
Is that an all-black high school?
Clark:
That was an all-black high school.
Yancey:
What was that, 1940--?
Clark:
That would be 1945-46.
Yancey:
Okay.
Then
how
did
husband?
2
you
come
to
meet
your
�Clark:
He was pastoring a church in the city of Austin
and I met him there. He was a Methodist minister
and
I
was
a
Baptist
lady,
but
I
went
into
a
restaurant one evening and he happened to be in
there
and
we
struck
up
a
conversation
and
a
relationship. So after six years of courtship I
married him in 1958.
Yancey:
1958?
Clark:
1958.
Yancey:
Tell me about what move that you had gone through
when you met and married in Austin. How did you
come to Denton, Texas?
Clark:
He owned a home here in Denton, and by him being
a Methodist minister--at this time we had three
children. So I told him, “I know Methodists move
about a great deal and I said I didn’t want to be
having
to
another.
take
my
children
from
one
place
to
Since you own a home in Denton, let’s
go to Denton.” He moved us here in the summer of
1962. But then he had to go back to Austin to
finish
out
conference
his
year
conference
was
over
with
year.
in
And
November.
his
He
asked for a transfer out of the Central Texas
Conference to the North Texas Conference of the
3
�African Methodist Episcopal Church. That is how
we ended [up] here in Denton.
Yancey:
Go ahead and give me his full name, if you would
please.
Clark:
His name was William McKinley Clark, and he was
better known as “Willie” Clark.
Yancey:
And
what
ages
and
names
are
there
for
your
children when you moved here in 1958?
Clark:
The oldest one was three. His name was Quentin.
The girl was two. Her name was Rubylene. And the
baby was six months. His name was Cletus.
Yancey:
Are they all alive in the present? [Did] they all
survive you?
Clark:
Quentin died in 1993. Cletus lives in Brandon,
Florida.
Ruby
lives
next
door
at
1121
East
Hickory.
Yancey:
Your daughter lives right next door?
Clark:
Right next door.
Yancey:
Is this plot of land, where we are at on Hickory,
the very spot that your husband brought you to in
1958?
Clark:
Yes, and we lived in the Quakertown house that
was
moved
from
Terry
4
Street
from
1962
until
�November of 2005, when it was torn down to build
the house that I am living in right now.
Yancey:
This brick home?
Clark:
This brick home that I am living in now. It was
built, and I moved into it the Saturday before
Easter
of
November
this
of
year.
[2005],
But
I
from
lived
1962
in
up
one
of
until
the
Quakertown homes that was moved here, which was
his mother’s home. Well, his home also.
Yancey:
That he grew up in--
Clark:
That he grew up in.
Yancey:
In Quakertown?
Clark:
In
Quakertown.
And
when
they
moved
over
here,
they bought property along with his stepfather.
So this side of Hickory Street was owned by the
Hembrys
from--let’s
houses.
The
property,
house
which
see,
next
I
there
door
deeded
are
was
over
to
about
my
four
husband’s
our
daughter
after his death. He died in 1991.
Yancey:
I’m sorry. Did he pastor at St. James?
Clark:
No.
He
pastorate
never
pastored
was--when
I
at
St.
James.
His
first
met
him,
was
pastoring a church in Austin.
he
And from Austin we
went to a town called Bartlett, Texas. Then we
5
�came to Denton, and they sent him to the town
called--I’ve
forgotten
the
name
of
it.
Well,
anyway, then he pastored in Maypearl and Dallas
and then Lewisville.
Yancey:
He would then go there from your Denton home?
Clark:
Yes.
And
we
would
accompany
him
when
it
was
necessary.
Yancey:
But
was
your
home
base
this
transferred
[Quakertown house]? This was the home where the
kids went to school?
Clark:
This is where the children grew up and went to
school, and all they know is Denton.
Yancey:
So you wanted, it sounds like, stability.
Clark:
Yes.
Yancey:
He went out to pastor.
Clark:
He went out to pastor. He would come back--and we
would go with him sometimes when he would go to
pastor.
Yancey:
Tell me a little bit more about what it was like
to live in the Quakertown house. Describe your
home to me: the kitchen, the living room, how
many bedrooms?
Clark:
When we lived in it we only had two bedrooms, one
bath, but we had a large porch that was on the
6
�east side of the house.
Since we had two boys we
took this large porch and boxed it in and made a
room for the boys so that the boys could have a
bedroom. Our rooms were large; they had twelvefoot
or
ten-foot
ceilings
fourteen-by-fourteen
and
[feet],
the
most
rooms
of
them,
were
the
living room and the dining room were fourteen-byfourteen and the bedrooms were ten-by-twelve and
[it] had a long hall.
After
the
house
was
moved
from
Quakertown
over here, in later years when his mother was
living, she had an addition built onto it next to
the kitchen and that was our laundry room. The
kitchen and dining room was on the west side of
the house. The house faced Hickory Street, which
would be facing south, and it was on the corner
of
Hickory
and
Wood
Street.
When
I
met
and
married him we had the property; we had 150 feet
one way and 135 feet another way. This is what we
boxed in, this part here [See Photograph 1 in
Appendix].
Yancey:
I was wondering, yes, so I am going to go ahead
and label this while we are talking about it. If
7
�you want to view that picture, you can tell me a
little more about it.
Clark:
This was the screened-in porch right here. The
porch went here. This was the front porch here
[See Photograph 2 in Appendix].
Yancey:
Let’s put what year this picture was taken.
Clark:
I don’t know.
Yancey:
Approximately?
Clark:
I don’t have the least idea. I don’t know.
Yancey:
Is this in the Quakertown time or here on East
Hickory with us at your lot right now?
Clark:
To
me
it
looks
like
it
was
in
the
Quakertown
time, so I don’t know.
Yancey:
Looks like a dirt road, right here.
Clark:
Yes, well the roads were dirt when we came here
in 1962.
Because I helped form a committee along
with some of the ladies from the white churches,
once they integrated the schools.
We formed what
we called the Christian Women’s Fellowship.
And
the streets down here in 1962, 1963, and 1964
were not paved.
So--
Yancey:
Still dirt after--
Clark:
There was still dirt after all those years.
Yancey:
Wow, 1920.
8
�Clark:
After forming this Christian Women’s Fellowship,
a group of us--some of us went and integrated-some of us went and got the streets paved.
I
walked with a lady by the name of Trudy Foster.
We got signatures down here and Trudy went before
the city council and insisted that they come down
here and pave these streets.
So I don’t know
what [year] that house, in the picture, was made
out after it came here or when it was over in
Quakertown, but it was the Quakertown house.
Yancey:
Let me put down who lived in it before you did.
This was your husband’s mother and father?
Clark:
Stepfather.
Yancey:
Please give me their names.
Clark:
Her name was Maude.
Yancey:
M-A-U-D-E?
Clark:
Yes.
Yancey:
Maude?
Clark:
And
all
I
know
is
C.R.
referred to as Mr. Hembry.
Yancey:
H-E-M--?
Clark:
-M-B-R-Y.
Yancey:
Okay.
Clark:
Hembry.
9
Hembry.
He
was
always
�Yancey:
And then this is the parents [See Photograph 3 in
Appendix]. This is his stepfather. Parents of-can you give me your husband’s name once again?
Clark:
Willie.
Yancey:
Willie.
Clark:
And Walter; he had a brother named Walter.
Yancey:
Willie and Walter.
Clark:
Clark.
Yancey:
Clark.
Clark:
Yes.
Yancey:
I think you are right. I am going to put that
this
is--I
will
just
put
that
is
circa
1921,
because it is probably before the move, it looks
like.
Clark:
Could be.
Yancey:
There is the yard surrounding and this back
here.
Clark:
That back there, it looks like it was before they
moved.
Yancey:
Okay,
and
then,
Alma
Clark,
moved into this house in--?
Clark:
1962.
Yancey:
Moved into this house in 1962.
Clark:
July 1962.
10
that
is
you.
You
�Yancey:
Thank you.
This home, you can remember that,
even July 1962. And this house was at least--I
just was wondering how old it was?
Clark:
It was about 100 years old, because I think it
was built by 1905 and we tore it down in 2005.
Yancey:
2005. A 100-year-old house. You know, this is a
nice looking house.
Clark:
Yes.
But the foundation was so old that we had
to tear it down--I will show you some pictures of
it afterwards when we had it all-Yancey:
Okay, we are going to take a pause for a moment
to look at a couple of different other pictures.
[Tape Interruption]
Yancey:
Okay, let’s just [go over] what you told me here.
We are looking at picture number one of the photo
memory album [Photograph 1 in Appendix] and we
were
talking
about
this
older
picture
of
your
home when it was in Quakertown [Photograph 2 in
Appendix] and then July 1962 is when you came and
moved into this home. Go ahead and tell me about
the first picture that we are looking at here.
11
�Clark:
This is Ruby and I. We are standing in the south
entrance of the house which faces Hickory Street.
And if you notice, you can see the address.
Yancey:
Oh, 1129.
Clark:
This was the entrance to the house.
Yancey:
Did it have those columns on it when it was in
Quakertown?
Clark:
Yes.
Yancey:
Did they have to move that too?
Clark:
Yes, [pointing to photo] there they are.
Yancey:
There it is.
Clark:
The
only
picture
alteration
is
that
we
from
had
this
them
picture
put
the
to
this
aluminum
siding onto it. This picture--where the porch was
is where we boxed it in to make it a room for the
boys.
Yancey:
It was a screened--
Clark:
It was a screened-in porch.
Yancey:
In Quakertown.
Clark:
In Quakertown. It was a screened-in porch until
we came here in 1962 and when the boys began to
grow, then we needed an extra bedroom because it
only
had
two
bedrooms
and
so,
therefore--my
husband and I had a bedroom. Ruby had a bedroom.
12
�We
took
this
porch
and
converted
it
into
the
bedroom for the two boys, which [were] Quentin
and Cletus. This was their bedroom.
Yancey:
And it was the home of their father, Willie and
Walter Clark.
Clark:
Right, right.
Yancey:
Go ahead.
This is [Photograph 2] that we are
talking about. Compare the before and after move
of the actual home from Quakertown to here on
East Hickory and this looks like this is your
daughter, Ruby, standing on the left and you are
standing
on
the
right
to
show
that
you
are
it
does
looking at the window. It that the same?
Clark:
That is the same window.
Yancey:
As in the 1921 house?
Clark:
Yes.
Yancey:
That
is
quite
a
work
of
art.
Now
surprise me that this is so big and fancy.
Clark:
Once
it
came
over
here
and
when
they
put
utilities down here, as you can see it has the
utilities, when they first moved over here they
didn’t have water and lights you know. So they
had to-Yancey:
What did they do?
13
�Clark:
They
had
the
outside
toilet
and
I
forgot
the
year, but he said that they brought the utilities
down here.
Yancey:
But his mom and dad, Maude and C.R. Hembry, and
Willie and Walter, they all lived here without
electricity and without water?
Clark:
[Without] running water for a while, yes.
Yancey:
Did they have running water when they lived in
Quakertown? Do you know?
Clark:
I don’t know.
Yancey:
Okay.
Clark:
He
never
said,
so
you’d
have
to
ask
someone,
maybe Norvell [Hill Williams Reed] or Irma could
tell you. I don’t remember--he didn’t say and I
don’t recall him saying anything.
Yancey:
But you did tell me that as far as when this
house
was
in
Quakertown,
it
was
dirt
streets,
which much of Denton was at that time.
Clark:
Sure.
Yancey:
But then when this was forced to be moved here on
the east side, you continued with dirt streets?
Clark:
Until about 1964-65. 1962, 1964 or 1965. Because
we came here in 1962 and it was still dirt roads.
Yes.
14
�Yancey:
But you made a difference somehow with that?
Clark:
Well, integration was going to come about. Then
there was a group of the white ladies along with
the black ladies and they said--we were called
the Christian Women’s Fellowship--and they said
that since our children were going to be going to
school we need to get together and get better
acquainted. So we did, and some of us went with
the ladies to help integrate downtown. Once we
met, after a while, then we said we needed the
streets paved down here. There was a lady that
was in real estate, her name [was Trudy Foster],
that helped us sign and get petitions to get the
streets signing [done]. She went before the city
council and the city council came and paved our
streets.
Yancey:
And she was a white woman.
Clark:
She
was
a
white
woman.
Her
Foster, [that is] who she [was].
her.
We
walked
and
got
name
was
Trudy
I walked with
signatures
from
the
homeowners down here and then she went before the
city council to help us get the streets paved.
The other ladies, black ladies and white ladies
15
�went
to
integrate
the
downtown
stores
and
restaurants.
Yancey:
Did
you
do
that?
Did
you
help
integrate
the
restaurants downtown?
Clark:
No, I helped with the streets.
Yancey:
The streets; that was your part?
Clark:
That was my part.
help
with
the
We divided up.
streets
and
some
My part was to
of
the
other
ladies helped with the downtown, integrating the
restaurants, and it went by smoothly.
Yancey:
They
passed
it
no
problems,
to
get
the
roads
paved here over on the east side?
Clark:
On the east side. They added on to your taxes.
That is why it was necessary for us to walk and
get the signatures from the homeowners. Then it
was--and since we lived on the corner, we had to
pay for two streets, portion of Woods Street and
a portion of Hickory Street. That if you had the
cash you could go ahead and pay whatever it was-I’ve forgotten what it was--or they added it on
to your taxes until you paid got it off.
Yancey:
But you [lived] in this Quakertown house, your
husband did anyway, for over forty years.
Clark:
Yes, about forty-four.
16
�Yancey:
From 1921 to at least we are talking 1962; 1921
[from] 1962 that is about forty-some years that
there were no roads paved over here where you all
were forced to move on the Solomon Hills side,
the east side.
You were kind of a mover and
shaker there to help.
Clark:
You see, once they had to leave Quakertown--my
husband said that he and his brother came and
they helped clear this land off. This was farm
land over here and the man that they bought it
from,
his
property
name
but
was
things
Miles.
He
weren’t
owned
going
all
well
think he was about to lose his farm.
this
and
I
So he saw
an opportunity to sell it. So he sold it because,
from what my husband said, the intention was for
them
to
go
further
out
[from
downtown
Denton,
rather than] to relocate to the KATY [railroad]
and in Solomon Hills. They were to go out [to]
what
is
now
called
Mingo
Road.
That
designated places, he said.
Yancey:
As far as the segregation?
Clark:
As far as the segregation. But Mr. Miles--
Yancey:
--was white?
17
was
the
�Clark:
Was white, and he owned the farmland and he began
to sell lots and things to the blacks that were
dislocated
from
the
move
of
Quakertown.
My
husband and his brother, Walter, came and helped
clear this particular area, because all of this
was all farming over here.
Once they bought,
they made this purchase.
Yancey:
Was there any cost to that as far as Mr. Miles.
Did
the
white
citizens
get
mad
at
him
for
selling?
Clark:
Yes, Yes.
Yancey:
Tell me what you heard about that.
Clark:
They
were
husband
Miles,
most
said.
his
unhappy,
He
said
brother
according
one
Walter,
to
evening,
and
they
what
when
were
my
Mr.
down
here clearing off the land, three Klansmen came
up on horseback and Mr. Miles recognized [them].
Well, he knew who [the Klansmen] were and he just
said to Willie and to Walter, “Get behind this
log and don’t shoot unless I tell you to.”
the
three
Klansmen
came,
but
without any shots being fired.
Yancey:
Were words exchanged?
18
they
went
So
away
�Clark:
No, no. My husband said there weren’t any words
exchanged.
Yancey:
Do you remember if he said that they were wearing
their white--
Clark:
They were wearing their hoods--
Yancey:
Hoods, their white gowns?
Clark:
They had their white hoods on.
Yancey:
Their masquerade [laughter]--
Clark:
Their masquerade and they came up on horseback.
Yancey:
On horseback. How did your husband say he felt
and experienced when he said that happened?
Clark:
He was saddened by it. What hurt him most of all
is having to move from Quakertown and the way
that
the
really
move
didn’t
was
give
brought
about,
them
fair
a
because
price
for
property that they owned. He was a young man.
they
the
My
husband was born in 1900, so therefore, when they
moved
down
here
he
was
twenty-one,
twenty-two
years old. So he knew quite well what was going
on.
Yancey:
Tell me more about that. What impact did that
have on him looking at the white community?
Clark:
For a long time he had distrust towards them.
just did not trust them.
19
He
It took him a long,
�long time and he married and went to Detroit and
stayed there for a long time.
Yancey:
So he left Denton.
Clark:
He left Denton. He and his first wife.
to
Detroit,
and
they
stayed
there
They went
until
his
mother became ill and he came back to Texas in
the 1940s, I think the middle 1940s. After the
death of his mother, that is when he--after we
were married and he brought us back. These are
the things that--many places that we would go, he
didn’t even want to go down into the Civic Center
Park or go near it, because he did not like the
memories that it brought about.
Yancey:
Could
you
talk
to
me--I
know
it’s
painful
to
discuss that--but to help future generations to
understand the pain and the loss. I want to read
something to you that comes out of the history
books that--how it is being phrased, or how it
was phrased in this history of Denton.
Because
what I am really wanting to find out is the black
perspective
of
individuals
like
yourself,
families, and churches that were on the receiving
end of this forced move.
And why that park was
so important to the whites to do--
20
�Clark:
Well, it really wasn’t the park but how it came
about being a park, according to my husband. The
Texas Woman’s University [TWU], now, but then it
was known then as the CIA [College of Industrial
Arts], which was an all-girls white school. And
it
was
necessary
for
them
to
come
through
Quakertown to get to downtown Denton. Quakertown
had-Yancey:
To walk?
Clark:
To walk from the CIA college to come to downtown
Denton--because between downtown Denton and where
the CIA college is, which is now TWU, that is
where Quakertown was situated, between those two.
So
those
grow,
young
according
girls--as
to
what
the
my
college
husband
began
said,
to
the
president of CIA college at the time was saying
and it was brought to his attention that more
girls would come and enroll in the college if
they
didn’t
have
to
pass
a
town
through
the
black
community.
Quakertown
was
within
the
city
of
Denton because it had churches, it had schools,
it had restaurants, it had a barbershop, it had a
doctor, it had two large halls.
21
Anything that
�the town of Denton had, it was right there in the
Quakertown community.
They had a grocery store.
It had all of that.
There were two brothers;
they were called Crawfords. One had a boarding
house, which now is called a hotel, but it was
back then called a boarding house.
Quakertown was established long before TWU
or the CIA college was, but the enrollment began
to grow.
So they talked to the city council.
The city council got together with the president
of the college along with the women of the-Yancey:
The women’s club?
Clark:
Not
the
women’s
club,
there
wasn’t
a
women’s
club.
Yancey:
Civic club?
Clark:
The civic club, and they had a bond election and
they designated that plot of ground--
Yancey:
Where your homes--
Clark:
Where
the
churches,
homes
the
and
school
the
and
whole community was.
restaurants
everything,
and
the
where
the
They voted that particular
plot of ground to become a city park, and when
the
vote
Norvell’s
came
about,
father
it
[See
22
won.
Now
Norvell
Mr.
Hill,
Hill
Reed
�transcript],
which
was
told
by
my
husband,
he
sued the city. He was the only black man that
stood up to the city and had nerve enough to sue
the
city
wrong,
because
which
it
they
was.
felt
Many
like,
of
that
the
it
was
[residents]
after that came about, many of the citizens left
Denton altogether.
Yancey:
African Americans?
Clark:
African American citizens left Denton.
Yancey:
When, go ahead--
Clark:
Those that stayed as you said, scattered about
here. His family chose to come to Solomon Hill
along with some of the others.
Yancey:
When he was said to be the only one to sue the
city for loss of property, even though it was
being "legally" done, and sold, do you know what
he sued them for? If it was fraud or--
Clark:
I don’t have any idea.
My husband just said that
he was the only one.
Yancey:
Did he know?
Clark:
If
he
did,
I
didn’t.
If
remember him telling me.
he told me.
23
he
told
me
I
don’t
I am only saying what
�Yancey:
Are you telling me also that when that vote was
taken, was that all, only white citizens voting,
or could any of the African American citizens who
were property owners in Quakertown vote?
Clark:
I
don’t
know.
He
then, I doubt it.
didn’t
say.
Probably
back
If any of them were registered
back then--because it was just for a long time
before a lot of the blacks were eligible to vote,
so I am sure that it was just whites.
Yancey:
Late 1910s, 1920s--
Clark:
Remember, now, this is in the 1920s, 1921, or so.
Yancey:
The height of the--
Clark:
The height of the--
Yancey:
What else was going on racially in the community?
I mean, this is a huge ordeal. How did your inlaws
and
your
husband
find
out
about--did
the
bond, getting the bond for the park, represent
the money they used to buy out your husband’s
family?
Clark:
He didn’t go on to all those particulars. I don’t
know whether he knew, and if so, he just failed
to tell me.
Yancey:
Do you think--
24
�Clark:
He was just devastated by the move and as I said,
once we came back, often times when the children
would want to go to the park to swim, it would be
very--as I said he just, he was heartbroken about
it. It hurt him very often. Often times, even
when
we
had
to
go
pay
the
utility
bills
down
there.
Yancey:
And why is that?
Clark:
Because--at
this
present
the utilities company.
time,
they
have
moved
But where City Hall is
now on east McKinney Street there, that was where
you went and paid your utilities bills. The city
hall,
the
civic
center
building,
the
senior
building, the women’s building, the library--all
of
that
was
homeowners
and
that
is
where
the
people [were] in Quakertown. All of that was a
part of Quakertown, and the park. So this is-every time we came that way, it would bring back
memories
that
he
said--I
am
just
saying
his
words--put a bad taste in his mouth.
Yancey:
Almost like a scab.
Clark:
Like an old scab that you keep scratching off,
and it comes back again.
Yancey:
I wonder, was he born there?
25
�Clark:
No, he was born in Argyle, [Texas].
Yancey:
Okay, Argyle.
Clark:
When his father died and his mother remarried,
then that is when they moved into Denton.
Yancey:
Okay, and can you help me out; just approximately
about what year that might have been?
when
they
first
moved
to
Quakertown?
Was it
It
would
have to be before 1921.
Clark:
Well, it was before he was old enough to go to
school.
Yancey:
Oh, okay.
Clark:
Or maybe he was just old enough to go to school,
because he went to school in Quakertown. So if he
was born in 1900 he had to have been six years
old at least, when he started the school there.
Yancey:
His whole life was growing up there.
Clark:
Yes.
Yancey:
No wonder it hurt him so bad. The white citizens
usually
just
look
at,
“Oh
boy,
we
got
a
city
park.”
I want to ask you a couple of things. I found
in this book here, in The History of Denton from
its Beginning to 1960 by C. A. Bridges [Waco:
Texian Press, 1978]. He has Quakertown mentioned
26
�in two sentences in this whole book of Denton-and it is Denton County, so it is spread out.
But what I found when I looked up "Quakertown," I
am going to quote from this book.
He talks about
the years prior to 1900 where the elite portion
of town lived, and he named the city blocks and
then he describes, he says, “Most of the colored
people of Denton lived in what was then called
Quakertown, a portion of the town now included in
the city park.”
Clark:
Okay.
Yancey:
That is one sentence, and the other sentence for
[his] history is on page 337 and it is put in
this
framework.
The
paragraph
starts
out:
In
January of 1921, a movement got underway toward
the creation of a city park. So then it talks
about raising bonds and there was one sentence
that
says,
chiefly
by
Quakertown.”
“This
area
was
Negro
families
occupied
and
was
in
1921
known
as
That is it. The next sentence says,
“After the bond election came about these people
got
on
the
necessary
board
step
for
was
the
that
of
park,
but
buying
the
the
first
several
pieces of property from the owners--” it does not
27
�say the Negro owners.
But then it just said,
“The project required several months. But most of
the former residents in the area soon had newer
and better homes about half a mile east of the
railroad depot.
we
are
sitting
Hill.”
Clark:
This newly settled area”--where
right
now--“was
called
Solomon
Do you think there is something missing?
Well, yes, because if you did not know what he
was talking about, he left out that it uprooted a
whole
community
and
that
mean, in reading it.
they
were
blacks.
I
Which it was. And as I
before stated, it was a thriving community as you
can see, as I said.
It was a city within a city
and those people owned their homes down there.
Yancey:
I struggle with trying to understand how [the]
African American community, which was formed in
1865, way before the white woman’s college--
Clark:
Definitely.
Yancey:
--why
the
college
was
placed
up
there
and
Quakertown was--Quakertown grew for what twentyfive, thirty, forty years before the college came
to
that
point
that
they
made
this
meeting
up
about--and that was never really revealed to the
African
American
community,
28
was
it?
That
the
�real reason--do you think that was?
Don’t let me
put words in your mouth.
Clark:
According
to
my
husband,
he
was
aware
of
it.
This is what he said: that the president of the
college along with, I said the community leaders
of the city-Yancey:
--the mayor--
Clark:
--the mayor, the community leaders, we will just
say the community leaders.
Yancey:
That were white--
Clark:
That were white. It had been indicated to the
president,
since
the
enrollment
had
begun
to
increase at the college for the white girls, that
more
would
through
come
the
if
black
they
didn’t
community.
have
And,
to
pass
therefore,
that is how the bond election came about, because
mind you, some of the blacks were already working
up there at the CIA, at the college. You know,
they could hear by word of mouth, of different
ones talking.
Yancey:
Kind of through the grapevine?
Clark:
Through the grapevine, and they didn’t realize, I
think according to what my husband said, that it
was
going
to
be
as
29
quickly
as
it
was.
They
�thought maybe that they could come and try to
negotiate with the people, but they weren’t given
that opportunity.
Yancey:
To negotiate for keeping Quakertown intact?
Clark:
Intact.
Yancey:
To find another way?
Clark:
To find another way.
Yancey:
Was it racism then?
Clark:
Sure. I mean, it wasn’t spoken but you could-actions say that it was, and like I said, by him
being a young man he really understood.
Mind
you, he had gone off to college and come back. He
spent
two
years
at
Prairie
View
after
he
graduated from the high school.
Yancey:
This news, how was it communicated to the black
community?
mean
you
When
heard
things
bits
got
and
really
pieces,
serious,
black
I
workers
did.
Clark:
At the time the blacks had--mostly what they had
was
their
churches--through
the
churches
and
through the lodges. The lodges at that time were
very strong, so when they would have their lodge
meetings, when they would come to their church
services,
this
is
30
how
it
was
all
brought
up,
�brought about.
Because those were the strongest
and the most gathering of the people and most of
the people were either church members or belonged
to the lodges or both. They had two strong lodges
that were, at that particular time, very active
with the people.
Yancey:
Did your husband tell you how his parents and he
were
informed--what
kind
of
situation,
did
the
white people go to the churches and make this
announcement?
Clark:
No, he didn’t say.
Yancey:
How that came about, that he found out that-- So
everyone
was
waiting
to
see
if
this
bond
was
going to pass, would that be the signal, whether
or not Quakertown would be destroyed?
Clark:
I don’t know, he didn’t say.
He was just saying-
-those were the words that he was saying--that is
how most of the information was conveyed. They
got it though the people that were the leaders of
their community, like the worshipful masters of
the lodges and the ministers of the congregations
of the churches.
That is how it was communicated
overall, when they would come together.
31
�Yancey:
Okay, but as far as the white leadership of this
town, the citizen’s council communicating that to
the
black
community,
they
called
a
meeting
of
some sort then and-Clark:
--if so, he didn’t tell me.
Yancey:
Because you told me they tried to negotiate, to
stay--
Clark:
Well, my understanding is they were thinking that
probably
would
come
about--but
what
he
was
saying--I don’t know, he did not say that they
tried to.
As I said, the only thing he told me
was about Mr. Hill suing the city. I am sure that
it
was,
that
they
must
have
discussed
it
in
probably some large meeting or at church and he
was strong enough and bold enough to bring the
suit
against
brought]
and
the
city.
what
it
said,
How
I
the
do
not
suit
[was
know;
he
didn’t say, and so I don’t know.
Yancey:
Did your family--how did your family react to the
bringing the suit, having to move, how did they
feel,
what
did
they
experience?
You’ve
talked
about the hurt--what that did to the heart of the
community, did the--
32
�Clark:
It
tore
longer
the
a
community
community.
apart
Because
and
there
many
was
of
no
them,
according to my husband, left the city of Denton
and relocated to various other places, towns, and
some even left the state where they had family
members and just left. And, you know, they never
really-- from what he said, they never really got
over it, those that remained; the older folks.
And the younger folks were able to graduate and
go on off to school--some of them were.
Yancey:
They were still, the younger folks--did they go
to segregated schools?
Clark:
Oh, they went to segregated schools.
Yancey:
Fred Moore [High School]?
Clark:
Well, it was Fred Douglass and then when they
relocated they named it Fred Moore.
Yancey:
That is located over here on this east side of
the tracks--
Clark:
Yes--
Yancey:
--to Solomon Hill. For the record, I don’t know
if
we
citizens
touched
in
on
charge,
this,
the
but
when
leaders,
the
were
white
choosing
where to segregate the black community, you said
33
�it
was
completely
way
over
on
Mingo
Road
and
what-Clark:
Well at that time, he said that that particular
settlement was called Peach Orchard Hill and that
was--which is now Mingo Road. That was the intent
for them. That was the purpose, for them to go
there but, once again, it would have been several
miles, at that time.
That’s closer now, it is
different but-Yancey:
Several miles instead of just a mile [away from
downtown Denton] where you are now?
Clark:
It
would
have
been
at
least
another
mile
or
another mile and a half.
Yancey:
What do you think the social and economic impact
was for the folks that did go that far away? As
well as folks that kind of--was it catching a
break
to
be
able
to
move
here
closer
to
the
facilities and town and work?
Clark:
I am sure it was because, mind you now, if they
didn’t work at the college, they worked up in the
elite part of Denton where most of them were.
Oak Street, and all around.
Most of them didn’t
have automobiles, so they would have to walk and
34
�so the biggest employer at that time would be the
college and-Yancey:
The CIA.
Clark:
The CIA.
Yancey:
Not UNT.
Clark:
Well,
UNT
was
an
employer,
too,
but
this
particular one--I think some did work at North
Texas but most of them worked [at CIA] at that
particular time. Because it was close to where
they were and they could walk to work or they
could walk up on Oak Street to work in the homes
of the people in the white community.
Yancey:
The elite of the time.
Clark:
The elite of the community.
Yancey:
Can you tell me, from your point of view, as well
as
how
forced
your
in-laws
segregation
only cope but--
and
like
your
this,
husband
survived
how
you
did
not
Just a minute, my mind is going
blank.
Clark:
Well, surely, as I was saying, after they came
over
here
and
got
situated--my
husband
and moved away and went to Detroit.
Yancey:
Because of the bad taste.
35
married
�Clark:
And spent a lot of his adulthood there and then,
as I said, he did not come back to Texas until in
the 1940s.
Still, there was still segregation
but it had given him an opportunity to overcome
some of the things that had occurred. But even
still, as I said, often when we’d go that way, he
would bring about--and that is why I can tell it,
because he would tell it to me often.
Every time
we had to go into the vicinity, like I said, to
city hall or the children wanted to go to the
park,
then
he
would
bring
it
up
fresh
in
his
memory and he would begin to relate to me the
things that had occurred and all the places--he
could almost show me where each of the church
was, where the school, where the restaurants, the
boarding house, and all those places were in that
particular area.
Yancey:
You two would walk together, and he would point
those out to you?
Clark:
He would point it out.
Yancey:
It would kind of recreate--
Clark:
--it would recreate what it looked like at that
particular time.
36
�Yancey:
How did you feel about that, learning the true
story behind how the black community got on the
other side of the tracks?
When you learned about
Quakertown, how did that touch you?
Clark:
Well,
I
just
I
accepted
it,
because
if
you
remember, I grew up in a segregated town also but
we weren’t dispersed or anything. Even though I
grew
up
in
a
mixed
neighborhood--there
were
whites and Spanish in the neighborhood when I was
growing up in Lampasas--but I know that I took
for granted that I knew my limitations. If I went
to the show, I had a certain place where I could
sit.
If I went to the black school, or I went to
the black church--it was just the norm for me at
that particular time.
Yancey:
That
was
the
structure
of
segregation,
you--I hate to say this--“in your place.”
to
put
Being
over here, I was just wondering how do you think
the families, your family, survived the-Clark:
They
survived
because
I
think
over
there
[in
Quakertown] they had a restaurant and when they
came over here, they bought property. Down the
street from where we are in the next block, there
37
�was
a
restaurant
there.
So
they
were
able
to
survive because of, I guess, of their-Yancey:
Did they re-open their restaurant over here?
Clark:
Yes.
I don’t know how soon afterwards, but they
did have a restaurant over here.
was
no
longer
here
due
to
the
When we came it
fact
that
his
mother had passed on.
Yancey:
Okay, but that was the Clarks--
Clark:
That was the Hembrys--
Yancey:
--the
Hembrys,
excuse
me,
who
reopened
the
restaurant—
[End of Tape 1, Side A.
Yancey:
Begin Tape 1, Side B]
Okay this is tape one, side two.
We are going to
continue with speaking with Alma Clark regarding
the Quakertown era at-Clark:
I am told by my husband--I think his stepfather
was a good chili maker, and often I think made
chili and sold [it] somewhere.
But once they
came over here, well, then they had a restaurant.
I don’t even know the name of the restaurant, if
it had a name.
38
�Yancey:
What kind of social impact did that have on the
black
community,
established town?
to
be
forced
out
of
a
well-
You said people dispersed, but
socially, what happened between [one another] in
the black community, as well as between blacks
and whites?
Clark:
Well,
according
to
my
husband,
he
said
they
didn’t think highly of the white people but they
knew they had to be cordial because they had to;
they are the ones that provided livelihood, you
know. They worked for them at the college and in
their homes.
Not all whites were for it, so a
lot of them were against it and-Yancey:
They would have voted against the bond?
Clark:
Some of them, a goodly number, did vote against
the
bond.
against
it,
But
[there]
and
so,
we
was
can’t
more
say
for
that
it
than
all
of
those--some of them still had a good relationship
in spite of the circumstances.
Yancey:
I am just going to call it like I see it as far
as what I have learned from you. This was social
injustice and economic injustice, to tear apart a
thriving community and then have--
Clark:
For the benefit of one particular entity of the--
39
�Yancey:
For the benefit of, let’s say--
Clark:
For the college.
Yancey:
For the benefit of the white women’s college and
also the white citizens of Denton.
Clark:
Yes.
Yancey:
Do you think money was a driving force, then, to
force Quakertown out?
Clark:
Sure, because the more students that they would
have attending CIA, that is TWU, the more they
would help the economy as a whole because they
would come here and live here, spend their money
here. Eventually some of them would stay here,
and I am sure some of them did after graduation.
So they could see the potential of the college
expanding and expanding, and naturally it would
bring more students in and increase the economic
part of the city.
Yancey:
As
far
as
increasing
that
economically,
it
benefited the white community; but what happened
to the black community, economically?
Did people
get poorer or richer by moving over here?
Clark:
I don’t know.
He didn’t say, he didn’t say.
Yancey:
Do you think that people lost out by having to
start all over again and leave?
40
�Clark:
I know some of them did.
Like I said, I think
those that really, really wanted to do it, they
just
left
because
all
they
together.
had
family
I
said
members
“relocated,”
elsewhere
and
they just took roots somewhere else.
Yancey:
Do you think they felt forced--run out of town,
so to speak?
Clark:
I would have, if it would have been me. I can
only speak for me.
If that would have happened
to me, I know I would have, because I have been
here for all of these years and helped make what
it was. Here I am coming and being pushed aside
and not being given a fair price for the property
that was mine. Just barely enough to relocate,
which I don’t know how the property would have
been
assessed
at
that
particular
time;
but,
I
don’t know the conditions of the homes at that
time. But still-Yancey:
Your in-laws and your husband’s home looks like a
beautiful home.
Clark:
It was one of the better homes at that particular
time.
It was well kept.
Yancey:
Well kept.
Clark:
Well kept.
41
�Yancey:
Then,
who
had
to
pay?
Who
paid
to
move
it
physically from Terry Street to over here?
Clark:
I guess they did; he didn’t say.
Yancey:
If he had to, was that done on horse and wagons?
Do you have any idea--
Clark:
--and railroad ties.
Yancey:
--and railroad ties?
Clark:
They’d
take
railroad
a
ties
team
and
of
put
mules
it
and
down.
horses
Mind
and
you,
the
majority of the streets were dirt anyway, so they
didn’t have any problems getting that done.
Yancey:
So they rolled the house on railroad ties?
Clark:
And then take the team of mules and horses and
pull them down the street.
Yancey:
We are going to have a little pause here.
[Tape Interruption]
Yancey:
I am turning this back on, we’ve got some ice and
water again. We were just looking at the goal of
this history--is try to figure out how the past
affects the present, and I do know when I drive
around Denton--when I first came here, I didn’t
know
there
was
a
black
side
of
town.
I
drove
downtown to the courthouse square, (I live on the
south side), I would go to UNT, but I didn’t know
42
�there was a black side of town until I crossed
the railroad tracks.
So I had to ask, how did
this happen? Why did this happen? And that is
what I am asking you.
Clark:
Let me share this with you.
our
church--I
am
A.M.E.[African
when
they
a
member
Methodist
came
We have a family in
here,
of
the
Episcopal]
they’re
army
St.
James
church--and
people,
but
when they came in, I think they had been here a
good while and they didn’t see any blacks. They
didn’t know there was a black community either,
because they would just go downtown. Finally the
lady, whose name is Daisy Grayson, said she saw a
black person in a grocery store and she asked
her, “Are there any blacks in Denton?” And this
person
said,
"Yes,
you
have
to
go
across
the
railroad track to find them." So once they came
across
the
railroad
tracks--so
this
is
another
black person having the same experience that you
had, even though you are a white person.
Yancey:
In the year 2000 in this area--
Clark:
They came in 19--I think they came in maybe 1977,
somewhere along in there.
43
�Yancey:
To clarify, this was a black military family who
moved into Denton and couldn’t find [the black
community].
So it was put out of sight and maybe
out of mind, since you didn’t have roads paved
until the 1960s. How did this happen and what
does this legacy mean to you, having moved here
in the 1960s, having grown up with this history,
the pain that your husband shared?
your
children,
children?
His
how
did
he
boyhood,
But even to
describe
or
how
he
to
grew
your
up
or
just--did your children know it was hard for him
to walk by the park and relive-Clark:
I think so, but I tried, too.
Since the schools
were integrated by the time they were able to go
to school, I tried to focus on them being good
students and not so much what had happened in the
past. They did hear us talk about it, and hear
their father talk about, and hear me talk about
some
of
my
growing
up,
wanted
them
experiences
so
to
they
know
that
were
that
I
had
aware
since
of
when
it.
this
I
was
But
we
[school
integration] is going about, that an opportunity
has opened up, that they will have an opportunity
to share things that we didn’t at the ages that
44
�they
were
able
to.
Because
neither
of
us
at
their age was able to attend the schools.
And
right
the
after
integration
they
were
some
of
ones who were able to go, so it was quite new.
Yancey:
But some of the first ones--
Clark:
Some of the first ones.
Yancey:
Your children?
Clark:
Some of them.
Yancey:
Which integrated grade school did they go to?
Clark:
They
went
to
a
school
called
Jefferson
Davis,
which was over here on Davis Street, but there is
no longer--
Jefferson Davis [has] been renamed
now, but that is where they-Yancey:
What is its current name?
Clark:
Its
current
name
is--I
don’t
know;
it
is
an
alternative school now. [Editor’s note: it is now
Lester Davis School]
Yancey:
Okay.
Clark:
That is what they use it for, but that is where
they went, and they walked to school.
Yancey:
They walked to school?
Clark:
They walked to elementary school.
45
�Yancey:
Let’s see, you worked for integration, you said,
in
the
1960s
with
that
Christian
Women’s
Interracial Group.
Clark:
Yes.
Yancey:
When did integration happen here for you?
Clark:
Let’s see; 1964, I believe.
is when it was.
1964 or 1965 I think
Of course, I came here in 1962,
and it was still going because Fred Moore was
still the [all-black school] and I was trying to
learn my way, also.
See, my children were not
old enough, but by the time they were old enough
to go to school, well, it was integration so it
must have been about 1963. Integration had been
[in
place],
I
think,
a
couple
of
years
then
before they were old enough to go.
Yancey:
So a lot of the tension and the turmoil was the
first people going and--
Clark:
According to some of my friends, it went smoothly
with those that had children already that had to
go to an integrated school. We lost some of our
teachers but some of the black teachers were able
to be relocated, too. Some of them weren’t. I
think some of them, because they chose not to,
some
of
them
sought
46
employment
somewhere
else.
�But they did use a goodly number of our black
teachers when integration came about.
Yancey:
Talking
about
teachers
the
maintaining
teachers
or
and
actually
your
black
moving
to
schools, white schools; I guess when integration-is that right? You’re nodding your head yes.
I
am wondering back at the time of CIA, when did
your father-in-law work there?
I know Mr. Hill,
Novell’s father, worked there during this whole
Quakertown episode.
Clark:
I never did hear my husband say that his fatherin-law
worked
there,
but
his
brother,
Walter,
worked there.
Yancey:
Walter worked there?
Clark:
Walter Clark worked there.
Yancey:
At the same time that Quakertown was dismantled?
Clark:
Yes.
Yancey:
So your brother-in-law, Walter Hill, who grew up
in Quakertown, was working at the college and he
maintained
his
job
during
this
big
forced
physical movement of his house.
Clark:
If you remember I said that they had no choice,
the black community.
Because they worked for the
whites either at the college or in their homes,
47
�so they had no choice but to continue to work or
leave.
That
was
at
that
time
the
biggest
employer of the town.
Yancey:
So dependent for employment on them--
Clark:
To stay, and as I said, I don’t know the people
for whom they worked were a part of all of that
or not.
But like I told you, all of them were
not
the
for
move.
My
husband
didn’t
go
into
detail, he just made mention, but the blacks had
to continue to work, those that chose to stay
here.
Yancey:
What do you think of that? What do you make of
that legacy? Of those who decided to stay despite
the
forced
segregation
again,
what
kind
of
strength or-Clark:
I
thought
particular
it
was
very
good
strength
reason:
even
though
they
for
were
this
being
oppressed, shall I say, we were still able to
pursue regardless of it.
lot
of
black
communities
States--because
Denton,
but
we
this
know
not
it
You will find that in a
throughout
only
just
happened
the
United
happened
back
in
that
particular time in a lot of places that we were.
Yancey:
That the forced move of houses--
48
in
�Clark:
That the forced move--that they couldn’t, even if
they wanted to, buy--maybe just one family, even
when integration came about, many of the families
had problems if, you know, they wanted to move
into a neighborhood that was predominantly white.
But then there were problems.
Yancey:
That they still were pushed out, were not allowed
to buy?
Clark:
--to buy.
Yancey:
--buy.
Clark:
Jobs and every other opportunity.
So there it
is.
Yancey:
Wow. This is just--I would never understand any
of
this
[laughter]
reading
if
this
you
history
weren’t
of
alive
Denton
to
book
testify,
really to witness to the fact that your own home
and your husband, your in-laws went though this.
Some
have
called
it
a
shameful
part
of
the
history. How did your church, how did the St.
James A.M.E. church, do you think, help your inlaws, your husband and later you cope with being
forced to live with segregation?
Clark:
I am sure that they did.
Yancey:
Did you go to St. James?
49
He didn’t say.
�Clark:
Yes.
Yancey:
You did.
Clark:
I still do. I am still a member of St. James.
Yancey:
Well, what does St. James mean to you?
Clark:
Well, it’s just a church home for me. That’s it.
It was my husband’s home church and since he, at
the
time
was
a
pastor,
even
though
he
didn’t
pastor St. James, and I chose the religion that
he had. He loved his church and I have come to
love
St.
James,
congregation,
because of it.
too.
but
we
are
We
a
are
loving
a
small
congregation
That’s it.
Yancey:
St. James was forced to make this move, too?
Clark:
St. James was forced to make the move also.
Yancey:
Your husband saw that happen?
Clark:
He saw that happen.
Yancey:
St.
James,
your
house,
so
many
families
lost
their-Clark:
A lot of houses were moved over but they weren’t
able to sustain [through] the years that passed
on. I guess by our house being, I'd say, a better
built house, and taken care of, it was able to
last as long as it has.
Yancey:
Taking the jar of actually being [moved]?
50
�Clark:
Taking the jar of being--
Yancey:
Was jacked up and--
Clark:
--jacked up and moved over here. After staying
here, this being farmland and with the years-they
didn’t
know
how
to
secure
it.
I
was
astonished when they--well, I had some work done
on the house about twelve years ago.
Yancey:
What happened?
Clark:
Because of the foundation.
They came in to fix
the room for me because of the foundation, and I
was astonished that I found out that the house
was sitting on bois d'arc.
Yancey:
It was sitting on what?
Clark:
Bois d'arc.
Yancey:
What is bois d'arc? Can you spell that for me?
No?
Bois d'arc. Okay.
Clark:
That is a tree.
Yancey:
Oh, okay.
Clark:
That is what they were using to put the house on.
Yancey:
The foundation of the house was a tree?
Clark:
The foundation was bois d'arc wood.
Yancey:
[Laughter] What is it now?
Clark:
Oh, it is concrete now.
Yancey:
But that had to be replaced?
51
�Clark:
Yes, it had to be replaced.
Yancey:
But it stood, what, several--
Clark:
It stood from what, 1921, 1922, to 2005. But as I
said, the floors and things were beginning to sag
and as you walked down the hall, well, then you
could see.
It was too old to try to raise and
put the foundation, and so the most economical
thing
to
do
was
to
tear
down
and
build
altogether. Because it wouldn’t have withstood a
raising up.
Yancey:
Which you finally did on its 100th anniversary in
2005.
What about some of your neighbors?
When I
drive around I can see very small homes that are
not kept up much.
Clark:
Now, when I came here in 1962, this community and
the older folks were still living and it was a
well-kept
neighborhood.
But
in
the
past
forty-
four years a lot of the older people have passed
on and the children, I guess, choose not to do
anything about it and-Yancey:
As far as the upkeep.
Clark:
As far as the upkeep is--
Yancey:
And the maintenance--
Clark:
And the maintenance of it.
52
�Yancey:
I think I am trying to [gain an] understanding
[of] the present to drive through what we will
call the black side of town. I brought a friend
of mine, for instance, from Idaho over to the
black side of town, and then I drove through Oak
[Street] and on where all the nice houses were
built and stuff, and I just asked her, “What do
you make of this? Why do you think there is such
an extreme on one side of the railroad tracks to
another? How did it get this way?”
And she asked
me, “Why don’t they just move out or why don’t
they repair the houses? Why don’t they fix it
up?”
She doesn’t understand how dismantling your
community can affect you, socially, economically.
How does a community recover from that?
Clark:
Well, again, as I said, the older folks when I
came here had pride and the community was wellkept. They died out and the young people have
either moved, chose to live somewhere else, and
either
had
this
property
they just let it go.
didn’t
maintain
opportunity
now
53
rent
property
or
And even if they did, they
it,
to
for
live
since
where
they
have
an
they
choose
to
�live, and so a lot of them just don’t want to
live across the tracks anymore.
Yancey:
Do you think there is a stigma to living--
Clark:
Yes, there is, there is, because usually when you
say “across the tracks,” they visualize that as
being the ghetto. So that is what it is and that
is the label that is put on, or stigma that is
put on.
But I know when I came, the houses that
were here, the people were a little older but
they maintained the house.
They maintained the
houses.
Yancey:
So have you seen the neighborhood then kind
of get run-down or older--
Clark:
The neighborhood got run-down and I don’t know
anyone in the neighborhood anymore.
When I came
I knew everyone in the neighborhood, because when
my husband brought us here in July and left us to
go back to Austin to finish out the church year,
everybody embraced Willie’s wife and those small
children knowing that he brought us here and left
me
with
three
small
children.
helped raise my children.
Yancey:
Tell me more about that.
54
The
community
�Clark:
Well, they did.
After being here for a short
time I had a job at the North Texas [campus], and
I’d go to work like at 4:00 in the morning. Of
course, my husband would be here. Sometimes he
worked--for
a
long
time
he
didn’t
have
a
permanent job because he had his church work to
do. He made do, just yard work and odds and ends
so he’d be free to do his church work.
Yancey:
What was your job over at UNT?
Clark:
I was in the custodial department; that’s where I
was.
Yancey:
Okay. How long did you work there?
Clark:
Twenty-five years.
Yancey:
And then you did retire?
Clark:
I did retire. I retired in 1989.
Yancey:
From UNT.
Clark:
From UNT after twenty-five years.
Yancey:
And stayed here ever since?
Clark:
And I stayed here ever since. My children stayed
here, went to high school, and graduated. My son,
Quentin, went to West Texas State. My daughter
stayed here, went to TWU and North Texas, and my
son, Cletus, went to the University of Houston.
55
�Yancey:
What
years
did
Rubylene
go
to
TWU
and
North
Texas, do you think?
Clark:
Let’s see. She must have gone to TWU in 19771978.
Yancey:
She
knew
the
history
of
how
her
grandparent’s
home, the home she grew up in, used to be in the
city park?
Clark:
She
knew,
but
scholarship
and
TWU
had
things.
an
So
offer;
she
she
went
had
where
a
she
could get the education that she needed.
Yancey:
Do you know if your family or the black community
that helped you out, and made all this transition
with you coming up here and these small children
and
then
raising
them--how
big
the
resentment
level was? Has that been something to-Clark:
We didn’t discuss it. It really--I think it was
just
something
that
we
accepted
and
went
on
because we knew we had to live here and had to
work here, so that is something that you don’t
dwell on continuously. You just put it aside and
get on with your life and try to improve yourself
and improve your children. You just don’t keep-in my opinion--I don’t keep dwelling on something
that’s unpleasant. You know it’s there, I know
56
�it’s there but--I knew that it happened. Since
things are as they are now, let’s move on and try
to do better. Because, you know, all of us could
probably
[improve].
Well,
we
know
they
could
have, but that was the time--and since its come
back let’s improve our relationships where we are
right now.
Yancey:
Do you think that’s happened?
Clark:
It’s happened. It has happened.
Yancey:
How has that happened?
Clark:
Well, I think we all realize that was a mistake.
We all [are] human beings and we all, all of us,
have something to offer.
To help.
I say to help
Denton. You know, we, some of us, have the same
ideas. Some of us have money; some of us don’t
have money.
Most of us just accept it and learn
to live together and work together and be happy.
Yancey:
In working towards the future, and as this house
from
the
Quakertown
era
gets
turned
into
a
museum, the first African American museum-Clark:
For Denton County.
Yancey:
For Denton County. How would you like to see this
presented
view?
from
the
African
American
point
of
How do you think that the public would
57
�best benefit from hearing the story? Should we
ignore it and cover it up? Should we acknowledge
it but then talk [about] how we--what would you
prefer?
Clark:
We should acknowledge it and let everyone know,
and if the descendents of any of those that were
present when all this came about, that we get
together
and
express
our
feelings
towards
each
other.
Yancey:
Have you done that?
Clark:
Somewhat.
Somewhat.
There
was
some
type
of
healing service, I’ve forgotten when it was, but
Mike Cochran, you may have heard his name before?
Yancey:
No.
Clark:
He
at
that
[Historical]
time
he
was
Commission
on
and
the
he
Denton
was
County
responsible
for getting a plaque to stand in the park that
goes across the bridge there.
Yancey:
Oh, yes.
The Civic Park.
Clark:
One evening we had something. We came together
and had something. I forgot exactly what it was,
but if you could talk with Mike Cochran he could
tell you about it.
Yancey:
Were you there?
58
�Clark:
I was there.
Yancey:
Okay, well--
Clark:
I was there.
I didn’t say anything because he
had a program and I just listened.
Yancey:
Can you describe the program for me? Just for the
benefit of people listening to us who don’t know
the context: we are talking about at the Civic
Park that was once Quakertown, someone named Mike
Cochran--
Clark:
Michael, Mike Cochran.
At that particular time
he was a member of the Denton County Historical
Commission.
Yancey:
Was he white, black?
Clark:
He was a white.
Yancey:
How did he invite the black community to come;
did he come to St. James and ask?
Clark:
He came to the churches and it was put in the
paper and he talked with some of the blacks like
Qvir [?] ,
rest
of
Bill,
them.
Erma Peace, and some of the
As
a
matter
of
fact,
he
even
talked with me to get some information. He was
also instrumental in getting a plaque. There was
a plaque that is in the Civic Center Park that
goes across from the senior building over to the
59
�woman’s building. It’s a bridge, and at the end
of that bridge there it is a plaque there that
says once this was a Quakertown community.
Yancey:
A historical marker.
Clark:
A historical marker.
Yancey:
So up to the time that Mike Cochran helped get
that up there, there was no mention of Quakertown
in the public memory in Denton. You could walk
through the civic park and never know any black
community--
Clark:
Exactly.
Yancey:
--ever lived there.
Clark:
No, the only way you get it is by word of mouth.
Yancey:
Well, that is what I am trying to get right now,
your word of mouth. And I am very--
Clark:
Prior
to
that,
if
you
didn’t
know,
you
never
would have known that the Civic Center Park was a
black community until that historical marker was
put there.
Yancey:
I think that was, I am going to look it up-somewhere around 1983, was it?
Clark:
It may have been a little, it seems like to me it
was later than that. I don’t recall, but it was--
60
�Yancey:
What
do
listening
you
and
recall
from
watching
just
what
observing
happened
at
and
that
healing ceremony at the park that was Quakertown?
What was it like?
Clark:
I don’t remember; isn’t that awful?
Yancey:
[Laughs]
Clark:
Really so many other things have occurred since
then and so I don’t--
Yancey:
I just wish I could hear, I want to hear from
people who were there. Because it sounds like it
was a white guy who was trying to reach out and
acknowledge.
Clark:
He was, he was.
Talk with him because--
Yancey:
Well I don’t know where he is [laughter]!
Clark:
He is probably in the directory; [the] telephone
directory.
Yancey:
Well, I might talk to him later, but specifically
for the purpose of our getting together, I only
want the African American perspective.
I want to
hear it from your side.
Clark:
I am sorry that I can’t. I am just only going by
what my husband said and I know he was very hurt
over the situation. He never fully forgave all
the things that happened.
61
He realized that he
�was
supposed
to,
but
he
didn’t
have
favorable
memories.
Yancey:
It’s a bitter thing to forgive.
Clark:
Yes it is, very bitter, because he often [would]
say it put a bitter taste in his mouth.
Yancey:
Being
a
pastor,
you
had
that
tradition
of
forgiveness.
Clark:
Yes. Yes.
Yancey:
But what a tough thing to live in; so he must
have been quite a man.
Clark:
He was, he was.
Yancey:
I am looking for that marker when you went to the
healing
ceremony.
It
says
“Quakertown
Disappears” in this booklet about Quakertown and-[Quakertown,
p.
153;
See
Photograph
4
in
Appendix].
Clark:
I
don’t
believe
that
Letisha
would
have
that,
because I think that was done after she wrote the
book, if I am not mistaken.
Yancey:
Do
you
think
Erma
Peace
was
at
that
healing
ceremony?
Clark:
You know, I don’t recall; she could have been.
Her remembrance may be better than mine.
62
�Yancey:
Okay. Was it meaningful to you or your children?
Do you remember? Did your children attend?
Clark:
I don’t think they were there.
Yancey:
Okay.
Clark:
They were off, and--I know my sons weren’t there,
and I believe my daughter was gone, too, because
the sons were off in school.
Yancey:
Did that help at all in the black community, or
was that--
Clark:
I do know this much: some of the comments that
were made--some of the whites were saying they
were
that.
sorry.
They
didn’t
They didn’t know.
know
it
happened
like
Those that were there,
a lot of them liked to say, “We are newcomers,”
like you; “We weren’t aware of this.”
And then
some of them would say, “Yes. I think I remember
hearing my grandmother say something about this.
But I didn’t know what she was talking about.”
Yancey:
And that was white descendents?
Clark:
That is the white descendents that were saying
that.
Yancey:
From Denton?
Clark:
From the Denton area. Those that came at sunset
[to the ceremony].
63
�Yancey:
So, it was pretty--you’re saying it was pretty
hush-hush.
If
the
descendents
didn’t
even
know
and it was their-Clark:
No.
Yancey:
And it was their grandparents who did it--
Clark:
Well,
some
grandmother
about
it,
of
them
said,
or
my
grandfather
but
I
didn’t
“I
talking about.”
remember
saying
know
what
my
something
they
were
So that is the way that--and
they’d say, “I didn’t know what they meant when
they were saying “Quakertown.”
And all of this
is in [the park].
Yancey:
[Searching
through
book]
I
can’t
find
that
historical marker that you are talking about at
the Civic Park that acknowledges Quakertown.
It
came after this book, apparently.
Clark:
Yes, it did, it did. I know it did because I
worked
with
Letisha
Deburson
and
helped
formulating that particular book there. That is
why I was saying, let me see when this book was.
This [the healing ceremony] was after she edited
the book.
64
�Yancey:
Wow.
So
someone,
Mike
Cochran
I
would
assume,
someone read this book and it really impacted him
to want to make an acknowledgement-Clark:
Well,
by
him
being
on
the
Denton
County
[Historical] Commissioners board, he is a person
that
likes
history
and
began
to
do
a
lot
of
research. He has done a lot of research on his
own. So that is how he became interested in it.
Yancey:
Let’s go ahead.
I am going to put these two
pictures aside so that we can compare them and I
will put this over here. Let’s go ahead, for the
benefit for those who are listening and looking
at
this
transcript
that
is
written
up
or
listening to the tape, we’re going to talk about
these wonderful pictures that Mrs. Clark has been
able to bring to me from her Quakertown house.
[Photos] of her in-laws and then her husband.
We
have got that picture here. I am just going to
call this, “Quakertown house of Maude and C. R.
Hembry.” [See Photograph 2 in Appendix].
Let’s look at this picture and have you tell me
who is in the picture from left to right; the
woman is--[See Photograph 5 in Appendix].
Clark:
Eula Grey.
65
�Yancey:
Eula?
Clark:
Spelled E-U-L-A.
Yancey:
E-U-L-A?
Clark:
Yes. Yes.
Yancey:
Eula--
Clark:
Grey.
Yancey:
Grey; A-Y, or--
Clark:
G-R-E-Y
Yancey:
E-Y
Clark:
Eula
Grey
stewardess
was,
in
when
the
[Editor’s note:
and
baptism,
this
St.
picture
James
was
made,
A.M.E.
a
Church.
stewardesses prepared communion
assisted
the
pastor
and
stewards,
and dressed the pulpit for funerals]
Yancey:
Oh, okay.
That’s her stewardess outfit.
Clark:
That is her stewardess outfit.
Yancey:
Okay, she is a [church] stewardess.
about, do you think?
right.
Somebody
Let’s go ahead from left to
very
next to Eula. That is-Clark:
Willie; Willie Clark.
Yancey:
Willie Clark.
Clark:
Reverend Willie Clark.
66
What year
important
sitting
right
�Yancey:
Reverend Willie Clark, who is your husband. And
where was this picture taken?
Clark:
Inside the church sanctuary. It was after church
at the church service. We were getting ready to
make pictures to go into our souvenir book, I
believe when the church was 100 years old and I
forgot what year that was.
Yancey:
It was in the 1980s, like 1983 or 1985?
Clark:
No, that was the 100th. That is when we got the
marker.
Yancey:
Okay. Do you have it?
the
picture
while
I
Well, just go on without
get
that.
Reverend
Willie
Clark. Was he considered a visitor, then?
Clark:
No! He was considered a “son” of the St. James
Church
and
retired
that
from
was
the
in
the
ministry,
1980s.
so
So
he
had
he
was
the
was
just
the
assistant pastor.
Yancey:
Oh, he was here now.
Clark:
Yes.
He
wasn’t
the
pastor,
he
assistant pastor because he’d retired-Yancey:
I see.
Clark:
--from the ministry in 1980, so that was 1985.
Yancey:
You think this was 1985?
Clark:
Yes.
67
�Yancey:
Okay, I am going to put 1985, and the location is
actually
the
St.
James
A.M.E.
Church
sanctuary
[See Photograph 5 in Appendix].
Clark:
Yes.
Yes.
Yancey:
Do you recall what the occasion was for this?
Did you say, you mentioned it--it was regarding-the purpose was--
Clark:
Celebrating the church’s anniversary.
Yancey:
That’s 110th, or--celebrating. I know it’s over
100 years old.
Clark:
The church is 131 [years old in 2006].
Yancey:
Wow.
Clark:
We
celebrated.
anniversary
the
We’re
third
going
Sunday
to
next
have
an
month.
One
hundred and thirty one years old.
Yancey:
Wow. In 2006--I am just going to make a note of
this--St. James will be 130 [years] even?
Clark:
One hundred and thirty one [years old].
Yancey:
One hundred and thirty one years old.
Went from
a thriving church in Quakertown and is a thriving
part, a central part of the community here.
Clark:
We do have a state [historical] marker. I don’t
know if you noticed that when you--
Yancey:
Tell me more about that.
68
�Clark:
What do you mean?
Yancey:
Tell me more about the state marker. Why is there
a state marker outside of the St. James? [See
Photograph 6 in Appendix.]
Clark:
Because
it
church--in
is
a
order
historical
for
you
church.
to
And
acquire
a
your
state
marker from the state historical foundation, you
have
to
be
fifty
years
old
or
older,
and
therefore we have enough documents to prove that
we were as old we said that we were.
Which, at
that particular time, when we received that state
marker, I believe that we were 110 years old.
Many of us were instrumental in getting all the
documents,
the
state
us
state
gave
necessary
the
historical
[paperwork],
marker.
foundation,
They
came
along
county, working with us, together.
and
the
and
the
with
the
They came and
brought the marker and put it up and we had an
unveiling service.
Yancey:
Oh, okay.
Clark:
I think you have pictures of that. That is when
the Reverend Robin Slaughter was pastor, at that
particular
time.
She
was
the
first
woman
minister that we had as the pastor of the church.
69
�Yancey:
I see. I have got it over here somewhere.
make a note.
I’ll
So this was the occasion, was the
unveiling of the historical marker.
Clark:
Yes. Yes.
Yancey:
That is important because that is history. These
are
the
folks
who
made
the
history
happen
[laughter] when unveiling the historical marker
in 1985. A historical marker-Clark:
I believe it was 1985. Like I said, I think you
have it there somewhere. Yes. You do, don’t you?
Yancey:
Yes [See Photograph 6 in Appendix].
Clark:
Was it in 1985?
Yes, I believe it was 1985.
Yancey:
I
put
am
going
to
a
question
mark
for
myself
there about that.
Clark:
To make sure we get the right year--
Yancey:
Okay, let’s go on and have you tell me what this
is a picture of--
Clark:
That’s the St. James A.M.E. Church; that’s the
way it looked when it was in Quakertown. That’s
all
I
can
tell
you.
[See
Photograph
7
in
Appendix]
Yancey:
Okay,
in
Quakertown.
Do
you
know
street that might have been on?
find that out later.
70
maybe
what
Maybe we can
�Clark:
Let me see your book there, your black book. It
should tell you. I forgot the street. Oh here it
is; [it] should have a map.
Yancey:
Okay. Is this a drawing?
Clark:
The
church
women’s
was
[club]
over
there
building
close
is
[now];
to
where
but
that
the
is
Oakland. So, it was Oakland.
Yancey:
On Oakland, and that is now the women’s building.
You know, that makes it more personable and human
to
me,
for
me
to
picture.
women’s club building is.
I
know
where
the
And to think that that
was a church--okay, go ahead.
Clark:
Here it is, right here.
Yancey:
Okay.
Clark:
I knew I remembered--it was Oakland.
Yancey:
Okay.
[Reading]
“The
St.
James
A.M.E.
Church
also provided a place for school to be held after
the 1913 fire. The structure was on Block 213,
Lot 6, between Holt and Withers on Oakland” [See
Photograph 7 in Appendix].
Clark:
Yes. Just say Oakland.
Yancey:
Okay,
now,
located.
that
Now,
is
where
that
the
women’s
historical
club
marker
is
for
Quakertown, then, isn’t too far from that bridge.
71
�Clark:
It’s at that bridge. The bridge that crosses and
connects to the senior building there.
Yancey:
The senior group [Senior Citizen’s Building]?
Clark:
The senior group.
Yancey:
And
the
women’s
club
area.
Wow,
so
that
is
almost on the site where the A.M.E. church, St.
James,
was
located.
Do
you
think
this
is
a
drawing, or is this a picture of a picture?
Clark:
Well this is it, and we got it out of the book.
We just enlarged it.
Yancey:
Is this an actual picture, someone’s photograph?
[See Photograph 7 in Appendix.]
Clark:
Yes. Yes.
Yancey:
I didn’t notice that somebody is sitting right
out here on the--
Clark:
You see, we had it enlarged.
Yancey:
I see.
Clark:
But that is actually the church, from what I was
told. They moved the church to the present site
where our church building is now. It stayed there
until
1962.
This
particular
church,
and
what
happened-Yancey:
This
building
was
stuff?
72
moved
with
the
horses
and
�Clark:
I am sure that everything was. It was moved to
that location where the present church building
is now. In April of 1962, they sort of had a
little tornado or strong wind came through and
damaged the church so it couldn’t be repaired.
They had to tear it down, so when I came in July
1962, they were building on the present building
that is there now.
Yancey:
So this had not been completely been dismantled?
Or was it gone when you arrived?
Clark:
When I arrived. They tore it down in April 1962.
I came in July 1962. Due to the wind damage, it
couldn’t be repaired.
Yancey:
Okay, thank you.
Clark:
But
it
stood
on
that
particular
location
from
what, 1921-1922 to 1962.
Yancey:
Wow, from 1921 to 1962. It continued to be used.
Clark:
A strong wind came and damaged it. It couldn’t be
repaired.
It
was
torn
down
and
the
new
brick
structure was built.
Yancey:
Okay. Let’s go on before we run out of tape here;
we are almost to the end. I am going to include
this
quote
from
your
husband
in
1980
when
he
talks about his parents. That’s going to be on
73
�page seventy-one from the Quakertown book.
It
talks about him having--that his parents were in
the church at Quakertown and then the schoolhouse
was burned and the A.M.E. church was used for
that school building. So this is a quote from
Reverend
Willie
Clark
we
will
include
[Source:
Quakertown, p. 71; See Photograph 8 in Appendix].
Okay, here is Willie Clark’s mother, I believe
you told me. Let’s go ahead and get her name.
Clark:
Maude [See Photograph 9 in Appendix].
Yancey:
Maude. M-A-U-D-E.
Clark:
Yes, Yes.
Yancey:
Maude--
Clark:
--Wood Clark Hembry.
Yancey:
Wood Clark Hembry. About how--
Clark:
She was born, I wrote it down. She was born on
December 22, 1877.
Yancey:
1877.
Clark:
She died April 3, 1949.
Yancey:
1949. Can you tell me when you think this photo
was taken? [See Photograph 9 in Appendix.]
Clark:
I
have
no
idea.
My
either.
74
husband
couldn’t
remember
�Yancey:
Do you know about how old she was?
Did you think
she was about eighteen or so in this photo?
Clark:
Probably so.
Yancey:
I
thought
I
heard
you
mention--I
wanted
to
clarify that.
Clark:
I remember her brother saying that she was young.
He
had
died.
an
uncle
named
Walter,
too,
before
he
He came up here on visits and all he said
was Maude was young when that picture was made.
So, he didn’t give a date then.
Yancey:
Well, I have her birth and death date, and do you
think
this
photo
was--[See
Photograph
9
in
Appendix.] [Tape ends]
[End of Interview]
Interviewer’s note: Interview concluded with description of
Mr. John Clark, father of Rev. Willie Clark. After John
Clark
died,
Hembry,
Mrs.
pastor
of
Maude
[Wood]
Quakertown’s
Clark
St.
married
James
Rev.
A.M.E.
C.
R.
Church.
Upon the death of her mother-in-law Mrs. Maude Clark and
her husband, Rev. Willie Clark [and] Alma Clark inherited
the
Hembry-Clark
Quakertown
75
house.
�A
P
P
E
N
D
I
X
�Photograph 1
Left to Right:
Alma Clark and Rubylene Clark.
The
Clarks stand in front of their HembryClark House on its 100th Anniversary,
2005.
�Photograph 2
The original Quakertown house.
Willie & Walter
Clark, their mother Maude Clark Hembry, and their
step-father, Rev. C.R. Hembry resided here. This
home served three generations of Quakertown
residents and descendents, 1905-2005.
�Photograph 3
Quakertown Studio Portrait
Left to right:
Mr. John Amus Clark and Mrs. Maude
Woods Clark [Hembry] of Argyle (c.
1910).
Quakertown Pioneers & Parents
of Willie & Walter Clark.
Paternal
Grandparents of Rubylene Clark
�Photograph 4
�Photograph 5
Left to right:
Church stewardess Eula Gray and Rev.
Willie Clark (c.1985). Occasion: 110th
Church
Anniversary
Celebrated
with
Unveiling
of
St.
A.M.E.
Historical
Marker.
Present Location: 1107 East
Oak Street, Denton.
�Photograph 6
St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church
1107 East Oak Street, Denton, Texas.
Dedication of Texas Historical Marker, June 2,
1985.
Celebration of St. James A.M.E. 110th
Anniversary
�Photograph 7
Quakertown’s
St.
James
African
Methodist
Episcopal Church (c. 1875 – 1922). Quakertown
Location: Block 21C, Lot #6404 Oakland Avenue,
Between McKinney & Holt.
Source: Sanborn Insurance Map, 1921 Quakertown.
�Photograph 8
Note:
Alma Clark’s husband, Rev. Willie Clark, grew up
in Quakertown and attended school until the
building “mysteriously” burned down in 1913.
School was then held at St. James A.M.E. Church
building until exiled in 1922.
�Photograph 9
First generation Quakertown pioneer (1905-1921),
Maude Woods Clark Hembry, circa 1895), 18 years
old.
Birth: 1877, Argyle, Texas.
Death: 1949,
Denton, Texas.
Daughter of Minnie Bell Woods;
sister of Will E. Woods
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�Photograph 11
SOURCE: Sanborn Insurance Map, 1921 Quakertown
Overview of Historic 1921 Quakertown Era
Homes,
Street
Names,
Businesses,
Schools,
Churches,
Cafes,
Fraternal
Lodges,
Doctor’s
Office & Pharmacy, and Funeral Home identified by
Kim Cupit, Curator of Collections, Denton County
Courthouse-on-the-Square Museum.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Oral History Interview with Alma Clark (2006)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Quaker town, Denton, Denton Women's Interracial Fellowship
Description
An account of the resource
Interview with Alma Clark, first-generation descendant through marriage of Quakertown residents, as part of the Quakertown Oral History Project. The interview includes Clark's personal experiences about childhood and education, marrying Rev. "Willie" Clark, moving to Denton, and participating in Denton Christian Women's Fellowship. Clark also discusses her family's experience in Denton as well as her husband's feelings regarding Denton's Civic Center Park, on the site of Quakertown. The interview includes an appendix with photographs.
Creator
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Alma Clark, Sherelyn Yancey
Publisher
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UNT Oral History Program
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
September 29, 2006
Rights
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Open
Relation
A related resource
Oral History Interview with Alma Clark (2017)
Format
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PDF
Language
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English
-
https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/31280/archive/files/aa01aa7c38498d0a851af80c242acd2d.png?Expires=1712793600&Signature=JQfSEBg7DqYqiln1O1QfBvlhNmpobz1S10seFe4%7EVo6DWsuuU2iu9nreXXYHzdwxGQAngimkQjClxlLE0PSTmVEKu%7ErZ7uKehufbxd6TaZZRzdX0u1Pe95bLaJK9bvUbtMLTTEjHDcnS3Pa0h%7ELP7l6D0e4ACzhytuQNGk8KQOQLiQhlp0CSZv5IjaIevA3G8Io6LtQz2U-ZG1ZuU7XuBeOtHPJDj0odRLkdM0vTqJA6carsg7mt9B5PanrOGLVDR1maphXTgw%7EmpLkiUoSJlb%7ExrSSu9Yikmnpa7RokbxaGZewtpw6bZ96wiY%7E-oq19WGJIn8LA4vEHPDerUJc1JA__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM
a1e8ff1c8be7e528c5b27bea46b36638
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Denton Nursery School photo
Description
An account of the resource
Photograph of a nursery school class taken in front of the teacher's home on Prairie Street
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Portal to Texas History
https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth388196/?q=%22betty%20kimble%22
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Portal to Texas History
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
Circa 1935