Description

Tom Dent interviews Frank S. Street in Canton, Mississippi. Street says he was born in Wichita and moved two Canton in 1958 and attended the public school. He says his father was phycologist that went to Tulane and the University of Texas. Street says his father passed in 1958 and they moved to Canton to be near his mother's family. His father's family lived in Texas. Street says life is slower in Canton then with a higher population of Blacks in Canton. He says the schools were still segregated when he attended, integrating during his senior year in 1965. Street recalls some boycotts that occurred when he was 14. He remembers thinking it was exciting and notes it was successful. He remembers marches, says to ask L.S. Johnson about violence during those marches because he does not recall seeing any as a child. Street says there were two teachers and both were White. The first year of integration he notes there were only two Black students. Street notes that the students at this school were not very active in civil rights and the teachers rarely discussed it. Dent calls it "apathy" or "determination to not acknowledge." Street talks about the "neighborhood schools" which is where Blacks learned before integration. After integration, he says, White students moved to "academies". Street discusses the anger of the local White communities that Whites came from outside the community to participate in marches. Street says he was excited by the marches and would drive by...

From Collection

Southern Journey Oral History Collection

Record Contributed By

Amistad Research Center