Gooch, Emma Brown, Brittany

Description

In this interview, Emma Gooch reflects on her time in the army, from basic training and technical school, to being stationed in various locations across the globe, with a particular focus on being away from Water Valley for the first time in her life, the impact and disestablishment of the Womens Army Corps, being a woman and raising a family while fulfilling military duties, and retirement. She also discusses the opportunity and symbolic importance of attending the University of Mississippi after retiring from the military, her memory of the integration of the university, and her memory of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. She then recounts when her family lost their property and had to sharecrop in order to buy it back and how important that land is to her and her family today. She also centers much of the discussion around her education in the segregated school and her upbringing in the church. She emphasizes the importance of independence and self-sufficiency and her desire to see Water Valley today become a stronger community for the youth. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/blkfam_yalo/1003/thumbnail.jpg

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University of Mississippi Libraries