Veronica interviewed Mrs. Hester Nelson Suggs, Arnold Yarber, and Hattie Paulk

Markisha Motton

Tamika Lee

Deanna Carr

Jessica Austin

Tiera Campbell

Yakera Barbee

Veronica Martin

Go back to Our Journey Home Page

Hester Nelson Suggs was principal of Booker T. Washington Elementary School in Champaign for 22 years. Before that, she taught at Dr. Howard School and was the first Black teacher at Leal School. She has a master's degree in teaching administration. She was born and raised in Champaign-Urbana, IL.

listen to the entire Hester Suggs interview

read the interview transcript

Interview highlights:

"On the board there was a letter...get out of town or else."

"He was not having any niggers teaching his kids and they were not coming to that particular school..."

 "The principle called me to the office...and said 'I hear you spanked the chairman of the English Department of the University of Illinois' kid'..."

"We don't talk about the Presidential scholars and the doctors and lawyers that came out of Washington school when it was an all-Black school..."

"I think it's up to us now that we have the access to be sure we have a level playing field."

~ ~ ~

Arnold Yarber is owner of Po' Boys Barbeque. He went to chiropractic school in the 1940s but was not allowed to get his license because Illinois denied licenses to African-Americans at that time.

listen to the entire Arnold Yarber interview

read the interview transcript

Interview highlights:

"I told (the teacher) I want to ask about fractions...three little white girls came in...I sat there and waited for her, and she never did come back to me..."

"I said I'm coming out for football this fall...he said you're going to have to be twice as good as the white boys to play."

~ ~ ~

Hattie Paulk is the director of the Champaign Schools Family Information Center and is also an ordained minister. She was one of the first African Americans hired in local department stores after African-Americans picketed those stores in the late 1950s over their hiring practices.

listen to the Hatte Paulk interview

read the interview transcript

Interview highlights:

"The teacher got her a biology book...and said 'see look at this: you can't do this..."

"Some of the things I used to hear is don't you trust those white people because you know they're not going to do us right..."

"During my teen years, African-Americans were not allowed to sit at the lunch counters here in Champaign-Urbana, so I was part of that movement where we picketed..."

"Are African American children worse off now that in the early 1950s? A discussion between Markisha Motton and Veronica Martin after their interview with Hattie Paulk"

~ ~ ~

RealAudio | MP3 Download