Elizabeth C. by Rebecca R., Harding Academy

I interviewed Elizabeth C.  In 1968, she was 40 years old. She lived in Memphis and said that it was a very enjoyable place. She and her husband both worked. Memphis was a thriving city but salaries weren't high. Everything including stores was located downtown. She worked at Rodney Baber printing company. She became an assistant there when she was only 17 and waited on customers. There were many female office workers working at Mr. Baber' company. At this time many women were looked down upon in society. They weren't very important. Mrs. C. eventually became the Vice President of the company. During the time she was at work, she hired a nanny to take care of her children. There was already tension in Memphis during this time due to riots and other things taking place. This tension instilled fear into the city of Memphis. She compared this time and these things taking place to the Ferguson trail taking place today. They had a curfew that took place during these times. It stated that it was "restricted except for health and emergency reasons." This curfew lasted for 6 days. The national guard was just in Memphis before King came. On the day King was assassinated, she didn't figure out until she saw it on the news. About 6:30-7:00 the news came on that King had been shot and a curfew was back. During the time he was shot, she was probably coming home from work downtown. Mrs. C. said that King didn't really affect her life. She just saw him as a man on the news and didn't give him much thought. Obviously, she said she hated that it happened and that it happened in her city but nothing changed dramatically for her. She says some people's lives did change and that racial tension increased and continued.