The person I chose to interview was Mr. George A. He went to Carl High school which is in Vicksburg, Mississippi. In 1968, George was 40 years old and lived in Bartlett, TN. In fact, he has lived in the same house since 1949. He said it was a very peaceful and nice community. He also added that Bartlett was the boondocks (located in the country) at that time. Germantown road was a two lane gravel road. The main thing that stood out to him about Memphis is that it was so peaceful, clean and friendly. In fact, he said if you blew your horn in Memphis you would get a ticket.
A typical day for him was going to work at the Commercial Appeal and then teaching vocational classes at night at Northside High School. He enjoyed his job and was very happy living in the Memphis area. When Dr. King was assassinated he was at Northside High School teaching class and he received a call from his wife informing him that Dr. King had been assassinated. He ended class immediately and made sure everyone left before he locked up and headed home. He said he didn't feel safe until he was on East Parkway. He didn't know how it was in the city because he headed straight to Bartlett. Before King's death he thought King did some good and some bad. He also thought that Dr. King was a very good and influential speaker. He was grateful that Memphis had a strong governor and mayor as they brought in tanks and armed soldiers to secure the streets and keep from riots down to a minimum. His life didn't really change at all he said. He went back to work and teaching but he had different attitude about racists people. He didn't know if attitudes changed or not in the city because he never went down in that part of town. He also added that he didn't think the man that was accused of killing King was actually acted alone. He thought killer was a contract killer and said that King was originally staying in a nice affluent hotel and then un-expectantly he moved to a not so great motel where he met his death. He felt that Dr. King was killed by his own group because he was losing his power.