JJ: How old were you in 1968?
Evelyn: In 1968, I was thirty four years old.
J: Where did you live during that time?
E: At that time we lived on Tall Trees Drive in Memphis.
J: What was it like over there?
E: It was a nice neighborhood. It was not a mixed neighborhood at the time, only white people lived there.
J: What stood out about living in Memphis in the 1960s as opposed to living in other places in the country?
E: I think it was more living in the South that affected the way of life rather than living in Memphis. I grew up in Memphis, I have lived here all of my life. Growing up as a young kid, I wasn’t really aware of the prejudice that was going on. My family did not think that what was going on was right, but it was just there. For example: downtown, there were about five movie houses. Blacks were allowed to go, but they had to sit all the way upstair in the highest row. They also had a separate entrance. Now, did I think this was right? No. But that’s just the way it was. You would go into the department store and there would be separate bathrooms. You got on the bus and the whites sat in the front, and the colored sat in the back. That was just the way it was.
J: So what was your daily life back then?
E: Well, my husband and I were just starting to have and raise children, My husband was working and I took care of the kids. You know, we also had a black maid who was in our house at the time. She was a very nice woman, but she had some issues with her family. She could not go near alcohol because her husband was a drunk. It was tough, but we tried to support her.
J: What do you remember about the day King was assassinated?
E: Oh, it is pretty clear in my mind. I remember very well that Memphis instituted a city-wide curfew that day. Nobody was allowed to be out after a certain time. Everybody was in a state of fear and there was a kind of commotion. I remember I was at home and it really shook me up. There was a party that my family was supposed to go to that night. They just plain canceled the party because of it, and it was a really big deal. People around me reacted in different ways. The African-American maid in my house did not react very outwardly. She kept her emotions to herself. But it was kind of like the city just stopped.
J: Describe what happened the night after MLK was shot? Was was the city like?
E: Well I just remember not wanting to leave the house because we were all afraid. I mean, this was a really big man. He was very influential, and he was killed by a ruthless, cruel man. The city definitely changed. I mean, MLK came to Memphis to pick up spirits and keep everybody positive, and now he was gone. It was tough for people to handle, that someone of that stature could just be gone in an instant.
J: What was your opinion of Martin Luther King before and after his death?
E: I definitely admired him. My opinion didn’t change after her died, I just thought his death was a big tragedy, like what happened with Kennedy. A senseless act of one man could destroy a human being who was trying to do good. Most people felt that way.
J: You mentioned that it was a tragedy, so how did life change in Memphis after his death? Did people start acting differently about racial tension?
E: Well, integration was already taking off. What would happen was blacks would integrate into a dominantly white school, and then the whites did not want to be there so they left. Our school (the MHA) got an influx of kids because there were many Jews who were in public school which were integrated. Then they had no choice but to come to our school.
J: Before I let you go, is there anything else that you want to add which we have yet to discuss?
E: Nope, I think I have just about covered it all. Thank you so much for talking to me.
J: Thank you for being a great interviewee.