Where did you live? What was it like? What stands out about living in Memphis in the
1960s?
“I lived in the suburban Whitehaven. It was wonderful. I was sixteen years old. I was going to high school. I was involved in debate and the theater and we put on a playgroup. In fact we were rehearsing a play the night Martin Luther King got killed.”
Describe your life in 1968. What was a typical day like for you in 1968? School? Work?
How was it different from today?
“School... I would get up and go to school. I went to junior high school. After school it was the typical go to McDonalds and everybody would get a coke and look at each others cars. It was kind of like a ‘Leave it to Beaver’ type deal. It was a very nice community growing up in.”
What do you remember about the day King was assassinated? What was different than normal? How did you feel? What did you think? Where were you when you heard? How did you react? How did people around you react? How did things change throughout the night? Describe your night after King was shot? Where were you that night? What was the city like?
“I was at theater practice. The assistant principal came in and made an announcement that we needed to go home and get off the streets and that we didn’t know what was happening about school the next day but we would be notified about it by way of the TV stations.”
“Well I knew who Martin Luther King was. How did I feel? I remember it was not a good thing. I was a little bit afraid. I was kind of just in awe. I was kind of more or less... Stunned. I guess that would be the best word.”
“A couple of girls teared up. The boys were like me. They were kind of stunned. Some of them didn’t know who Martin Luther King was to be honest with you.”
“Well we kept getting reports on TV. Back then we only had three channels. ABC News led the way up. I think I remember. They stayed on the whole night and kept on giving us updates.”
“The Mayor, his name was Henry Lobe. He was a very strict, authoritarian type of guy. It was his way was our way but he did the right thing. He put a curfew on the city. He suspended gun sales and any type of alcohol sales. We basically stayed home.”
What did you think of King before and after his death?
“I didn’t think much about him at all before his death. I was the typical white, male. Basically, I supported the Civil Rights Movement but I didn’t really involve on it. It didn’t affect my life a lot. After that I learnt more about Martin Luther King and what had happened down in Mississippi with the kids that were trying to...and they got killed heading down on a bus from New York. I became more cognizant of Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement.”
Did life change at all after his death? Did people act different or view problems differently? Do you think people’s attitudes changed?
“To a small extent, people.. It was kind of like a light going on to a lot of people...my age. Now the older people, the older generations, no they didn’t change. They were pretty much in concrete in their views. They grew up with different values. People my age changed.”
Is there anything else about that time in your life that we haven’t discussed that you’d like to add?
“I think it was like three days later. My dad went to work and his office was near the airport and I went to school. It was the afternoon and all of the sudden there was the sky filled with planes. I have never seen anything like it before. It was these huge National Guard air force transport planes. The big ones. The C1O6’s, and they all landed at that time. It was across the Democrat Road from my dad’s office and to see jeeps and tanks rolling out the back of these planes, hidden in a caravan towards my (inaudible). It just stuck with me all my life.”