Transcript of an oral history interview with Corinthia Manigault

DEI'ARTMENT OF CULTURAL
AFFAIRS
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Oral His!OIJ' Interview
EASTSIDE DOCUMENTATION J>ROJECT
Mrs. Carinthia Shellman Manigault
2115 E. Iowa Street
Savannah, Georgia 31404
East Savannah
Charles J. Elmore
II October 2008
15 minutes, 24 seconds
Video (Reginald Franklin- Videographer)
Samanthis Q. Smalls
Reviewed and corrected by Michelle Hunter on 7 January 2009
CE: Tell me as much as you want to tell me about your early family origins; your mother, your father.
However you want to do it.
CM: Well, my mother was born here in Savannah. My daddy was born in a place called Ogeecheeton, which
is Georgetown now, I think it is.
CE: What was your mother's name?
CM: Sarah Ann Bartow Shellman.
CE: And your dad?
CM: Jake Shellman.
CE: Okay. Just talk.
CM: Oh, oh.
CE: I'm, I'm writing. You just talk. Just tell me all you want to tell me about your family. You have any
brothers or sisters? Whatever.
CM: Well, well I had one sister, she's deceased. And one brother, he's deceased.
CE: Okay. What was uh, what was early, what was family life like when you were a little girl around here?
CM: Well, when we came up, it was, here wasn't nothing but dirt, sand anclum, no lights, you know
electricity and everything, you know?
CE: Umhum.
Manigault, Corinthia
CM: And this uh, we went to school, it was uh, Prayer House which was from First African Baptist Church
right on the next block over there. And after you leave there, we went to Paulsen Street School and from
there, to Cuyler. And at that particular time, the streetcar was running and um, the city limit was um, at
the Catholic station over there. You had to get off there. And the mailbox, we had to walk down there to
the Golf, Savannah Golf Club.
CE: To get your mail?
CM: To get mail, um hum.
CE: Okay.
CM: It wasn' t no telephones out here until about in the '40s I'll say.
CE: What did your dad do?
CM: Uh, he worked to Oelschig Florist, he was a fireman for the, to keep the hothouse warm to keep the
flowers. And my, my mother was a homemaker; she did domestic work.
CE: She worked for white folks?
CM: Yeah.
CE: You know any of the families she worked for?
CM: My uh, the lady name was Ms. Coney.
CE: Okay.
CM: And at that time, we didn't have no [unclear] we just played hopscotch and run-around-the-roses and
bat, you know, hit balls.
CE: Um hum, just keep on talking. I'm writing, I can' t ...
CM: I'm t1ying to think what happened way back then as children you know.
CE: Yeah.
CM: We played, had swings made out of rope.
CE: Did you have any, how were, how were the ... Uh, when you went to uh, Paulsen School, you remember
who was the principal when you were there?
CM: I think Alphonso Roberts. And Ms. Alma Tyson was a teacher there. Ms. Young.
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Manigault, Corinthia
CE: Okay and you went to, what year did you attend Paulsen, if you can remember? Which grades did you
go to Paulsen?
CM: Paulsen ran to sixth grade ...
CE: Okay.
CM: ... then you left and went over to Cuyler Junior High.
CE: Okay. Okay. You remember anybody who taught you at Cuyler Junior High?
CM: Mrs. Morris, Sarah Morris.
CE: What did you do as a young woman in terms ofum, what kind of work you did or?
CM: Well, I'll tell you I worked as a domestic worker and uh, later on I started sewing; seamstress.
CE: Um hum. Were you ever married?
CM: Yes. Husband is deceased for 30 years.
CE: What'd your husband do? And what was his name?
CM: He was a merchant seaman.
CE: Okay.
CM: Want his name too?
CE: Yes.
CM: George Manigault.
CE: How many years were you married to him.
CM: For 48 years before he passed.
CE: So you got married in uh?
CM: We got married in 1945.
CE: Okay. Do you have any kids?
CM: Miscarriage, that's all.
CE: Okay. Don't worry about that. Alright. Well, I guess your husband traveled all over the world.
CM: Yes he has. You see a lot of those (she points to something in the home).
CE: Wow.
LP: He loved Africa.
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Manigault, Corinthia
CM: Huh?
LP: He, I said, he loved Africa. Used to tell us all about South Africa, Germany.
CM: Oh yeah, he's been all over the world so J wouldn' t know all those different places.
CE: Yeah. Okay, tell me about uh, please, white people and you know, black people relationship during the
time you were growing up.
CM: Well it wasn't good because it was segregation at that time, you know.
CE: Um hum. Were there any black people in this community that were really fighting for black peoples
rights when you were kids?
CM: A man named Mr. Adam Morrell. He was connected with the NAACP.
CE: Um hum.
CM: And then J have worked in the Civil Rights Movement.
CE: Tell me about it.
CM: Weill picket, walked picket lines. Broughton and Bull, by McCrory. I used to take people to the poll.
I've worked at the poll. I attend all these regular mass meetings during W.W. Law time.
CE: Um hum.
CM: Um hum.
CE: Picketed?
CM: Yeah, picketed.
CE: Um hum. "Attended W.W. Law mass meetings." Wow, this is wonderful. Do you remember, of course
you knew Mr. Law personally?
CM: Yeah.
CE: Um hum.
CM: Um hum. It's account of all those mass meetings on Sundays when, during the Civil Rights Movement.
CE: Um hum. What did you think of him?
CM: He was Mr. Law was a!, he was fine, he was a fine gentleman.
CE: Have you really seen the world ...
CM: Have I?
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Manigault, Corinthia
CE: ... change in your lifetime?
CM: Yes.
CE: What you think of it?
CM: I think we making progress but there's more need to be done.
CE: What do you think about Obama?
CM: I think he's gone win.
LP: You're too much.
CM: He's a great man. He's intelligent and he's ve1y respectable.
CE: What, what advice would you give to the uh,? When you were, when you were a young woman, did
ya'll, did ya'll have dances or socials?
CM: Yeah, they had ...
CE: Talk about that some for me, what the social life was like.
CM: Well, we had parties you know, there wasn't a place out here to have that. They did have a place called
Madison Hall where we used to assemble at and have uh, pmties.
CE: Where was Madison Hall?
CM: It was on Bolton Street.
CE: And when you say parties, did they have a band?
CM: Well, yes.
CE: Can you remember some of, some of the bands they had? Some of the players?
CM: They called him Freddie Red, I remember him.
CE: Okay.
CM: Um hum.
CE: Freddie Red Frazier.
CM: Yeah. You know him?
CE: Yeah, I wrote a book ...
CM: Uh huh.
CE: ... called All That Savmmah Jazz.
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CM: Yeah.
CE: And Freddie Red, Freddie had a sister too. Tell you that he was piano player.
CM: Yeah. I don't, I don't remember his sister.
CE: Yeah. Freddie Red Frazier. And who else do you remember?
CM: Ray Snipe was a, used to play a saxophone I think.
CE: Um hum. You talking good talking now. Keep on talking. Yeah, I love jazz.
CM: That's right.
LP: Willie Williams.
CM: Who?
LP: Willie Williams.
CM: Willie Williams?
LP: During, during my time.
CM: Your time ain't much better than mines. You up there in '76.
LP: Yeah.
CE: Um, what were the, what were the dances that you all used to do? Did you like dancing?
CM: Yeah.
CE: Tell me some of the dances you liked to do.
CM: Do the bogey wogey.
CE: Bogey wogey.
CM: Yeah. I used to two step and waltz.
CE: They had a, they had dancers called The Lancers too didn't they?
CM: The Lancers? I don ' t remember them.
CE: Yeah. Okay, well this is good. Um, who were the people that you really liked in terms of, let's say,
people in East Savannah, different people you talked to when ya'll were like young people coming up?
Who were some of the nationally known black singers or whatever ya'll liked?
CM: Maggie Morrell. She was a, play, play the organ and she used to sing and I used to admire her.
CE: She was a East Savannah person?
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Manigault, Corinthia
CM: Yes.
LP: She, she, she used to live across the street.
CM: Yeah, she used to live across the street. She lived to be a old, ripe age.
CE: Um hum. Anything you want to just tell me that I, that really, you think 1 ought to know that maybe I'm
not asking you? Anything? I'm just writing and listening.
CM: Writing and listening. But I'm trying to think 'cause it wasn't much out here to do at that time, nothing
but sand beds and stickery, you know?
CE: Yeah.
CM: And it was a small, you know, village.
CE: Yeah.
CM: And the houses were well, I think it was G or 7 on each street.
CE: Did ya'll enjoy playing cards or singing or anything like that?
CM: Well, yes. We was brought up in church you know, Sunday school and singing. Sing in the choir at First
African Baptist Church, Franklin Square, that's where I'm a member. Reverend Tillman pastors.
CE: Um hum.
CM: And um, I sang in the choir until my hus ... , uh husband took ill and then I took my retarded child and
took care of him for 27 years until he passed about 2 years ago. So I give up the choir. Of course, I' m on
the deaconess board down there.
CE: And now you had a, you say you had a retarded child?
CM: My brother had a retarded child and I took care of him for 27 years.
CE: Ooh. Oh God, my goodness.
CM: He just died two years ago. And um, so I, I didn't go back to the choir but I'm still serving the church
doing what I'm, what I can.
CE: Wow. Are you one of the, one of the matriarchs of the church?
CM: Yeah, I'm the oldest member living now.
CE: Wow. "The oldest member."
CM: First African Baptist, franklin Square.
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CE: Okay. You know I wrote a book ...
CM: You did?
CE: ... um, called The HistoiJ' of First BIJ'WI Baptist Church and really, when you talk about the histmy of
First Btyan Baptist Chmch ...
CM: First African
CE: you know, you know the history of First..
CM: There was a dispute between those two.
CE: Right. Yeah. You telling me, you telling me about it.
CM: Uh huh.
CE: Tell me about it. Um, is there anything else you want to tell me, that I, that I, maybe I didn't get.
CM: Well, we didn't have, as I say, no service. Like, you didn't have, we had to pump water, you know.
CE: Um hum.
CM: Um hum.
CE: And cook on a wood stove?
CM: Cook on a wood stove and then you wash on a washboard and you heat iron on a charcoal pot. And then
you had to have fireplace and make fire to put the irons in front of the fire.
END
City of Savannah NOTES
1. Footage is unedited and presented in the form that it was recorded.
2. Filmed on the date indicated at the home of t he resident.
3. Designations-- "CM" indicates Carinthia Manigault. "LP" indicates Leroy Pa lmer. "RF" indicates
Reginald Franklin, the Project Videographer. "CE" indicates Charles Elmore, the Project Historian.
4. Interviewee indicates that her father was from Ogeecheeton, which is a designated neighborhood in
Savannah.
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