Transcript of an oral history interview with Andrea Bowers Williams

Williams, Andrea Bowers
Oral His!OIJ' Interview
D E PARTM F. NT OF CUI.TURAI. EASTSIDE DOCUMENTATION PROJECT AFFAIR S
Interviewee's Full Name: Andrea Bowers Williams
Interview's Address: 72 White Oak Bluff
Savannah, Georgia 31405
Interviewee's Neighborhood: East Savannah
Interviewer: Charles J. Elmore
Date oflnterview: January 15, 2009
Length of Interview: 42 minutes, 34 seconds
Interview Medium: Video (Reginald Franklin- Videographer)
Transcriptionist: Samanthis Q. Smalls
Date of Staff Review: Revised and CoiTected by Michelle Hunter on 19 October 2009.
CE: This is Charles J. Elmore interviewing Mrs. Andrea Bowers Williams, Principal Robert W.
Spencer Elementary School.
AW: Frank W.
CE: Hum?
AW: Frank W. Spencer.
CE: Right, I'm sorry. Let's start again. I don't know what the heck I'm thinking about; early in the
morning I guess. This is Charles J. Elmore interviewing Mrs. Andrea Bowers Williams uh,
Principal of Frank W. Spencer Elementary School. Today is uh, January 15, 2009, for the
Eastside Documentation Project, City of Savatmah. So we'll open up uh, Mrs. Williams by
asking you about what you want to tell us about your early family origins.
A W: For as long as I remember, I lived in Savmmah, Georgia. I lived in the eastside area of
Savannah with my parents uh, Deacon Clifton and Janie B. Bowers. We were fortunate to have
my maternal grandmother, Mrs. Maggie Houston Baker, also live with us. We had an exciting
childhood. I was raised with my sister, Lynette Ward, who is four years older. And delighted to
have two cousins who were like sisters: Mrs. Marilyn Jeanette Baker.
CE: Wait a minute. You say Ms. Marilyn Baker?
Williams, Andrea Bowers
A W: Marilyn Jeanette Baker and Ms. Trela Michelle Baker.
CE: How do you spell that name?
AW: T.R.E.L.A.
CE: Trela Michelle?
AW: Umhum.
CE: M.I.C.H.E.L.L.E.?
AW: M.I.C.H.E.L.E. Baker.
CE: Okay. Keep going.
A W: We came from a family that really believed that education was important. Uh so, I can
remember my formative years begitming at home. Home was like a school: there were pictures,
there were books, there were words. Uh, it was just a normal part of life in every room of the
house. Uh, I was fortunate to attend school with my mother, Mrs. Janie Baker Bowers. Um, I
went to three elementary schools; I followed her. First, East Broad Elementary.
CE: Okay, in other words, you attended elementary school. ..
A W: With my mom.
CE: Yeah, wherever your mother worked?
AW: Right.
CE: Uh huh.
A W: The first was East Broad Elementary. The second was the newly opened Haynes Elementary,
which is now Garden City Elementary. And, Spencer Elementary. I was fortunate in the, in the
'60s to integrate Shuman Middle School. I was one of about four or five African American
students who voluntarily integrated Shuman during .. .
CE: What year was that?
AW: ... middle school years.
2
Williams, Andrea Bowers
CE: What year was that?
A W: I'm thinking it was in the ' 64, I'm not sure, I'm going to tell you I'm not sure exactly ...
CE: Alright.
A W: ... about that timeframe.
CE: That's okay.
AW: Okay.
CE: One of five who voluntarily ...
A W: Um hum. Also um, my sister, Lynette Ward uh, involuntarily uh, integrated Savannah High
School. And,
CE: Alright. Let me get that.
A W: Um hum. Um, she had attended Sol C. Johnson, was active as a cheerleader, and uh, very
active uh, at the school and uh, during her senior year, she had to go to uh, Savarmah High. So,
it was not a very happy experience for her. Um, I later attended uh, Savannah High.
CE: Wait a minute. Um hum.
A W: And because my mom and dad, grandmother and family were very high on education, we went
to school year round. So, I graduated from high school at sixteen and began at Savatmah State
College, now University, um ...
CE: Wait a minute.
A W: ... And I graduate from Savarmah High; I have my ring from 1973.
CE: Say you attended Savannah State?
AW: Attended Savannah State. Majored in
CE: College then?
A W: Savannah State University, College, at that time.
CE: Um hum.
3
Williams, Andrea Bowers
A W: And I majored in Business Education because my mom said if they were gonna pay, everybody
had to go into education. So I majored in Business Education.
CE: Um hum.
A W: My sister majored in English Education. Uh, my cousin majored in Music Education.
CE: Your cousin Marilyn?
A W: Um hum, Marilyn. She later moved back to, with her father and um, finished Chaney uh,
College.
CE: Your mother told me that.
AW: Umhum.
CE: (inaudible).
A W: A highlight of our uh, career as uh, one of the television shows came on. I can't think of the
name: what's the guy that, he always kissed everybody and all the people um,
CE: Family Feud.
A W: Family Feud. Um, and we, it was exciting because we, we auditioned for the show. Although
we didn't make it, but we auditioned with um, as all educators. So, it was my mom, my sister
and I, and one of my cousin's on my father's side. We were all educators so we auditioned for
um, the Family Feud when it came to Savannah. That was exciting. Uh, coming from a lot of
preachers and deacons and highly religious persons, uh, we were active members
CE: Hold on a second.
A W: Okay. Uh, coming from a uh, very religious family and community we were active members in
First African Baptist Church of East Savannah.
CE: Okay.
A W: And that was our uh, religious and social life. We remember uh, attending uh, Sunday school,
church, Baptist Training Union, uh, singing in the choirs, ushering,
4
Williams, Andrea Bowers
CE: Church,
A W: attending all of the congresses,
CE: ushering,
A W: conferences, training unions, Berean associations,
CE: Baptist Training Union?
A W: Baptist Training Union, Berean associations,
CE: Berean?
AW: Umhum.
CE: Berean, B.E.R.E.A.N.?
A W: Um hum. Uh, conferences: the national Baptist conferences, state conferences, local
conferences. Uh, we remember uh, going with uh, our musician at the time, James Jenkins, to
Florida. Um, and remember singing at that time, uh, James Cleveland was there at one of the
musical conventions. And that was a highlight. And I also remember uh, at that time, that Mr.
McDuffy was also uh, directing uh, one of the, I think, the mass choirs at that time
CE: Umhum.
A W: when we, when we were young. Um, so it was a, a really exciting uh, life. It was very
hardworking. Um, we remember getting up very early in the morning, cleaning up, working
hard. Uh, my father who also comes from a farming family he, he has a farm and land in
Garden City and also in uh, South Carolina. I remember him um, bringing home the peas and
the beans and we were shelling and doing all kinds of wonderful jarring and, and cannery and
preparing for the winter time.
CE: You know how to, you know how to, you know how to can and everything?
A W: Oh, we can do it all. Also, my mom, being a Home Ec. teacher at a very young age uh, I always
wanted to learn to sew. So in elementary school she taught me. And I can remember my first
5
Williams, Andrea Bowers
uh, experience in the Savannah A1orning News uh, modeling a outfit I made at Shuman Middle
School.
CE: You still sew?
A W: Still sew. Not often though.
CE: Say you made a outfit at Shuman Middle School that uh,
A W: Uh huh, that was in, was featured, we modeled in: I and another young lady. Um,
CE: (inaudible).
AW: Um hum. That was in Shuman. So that was a nice uh Bolero top and a long skirt.
CE: Okay.
A W: Uh, after graduating um, from Savannah State um, I immediately started my masters, because
my mom doesn't believe in free time, at Armstrong Atlantic. Um but uh, during that time I was
fortunate to get a teaching position in Sparta, Georgia teaching business education. And uh, I
took over the varsity cheerleaders. And I remember making all of their costumes.
CE: Wait a minute. Wow. Teaching what? Business education?
A W: Teaching business education, taking accounting classes,
CE: Umhum.
A W: and uh, then also uh,
CE: Cheerleading coach?
A W: Cheerleading coach. And I remember the fun because
CE: You made, you made their uniforms?
A W: I made all their uniforms because there was no money
CE: Wow.
AW: at that time. So, it was exciting. Being nineteen uh, as a teacher, many of my students were
CE: You were nineteen then?
6
Williams, Andrea Bowers
A W: Um hum, when I began teaching. And many of my high school students were older than me. I
can always remember that uh, kind ofuh, fear. Um, and um, after working at Sparta, being
young of course I wanted to go to a big city 'cause they only had 2 ~ traffic lights at Sparta; it
was very small at that time. And so I moved with a friend to Atlanta to go into what I really
thought I wanted to be, the business section, not the educational section. And uh, I, I went there
and I worked in several business jobs but it wasn't lucrative. So, I returned back to Savannah
and uh, was fortunate, with the assistance of my wonderful mother, in getting a position in
Liberty County. And I worked there as a reading and math teacher for about five years, five or
six years ...
CE: Umhum.
AW: ... at Liberty Elementary. And that was exciting. We commuted every day to Liberty County
and came back every afternoon. And then I would come home and work at Sears where I used
to work when I was in college because I always loved sales. During that time, after I returned,
um, I was able to uh, get a, my first position in Savatmah at Isle of Hope Elementary School as
a fourth grade teacher. And around that time I went back to finish my masters in Ed. specialist
at Armstrong.
CE: As a fourth grade teacher?
A W: Uh, fourth grade teacher at, at Isle of Hope Elementary.
CE: Umhum.
A W: And I went back to Armstrong Atlantic and completed my masters. And, I was fortunate to
win, during that time at Armstrong, I'm getting up, is that alright?
RF: Uh,
A W: Yes it is. Uh, two awards. I don't think, I think one
CE: What, what did you get the masters in?
7
Williams, Andrea Bowers
A W: I got my masters in Middle Schools Education. I don' t have the first one okay? And that was in
1987. I won, I got uh, my, I got the uh, Minority Scholarship at the time um, during that time.
And I received a uh, achievement award that during my, at the end of my masters having the,
being one of the top three uh, minority students at Armstrong with the highest scholastic
average.
CE: An achievement award?
A W: Um hum. And it was through the minority uh, program at that time. That was in 1987, um hum.
CE: Obtained the minority, the what now?
A W: Uh, I, in the top three minorities in the, at Armstrong uh, graduate program, the highest
scholastic averages. Highest GP A. And that was really a surprise to me when they called me
and said you' ve won this.
CE: Umhum.
A W: So um, I know at that time that I had lots of "A's" but I did have a few "B's" so when I realized
that I had gotten the award and scholarship, I went back and added my specialist. And so my
goal was to make a four point...
CE: They gave you an award . ..
AW: Um hum, I got an award.
CE: ... and a scholarship?
A W: Um hum, yeah, that was part. ..
CE: Um hum.
A W: ... and I was able to go back and continue with my specialist degree, also in Middle Grades.
CE: Scholarship enabled you
AW: Umhum.And ...
CE: (unintelligible)
8
Williams, Andrea Bowers
A W: Um hum. I got it tlu-ough the masters and specialist.
CE: My masters
AW: Um hum.
CE: and Ed. Specialist degree.
A W: Um hum. And during the Ed. Specialist degree uh, I graduated in 1988 and received a, the
Robert W. Gadsden Award 'cause I had a 4 .0 average for that one. And it, the award was
named after Judge Gadsden.
CE: That was for the highest GP A period?
AW: Yeah.
CE: White or black?
A W: It was a 4.0 average. I'm sure I wasn't the only one with a 4.0. But this came tlu-ough the
minority uh, scholarship fund and they were focusing on the minorities at Armstrong at that
time.
CE: Um hum.
A W: So um, I'm sure there were others with 4.0's but,
CE: Um hum. Okay. Alright.
AW: Um hum. And, later on um, as you know the education, going to school is a bug for my um,
from us from my mom, you know. That's something we always did. So, later on uh- and I love
free school-! applied forum, the Leadership Consortium in um, at the Board of Education.
That was sponsored tlu·ough um, the Board of Education. Uh, superintendent Russo was the
superintendent of the time and uh, Georgia Southern. And that's when I earned my leadership
uh, degree at that time. And, it was a interesting program 'cause it was the first leadership
program that the school system had sponsored ...
CE: Wait a minute, let me get this straight.
9
Williams, Andrea Bowers
AW: Okay.
CE: "Later on I applied for a leadership consortium program .. . "
A W: Through Savmmah-Chatham County school system.
CE: Tluough ...
A W: Savannah-Chatham County school system. And it's
CE: ... Chatham ...
AW: County.
CE: Um hum.
A W: And it started off with Dr. Russo superintendent and ended with uh, uh, when I completed it uh,
Mrs. Edwards was the superintendent after that time. So, I think I'm getting it right.
CE: (inaudible).
A W: Um hum, she's wonderful.
CE: (inaudible).
AW: Okay.
CE: It was, now this, this leadership it was, it was a, an award program, a certificate program ... ?
A W: It, it, it was a certificate program but also it was an award program 'cause you had to, you had
to um- let me see ifl have that-you had to apply for it also. And, (thingsfallingfi'om shelf)
everything's coming apart. You know me. You've been to Mama's house, you know. This, this
is, this is come off because I had the picture there of all the people in it with me. (shown is the
training cert(flcate granted to AW by the Georgia Southem University College of Education).
And that was awarded to us at the Board of Education when we completed our um, leadership
deg, leadership certification.
CE: (inaudible)
A W: There you go. Alright. So.
10
Williams, Andrea Bowers
CE: (inaudible)
A W: Alright. And that was the first class that, we were in the first, the original class. And what was
so good about the original class is we got to uh, get professors from all over the uh, United
States uh, from a lot of the Ivy League colleges that came, to actually speak, those who actually
wrote the books on education. They actually came to speak to those, that first class. So we had
a lot of uh, great experiences during that time. And, I think 90% of the people who uh,
CE: Hold on a second.
A W: Um hum. And I think 90% of the people who participated in that program are, were principals,
worked in the district, or assistant principals ...
CE: Umhum.
A W: ... or some type of central office person.
CE: Um hum.
A W: Um hum, now.
CE: Alright.
A W: Um, I uh, when I taught at first, Isle of Hope in Savannah. Then I moved to Largo Tibet; uh,
my principal at Isle of Hope moved there and I moved, I moved later with her there. Uh, then I
also worked at Windsor Forest Elementary and Largo combined as a reading-math person.
CE: Okay.
AW: A Title I.
CE: (inaudible)
AW: Um hum. And then when that program was
CE: (inaudible)
AW: Umhum.
CE: You worked on, as a reading specialist?
11
Williams, Andrea Bowers
A W: Reading and math, uh huh. Title, Title I; reading and math specialist. Corrective reading. When
that program uh, stopped at, at uh, Largo and Windsor because we had enough gains there, then
I was able to get a, the same position at Hodge Elementary School. Anduh, at that time Dr.
Franklin hired me um, for the position at Hodge. And that was a time at Hodge when I, when
the leadership consortium I applied for and got it, during that time.
CE: Um hum. Alright.
A W: Okay. After completing the consortium um, we had to apply for positions and I was fortunate to
uh, get an interview at Pooler Elementary. And um, I was very blessed to get that assistant
principalship at Pooler Elementary .. .
CE: Got you.
A W: .. . right after that.
CE: Hold on a second let me get that.
A W: Sure. The assistant principal
CE: Were you the first black assistant principal there?
AW: No. Charlene Jones was.
CE: (unintelligible)
AW: I was second.
CE: "I was an assistant ... "
AW: Umhum.
CE: " ... principal."
AW: Um hum.
CE: Um hum.
A W: And after uh, working there for six years, I was fortunate to get the uh, principalship at Garden
City Elementary and it kind of goes full circle because I went to Haynes and Haynes
12
Williams, Andrea Bowers
CE: Hold on a second.
AW: Umhum.
CE: Um hum.
A W: I, it was interesting because uh, my mom taught at Haynes and I attended with her at Haynes.
And Haynes uh, became Garden City. So, it was just like, in essence, coming back to my roots.
And also, my father has land and
CE: Okay
A W: a farm in Garden City, so.
CE: Alright.
AW: We have a lot of family clown there.
CE: How you spell Haynes, H.A.Y.N.E.S.?
AW: H.A.Y.N.E.S., um hum, Elementary. It was, Haynes and Sprague were combined to make
Garden City. Also was wonderful about receiving that position um, Mrs. Ruby Lipscomb
retired from Garden City. She was the first principal at Garden City and she opened the school.
And uh, also it was wonderful is she, she uh, she was like a mentor. And I think she
CE: Alright, alright. Mrs. Ruby?
A W: Lipscomb, L.I.P.S.C.O.M.B. retired from,
CE: She was white?
A W: from Garden City. She, she was, founded, opened th ... e
CE: Alright.
AW: Garden City
CE: ... A white principal.. .
AW: Umhum.
CE: ... opened ...
13
Williams, Andrea Bowers
AW: Now, you know, she's black.
CE: Okay.
AW: Um hum.
CE: ... Opened Garden City.
AW: Umhum.
CE: When it was new?
AW: And, and I, I was able to ...
CE: When it was new?
AW: Right. She, she opened, she opened the school. Um hum.
CE: And you say she was a mentor to you?
A W: Yeah. And uh, and uh, during that time. And I really think she, she recommended me for, for
uh, Garden City, I really do. So it, it was kind ofwonderful experience being there. So she was
the first black, I was the second black. Now there's a white principal who has replaced us at
Garden City now. And both of us have our pictures there, in the school which was nice. Um
hum.
CE: Alright.
AW: Um, then uh, the superintendent uh, recommended that I move to Spencer Elementary School.
Uh, uh, that was in
CE: Who was the superintendent then?
AW: Thomas Lockamy.
CE: That was in, recently wasn' t it?
A W: That was last year.
CE: Two-thousand ...
A W: Seven, '08.
14
Williams, Andrea Bowers
CE: 2007/08?
AW: Umhum.
CE: Okay, so that takes care of the educational part.
A W: Yeah. And, and, and the reason was because Garden City, which had a similar population and
poverty level, we had uh, become a Title I distinguished school for uh,
CE: Alright, let me, let me (unintelligible)
AW: Okay. Just because ofthe achievements that we made at Garden City. Spencer being the only
needs improvement school in the district
CE: Hold on a second.
AW: Okay.
CE: Okay. I'll read the paper, here's what I'm writing. You say that you, you were sent to Spencer
because they had a similar Title I profile as Garden City, being economically depressed. And it
was on the state's needs improvement, right.
AW: Spencer was.
CE: Um hum. And you, you were able to help parents, teachers, and staff to get Spencer off the
needs improvement list, this past year weren't you?
A W: No, takes two years.
CE: Alright.
A W: We um, because of, because we were a Title I Distinguished School at Spencer we moved to
uh,-at Garden City-we moved to Spencer.
CE: Um hum.
A W: And, and it takes two years to get off the NR list. But we were able to make the first gain of
A YP um, "Adequate Yearly Progress." And so,
CE: You made the first
15
AW: Gain.
CE: gam.
A W: Um hum, of A YP. We passed. And um,
CE: Of A YP. What is that now?
AW: Adequate Yearly Progress.
CE: Adequate
Williams, Andrea Bowers
A W: You have to make it two years to get off the list. So this, this is, this is the goal for this year.
And, that was where, where the headlines came in the ...
CE: Um hum.
A W: ... October paper, Savannah Morning News,
CE: Umhum.
A W: that we, that we passed.
CE: This year ...
AW: Umhum.
CE: .. . ifwe make AYP .. .
A W: Um hum. We will be .. .
CE: ... we are removed ...
AW: Um hum, from the needs improvement list.
CE: Alright.
AW: Um hum. And that's our goal.
CE: For 2008/2009 right?
AW: Um hum. And we'll look forward to 2009/10 to end with three years of A YP and getting on the
Title I Distinguished list.
16
Williams, Andrea Bowers
CE: Got it. (inaudible). I think, were you um, I pretty much from your mother know, I know about
the demographics. Were you involved in the Civil Rights in any way?
AW: Oh yes. We were very active.
CE: Okay.
A W: In, in, in Civil Rights. Uh, my activism came tlu-ough uh, with parents uh, going to uh, the
rallies and going to uh, the different churches and, and uh,
CE: In the 1960s?
AW: Um, um hum. And uh, we were uh, by integrating
CE: Okay.
A W: the, the uh, the, the middle schools. Um, that was a major pmi of our personal activism of
voluntarily integrating um, the middle schools. Um, Cameron Alexander um, his father used to
be the uh, pastor of St. Jolm Baptist Church. I think he's now in Atlanta.
CE: Um hum.
A W: Okay. He also integrated uh, with me uh, at, at uh, Shuman.
CE: Shuman?
A W: Um hum. And uh, there were others. I have a cousin uh, Michelle Baker um, which is a
different, from my uh, other cousin. Uh, I think Prudence White, um,
CE: Okay, I don't really need all those.
AW: Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay.
CE: So ya'll, your mother, your mother attended uh, those marches in the '60s?
A W: Yeah, she, we were, we were, they were very active in, in that. Anduh, going, you know, to the
churches and, anduh, taking off during Martin Luther King, when Dr. King got the holiday.
Taking off during that time to um, because we did not get ofT during work .. .
CE: Um hum.
17
Williams, Andrea Bowers
A W: ... during Dr. King's holiday. It was not a uh, holiday at the time.
CE: Um hum.
A W: So we uh, took off work during those days and attended all of the conventions at the Civic
Center, those kinds of things.
CE: Alright.
AW: Umhum.
CE: Um, you already told about First A.B. I know about that ...
AW: Sure.
CE: . .. and I got that. Um, what did people do for amusement when you were growing up in your
area?
AW: What we did for amusement? In my area was church.
CE: Okay. You said that already. And, what kind of jobs did people have?
A W: We were fortunate because where I came up in the '60s and the ' 70s uh, many doors were
being opened. So, you saw every type of position: from blue collar to white collar um, jobs.
And during that time in your neighborhoods, you had everyone. It was eclectic
CE: Umhum.
A W: and, and it was wonderful. Everybody grew up together. You had the ministers, you had your
doctors, you had your lawyers, you had your teachers, you had your nurses. Uh, you had your
um, civil workers, longshoremen's. Uh, you know, you had everything.
CE: I pretty much got that.
AW: Yeah.
CE: 'Cause everybody I talked to people .. .
AW: During, during the time,
CE: ... I'm just saying that people had just. ..
18
Williams, Andrea Bowers
A W: During the time, because it was segregated during that time, you had everybody there. Now that
we are able to branch out um, you see many of our neighborhoods you see uh, people as, as
they become more affluent, that they move out into more integrated neighborhoods. And, and,
and, and that, and that sometimes changes. Uh, you also see your children, like my only
daughter is in Seattle. You see a lot of children moving out. Like, she did not attend uh, school
in Savannah. She attended school in Atlanta. And, now she's working in Seattle. So, many of
our children and grandchildren um, are not here locally.
CE: When people became more affluent, they moved out of East Savannah.
AW: Umhum.
CE: Let me get that point.
AW: Umhum.
CE: To other neighborhoods.
A W: Right. And that
CE: To other integrated neighborhoods?
AW: Right.
CE: Okay. That'll work. (inaudible).
AW: Oh sure, oh sure.
CE: This is very important. "And our children ... "
A W: Um hum. Many of our children uh, went off to college
CE: (unintelligible), for example
AW: Um hum.
CE: " ... my daughter."
A W: Um hum. Janine Williams-Parclunent.
CE: Spell it for me.
19
Williams, Andrea Bowers
A W: Uh, J.A.N.I.N.E., she's named after her grandmother,
CE: J.A.N.
A W: who was named after her grandmother.
CE: Alright. Janine?
A W: Uh, uh, Williams-Parchment is her married name, P.A.R.C.H.M.E.N.T.
CE: Umhum.
A W: Uh moved, uh, went to school in Atlanta.
CE: Which, what college in Atlanta?
A W: She went to Georgia State University in Atlanta.
CE: She graduated high school here?
A W: She graduated from Beach High. She was Miss Beach, 2001. We love that.
CE: Alright, wait a minute.
A W: Janie was uh, Miss Beach 2001. That was during the fiftieth anniversary of Beach High School.
So that was wonderful because her mom, her grandmother and her uh, paternal grandfather,
both graduated from Beach High School. So that was really, really important for them.
CE: She went to Georgia State
A W: University and, and graduated in 2005. And then she moved to Seattle, Washington. And uh,
CE: What was her major?
A W: Her major is, was marketing and management.
CE: What does she do now?
AW: She's working in marketing.
CE: Okay. That's good. Where?
A W: At (unintelligible), that's in Seattle.
CE: Okay. I got that. Think that will pretty much do it.
20
Williams, Andrea Bowers
A W: Alright, sounds good. Thank ya'll so much.
CE: Yeah, you carried me through the full generation.
AW: Oh, wonderful. Now you
CE: Okay, now you say she's married,
AW: She's married to Staff Sergeant uh, D.O.B.B.Y.
CE: To Staff Sergeant "B"?
A W: D.O.B.B.Y., Dobby Dobson, 0.0.0., D.O.B.S.O.N.
CE: Um hum.
A W: Parclm1ent. And they have a son who is Dobson Dean (after my husband) Patrick (after his
other grandfather) Parchment.
CE: (inaudi ble) Dean.
A W: Dean. No. Dobson, D.O.B.S.O.N., after his dad's middle name. Dean, D.E.A.N., after my
husband.
CE: Umhum.
A W: Patrick, after his dad's dad, Parchment.
CE: Okay. Got that.
A W: And what's wonderful about him, he was clu-istened
CE: Umhum.
A W: on his grand, his great-great-grandmother's 100111 birthday.
CE: Put it all in.
A W: There you go. Now you got to put my husband somewhere, up there too now. Go up to the
beginning.
CE: Alright. I know you, "we have one daughter."
A W: We had one, yeah.
2 1
Williams, Andrea Bowers
CE: "I am married to ... "
AW: Uh huh, Dean.
CE: Um hum.
AW: Williams.
CE: Umhum.
AW: Coach and teacher at Mercer Middle School. And we've been married twenty-seven years.
CE: That' II take care of that.
A W: There you go. Can't leave the husband out.
CE: Married 27 years.
AW: Umhum.
CE: I'mjust working on my 4151 •
A W: Ah, you looking good, you looking good.
BRIEF BREAK IN VIDEO
AW: What?
CE: Your grandson.
A W: Central Baptist Church uh, christened by his uncle and godfather, Bishop Robert Baker. I want
to get him in since he died yesterday.
CE: (inaudible) Central Baptist Church.
AW: Uhhuh.
CE: By his uncle, great-granduncle?
A W: Great, yeah, great uncle and godfather, Bishop Robert Baker.
CE: When was he christened?
A W: September the ninth, 2009. On his great-great grandmother's
CE: 2008?
22
Williams, Andrea Bowers
A W: 2008. Great grandmother's 100111 birthday.
CE: Great,
AW: Great
CE: great.
A W: grandmother's, Maggie Houston Baker's, I 00111 birthday celebration.
CE: We can end it on that note.
A W: There you go. That's a wonderful note, that's a wonderful note. Got the
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 the resident.
3. Designations -- "AW" indicates Andrea Williams. "RF" indicates Reginald Franklin, the Project Videographer. "CE"
indicates Charles Elmore, the Project Oral Historian.
23