- Collection:
- Athens Oral History Project, 2014-2016
- Title:
- Anne Brightwell interviewed by Betsy Bean, 17 December 2014.
- Creator:
- Brightwell, Anne, 1942-
- Contributor to Resource:
- Bean, Betsy
- Date of Original:
- 2014-12-17
- Subject:
- Georgia--Athens
African American women--Georgia--Athens
African American women - People:
- Brightwell, Anne
- Location:
- United States, Georgia, Clarke County, Athens, 33.96095, -83.37794
- Medium:
- interviews
oral histories (literary works) - Type:
- Sound
- Format:
- audio/mpeg
- Description:
- Anne Brightwell talks about her childhood in Union, Missouri, and her awareness of race relations in her home and community. She talks about her family's involvement in the United Presbyterian Church, and the church's socially minded message during years of integration during the 1950s. Brightwell recalls attending Lindenwood College, meeting her husband Frank, and marrying after her graduation in 1963. She recounts her experience of being married to an activist preacher, the extent of her participation in activism, and their family's relocation to different cities, including Raleigh, North Carolina, Akron, Ohio, and finally Athens, Georgia. Brightwell discusses reacting to threats from white extremists, and her husband's arrest for demonstrating. She describes the political and social climate in Athens in the years following integration, especially on the issue of representation of African-American history and the restructuring of the public school system. Brightwell talks about her divorce, finding her first job, and becoming a teacher at Clarke Central High School. She discusses the extent of administrational support on issues relating to integration in the classroom, the push for diversity training, and effect of white flight on decreased diversity at the high school level. She highlights the impact of decreased social services spending on education and the connection between poverty and education. Brightwell observes the impact of race in teaching and discipline in the classroom, and her frustration at being disrespected by students. She reflects on her idealism, her personal growth through teaching, and her retirement framed within the larger generational retirement of teachers. Brigthwell makes observations of resegregation in the classroom, and the athletic programs' ability to build interracial relationships between athletes and coaches.
Anne Brightwell was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1942, and grew up in the small town of Union, Missouri, thirty minutes outside of St. Louis. Brightwell earned her bachelor's degree from the historically female college, Lindenwood College in St. Charles, Missouri, where she met her husband Frank Brightwell, a social activist and United Presbyterian preacher. Brigthwell and her husband worked in inner-city St. Louis through their church, before moving to Raleigh, North Carolina in 1968. After briefly living in Akron, Ohio, they moved to Athens, Georgia where her husband had been hired to lead a new church development. Brightwell work alongside her husband's social activism through the church, and aided in printing a newspaper, The United Free Press, out of their house. After her divorce, Brightwell worked as a reading specialist in Oconee County, on the staff of the Athens Observer, and as a teacher at Clarke Central High School for twenty-two years.
Interviewed by Betsy Bean. - Metadata URL:
- http://purl.libs.uga.edu/russell/RBRL361AOHP-006/ohms
- Language:
- eng
- Additional Rights Information:
- Resources may be used under the guidelines described by the U.S. Copyright Office in Section 107, Title 17, United States Code (Fair use). Parties interested in production or commercial use of the resources should contact the Russell Library for a fee schedule.
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Athens Oral History Project, AOHP 006, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia, 30602-1641.
- Extent:
- 1 interview (61 min.) : digital, stereo
- Original Collection:
- Athens Oral History Project
http://russelldoc.galib.uga.edu/russell/view?docId=ead/RBRL361AOHP-ead.xml - Holding Institution:
- Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies
- Rights:
-
