Oral History Interview with Joyce Carson

Partial Transcript: The following interview was conducted with Joyce Carson for the Laurel County African-American Oral History Project.

Segment Synopsis: Carson introduces her family history and genealogy, including her parents' professions, with her father being a coal miner. Carson also discusses her childhood.

Keywords: Family-owned coal mines; Migration

Subjects: African Americans--Genealogy; Migration, Internal--United States--History--20th century; Coal miners; Coal mines and mining; Father; Grandfather; Blacks; African Americans; Parents; Sibilings; Childhood; Early life; Uncles; Laurel County (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: What are some of your early memories about growing up in Pittsburg?

Segment Synopsis: Carson recalls her childhood, including paying a dime to ride the L&N train the 5 miles from Pittsburg to East Bernstadt, Kentucky to visit her grandparents.

Keywords: Coal camps; Extended family; Family traditions; L&N Railroad; Post offices; Railroad depots; Railroads; Trains; Trainyard; Pittsburg (Ky.); East Bernstadt (Ky.)

Subjects: African Americans--Genealogy; Coal mines and mining; Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company; Laurel County (Ky.); Blacks; African Americans; Coal miners; Childhood; Early life; General stores; Grandparents; Railroads

Partial Transcript: Did you ever hear any stories about some of your older relatives?

Segment Synopsis: Carson briefly discusses her family history. Carson also describes her family's farm, including its layout and buildings, gardens, and the crops they raised and cultivated. Carson shares her childhood memories of growing up on the farm, specifically canning food, helping her mother around the house, gardening, and drawing water from the well.

Keywords: Farming; Internal migration; Logging; Migration; Mills; Pittsburg (Ky.); Canning & preserving

Subjects: Agriculture--United States; Appalachian Region, Southern--Social life and customs; Land tenure; Land use, Rural; Migration, Internal--United States; Blacks; African Americans; Laurel County (Ky.); Family farms; Agriculture; Livestock; Childhood; Early life; Coal miners; Coal mines and mining; Corn; Farmers; Pigs; Horses; Chores; Logging; Timber; Tobacco; Wheat

Partial Transcript: Now I know that you guys worked a lot growing up, but what were some of the leisure activities that you did?

Segment Synopsis: Carson recalls the character or atmosphere of her local community and environment growing up in East Bernstadt and Pittsburg. Carson discusses employment opportunities and and family traditions in both East Bernstadt and Pittsburg, respectively.

Keywords: Black-owned businesses; Bluegrass; Desegregation; Extended family; Family traditions; Movies; Sunday dinners; Trains; Pittsburg (Ky.); East Bernstadt (Ky.)

Subjects: African Americans--Education (Elementary); African Americans--Segregation; Appalachian Region, Southern--Social life and customs; Childhood and youth; Coal mines and mining; Blacks; African Americans; Childhood; Laurel County (Ky.); Church; Education; Schools; Segregation

Partial Transcript: "Speaking so you were one of the people who got to school you were saying--"

Segment Synopsis: Carson discusses her educational experiences in Laurel County and Harlan County, respectively. After graduating the 8th grade from the East Bernstadt Colored School (which was a one-room schoolhouse), she spent her freshman year at Rosenwald High School in Harlan in 1951. Carson's family had moved to a coal camp in Harlan. Later, she attended boarded at the Lincoln Institute in Shelbyville.

Keywords: Coal camps; Commissaries; Cousins; Desegregation; Friends; Integration; One-room schools; School activities; Segregated schools; Lincoln Institute (Ky.)

Subjects: African Americans--Education (Elementary); African Americans--Education (Secondary); Appalachian Region, Southern--Social life and customs; Childhood and youth; Coal mines and mining; Education, Rural--United States; Blacks; African Americans; Education; Kentucky; Kentuckians; Laurel County (Ky.); Shelby County (Ky.); Harlan County (Ky.); High school; Boarding schools; Cheerleaders; Cheerleading; Classmates; Coal; Coal miners; Coal mines and mining; Communnities; Cousins; Elementary schools; Friendship; High school; School integration; Middle schools; Sisters; Rosenwald Schools

Partial Transcript: Now after you went to the East Bernstadt school you said you went there through the 8th grade?

Segment Synopsis: Carson reflects on her time attending Rosenwald High School in Harlan. Carson also describes what it was like to live at a coal camp.

Keywords: Coal camps; Commissaries; Desegregation; High school; Integration; One-room schools; Segregated schools; East Bernstadt (Ky.); Pittsburg (Ky.); Rosenwald High School (Harlan, Ky.)

Subjects: African Americans--Education (Elementary); African Americans--Education (Secondary); Appalachian Region, Southern--Social life and customs; Childhood and youth; Coal mines and mining; Education, Rural--United States; High School; Blacks; African Americans; Harlan (Ky.); Laurel County (Ky.); Rosenwald schools; Boarding schools; Cheerleaders; Cheerleading; Classmates; Coal; Coal miners; Coal mines and mining; Cousins; Elementary schools; Friendship; High school; School integration; Middle schools; Sisters

Partial Transcript: So you guys came back after a year and did you go back to school when you got back to East Bernstadt?

Segment Synopsis: Carson reflects on her time at the Lincoln Institute in Shelby County.

Keywords: Commissaries; Desegregation; One-room schools; Segregated schools; Sisters; Lincoln Institute; East Bernstadt (Ky.)

Subjects: African Americans--Education (Elementary); African Americans--Education (Secondary); Appalachian Region, Southern--Social life and customs; Childhood and youth; Coal mines and mining; Education, Rural--United States; Blacks; African Americans; Algebra; Biology; Boarding schools; High school; Cheerleaders; Cheerleading; Classmates; School integration; Cousins; Education; English; Friendship; Middle schools; Sisters; Laurel County (Ky.); Shelby County (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: And so when you came home after your sophomore year, did you go to work at that--?

Segment Synopsis: Carson recounts her experiences in the workplace. Before getting married to her husband at age twenty-two, she worked for a local restaurant, a doctor's office, and at the Laurel Heights Nursing Home.

Keywords: Bluegrass; Cleaners; Coal cars; Cooking; Doctor's office; Jobs; Laurel Heights Nursing Home; Railroad workers

Subjects: Appalachian Region, Southern--Social life and customs; Careers; Coal mines and mining; Occupations; Professions; Railroad; Blacks; African Americans; Cleaning; Coal; Coal miners; Cooking; Physicians; Dishwashing; Work; Farmers; Farms; Motherhood; Parenthood; Railroad; Restaurants; Truck drivers

Partial Transcript: So during that time you got married to your husband, Junior Carson--

Segment Synopsis: Carson recounts her early relationship with her husband. The couple met when they were in elementary school and began dating in high school and got married when they were twenty-two. Carson then chronicles her experiences in motherhood. With six of her own children and two of her younger siblings, she was a mother to eight children at one time. Carson also worked nights at the Laurel Heights Nursing Home.

Keywords: Engagement; Housefires; Houses; Movie theaters; Moving; Restaurants; Husband

Subjects: African Americans--Marriage; Appalachian Region, Southern--Social life and customs; Parenthood; Blacks; African Americans; Friendship; Childhood; Church; Dating; Marriage; Motherhood; Parenthood; Restaurants

Partial Transcript: But, he did at one point cause I know he's known for his relationship with Colonel Sanders--"

Segment Synopsis: For the first few years in her marriage, the Carsons were associated with a man named Uncle Russ, who in turn was affiliated with Colonel Sanders of KFC. Carson also discusses local genealogy and community lore.

Keywords: Colonel Sanders; Extended family; KFC; Marriages; Migration; Secrete recipe; East Bernstadt (Ky.); Harlan Sanders

Subjects: African Americans--Genealogy; African Americans--Marriage; Migration, Internal--United States--History--20th century; Genealogy; Laurel County (Ky.); Blacks; African Americans; Genealogy; Kentucky Fried Chicken (Firm); Marriage

Partial Transcript: Now during this time cause we're talking now about the early sixties, cause before in your childhood growing up in East Bernstadt, you'd said that the African-American community was pretty--um--you didn't have much interaction with with the whites--

Segment Synopsis: Carson briefly details some of her first interactions with whites later in her adult life, while her children attended school.

Keywords: Desegregation; Integration; London Elementary School (London, Ky.); South Laurel Highschool; East Bernstadt (Ky.)

Subjects: African Americans--Segregation; Parenthood; Segregation--United States; Blacks; African Americans; School integration; Children; Parenthood; Segregation; Laurel County (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Let's talk a little bit about--um--your church life and about the different churches--

Segment Synopsis: Carson has been attending the Altamont Baptist Church since she was a child. Carson details the church's reverends, community, and traditions, as well as its small move closer to the road.

Keywords: Altamont Baptist Church; Baptisms; Baptist churches; Bible studies; Choir practice; Church picnics; East Bernstadt (Ky.); Black churches

Subjects: African Americans--Appalachian Region; African Americans--Religion; Appalachian Region, Southern--Social life and customs; Laurel County (Ky.); Blacks; African Americans; Church; Religion; Automobiles; Bible--Study and teaching; Choirs; Christianity; Fourth of July; Picnics; Sunday schools

Partial Transcript: Did you guys have um homecomings at that point or is that something that developed--

Segment Synopsis: Carson recalls many locals moving away to Louisville, Lexington, Cincinnati, or Cleveland looking for work or joining family. Carson describes some of changes in to the community, such as generation gaps and the integration of churches.

Keywords: Black churches; Black communities; Desegregation; Factory work; Fundraising; Generation gap; Integration; Internal migration; Laurel County African American Heritage Center (LAAHC); LCAAHC; Migration; Mill Street Baptist Church (London, Ky.); Pentecostal church; The Great Migration; East Bernstadt (Ky.); Baptist churches

Subjects: African Americans--Appalachian Region; African Americans--Religion; Appalachian Region, Southern--Social life and customs; Migration, Internal--United States; Fourth of July; Laurel County (Ky.); Laurel County (Ky.); Church; Communities; Cookouts; Factories; Ford Motor Company; Fourth of July; Homecoming; Individualism; School integration; Methodist Church; Presbyterian Church; Race; Racism; Family reunions; Segregation

Partial Transcript: I just realized I had passed over some of your, your work history too cause we didn't get to talk cause I know you--

Segment Synopsis: Carson chronicles her work history, including her time as the director of OPAC for seventeen years, a position from which she retired in 2001. Carson's job responsibilities included meal delivery, transportation, activities, personal care, homemaking, and fundraising.

Keywords: Activity directors; Bake sales; Budgeting; Care for the elderly; Director; Distribution of medication; Elderly people; Fundraisers; Fundraising; GED; Laurel Heights Nursing Home; O.P.A.C.; Organizer; Public transportation; East Bernstadt (Ky.)

Subjects: Appalachian Region, Southern--Social life and customs; Careers; Medicine, Rural; Occupations; Professions; Work shifts; Blacks; African Americans; Laurel County (Ky.); Nursing homes; Alzheimer's disease; Bookkeeping; Chores; Hospitals; Careers; Work; Meals on wheels programs; Retirement; Senior centers; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: No, all--my kids and Wayne and Norma, they finished high school.

Segment Synopsis: Carson details what children are doing now, including where they are currently living and working. She then discusses her relationship with her youngest siblings, Norma and Wayne, whom she raised alongside her biological children. Carson says that the relationship between her youngest sister, Norma, and her daughter, Etta is more like two sisters than an aunt and her niece.

Keywords: Business; College; Laurel County African American Heritage Center; Railroad workers; Mail; University; East Bernstadt (Ky.); Mail carriers

Subjects: African Americans--Appalachian Region; African Americans--Education (Higher); African Americans--Education--Southern States; Appalachian Region, Southern--Social life and customs; Careers; Child rearing--United States; Parenthood; Laurel County (Ky.); Blacks; Berea College; Carpenters; Education--Higher; High school; Children; Siblings; Criminal justice; Gardening; Kentucky State University; Teachers

Partial Transcript: We talked earlier, you know you were talking about changes that you've seen in the-in the community and could you just sort of expand on that how one of my questions was how has the African-American community changed through the years?

Segment Synopsis: Carson highlights some of the changes she has experienced in East Bernstadt, especially in terms of how people in the community have become more distanced through changes in policy, moral character, and generation gaps. Carson also discusses some of the issues her children have encountered with racism in Laurel County.

Keywords: Attitudes; Bootlegging (Alcohol trafficking); Detached; Dry county; Extended family; Generation gap; O.P.A.C; Wet county; East Bernstadt (Ky.); Isolation; Alcohol laws

Subjects: African Americans--Appalachian Region; African Americans--Religion; African Americans--Social life and customs; Appalachian Region, Southern--Social life and customs; Race relations in the United States; Blacks; Laurel County (Ky.); Adultery; Alcohol; Morals; Culture; Values; Behavior; Change; Race; Racism; Discrimination; Prejudice; Nursing homes; Work; Local governments; Individualism; Lifestyles