William Thomas Malone's Life Summary

The first narrative I picked was of William Thomas Malone, born October 30, 1914, in Monroe County, Arkansas. Mr. Malone was a farmer on his dad’s 54-acre farm, which he currently owns. His farther passed away in 1940 and his mother died in 1958. He recalls growing up in a six-room house, located on the farm that was very modest and lacked indoor plumbing. He described his family as being close and friendly. He had many brothers and sisters, but could not recall their names or their ages. Although he did say that he was the only surviving member of his immediate family. At the time of the interview, he was 91 years old and from the modulation in his voice one could tell that he had led a hard life. He described how after farming he started working at the local mill, he called it Southwestern Veneer Plant, producing veneer. He jokingly said that he worked there for twenty years, from 1952 to 1972, before being forced to retire, due to the closure of the Mill (Malone, 1995).
His attitude towards life and events surrounding it in general, seemed very realistic and matter of fact. He explained how when his mother was sick and taken to the local hospital, he would go to visit her after a long workday and stayed with here as late as he could. Then his sisters would insist that he would go home to get some rest before going back to work
again. They did not want him to get sick too (Malone, 1995). Therefore, he would heed to their request, go home, and sleep and get right back to it again. He reminisced that his momma was a frail woman, or weak as he called her, and that was probably due to giving birth to six boys. He inferred that it was just a fact of life, nothing out of the ordinary back then.
The interviewer, Doris Dixon, asked Mr. Malone whether he recalled if the farms around where he grew up were worked on by whites, blacks, mostly whites or mostly blacks, to which he answered:” Well there were some black, mixed, some black and some white, mostly black” (Malone, 1995). Most of the land around his dad’s farm was either rented or sharecropped by small farmers, growing cotton.
Doris asked if there were any racial tensions or discriminations around Cotton Plant when he was growing up and how did they deal with it, or as she phrased it protect themselves against racial violence? Again, his answers were very factual and real. He said, “In some ways yeah back long years ago. At one time here they didn't want the colored fellah that had a car to park on Main Street. That's been quite a few years ago”. Mr. Malone did not divulge much detail in his conversation regarding racial tensions to build a violent picture of his hometown. However, he did say that the African American men, whom he just referred to as “our men”, were good about defending themselves and giving the offenders a “whipping”. Nevertheless, as he so gently put it, “most of the colored people knew not to raise no ruckus they used to say. They didn't get into it too much” (Malone, 1995).
The second narrative was by Blanche Davis, born July 30, 1900, in Montgomery County, Alabama. In this interview Ms. Davis is asked a couple of basic identifying questions before being asked pointed questions about slavery and whether she remembered any stories being told to her by her family members. At the time of this interview, June of 1994, Ms. Davis was 94 years old, and although a two-member team was interviewing her, it was apparent that she was in charge and motivated to tell her story. This was a sharp contrast from Mr. Malone who was much more subdued and melancholy.
Ms. Davis presented several instances when her grandmother and great grandmother told her about their experiences in slavery and the physical and mental abuses which they had endured. Although she did not see or personally feel slavery, she spoke of a life filled with long workdays and very, very little pay. Scales, one of the interviewers, asked her if she was ever mistreated by her employers to which she responded, “They were very good to me, though. I didn't have any trouble wherever I worked. I give that to them. They just didn't pay any money. But they were very good to me, very good” (Davis, 1994).
Another noticeable difference in the two interviewees was the spiritual tone in their conversations. Ms. Davis often talked about how she would ask God for a certain opportunity and it would be granted to her. In contrast, Mr. Malone only talked about going to church and growing up a Baptist. Although he did mention the fact that young preachers of today do not spend much time at the church and the sermons are much briefer today then what he remembers from his childhood.
Whorley, the number two interviewer, asked Ms. Davis’ opinion regarding growing up in the 20s and whether she had encountered any racism? Ms. Davis response, just like Mr. Malone’s, was very factual. She said the racism was visible and felt all around her however, there was not much she could do about it in those days. She was very candid about her uncomfortable experiences riding the bus every day and other instances such as drinking fountains being separate, “If you went downtown and you wanted a drink of water, it was a certain place for blacks to drink water, and all that kind of funny stuff.” (Davis, 1994). Later on in the interview she did mention that her church, a Baptist congregation, was bombed two or three times. She expressed her fears about going back to the church but again her sense of trust in God carried her through the fearful times. Her children were born in the 30s and growing up experienced racism themselves. They would often ask her why they are being treated differently. She really did not have a good answer to give them. She jokingly tells the interviewers, “It was a big difference. I know you young people don't hardly believe it, but that's just the way it was.” (Davis, 1994) At times like this, one could easily see the similarities between the two narratives. They were both fighting the same seemingly insurmountable and institutionalized racism seen all across the country.
Ms. Davis talked about her lack of proper education and the sense of regret that she still has about it. She was only able to attain a seventh grade education before her mother took her out of school. Ms. Davis explained how she had to work at school in order to pay for her education. They were too poor to afford the tuition and that was the only way she could remain in school. However, her mom thought that the school administrators were working her too hard and it was unfair, so she did not allow her to go back to school. Ms. Davis regrets that her mom did not understand the value of good education and how she made sure that her two daughters received a proper education, “But I didn't do that with my two children. I saw to them going to school, oh yeah, and worked hard to help make them comfortable.” (Davis, 1994) A sense of accomplishment and satisfaction was present in her voice.
The most noticeable difference between the two narratives were the types of restrictions that they experienced due to their geographical differences.
Mr. Malone lived in rural Arkansas and did not have to deal with the restrictions that segregation caused around town or during road trips. He grew up and continued living in close proximity to his birthplace. On the other hand, Ms. Davis who lived in larger cities and worked as a domestic worker grappled with the stifling effects of racism on a daily basis. Interestingly enough, her family chose to travel by train in order to avoid the hassles of segregation. That is how she fought
racism.