Mansfield Public Memory before the Crisis

Mansfield African American Oral History Project, excerpt on difficulty from Jim Crow laws

In Mansfield, everyday life for African Americans was made difficult by Jim Crow laws. Tasks as simple as buying a new pair of shoes were not easy for African Americans. They went into the store knowing their size because they were not allowed to try them on beforehand.

Mansfield African American Oral History Project, excerpt about inequity in schools

McClendon Moody continues to speak about the integration process in Mansfield and what brought about the discussion. The supplies the African American children used were not very good and this gave T.M. Moody the idea to pursue integration. He was harassed and effigies were hung and said to resemble him.

Mansfield African American Oral History Project, excerpt on treatment by white children

McClendon Moody discusses going to school before integration began and how white children treated African American children.

Mansfield African American Oral History Project excerpt discussing slavery

In this excerpt from the Mansfield African American Oral History project unabridged transcript, the interviewer asked about African Americans' beginnings in Mansfield and how their parents settled in the small town. The times of slavery and how sharecropping was done in this Texas town were discussed in the interview. This brings a beginning to the African American story of Mansfield and how it later built to the crisis in 1956. Sam Solimillo in Mansfield conducted the interview. The interviewees mentioned from this excerpt were, Fred Lawson (F.L.) and Maggie Jackson Briscoe (M.B.).

Mansfield African American Oral History Project excerpt on African Americans dealing with discrimination at funeral homes during Jim Crow era.

This excerpt was taken from the Mansfield African American Oral History Project. The quote shares the differences between African American funeral homes compared to the Anglo funeral homes. This difference was part of Jim Crow in Texas, and African Americans were not allowed to use the same funeral homes as white Mansfield. They later had to use African American funeral homes in Fort Worth, much like how children had to attend schools in Fort Worth instead of integrating schools in Mansfield.