Mansfield African American Oral History Project, excerpt on when Mansfield finally integrated
Maggie Jackson Briscoe discusses more about integration efforts in Mansfield.
Maggie Jackson Briscoe shares her thoughts on the eventual integration of Mansfield schools.
Mansfield African American Oral History Project, unabridged transcript, page 25
1995-12 (when interviews conducted)
Mansfield African American Oral History Project, excerpt on difficulty from Jim Crow laws
Tasks, such as clothes shopping, are complicated from African Americans because of 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, unabridged transcript, page 58
1995-12
Mansfield African American Oral History Project, integration efforts discussed
Maggie Jackson Briscoe discusses integration.
Maggie Jackson Briscoe discusses a conversation she had with a woman in a nursing home about praying about the integration issue.
Mansfield African American Oral History Project, unabridged transcript, pages 24 and 25
1995-12 (interviews conducted)
Mansfield African American Oral History Project, excerpt about inequity in schools
McClendon Moody discusses the inequity in white and African American schools in Mansfield at one time.
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 unabridged transcript, page 38
1995-12
Mansfield African American Oral History Project, T.M. Moody discussion
McClendon Moody discusses T.M. Moody, who helped lead the effort to integrate Mansfield schools.
“Mac” Moody brings up T.M. Moody, who was involved in the effort to integrate Mansfield schools. He was harassed because of this, which is explained in the transcript, but he still wanted to fight for equal rights. Although he did not have children, he still fought for the rights of the African American children in Mansfield.
Mansfield African American Oral History Project, unabridged transcript, page 37
1995-12
Mansfield African American Oral History Project, excerpt on treatment by white children
An excerpt from the Mansfield African American Oral History Project transcript highlights how white children treated the African American children.
McClendon Moody discusses going to school before integration began and how white children treated African American children.
Mansfield African American Oral History Project, page 22
1995-12 (interviews conducted)
Mansfield African American Oral History Project excerpt discussing slavery
An excerpt from the Mansfield African American Oral History Project discusses 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, page 9
1995-12 (when interviews were conducted)
Mansfield African American Oral History Project excerpt on integration efforts
An excerpt from the Mansfield African-American Oral History Project about part of what led to community action toward integration.
The excerpt discusses part of what led to integration efforts in Mansfield. Deacons of the Bethlehem Baptist Church thought if they were paying taxes in the town and had to pay for their children to ride the buses to Fort Worth to school, there must be a way that they could attend a school near their homes.
Mansfield African American Oral History Project, "Courage, Grace and Tenacity" section, page 32
1995-12 (when interviews were conducted)
Mansfield African American Oral History Project excerpt on African Americans dealing with discrimination at funeral homes during Jim Crow era.
An excerpt from the Mansfield African American Oral History project explains how African Americans dealt with discrimination at funeral homes during the 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 the white Mansfield citizens. 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.
Mansfield African-American Oral History Project, found on page 23 in “A Society of Meanness” section
1995-12 (when interviews were conducted)
"History of Mansfield Education" from 1929 yearbook
The history of Mansfield schools is detailed in the 1929 Mansfield yearbook.
The pages from the year book discuss the history of Mansfield and the beginning of the school system prior to 1956.
1929 Mansfield yearbook
1929