Interview with Henrietta V. Sweatt, June 12, 1992

Interview Summary

Henrietta Sweatt talks about her own education, as well as her work as a teacher in an all-black school. She talks about teaching first grade for her entire career and sharing the school building with the Baptist church. She talks about why she thinks it was difficult for the black students to adjust to integration. Sweatt talks about her church and volunteering. Sweatt talks about the immigrants who lived in Lynch in the mining camp. She talks about the food her family would eat before the Great Depression and how it changed during the Depression. She talks about the differences between US Steel and the coal company in Lynch at the time of the interview.

Interview Keyword

Appalachian people Appalachian social issues Black coal miners Churches--Kentucky Coal camp schools Coal miners--Kentucky--Lynch Coal mining Gender roles Harlan County (Ky.) Housing--Appalachian Region Immigrant coal miners Lynch (Ky.) Prostitution in coal camps Race relations in coal camps Women coal miners

Interview LC Subject

Appalachian Region Appalachians (People)--Kentucky--Social conditions Race relations--Appalachian Region Rural schools--Kentucky Sweatt, Henrietta V. Sweatt, Henrietta V.--Interviews Teachers--Kentucky Women--Employment.

Interview Rights

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Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.