Interview with Lillie H. Yates, July 15, 1986

Interview Summary

Ms. Yates recalls her family history including relatives who experienced slavery, their white overseers, the practice of "hiring out," Jonestown, "Black troublemakers", and her educational background. She reminisces about farm life in the early twentieth century including methods of home heating, harvesting corn, soap making, food preparation and preservation, making burgoo and "homebrew", ice-making, making clothes, and holiday traditions. She also talks about wages, treatment of African American farm workers by white farm families, tobacco production, commercial farming, farm labor, hired help, obtaining credit at the country store, and difficulties faced by African American farmers of the time period. Ms. Yates recounts the role of religion in the country churches in the African American community, church parties and dances, ostracism by the church, attitudes toward alcohol use, country preachers, religious revivals, and country baptisms.

Interview Keyword

African Americans--Conduct of life African Americans--Education African Americans--Employment African Americans--Recreation African Americans--Religion African Americans--Social conditions African Americans--Social life and customs Distilling, Illicit Food habits Neighborliness Richmond (Ky.) Slavery--United States

Interview LC Subject

African American churches--Kentucky African American farmers Farm life Sharecropping Traditional farming--Kentucky Yates, Lillie H. Yates, Lillie H.--Interviews Race relations--Kentucky

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

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