Interview with Lillie McKnight, August 2, 1983

Interview Summary

Lillie McKnight (1894-1996) grew up in Columbia, South Carolina, with a single mother, where several generations of her family worked in domestic service for a white superintendent of cotton mills. She moved with two friends to Philadelphia in 1925 as a means of providing her children with better opportunities in the North, although she initially left her children in the South until she earned enough money to bring them north. She recounts working as a live-in domestic servant in a home of a Jewish family for many years. Throughout the interview, she discusses the importance of responsibility and faith, the hallmarks of her life.

Interview Keyword

Columbia, South Carolina Domestic workers African Americans--Relations with Jews. African Americans--Conduct of life. African Americans--Religion. African American churches

Interview LC Subject

African Americans--Southern States. Migration, Internal. African American families African Americans--Employment. African Americans--Social conditions. Philadelphia (Pa.)--Social conditions.

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.