Interview with Leola Young, March 8, 1990

Interview Summary

Young discusses moving to Midway with the family who employed her in order to continue taking care of their child. She describes her long career of taking care of other people's children. She went to a university hospital, taking a year of nursing training. Young describes working with doctors as a midwife. She didn't help with the actual births, but cleaned the babies afterwards. She discusses her courtship and marriage to her husband. She briefly talks about her parents being sharecroppers and picking cotton when she was young. She discusses her wages and income over the years. Her husband worked on horse farms. Young discusses the Black community in Midway, as well as discussing Midway as a whole. She describes how they would go to Lexington every week to shop and have fun. They discuss the technological advancements that occurred over her lifetime. She briefly talks about her church experience.

Interview Keyword

Midway, Kentucky Citizens Caretakers Nurserymaids Childcarers Childminders Black people African Americans Midwives Midwifery

Interview LC Subject

Midway (Ky.) Kentucky--History. African American history Black employees Nannies Governesses Day care aides Women employees. Communities. Marriage. Lexington (Ky.) Families, Black African Americans--Social conditions

Interview Rights

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Interview Usage

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