Mrs. Kinsey, 1972

File — Box: 2, Folder: 2

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Mrs. Kinsey was born January 24th, 1897, in Heflin Louisiana. She went to school in a one-room schoolhouse and made it through the fourth or fifth grade. Both of her parents were born into enslavment in Louisiana, although her mother was half-White. Her father was a farmer; she recalls that he grew cotton and corn primarily. She had six brothers and three sisters. She says that while African Americans face a lot of discrimination in Utah, she was treated worse in Louisiana.

Mrs. Kinsey moved to Ogden from Kansas City Missouri after she was first married, November 1919. Her husband was a cook for the railroad for the rest of his life, and she did not work, choosing to stay home to keep the house in order. There were not very many African Americans in Ogden at the time, and most of them were railroad men. The couple experienced difficulty finding a place to live because people were not willing to sell to them. During the Depression, Mrs. Kinsey’s husband was able to keep his job so they did not feel a huge economic strain. She had five children who went on to get college educations in architecture and medical social work. One of her daughters was one of the first African American teachers in Utah. While going to school in Ogden, however, her children were discriminated against and were excluded from many clubs and organizations. Her daughter had trouble finding a teaching job in Salt Lake City due to discrimination, so she had to become a teacher in Ogden. Mrs. Kinsey feels that education has improved and that there are more opportunities to be involved in activities, but that Utah still has a long way to go.

Mrs. Kinsey had heard about the KKK in Idaho, but not in Utah. Going forward, she thinks that getting an education will be very important for young African Americans and hopes that children will be able to participate in school more. She also believes that getting an education can greatly reduce the racism African Americans face. She recalls African Americans being barred from all recreational activities when she first moved to Utah and that she found it quite lonely when she first moved because there was no African American community. She tells a story about an African American war veteran who had lost one of his arms in the war and was still unable to sit downstairs at a theater. She mentions being a member of the NAACP. She can’t remember any occasions of lynching in Utah. Audio CD A0038_B-17_01.

Dates

1972

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