Catherine O’Neal, 1972

File — Box: 2, Folder: 11

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

O’Neal was born May 31, 1916 in Salt Lake City County Hospital. She attended Jackson and West High School. She noted that there were about a dozen other African American students at West High School at the time she was there. She mentions a bit about her family history, including that her family was from Topeka, Kansas and that her mother had Cherokee ancestry. She grew up with seven siblings. Her family mostly worked in janitorial work. She remembers that the Great Depression was difficult, and that her parents struggled to find work and her mother was on welfare. Her father died when she was eleven so everyone in the family had to get a job and work until they were married, although this did not cause her to drop out of school. O’Neal relates that before World War II, there were not many African Americans in Salt Lake and they did not own property. Unlike many others who were interviewed, she did not find property ownership to be difficult except that it was difficult to get enough money. She did not work when she was married. Her husband worked on the railroad and shined shoes and later worked as a cement finisher.

O’Neal has been on and off of welfare. The first time was when her husband became sick and was unable to work and she went completely on welfare after he died. She didn’t know anything about the KKK or lynching in Utah. She has nine children, three of whom made it through high school. She says they never experienced discrimination in school that she knows of. Her children have not had problems finding jobs, and O’Neal feels her children had a better opportunity than she did because they do not have to work to put themselves through school like she did. She says she believes there are more jobs available to African Americans now, though she does not know what they are. One of her sons went to college to become a doctor, and she does not know why the others did not go to college. She mentions that her grandfather came to Salt Lake City with Brigham Young. She says that restaurants excluded African Americans for many years in Salt Lake. It didn’t bother her, however, because she didn’t go out to eat. African Americans were also excluded from Lagoon and Liberty Park. Audio CD A0038_B-12_01.

Dates

1972

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.