Paula Guest reflects on the 1960s. Topics include tanks in the streets of Baltimore, black power, her own personal account of racism, and more reflections on the assassinations of MLK and JFK.
Category: Civil Rights
Paula Guest – JFK, MLK and Today’s Challenge
Paula Guest remembers what it was like after the assassinations of JFK and MLK, and what she believes is the challenge for today’s society.
Howard J. Griner – Important Memories from the 1960s
Howard J. Griner talks about important memories from the 1960s, including childhood, civil rights, Baltimore [Maryland] riots and worrying that his father would not get home from work before the city curfew.
Paula Guest: Freedom Songs
Mrs. Paula Guest talks about the inspirational freedom songs of the civil rights movements, including “Lift Every Voice” and “We Shall Overcome”. She also shares about her grandfather in the Million Man March.
Interview by Tobi Ojo.
Howard J. Griner: The Green Book, Future Outlook
Howard J. Griner talks about his father and elder siblings traveling through the U.S. with the help of the African-American “Green Book”. He also responds to the comment that there is “no more racism”; and expresses his hopes for the future of civil rights.
Interview by Tobi Ojo
Lift Every Voice and Sing, African American National Anthem as discussed by Paula Guest
When Mrs. Paula Guest was interviewed about her best memories of the 1960s, one of the things she talked about was the African American National Anthem, the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing”. She commented that it still gives her chill-bumps to sing the song. Here is a rendition of that classic piece of music which was written by James Weldon Johnson in 1899 and set to music by his brother, John Rosamond Johnson.
Raymond Lancelotta: Baltimore Riots
Patricia Riley: Segregation, Integration, and the Civil Rights Movement
Mrs. Riley discusses the segregation and subsequent integration of black students to her Catholic high school, and the discrimination she witnessed against black children.
Interview by Christine H. Caudill.
Robert Riley: Civil Rights and Baltimore Riots
Mr. Riley talks about the civil rights movement in Harford County and Baltimore City, and the Baltimore riots that resulted.
Interview by Christine H. Caudill.
Joyce Byrd: Segregation and Discrimination in Harford County
Joyce Byrd relates her difficulties growing up in a segregated environment, and dealing with the discrimination she faced from her peers and other white community members while growing up in Harford County.
Interview by Linda Bratcher.
Harford Voices: A Digital Oral History Exhibit 