Raychell Reynolds, Oral History

Raychell Reynolds, Oral History

Raychell Reynolds
Marcia Lair

Description

This is a video recording of an oral history interview with Raychell Reynolds. It was conducted March 2, 2020. The interviewer is Marcia Lair. The videographer is Sandy Bond.

This interview focuses on Raychell Reynolds' memories of growing up in Delta County, Texas and her adult life in Boston, MA.

Raychell Reynolds was born in 1944 to Marie Givens and Troy Reynolds. She had nine brothers and five sisters. She attended Booker T. Washington School in Cooper, Texas and graduated in 1961. She attended Texas College in Tyler, Texas until 1963 when she moved to Boston, Massachusetts to finish her Master of Arts degree. Reynolds worked at the Department of Welfare in Boston for thirty-two years. She discusses differences in food stamp programs between Boston and Texas, along with differences in public transportation. In 2003 she returned to Texas.

Reynolds discusses the role that racism and desegregation of schools played in her and her family’s life. She recalls Black business owners in Delta County along with memories of desegregation. Reynolds was living in Boston when busing for school integration began, and she sent her children to attend school in Texas because she did not want them to be bused outside of their district for school.

 

Rights Statement

In Copyright