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    Dr. Tim Black (Interview #2, 2020)

    Content Warnings: None

    Audio Quality Notes: Good, even sound throughout the recording.

    At a Glance

    Public Housing Residency: None

    Themes: Activism, Great Migration, Education

    Content Warnings: None

    Primary time periods: 1918–2021

    Primary locations: Alabama, Chicago

    Keywords: Parents, Hugo Black, Marcus Garvey, World War I, World War II, Education, Racism, Segregation, Sacred Ground, Slaves, Emancipation Proclamation, Congressional Medal of Honor, Faith, Martin Luther King Jr., Frederick Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, Confederate Army, Barack Obama, Ancestors, 102 years old, Supreme Court, Voting, Ku Klux Klan

    Descriptive Context

    Interview Summary

    Content Warnings: None

    In this Oral History Timuel Black offers a reflection on his life and gives advice to those who come after him. He shares lessons learned from post-enslavement south, The Great Migration, and how he learned about becoming a leader in the community through the lives of his family and neighbors growing up. Their faith, hope, and love, and the obligation in their belief for the future. Dr. Black leaves a number of gems for how to conduct an oral history interview, how to live an optimistic life, and why living one’s life with an obligation to other bestows purpose.

     

    About the Narrator

    Narrator Full Name: Dr. Tim Black (Interview #2, 2020)

    Narrator pronouns: he/him/his

    Refer to as: Dr. Tim Black

    Self-identified race and/or ethnicity: Black, African American

    Biographical Context:
    Dr. Timuel Black is a veteran, social worker, scholar, philosopher, oral historian, educator, political activist, community leader, and beloved member of his community, the Southside of Chicago. He said upon return home from serving in the US Army during WWII where he freed and met holocaust survivors that “the rest of my life would be spent trying to make where I live, and the bigger world, a place where all people could have peace and justice.” He was born in Birmingham, Alabama and raised in Chicago. He ran for public office, alderman, state senator, and state legislator. Eventually he helped to elect Chicago’s first Black Mayor, Harold Washington. Black was a mentor to Carol Mosely Braun and former President Obama, sharing with him how to become a leader of the people. Black is remembered for his “great well of empathy”, as he was described by former President Obama. And for his social justice campaign with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, leading Freedom Trains to the March on Washington, in 1963 to Washington, DC to hear Dr. King’s, “I Have a Dream” speech. Dr. Black was a local oral historian, led tours for over twenty years of Bronzeville, Chicago’s premier Southside neighborhood, sharing to scores of people about the years he lived, his work for justice and freedom, and Dr. King’s presence in Chicago. His books, archival collection at University of Chicago, and a scholarship that bears his name will keep the memory of a man who worked tirelessly for justice, his community, and the liberation of all people alive.
    Life Dates:
    • Birth: 1918-12-07,
    • Death: 2020-10-13
    About the Interview

    Interviewer: Shakira Johnson

    Date of Interview: 2020-12-??

    Method of Interview: remote

    Location of Interview: Chicago, IL, Chicago, IL

    Language: English

    Duration: 00:46:16

    Formats Available: .wav

    Audio Quality and other notes: Good, even sound throughout the recording.

    Post-Production by: Nedra Deadwyler, Shakira Johnson

    Contextual Information Last Updated: 2024-03-06

    Time-Stamped Index

    No index available for this file.

    Access and Use Guidelines

    Access Level: public

    Rights Overview:

    Each oral history interview is considered to be co-created, ‘joint work’ among the oral historian, narrator, and, in this case, the Museum. In joint works, the creators are considered joint copyright owners, who have “an equal right to register and enforce the copyright” (Rich Stim, Stanford Libraries, “Copyright Ownership: Who Owns What?”). Standard copyright law grants a number of exclusive rights to each of the copyright owners, including: the rights to reproduce, distribute, adapt, perform, and display the work(s), privately and publicly. NPHM manages these components using Creative Commons Licenses. All interviews are shared with Attribution and Non-Commercial 4.0 International licenses (CC BY-NC 4.0 Deed), meaning that they can be reproduced, distributed, performed, and displayed for the general public if the user credits the co-creators (Attribution) and does not make money from the usage (Non-Commercial). 

     

    Please contact the NPHM Oral History Programs Manager if you’d like to download a copy of any of the interview materials (audio file, transcript, or finding aid contents).

    Citation Guidelines:

    Footnote: Timuel Black, interviewed by Shakira Johnson on Dec. ??, 2020 for the National Public Housing Museum Oral History Archive, Chicago, IL, [URL on website], accessed [Full Date of Last Access].

    Bibliography: Black, Timuel. Oral History Interview. By Shakira Johnson. Interviewed Dec. ??, 2020. Accessed via [URL on Website] on [Full Date of Access]. Oral History Archive, National Public Housing Museum, Chicago, IL. 

     

    Please use the Chicago Manual of Style for additional guidance. 

    Transcript and Supplemental Attachments
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