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    Dr. Tim Black (Interview #1, 2017)

    Content Warnings: None

    Audio Quality Notes: Good sound quality for Dr. Black, poor sound for audience members when asking questions.

    At a Glance

    Public Housing Residency: None

    Themes: Learning and legacies, The Great Migration, The Black South, Post-enslavement, Oral history for Education, Oral history for Social Transformation

    Content Warnings: None

    Primary time periods: 1918–2021

    Primary locations: Alabama, Chicago

    Keywords: Oral History, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mayor Harold Washington Jr., Klu Klux Klan (KKK), Country commissioner, Social justice, Black struggle, Black achievement, public housing, Sharecropping, The Chicago Defender, Railroad industry, Lynching, Poverty, The Black Belt, the Great Migration

    Descriptive Context

    Interview Summary

    Content Warnings: None

    In this oral history, Dr. Timuel Black shares his memories of the reason for the beginning of the great migration. As he reflects on family values and the history of traumatic events that affected the Black community, such as lynching and the KKK patrols. Dr. Black encourages his listeners to persevere and continue the struggle for equality and build a legacy for future youth and activists. Dr. Timuel Black uses sharing his oral history to demonstrate how the process of interviewing is a tool for social transformation and the result of the oral history is an educational tool to use for the benefit for community.

     

    About the Narrator

    Narrator Full Name: Dr. Tim Black (Interview #1, 2017)

    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: 2021-10-13
    About the Interview

    Interviewer: Shirley Alfaro, Suzanne Snider

    Date of Interview: 2017-07-26

    Method of Interview: in-person

    Location of Interview: Chicago, IL, Chicago, IL

    Language: English

    Duration: 01:20:59

    Formats Available: .wav

    Audio Quality and other notes: Good sound quality for Dr. Black, poor sound for audience members when asking questions.

    Post-Production by: Shakira Johnson, Nedra Deadwyler

    Contextual Information Last Updated: 2024-03-28

    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:
    None
    Transcript and Supplemental Attachments
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