Cotton Museum to continue with oral history project

Travis Hairgrove, The Herald Banner, Greenville, Texas
·3 min read

Aug. 28—Back in 2020, when mandated precautions against COVID-19 forced people of all walks of life to rethink how they did business, Greenville's Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum became more active on YouTube and Facebook in an effort to "bring the museum to the public" in a variety of ways.

One of the museum's more ambitious projects that arose during those challenges was its oral history series, in which (so far) 22 members of the community have shared their experiences in recorded interviews which were then posted on the Audie Murphy American Cotton Museum YouTube channel.

The initial series of 14 interviews were conducted in October 2020, and were with members of Hunt County's Black community. Together, the collection was titled "The African American Experience in Hunt County."

The project was largely led by local NAACP member Betty Franklin, the Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum Board's president Roz Lane, and museum board member John Yznaga in view of the fact that the museum had very little information and/or memorabilia pertaining to local Black history.

Then, in October 2021, the museum conducted another eight interviews with barbers, hair dressers, manicurists and beauty shop owners who have long served the Black community in Hunt County. The full interviews were also edited into a compilation video and included in a physical museum exhibit (that ran from February through April this year) about the history of the African American hair care and beauty industry, from both a local and national perspective.

With the engagement the museum has received from the community through the oral history projects, a committee plans to soon start formally discussing its next series of interviews and possible related exhibits.

"We'll get together sometime next month to discuss ideas for the next project," said the museum's director, Susan Lanning. "If anyone in the community has any ideas, they can just call us with their suggestions."

The museum can be called at 903-450-4502 or emailed at amacm@att.net.

So far, the museum has interviewed people who have had a wide range of life experiences. Interviews they've conducted have included:

—Pastors at some of Greenville's historically Black churches, such as Charles Faulkner of Rising Star Christian Church, Deborah Hoskins at Wesley Chapel Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church, and Phillip Dukes at Crestview Christian Church;

—Social justice advocates like Opal Pannell of Commerce;

—Trailbazers like Harry Turner, who was one of the first African-American students to enroll at East Texas State University (now-Texas A&M University-Commerce) after it integrated;

—Business owners and active community members like Emily Thompson, one of the owners and funeral directors at Love & Integrity Funeral Home, and;

—Performers like gospel recording artist Carolyn Traylor.

Some of the oral history interviews have also featured individuals who are well known in multiple circles, such as:

—Melva Hill, the pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Wolfe City who's also the business manager at Adkisson's Florist in Greenville, and is a tireless volunteer for several non-profits and charities in Greenville, and;

—Don Ward, Hunt County's first Black sheriff's deputy, who's also well-known as the longtime guitarist for the Blues Doctors and as the son of the late (but still well-respected) guitarist and music teacher Alva Lorenzo "Trig" Ward.