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Reverend and Mrs. Sam Coleman, December 8, 1972

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Creator:Coleman, Sam
Creator:Coleman, Sam, Mrs., 1903-
Title:Reverend and Mrs. Sam Coleman, December 8, 1972
Date:1972 Dec. 8
Description:

Oral history interview with Reverend and Mrs. Sam Coleman of Pasco and Seattle, Washington.

TAPE 9 (1st), SIDE A: 0 - 10 Her family background. From Mississippi and came to Washington in 1916. Her father worked for the railroad. Other blacks in Pasco. Most lived in railroad cars on the east side of town. Then they went to California and Chicago. Life in Chicago. They returned to Pasco. He died after being run over by a train while working. 10 - 14 They married in 1927. She was the first colored girl to graduate from Pasco High School (1924). She almost married a foot doctor. Her experiences teaching school. 14 - 21 There were no black farmers in the area. Other black families in the area. He was from Chicago and came out to Pasco in 1944. He worked as a cook for the railroad in 1915 or so. The Great Northern paid more than the Pullman Company. He then went into the taxi business in 1916. 21 - 30 He bought property in Pasco in the 30's but didn't move there. He talks about his businesses in Seattle- he was the first Negro general contractor in Washington. Experiences working in Denver in 1920--there was trouble working with whites. TAPE 9 (1st), SIDE B: 0 - 6 Their marriage. She had attended Whitman College. More about his businesses in Seattle and his associates. How he got his hardware business. Two colored lawyers in Seattle. He lost a lot of money on the hardware store. 6 - 8 Working as a contractor. The unions didn't like coloreds working in certain areas of town. 8 - 12 They returned to Pasco in 1944. He had pastored a rescue mission in Olympia until 1938 when the Lord told him he was evangelistic. They traveled continuously until the gas rationing. Then he worked in order to get gas stamps. 12 - 18 They built a home on their property in Pasco in 1943. He established the first black church in 1944 on the request of white ministers in town. Many were coming into town for the Hanford project. Problems with building the church because he wanted to build it on his own property. 18 - 22 His activities with the Missionary Pentecostal Association until 1944. They worked more with white people than with colored when they were travelling evangelists. Black churches throughout the West. 22 - 26 More about his church and other churches in Pasco. He ran his church until 1949. In 1944 through the NAACP and the Urban League they tried to get restaurants to serve blacks. TAPE 10 (2nd), SIDE A: 0 - 10 More about the NAACP. The whites in town wanted all the minorities on the east side of the RR tracks. The problems he had trying to build on the west side. Troubles with his lawyers. 10 - 13 Talks about the land he owned and who he sold it to. Talks about his relatives. 13 - 23 He has never been involved with politics. A rich man and a politician have no place in heaven. More about problems building in Pasco. He had a cafe in town, too, and fed some of the black workers on the Hanford project. Problems getting paid. Other property problems. 23 - 26 Selling his property after the war. He refused to buy property on the east side of the tracks on principle. TAPE 10 (2nd), SIDE B: 0 - 3

Talks about the railroad and working with Turner, a redcap. Other families in the area. Her parents owned property in Pasco, too. 3 - 29 More about their evangelism in mostly white churches. Black churches in Seattle. Growth of black churches in the Northwest. Black evangelists. The Pentecostals often criticized other religions. He talks about his own religious ideas.

The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the aggregation and enhancement of partner metadata.

Types:Oral histories | Sound recordings
Subjects:Coleman, Sam | Coleman, Sam, Mrs., 1903- | Coleman, Sam--Marriage | Coleman, Sam, Mrs., 1903- --Marriage | Coleman, Sam--Travel | Coleman, Sam, Mrs., 1903- --Travel | Oral history--United States | Family--History--Mississippi | Family--History--Illinois--Chicago | African Americans--Washington (State)--Pasco | African Americans--Washington (State)--Seattle | African Americans--Colorado--Denver | African Americans--California | African Americans--Illinois--Chicago | African American men--Washington (State) | Men--Washington (State) | African American women--Washington (State) | Women--Washington (State) | Wives--Washington (State) | Housewives--Washington (State) | Community life--Illinois--Chicago | African Americans--Social conditions--20th century | Pasco (Wash.)--Social conditions--20th century | African Americans--Employment | African Americans--Employment--Washington (State) | Railroads--Washington (State)--Pasco | Railroads--Employees--Washington (State)--Pasco | African American railroad employees--Washington (State)--Pasco | African American cooks--Washington (State)--Pasco | Cooks--Washington (State)--Pasco | Great Northern Railway Company (U.S.) | Pullman Company | Wages--Railroads--Washington (State)--Pasco | Wages--Washington (State)--Pasco | Taxicabs--Washington (State)--Pasco | Taxicab drivers--Washington (State)--Pasco | Railroad cars--Washington (State)--Pasco | Railroad accidents--Washington (State)--Pasco | Accidents--Washington (State)--Pasco | African Americans--Wounds and injuries--Washington (State)--Pasco | African Americans--Death | African Americans--Housing--Washington (State)--Pasco | Housing--Washington (State)--Pasco | Dwellings--Washington (State)--Pasco | African Americans--Dwellings--Washington (State)--Pasco | High school graduates--Washington (State)--Pasco | African American high school students--Washington (State)--Pasco | High school students--Washington (State)--Pasco | Students--Washington (State)--Pasco | Pasco High School (Pasco, Wash.) | African American girls--Education--Washington (State)--Pasco | Girls--Education--Washington (State)--Pasco | African American women--Education--Washington (State)--Pasco | Women--Education--Washington (State)--Pasco | Podiatry--Washington (State)--Pasco | Podiatrists--Washington (State)--Pasco | Foot--Diseases--Washington (State)--Pasco | African American physicians--Washington (State)--Pasco | Physicians--Washington (State)--Pasco | Education--Washington (State)--Pasco | Public schools--Washington (State)--Pasco | Schools--Washington (State)--Pasco | African American teachers--Washington (State)--Pasco | Teachers--Washington (State)--Pasco | Teaching--Washington (State)--Pasco | African American farmers--Washington (State)--Pasco | Farmers--Washington (State)--Pasco | Land tenure--Washington (State)--Pasco | Land tenure--Washington (State)--Seattle | African Americans--Land tenure--Washington (State)--Pasco | African Americans--Land tenure--Washington (State)--Seattle | Landowners--Washington (State)--Pasco | Landowners--Washington (State)--Seattle | Real property--Washington (State)--Pasco | Real property--Washington (State)--Seattle | African American business enterprises--Washington (State)--Pasco | African American business enterprises--Washington (State)--Seattle | Business enterprises--Washington (State)--Pasco | Business enterprises--Washington (State)--Seattle | African American businesspeople--Washington (State)--Pasco | African American businesspeople--Washington (State)--Seattle | Businesspeople--Washington (State)--Pasco | Businesspeople--Washington (State)--Seattle | Contractors--Washington (State)--Seattle | Construction industry--Washington (State)--Seattle | African American construction workers--Washington (State)--Seattle | Construction workers--Washington (State)--Seattle | Discrimination in employment--Colorado--Denver | Job vacancies--Colorado--Denver | Denver (Colo.)--Race relations | Race relations | Seattle (Wash.)--Race relations | Pasco (Wash.)--Race relations | Chicago (Ill.)--Race relations | Whitman College | Marriage--Washington (State) | Hardware--Washington (State) | Hardware stores--Washington (State) | Business losses--Washington (State) | African American lawyers--Washington (State)--Seattle | Lawyers--Washington (State)--Seattle | Labor unions--Washington (State)--Seattle | Construction workers--Labor unions--Washington (State)--Seattle | Discrimination in employment--Washington (State)--Seattle | African Americans--Religion | African American churches--Washington (State) | African American churches--Washington (State)--Seattle | African American churches--Washington (State)--Pasco | Churches--Washington (State) | Churches--Washington (State)--Seattle | Churches--Washington (State)--Pasco | Churches--West (U.S.) | Churches--Northwest, Pacific | African American churches--Northwest, Pacific | Rescue missions (Church work)--Washington (State)--Olympia | African American clergy--Washington (State) | Clergy--Washington (State) | African American evangelists--Washington (State) | Evangelists--Washington (State) | Evangelistic work--Washington (State) | Missionary Pentecostal Association | Rationing--United States | Gasoline--Prices--United States | War--Economic aspects--United States | World War, 1939-1945--Economic aspects--United States | Washington (State)--Description and travel | African Americans--Travel | Homeowners--Washington (State)--Pasco | Home ownership--Washington (State)--Pasco | House construction--Washington (State)--Pasco | Hanford Site (Wash.) | Nuclear facilities--Washington (State) | Nuclear weapons--Washington (State) | Nuclear reactors--Washington (State) | Plutonium--Washington (State) | Plutonium industry--Washington (State) | Urban League (Pasco, Wash.) | National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Pasco Branch | Discrimination--Washington (State)--Pasco | Discrimination in restaurants--Washington (State)--Pasco | Race discrimination--Washington (State)--Pasco | Civil rights--Washington (State) | African Americans--Civil rights--Washington (State) | African American neighborhoods--Washington (State)--Pasco | Ethnic neighborhoods--Washington (State)--Pasco | Neighborhood--Washington (State)--Pasco | Community life--Washington (State)--Pasco | Restaurants--Washington (State)--Pasco | Porters--Washington (State)--Pasco | Pasco (Wash.) | Franklin County (Wash.) | Seattle (Wash.) | King County (Wash.) | Denver (Colo.) | Mississippi | Chicago (Ill.) | Cook County (Ill.)
Collection:Black Oral History Collection
Institution:Washington State University's Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Contributors:University of Washington. Information School | Black Oral History Interviews Collection (Washington State University. Library. Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections) | Washington State University. Library. Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Online Publisher:[Spokane, Wash.] : Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries | 2002
Original Material:

Black Oral History Interviews, 1972-1974, Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University

Rights and Usage:

For permission to publish, please contact Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (509) 335 - 6691.

Related Materials:

Forms part of online collection: Black Oral History Interviews Collection.

Persistent Link to Item:http://content.wsulibs.wsu.edu/cgi-bin/viewer.exe?CISOROOT=/5985&CISOPTR=11