Maggie Massey Freeman oral history interview, 1996 June 4
Description
Maggie Freeman discusses her life in Charlotte, North Carolina, and her childhood as a sharecropper's daughter on the farmland of William Franklin Graham Sr., father of Reverend Billy Graham. She addresses family life and children's leisure activities during the 1920s. She also talks about race relations in Charlotte from the 1920s to the 1990s, including social relationships on the farm, segregation in schools and public accommodations, and integration of restaurants and her workplace in the 1960s. She recounts her career, including being the first Black woman to graduate from the Presbyterian Hospital nursing program, and reflects on the changes she's seen in the healthcare industry. Other topics include religion in the South and its role in family life, her personal relationship with Billy Graham, his career, and her participation in Dr. Graham's crusades.
