Oral Histories
The project includes oral histories conducted by the African American community of Texas City. Moore Memorial Public Library has conducted and curated these interviews with an OHMS (Oral History Metadata Synchronizer) enabling the user to not only listen to the oral history, but follow along with a transcript. Some oral histories include a map location of where a person lived in Texas City. This is an evolving exhibit with additional features to be added over the coming year. These oral histories are preserved at the Moore Memorial Public Library and made available online.
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Beatrice Clabon & Curtis Mayes
Beatrice Mayes Clabon and her brother Curtis Mayes are long standing residents of Texas City. As with all African American families at this time, they lived… -
Betty Adams Jones
Betty Adams Jones talks about her home in Texas City, her family, and being an only child, (though she had two stepsisters.) She discusses what it was like to… -
Mary Parker
Mary Parker talks about her childhood and being one of the three largest families in Texas City. She tells how her father was a World War I veteran and much… -
Martha Payne Darden
Martha Payne Darden discusses how she and her six siblings were born and raised in a segregated neighborhood south of Texas Avenue in Texas City. Darden talks… -
Bernia Hall
Bernia Hall talks about moving to La Marque (West Texas City) in 1952 with her family. She talks about her parents, childhood, and having twin sisters. She… -
Lee R. Gordon
Lee R. Gordon talks about being descended from a family of sharecroppers and why they moved to Texas City in 1946. He describes his neighborhood, parents,… -
Rear Admiral Osie V. Combs, (Ret.…
Rear Admiral Osie V. Combs (Ret. USN) talks about his siblings, parents, extended family and growing up in a neighborhood within a ten-block radius south of… -
Dr. Lynn Ray Ellison
Dr. Lynn Ray Ellison shares how he grew up in Texas City with six brothers and two sisters. He talks about the economy and how people migrated to Texas City for… -
Daisy Belle Buster
Daisy Buster talks about growing up in a family with seventeen children, her community, and attending Booker T. Washington School. She talks about visiting her… -
Reverend D.N. Benford
Reverend D.N. Benford officially recognized as “the longest-serving pastor of a single church" by the Guinness Book of World Records, shares insight into his 72… -
Thelma Smith Bowie
Thelma Smith Bowie, Commissioner-at-Large for Texas City, Texas, describes moving from Temple, Texas to Texas City - La Marque, in 1957, and how living at 122… -
Vera Bell Gary (Pt. 1) - February…
Vera Bell Gary grew up in the West Texas City / La Marque area in an area known as the 1867 Settlement and is 96 years old at the time of this interview. She… -
Interview with Vera Bell Gary (Part…
Vera Bell Gary talks about graduating Prairie View A & M University with a degree in Home Economics in 1946. She tells how blessed she felt that her first job…
Beatrice Clabon & Curtis Mayes
Beatrice Mayes Clabon and her brother Curtis Mayes are long standing residents of Texas City. As with all African American families at this time, they lived…
Betty Adams Jones
Betty Adams Jones talks about her home in Texas City, her family, and being an only child, (though she had two stepsisters.) She discusses what it was like to…
Mary Parker
Mary Parker talks about her childhood and being one of the three largest families in Texas City. She tells how her father was a World War I veteran and much…
Martha Payne Darden
Martha Payne Darden discusses how she and her six siblings were born and raised in a segregated neighborhood south of Texas Avenue in Texas City. Darden talks…
Bernia Hall
Bernia Hall talks about moving to La Marque (West Texas City) in 1952 with her family. She talks about her parents, childhood, and having twin sisters. She…
Lee R. Gordon
Lee R. Gordon talks about being descended from a family of sharecroppers and why they moved to Texas City in 1946. He describes his neighborhood, parents,…
Rear Admiral Osie V. Combs, (Ret.…
Rear Admiral Osie V. Combs (Ret. USN) talks about his siblings, parents, extended family and growing up in a neighborhood within a ten-block radius south of…
Dr. Lynn Ray Ellison
Dr. Lynn Ray Ellison shares how he grew up in Texas City with six brothers and two sisters. He talks about the economy and how people migrated to Texas City for…
Daisy Belle Buster
Daisy Buster talks about growing up in a family with seventeen children, her community, and attending Booker T. Washington School. She talks about visiting her…
Reverend D.N. Benford
Reverend D.N. Benford officially recognized as “the longest-serving pastor of a single church" by the Guinness Book of World Records, shares insight into his 72…
Thelma Smith Bowie
Thelma Smith Bowie, Commissioner-at-Large for Texas City, Texas, describes moving from Temple, Texas to Texas City - La Marque, in 1957, and how living at 122…
Vera Bell Gary (Pt. 1) - February…
Vera Bell Gary grew up in the West Texas City / La Marque area in an area known as the 1867 Settlement and is 96 years old at the time of this interview. She…
Interview with Vera Bell Gary (Part…
Vera Bell Gary talks about graduating Prairie View A & M University with a degree in Home Economics in 1946. She tells how blessed she felt that her first job…