Bernia Hall

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 describes her early life as busy with studies, chores and taking care of her sisters, especially Sandra, who had polio. She tells about her family’s economic circumstances and how her father’s position as a longshoreman was affected by union strikes. Hall learns to cook at a young age and her family utilized her father’s large garden to feed everyone in hard times. She tells how parents passed away when she was a teenager, and how her aunt, Maybelle Polk, came from El Campo to care for her and her sisters. Hall talks about her thriving neighborhood and how most people owned their own home. Hall talks about joining the Rising Star Baptist Church and the strong influence of Reverend D. N. Benford. She talks about the teachers that

influenced her, especially her English teacher, Martha Ann Henry. She talks about how her family stressed the importance of education. Hall describes Lottie’s Teenie Weenie, a popular teenage hang-out. She talks about her thoughts on crime at the time, and her personal experience with it. Hall talks about the damage done by Hurricane Carla in 1961. She tells about the integration of schools and how before integration they never had new books. Hall talks about the civil rights movement and leaders in the community, such as Claude Murphy, Wayne Johnson, Robert Hoskins, and Roosevelt Henderson. She talks about attending North Texas University for a degree in Business and the difficulty she faced as a Black woman in business.

2022-07-19

video

2022OH_AAE005

Theresa Mayfield

Bernia Hall