The HistoryMakers® Video Oral History Interview with Serena Strother Wilson



Overview of the Item

Repository: The HistoryMakers
1900 S. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60616
(312) 674-1900
info@thehistorymakers.com
http://www.thehistorymakers.com
Interviewer: Reginnia Williams
Videographer: Matthew Hickey
Title:Video Oral History Interview with Serena Strother Wilson
Dates:May 16, 2005
Abstract: (ABSTRACT)
Quantity: 5 Betacam SP videocassettes, 1 half-Hollinger box containing (NUMBER) folders of accompanying materials.
Identification: A2005.066
Language: The interviews and records are in English

Biographical Note

African American griot, master-quilter, educator and entrepreneur Serena Strother Wilson was born in Edgefield, South Carolina in March 18, 1934. Growing up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Williamson, West Virginia. Wilson attended West Virginia State College from 1952 to 1955 and earned her B.S. degree in elementary education from Bluefield State College in 1968. She went on to earn her M.A. degree in psychology and guidance in 1973. Wilson taught at the elementary, middle, and high school levels in Columbus, Ohio and in Heidelberg and Berlin, Germany and also tutored special education students in Oklahoma, Virginia, Heidelberg and Berlin, Germany. She retired from the Columbus Board of Education as a consultant and teacher supervisor with the Department of Special Education in 2000.

As a child, Wilson learned the basics of quilting, a family specialty. She also learned about the "code" hidden in the patterns of the quilt blocks that had been handed down to five generations of her family from Wilson's great grandmother, Eliza Farrrow, to her grandmother, Nora Bell McDaniel, to her mother, Mary Eva McDaniel and her aunts Ozella and Katherine, and then to her. She passed the knowledge on to her daughters Teresa Wilson-Kemp and Maria Denese Wilson and to her grandchildren. After mastering the art of quilting, she made these works of fiber art available to people in South Carolina, Ohio and communities across the country. Wilson and her daughter, Teresa R. Kemp, founded and run the McDaniel Secret Quilt Code Museum Exhibit, a program designed to increase public awareness of quilting and its place in African American history. The history of the family's quilting traditions is the subject of Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad, a book by Jacqueline L. Tobin and Dr. Raymond G. Dobard.

Serena Strother Wilson is married to Colonel Howard Wilson, a retired army veteran. The couple resides in Columbus, Ohio.

Biographical Note by The HistoryMakers®

Scope and Contents

This life oral history interview with Serena Strother Wilson was conducted by Reginnia Williams on 2005-05-16 in Columbus, Ohio and is recorded on 5 30-minute Betacam SP videocassettes. Access copies exist on Betacam SP, VHS, DVD and MPEG-1. The interview contains information on (COMPLETE ONE SENTENCE DESCRIPTION OF INTERVIEW). Accompanying materials in the collection include Serena Strother Wilson's correspondence with The HistoryMakers® related to the interview; a copy of the signed release form and the production report; the biographical information used by the interviewer to prepare for the interview (DETAILS); paper copies of the interview transcripts, 3 1/2" floppy disks with electronic copies of the transcripts; selected quotes for video clips; photocopies of photographs captured on video; XML files with metadata created in editing and cataloguing the interview for The HistoryMakers Digital Video Library; and paper copies of these XML files.

Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Access to paper records is restricted. Other restrictions may be applied on a case-by-case basis.

Restrictions on Use

All use of materials must be pre-approved by The HistoryMakers® and appropriate credit must be given. All use credits must be pre-approved by The HistoryMakers®. Copyright is held by The HistoryMakers®.

Index Terms

This record series is indexed under the following controlled access terms.
Contributors:
Hickey, Matthew
Williams, Reginnia
Wilson, Serena Strother, 1934-
Persons:
(PERSONS)
Corporate Bodies:
(CORPORATE BODIES)
Family Names:
Wilson
Places:
(PLACES)
Subjects:
(SUBJECTS)
Document Types:
Video oral history interview
Titles:
The HistoryMakers® Video Oral History Interview with Serena Strother Wilson

Related Material

Accompanying materials: Accompanying materials are filed in (NUMBER) folders in a half-Hollinger box and shelved at The HistoryMakers® Archives and Collection Library by accession number, separately from the videos.

Administrative Information

Location of Originals

Betacam, VHS, DVD and MPEG-1 access copies are held for in-house use at The HistoryMakers®; Betacam SP, VHS and DVD playback hardware is provided for in-house viewing of the access copies; MPEG-1 copies are searchable and viewable via a digital video database.

Preferred Citation

The HistoryMakers® Video Oral History Interview with Serena Strother Wilson, May 16, 2005. The HistoryMakers® African American Video Oral History Collection, 1900 S. Michigan Avenue Chicago, Illinois.

Detailed Description/Tape Listings

Video Oral History Interview with Serena Strother Wilson, Tape 1, March 16, 2005, TRT: 00:29:13.

Quilter and historian Serena Strother Wilson discusses her well-researched family history in Georgia and South Carolina and shares some early memories of her father, a white Southerner who broke miscegenation laws to live with his African American wife and children. Wilson also shares stories about her mother's background and personality.


Video Oral History Interview with Serena Strother Wilson, Tape 2, March 16, 2005, TRT: 00:29:53.

Quilter and historian Serena Strother Wilson shares memories of growing up in a bi-racial family in Edgefield, South Carolina during the 1930s and 1940s. She then discusses her own family history and race relations in Edgefield County, South Carolina from Reconstruction through the early decades of the twentieth century. Wilson also recalls being influenced by her grandmother's quilting and shares memories of her siblings and cousins.


Video Oral History Interview with Serena Strother Wilson, Tape 3, March 16, 2005, TRT: 00:28:50.

Quilter and historian Serena Strother Wilson talks about her family's homes and traditions in rural South Carolina, including quilting and other crafts, food storage, and types of work traditionally done by men and women. Wilson also describes her childhood house and surroundings. She briefly recalls the schools she attended in Philadelphia and in West Virginia, and then goes on to talk about her own children. Wilson then discusses the different roles that each member of her family took on in day to day life.


Video Oral History Interview with Serena Strother Wilson, Tape 4, May 16, 2005, TRT: 00:29:27.

Quilter and historian Serena Strother Wilson recalls her teenage years in West Virginia and describes her courtship with Harold Wilson, a young U.S. Army cadet whom she met and married at West Virginia State College. Wilson talks about their family's travels during her husband's career as an Army officer. She discusses her own studies and work in the field of special education; she taught in Columbus, Ohio and in Germany where her husband was stationed for several years. Finally, Wilson mentions her renewed interest in quilting, which she had originally learned from her grandmother as a child in South Carolina.


Video Oral History Interview with Serena Strother Wilson, Tape 5, May 16, 2005, TRT: 00:29:35.

Quilter and historian Serena Strother Wilson talks about renewing her interest in quilting, opening a quilt shop in Columbus, Ohio and making quilts for family members. She discusses having found African symbolism in American quilt patterns and talks about double-meanings in lyrics of spirituals. Wilson also shares thoughts on her legacy, her recommendations for youth, and the importance of recording black history.