Lewis, Barbara
This interview was recorded on November 7th, 2019 in Tucson, Arizona and it covers the following themes:
b. 1937
Parents and move to Tucson from Texas in 1938. Mother’s beauty shop and father’s work in manufacturing and construction.
Childhood downtown.
Employment opportunities, discrimination, and small black-owned businesses.
The A Mountain Neighborhood in the 1940s. Attending Dunbar. South Park and Sugar Hill neighborhoods.
Recreation. Road trips to Eloy, Casa Grande, and Texas.
Downtown businesses: Ronquillo’s Bakery, Tito Flores’ pharmacy, theaters.
Catholicism and religion. Social organizations, sororities.
Memories of World War II.
Experience at Dunbar School.
Family building their own house.
Tucson High experience.
Relationship to the Civil Rights movement. California versus Tucson.
Pre-medical classes at UA, dropping out, moving to Los Angeles in 1961.