Alford, Beverly 2022-11-28

In this second interview, Beverly Alford goes into greater detail about her family history and traditions. She begins with telling various medical stories of herself and her parents. She then tells more about historic events she lived through and her personal experiences with: the polio vaccine, cold war anxieties, Sputnik, the JFK assassination, racial tensions in the 1960s, segregation, and the 1970 Lubbock tornado. Throughout this interview she provides anecdotes and life observations of growing up in the mid-twentieth century. She talks about family vacations and trips, as well as her desire to go to space. She speaks more about growing up in oil camps, their accommodations and entertainment options. The interview concludes with discussions of the close relationship she had with her parents and sisters.

General Interview Information

Interviewee Name: Beverly Alford

Additional Parties Recorded:

Date: November 17, 2022

Location: Lubbock, Texas

Interviewer: Elissa Stroman

Length: 03:04:25

Abstract

Introduction and her mother’s medical history; Alford’s father’s heart surgery; her own treatment for leukemia; How she got her leukemia diagnosis; polio; Memories of the Cold War; Other historical world events she remembers witnessing; What she remembers about the JFK assassination; Interest in the space program; Taking flying lessons; the Miami riots and riots in Lubbock; The Lubbock tornado of 1970; Getting ice and water when she was young; Todd Field; Returning to see the camps; details about camp life; Elections and voting in the camps; Entertainment on an oil camp; Being together with her family; Exposure to segregation; Learning more about black peoples’ experiences and viewpoints

Access Information

Original Recording Format: born digital

Recording Format Notes: patrons may listen to a CD copy in our reading room

Transcript: transcript available on dspace <https://hdl.handle.net/10605/373727 >

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