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Phyllis Griffin interview transcript, December 21, 2004
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PG: It's different. They'd never touched African American hair, most of them. And uh, they wanted to know what it felt like, um, but no one was willing to say it out loud, right? But she knew, and uh, she wore her hair in an Afro. And most of the comments were, upon touching her hair, "oh it's so soft, so soft!" NL: So this would be to white students? PG: uh huh NL: So to what do you attribute this sudden attention that was given to your mothers activism? PG: I haven't the slightest idea. I mean I think that, maybe it was slow building. I mean the Iowa Hall of Fame had inducted her. Um, the Iowa women's Hall of Fame had inducted her first, and then the Iowa Hall of Fame inducted her. The people who owned the building where the Katz Drug Store, uh, sat, decided to name the building after her and put a plaque on the wall. NL: I just, I saw that on Thursday in Des Moines and I took pictures of it. PG: Yeah. I thought that was a gracious thing that they did. And my mother was deeply honored by that. That was an incredible day. Also, during that dedication, I remember someone saying to me, "there's the Klu Klux Klan." They were driving by. NL: Wow. PG; Yeah. "Really" "Yeah." NL: So would you say the climate in Des Moines had to change before such recognition was possible? PG: Yes. I think people had to be more aware. Can you pause for just a second? [Breaking Line] NL: Speaking of ["cats" crossed out and replaced with "Katz"], of all her activism, your mother is most well known for the, the Katz case, at least that's what I've discovered in my research. But I've also discovered that she has a whole, very long continuous history of activism, um, continuing with founding a chapter of CORE, leading people to the march on Washington, um, joining with some women's rights groups, joining Shirley Chilsom's campaign for president. So, of all her activism, what do you think your mother would have been most proud of? PG: (pause to think) I think at this point in time, perhaps the way in which she educated her children. Um, perhaps from um, in the year of her death she was very, very proud of the children in Iowa that she had interacted with. She really loved to teach young children about self-esteem. That even comes before learning. She's proud of Mary Campos. She was proud of Evelyn Davis.
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PG: It's different. They'd never touched African American hair, most of them. And uh, they wanted to know what it felt like, um, but no one was willing to say it out loud, right? But she knew, and uh, she wore her hair in an Afro. And most of the comments were, upon touching her hair, "oh it's so soft, so soft!" NL: So this would be to white students? PG: uh huh NL: So to what do you attribute this sudden attention that was given to your mothers activism? PG: I haven't the slightest idea. I mean I think that, maybe it was slow building. I mean the Iowa Hall of Fame had inducted her. Um, the Iowa women's Hall of Fame had inducted her first, and then the Iowa Hall of Fame inducted her. The people who owned the building where the Katz Drug Store, uh, sat, decided to name the building after her and put a plaque on the wall. NL: I just, I saw that on Thursday in Des Moines and I took pictures of it. PG: Yeah. I thought that was a gracious thing that they did. And my mother was deeply honored by that. That was an incredible day. Also, during that dedication, I remember someone saying to me, "there's the Klu Klux Klan." They were driving by. NL: Wow. PG; Yeah. "Really" "Yeah." NL: So would you say the climate in Des Moines had to change before such recognition was possible? PG: Yes. I think people had to be more aware. Can you pause for just a second? [Breaking Line] NL: Speaking of ["cats" crossed out and replaced with "Katz"], of all her activism, your mother is most well known for the, the Katz case, at least that's what I've discovered in my research. But I've also discovered that she has a whole, very long continuous history of activism, um, continuing with founding a chapter of CORE, leading people to the march on Washington, um, joining with some women's rights groups, joining Shirley Chilsom's campaign for president. So, of all her activism, what do you think your mother would have been most proud of? PG: (pause to think) I think at this point in time, perhaps the way in which she educated her children. Um, perhaps from um, in the year of her death she was very, very proud of the children in Iowa that she had interacted with. She really loved to teach young children about self-esteem. That even comes before learning. She's proud of Mary Campos. She was proud of Evelyn Davis.
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