http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/1814678099

Ottrus Chatman oral history interview

Mrs. Ottrus Chatman began teaching as a substitute teacher at Simmons High School at Montgomery, WV. She gives us detailed information about her family throughout the interview, including her marriages and husbands and one husband's death, her relationship with her mother, the Burke-Wheeler Family Reunion (Burke was her maiden name and the reunion took place in Washington, D.C.), and information about her relationship with one of her husbands (including their history and how they met). She tells us about childhood social activities and Christmas, and also discusses her education in detail, including her decision to go to college. She attended Simmons High School in Montgomery (WV), West Virginia State College, and graduate school at Ohio State University. She was a member of the Delta's sorority (Delta Sigma Theta?) and the Pyramid Club. She discusses getting her job at Simmons (High School?) and her teaching job at Aracoma High School, which lasted 17 years. Other education-related topics are her teaching methods, details about her experiences teaching, teachers she knew, her students, and changes she sees in modern teachers. Some other topics in this interview are: World War II; organizations she belongs to; church and religion (she was a Baptist); her friends (including white friends); a brief section on women's rights; thoughts and regrets about her life in general; the death of a friend and other friends she had; changes she sees in modern family life; her self-perceptions; managing a funeral home; racial integration in general; as well as other subjects. The interview ends with more information about organizations she belonged to and her family.

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