Bobby Trumbo
Jeff Shenton (JS): An interview of Mr. Robert Trumbo first I would like each of the interviewers to introduce themselves give their name their age their year at Centre College and where you are from.
Matthew Seran (MS): My name is Matthew Seran, I'm a freshman at Centre. I'm from Louisville, Kentucky and I'm currently in Louisville, Kentucky.
Bo Bush (BB): I am Bo Bush, I am a freshman at Centre, I’m 18, and I’m from Louisville, Kentucky.
Bob Trumbo (BT): My name is Bob Trumbo and I currently reside here in Danville, Kentucky and I am a fallen school teacher and I taught school for 33 years at Danville High School that's my alma mater also and I've lived here all of my life. I’m 71.
PS: This recording is taking place on January 21st 2021. The interview is conducted by telephone and recorded over a zoom call. This interview is scheduled to last approximately one hour give or take a little bit and the interview will consist of an oral history that covers Mr Trumbo's life and career focusing on his experiences in Danville and in Boyle County and especially on the urban renewal projects In Danville as well as its effects on the local community. And now we will begin the interview.
MS: Mr. Trumbo How are you feeling today? BT: I'm doing fine thank you
MS: When did you retire at Danville High School, or do you still work there.
BT: No no no no I retired in, oh I think it was 2004. I was there for 33 years, I’ll just put it that way, i taught there for 33 years.
MS: Was it a good 33 years? Did you enjoy it? BT: Yes, yes definitely.
MS: I just wanted to ask you what personal experiences did you have as a teacher in Danville? What did you really enjoy about the job?
BT: I enjoyed working with students, enjoyed being back home in a sense, because that where I graduated from. And just enjoyed the people i knew there, we all got along well.
MS: So going back there and teaching was almost nostalgic of your own days at Danville High?
BT: Yes it brought back lots of memories.
MS: In what ways do you think that your experience at Danville High School was different to the kids you taught?
BT: My high school experience was a little bit different because that was the time of integration and uh, I didn't have any bad experiences as far as being a student there. I had a few experiences but nothing that created a problem for me.
MS: So you mentioned integration, was that first when you entered high school, or did it happen your whole high school career, or could you give a timeline of when it all happened.
BT: Okay, Integration in Danville happened in 1964 and i was a sophomore in high school, when this all actually occurred. I went to an all black school up until the 10th grade. No, the end of 9th grade. I got to get my dates together. But it was the end of my freshman year, i finished freshman year at the all black school, then went to Danville High School, and it was a brand new school after we started to integrate.
MS: How different was it going from like an all black school to an integrated school, how do you think it made you?
BT: It was a little bit different, but it didn’t bother me as much as it bothered other students. It just didn’t bother me as much as others seemed. We always felt like we were not wanted at the new High School, but we were there, and there wasn’t no turning back.
MS: What were are the concerns of your other classmates, Coming from an all-black school where were some of the areas where they didn't like about you.
BT: Well I would say that they didn't feel wanted, They didn't feel like they were wanted to be at the school, and that was the key. Some of the teachers had never taught black kids before, and now being thrust into a classroom, with a teacher of that mentality, it was different. There was a few little problems.
MS: Yeah I understand, for them it must have been like culture shock.
BT: Uh, it was definitely. That’s the term, culture shock, yes.
MS: Outside of school, after the integration period, do you think that there was an evident shift in the way people were acting?
BT: Now, are you talking about neighborhoods, are you going in that direction now?
MS: Yeah, in terms of neighborhood, did anything change?
BT: Now, I was living in an African-American neighborhood the whole time I was in high school. There was not a lot of movement outside of your African American neighborhoods, there was not. Just because your integrated it was not, well movement didnt occur until people started moving into new neighborhoods.
MS: You said that people started moving into new neighborhoods, was this a byproduct of urban renewal, or was it simply people moving out to different areas in Kentucky.
BT: Well, It was a little bit of both but more so urban renewal.
MS: Ah, interesting. How do you think that effected your community as a whole, and how did people react, how did they feel at the time?
BT: Okay I think that this is just my opinion, but I think that urban renewal, the idea of urban renewal it was a great idea. Supposedly to take the blight out of danville, if we had any. Not just in black neighborhoods. But, i think the terms kind of left after a while. To me, it was more so that urban renewal was to get rid of all the black businesses and black … and things of that nature. It looked like it was doing a great job, but in reality it was taking our neighborhoods in a sense.
MS: So from my point of view it seems that you were saying it was a great concept but you think that they wanted to fill a different agenda?
BT: Thank you. Thank you. Yes.
BB: Mr. Trumbo this is Bo now. So before we get super in-depth with the urban renewal, I wanted to quickly go over kind of your personal history. So what was your childhood like, your childhood family, your neighborhood, your small knit Community all in high school and out of high school?
BT: Okay starting out with my neighborhood as far as growing up it was all black it was an all-black neighborhood. Everyone knew everyone and everyone took care of everyone. Every child was every adults child whether they were the original Parent or not. It was community of love it was a community of togetherness it was a community of just being a part of something and no one was complaining because most people had their own property or rented their own property and they all kept the property up to date. It wasn't a blight like everyone thinks that urban renewal came in and took care of the blight. It wasn't anything like that. Because there was black streets and areas that were beautiful and had nice homes and people took care of their properties. This wasn't a blighted situation it was nothing to be embarrassed of. I don't know why I urban renewal did what it did because it took away from us. It didn't take away from the white Community, it took away from the black community.
BB: So where would you say in town where are you might go as a popular spot to hang out with your friends?
BT: Okay I would say growing up we would hang out around the school, we would hang out there we would go to, what's it called, a ballpark where this is a black Community thing were there were ball games every Saturday and Sunday and all the black people would go to the ballpark and this was a big thing everything was really segregated here in Danville. Most of the things were segregated because you had your black businesses up on 2nd Street which is now Constitution Square. All of that was supposed to have been refurbished and you know it would be really first class with the restaurants and businesses that were on 2nd Street But they were torn down and supposed to be reestablished. And then up on 2nd Street Constitution Square took over and I think this was the concept in the beginning. To remove all the black businesses in this area and then make it into a Park, Constitution Square Park. We were not really aware of what was happening as far as the black community was concerned because we were told that our businesses would be re-established and that they were just renovating it but it was tearing down and we did not realize that until too late.
BB: That's what I find interesting is I kind of wondered when we did some research on 2nd Street in class and I was kind of wondering to myself I wonder if anybody realized what was actually happening. So do you think that anyone realized it?
BT: I think that there were probably some that were sort of apprehensive about it. Some of the black leaders were a little bit comprehensive but they were short that we're just taking out the blight and your businesses and things well they will be back. Only thing that was happening there was to demolish all aspects of black history on 2nd Street. We did not realize what that goal was until it was too late because they had already started demolishing our businesses and established areas like lawyers offices and such. 2nd Street downtown was the Hub of the black community in Danville. We had restaurants and I mean they weren't your big first class type of restaurants but they were good and a lot of people would go to. They were kept up nice and we had doctors offices in pool rooms as well. Murrieta florist we had a funeral home and things that were located in this area of Danville were considered the blight of Danville I guess for the white people. This was supposed to be that we were going to renovate and restore and that was a concept that we were given. but this never did occur the only thing that was left there was the churches. The churches were the only thing that were left. we had three churches that were left in town and that was the only thing that were left. The homes were gone and some of those people had that nice homes on Walnut Street, 2nd Street, Main Street, they had nice things of this nature and all of them were taken away. And quite naturally they had to do something to make it seem as if they were doing what they said like rebuilding a few nice homes on Walnut Street. They did have to build a few homes on Walnut Street. I had to say nice modern homes but that it was nothing like it was on Green Street or some of the other areas. It just did not turn out like we thought it was going to turn out. But what could we do? We could do nothing because we had already signed off for urban renewal to come through and do this supposedly guaranteeing but everything will be re-established and some of the things were not re-established. Well, most of them weren't.
BB: Back to your high school days and maybe even after, did you have a job in High School and how did you get into teaching?
BT: My high school days were very very good both at the black school and the white school. Integration did not bother me like it probably bothered some of the others. There are a lot of things that were not correct for one thing, they did not want us on the street or the new white high school was built. We knew that they did not want it. the only time you saw black people on that street was when they were going to work in the white homes. and now you're going to have a lot of black kids ripping and running up to the new high school along with the white kids, they didn't enjoy that at all they did not turn on the old black high school yet. It was a good high school, we had good teachers, we had soon someone off to college, all things from an all black high school. A lot of people did not want us to integrate but we've integrated like I said integration didn't bother me as much as it did with the others because I was a good student at the black school and the white school. Now, there was some things that happened at the white school but it wasn't horrible.
BB: When did you get into teaching, did you know you always wanted to be a teacher?
BT: No, I had some other plans but I had to change them because well, I always kind of felt like I could have been a teacher, because I was leader. I've always been a leader. I was definitely one of the leaders in my church and so I was always the one to be sent out to integrate for the whole Community integrated. I always had leadership roles not that I was the leader but I would always have some of those rolls that black people were part of in the beginning.
MS: I'm curious as to know, not to get too personal, but some of the instances that happened at the new high school that you mentioned. It seems like not having a community that was welcomed and they were kind of set up to fail the way that you described it. Could you go into detail about that?
BT: Well, some students just failed. Some students could not take the pressures of being integrated they just couldn't do it. To me my brother started out at the high school before we actually integrated and he was one of the I guess you call guinea pigs that went to a white school just to test out the waters and he did okay. So it was my turn to do something once we integrated. A lot of the buckets had the same problems I just didn't. It was mostly to do with academics some people couldn't keep up with the school work but I could. I just was not intimidated as some of the black people were. We lost a lot of good black kids that were probably a little more intimidated that I was and a lot of the black kids dropped out of school before graduation. They probably would have graduated from the all-black School.
MS: You say that your fellow classmates seemed to get intimidated, do you think the pressure of a lot of the white kids not wanting them there or do you think that there was a lot of verbal altercations or abuse for lack of better words?
BT: Yes, some of our teachers had a little prejudice in them too, and you could tell it was very easily noticed that they did not want us there. They had no other choice than to accept us, and some of them did not want us to mingle with the upper class white kids and there was a whole bunch of things that you had to overcome. That's one of the main things we have to look at, and that we did overcome, there's a lot of us went on and excelled and we broke that image that supposedly a lot of them had against us because we could learn. I think a bunch of the teachers thought that we just couldn't learn. They were used to the old system and now they have to have pockets in their classes, it was a really rough time for us and we lost a lot of good black kids that dropped out of school because of intimidation. Or I'm sorry they were not going to be intimidated so they left.
RB: What were these kids that dropped out like, did a lot stay in Danville or did a lot of them move away?
BT: Well some of them moved away but most of them stayed here. Some got good jobs and some didn't. You just saw kids that probably would have graduated from the old black school that did not make it to the white school. You saw that and you saw that it just did something to the black kids. Now for me, integration didn't bother me that much. Now, I always had a mouth and if anybody ever got smart with me, white, black or anybody, I always had something to say and if I got knocked out I always got up and it didn't stop me from speaking my piece if I had to. I even told the teacher off one time because they sent me to the office for no reason. But they just did that to intimidate you these are all ways to intimidate the black kids while they're in school. I'm not saying that the whole situation is bad. Don't get me wrong but there was some good parts and some bad parts. I had some teachers that did not care for me and I knew that.
But they had no other choice than to be in class and I was there. The teachers all felt that the black kids were all behind but why should we not be behind we use all the old books that the white kids get rid of
RB: So I kind of want to fast forward to current time, how do you think that Danville has changed over the course of your life. Either physically or psychologically.
RT: I think we’re much better. We are in a much better position. I’m not saying we have completely changed and everything. I live in a white neighborhood. So that shows, I’m just saying this is a change, this is a change. This same neighborhood I live in today. A black person could not even come out and ride around in the neighborhood, back when these houses were first built. But now I live in a neighborhood that is white and black and they see that the blacks take care of their property as well as the whites take care of theirs. They don’t have no problem with that theirs not a whole lot of socializations even today is not a whole lot of socializations but everyone is cordial in the neighborhood. There are some that are not cordial and they are not gonna speak to you and everything like this, and that’s fine, that’s fine, that is fine. My wife and I have lived here for twenty-some-odd years in this almost white neighborhood and other blacks have moved in but not as many as you would think that have moved in this neighborhood but everyone gets along. Nobody, I haven’t had a bit of a problem except for one of my former students, and now have to tell you this one. One of my former students that I taught was white and lived out in this neighborhood. He asked me “my grandfather asked me to ask you how did you get in out to this neighborhood”. I told him well you tell your grandfather to come and see me and ask me that same question because I have an answer for him. And so he said well I’m a tell what you said and I said please do. Tell your grandfather whatcha said. And he said well my grandfather belongs to the KKK. I said fine he said that he has his outfit up in his closet and he said he’s gonna come by your house and let you see who he is. He can come by my house all he wants to but tell him. Do. Not. Step. On my property. Now he step on my property and he gonna try to intimidate me, he’s gonna be intimidated. And that was one of my former students that I taught that told me his grandfather did not like black people. But his grandfather never did move out the neighborhood. Now what that man was trying to do was to intimidate me and my family well me and my family we not gonna be intimidated. We were not gonna be intimidated no. We lived in our neighborhood for twenty-some-odd years now, it’s fine, it’s fine. Danville is fine really. Centre College was one of the leaders of integration here in Danville, Kentucky. Did you know that?
RB: You, I did not-
RT: Centre College was one of those leaders in early, early integration Centre college led. Some of the professors of Centre College led some black students to go to white barbershops when there was no integration at that point in time. But they picked up the thing, this is why I appreciate Centre College. I really appreciate Centre College. Those people were not fearful of the norm. They weren’t fearful of making changes in this community. They have always supported bla-, what you guys are doing right not, they have always been some that stood out and they didn’t care about the situation and they stood out and wanted to help out however they could. They helped out in the NAACP in the early days of its existence, they helped in other things they helped out in marches when we would have marches and different things for martin Luther king day. Centre College was always representative of these social activities. Centre College hosted, even before integration, Center College hosted several different people who were out defending blacks that were from Danville and they had them at Centre College back when that was a no-no. They sort of took a stance Centre College took a stance I have to admit. They sort of took a stance in this community, of integration and better things for blacks in this community. They have always stood by us and that is something that I have always enjoyed about Centre College and even some of the professors that you may not know, they have been retired for a while but they always made sure whatever was happening black white they made sure that Centre College was apart of it.
RB: That was kind of something that I wanted to get into today because when we were researching the urban renewal in Danville we saw that Centre, I forgot what street it was but Centre got some of that and that was taken. But one of my main questions but overall for the community, did Centre support the black community?
RT: I would say, I would say. At least 50% of Centre did. I would say that Centre was probably the most supportive institution in Danville. Except for the churches and the churches were not always that supportive black churches and white churches did not gel together too well I don’t know why. I think a lot of time there was a fear of the unknown and because most, a lot of the churches. Presbyterian Church on Walnut street down by Centre College. And all of those they were sort of they would allow black people in their churches. But they always made sure to help black family-owned churches since that was their own churches. After slavery and stuff. They were like the first Baptist church that own the bypass I don’t know what it used to mean, in Danville or not the bypass. The church out there was the white first Baptist church, now they allowed blacks to join their church. But now they could only join, they don’t participate. I had no role in the church but they could join the church. First Trinity, lemme see was it that-that Trinity? I can’t remember that church there on main street. That little church right there now would house, blacks could attend that but they would have to sit in what they called the “slaves rows”. That’s where blacks would sit and so you had, you had different things like that that people tried ,in a sense, what they called themselves using their Christian duty and helping people out. But it was a lot of undercurrent things that were going on too. There were a lot of undercurrent things going on. Just like, just like what I was saying getting back to urban renewal. That was not the way urban renewal was supposed to have done here in Danville but when you have powerful leaders who may have been a little bit shady themselves, when you have a lot powerful leaders like that anything could take place and no one was supposed to say anything about it.
RB: Yea
RT: And I think that they thought we were supposed to have been happy with it and what happened on second street is usu- you would think it became Constitution Square Park and that park on second street was all black and that park was all black. And you see there’s not a black business up in that part of second street because that is all constitution square. So I think that would give you a sort of idea of how urban renewal went in Danville, Kentucky.
RB: Yea
RT: Now there was another area in Danville, Kentucky over there by Centre College but it was more so coming towards Roy Arnold Ave where your tennis courts, all that stuff is, right in that area.
RB: Yea I know where that. I actually know where that is. So
RT: You know where that is dontcha’?
RB: Mhmm
RT: Ok, all of that has, all of that happened to be in some black areas that had been taken for some obvious reasons and those homes and things were replaced over in that area. Like where they said we were going to be. That they would be replaced that black homes would be replaced and everything like this. None of that was ever replaced.
RB: Yea, So out of Danville, sorry go ahead
RT: No its just alot, alot of things that have occurred and I can go on on and I know you have a lot of people that you have to go on and talk to about this but these are just some of the things that did occur here in Danville. And schools were first that was the biggest, I guess you call it, integration thing here in Boyle County. Danville and Boyle County were the schools and it was a little hectic, a little hectic but we survived. That’s one thing about black people is and you can put this down that I don’t care if you are white, I’m sorry but you can put this down. Black people are survivors. They, I mean we are survivors. We had to endure a lot of thing s to get where were are today.
MS: This where- I was. Sorry I lost my head for a minute. So with urban renewal you mentioned how you were basically fed a lie. Correct? Basically like they deceived you all as a community and i was wondering at what moment if there was a specific point in time where you looked around and were like ’yea we were lied to’ like was there, at what point did you realize this was not what they promised.
RT: Well, you know as a young person you really didn’t know what was going on because you didn’t see what the adults saw and you saw these changes and you kept wondering why is everything being taken away from black people, why aren’t they putting things back? But then no one really said, the adults didn’t say too much to the children, I’ll put it that way. They felt like it was an adult issue and the adults will take care of it and with children you sort of wondered what was going on and you wasn’t sure but you wanted to sort of snoop like well something’s going on. But as a child you always stayed in a child’s place but you still knew the difference between black and white and we played with whites kids way before integration we would sleigh ride together and we would play basketball and stuff together at Jenny Rogers school we would all gather up there. The parents didn’t like it but we would always gather up there and sometimes you would have fights but it wasn’t fights because of races but you are boys, you know, and girl so you’d just fight. That was just human nature sometimes when you would fight it wasn’t because of color a lot of times, no. And so when you were accustomed to playing with kids like that and your parents worked in white homes, my parents, my mother, she worked in the white homes and I’ll just give you an instance of what she did one time. She had me come help her in this white home and I was to help clean out the attic and I was about 12,13,14 years old something like that and I would help clean out the attic and everything like this because they would turn over the beds every year or something, whatever. And she was the maid, my mother, was the maid in the house and so the white lady said I would like Bobby to do my kitchen floor. My mother said ok we here, he can mop or whatever. She said no I want him to take a toothpick, a-a toothbrush and go between the cracks on my tile floor. My mother said that it’ll be a hot day in hell before my child get on the floor and do something like that and I had to do it but lemme tell one thing Ms. So and so, I quit! And my mother quit her job that day and we walked home and she said you will never, you will never as long as I’m living will have to get down on a floor and take a toothpick and go between the seams on that floor because you will never do that and don’t you ever succumb to something like that, and she told me that before integration even happened. And before my mother and I ever got home the white lady was sitting there at the house crying saying sorry that she thought that was just the way things was and she didn’t know that my mother would feel that way about it and she said I am so sorry, that will never happen again if you will come back and work for me. My mother said I will come back and work for you but my child will never work for you again, will never do nothing for you. It wasn’t too long after that my mother removed herself from that job too. Because my mother was one of those that, now she didn’t take too much. Black mother, you know what I’m talking about, you know exactly what I’m talking about. They wouldn’t take too much now especially when it comes to their child. They were protective, mothers were very very protectives over their children, very protective.
MS: So it seems throughout this evident racism and urban renewal and everything it seems the adults of the community always taught you guys hold your chest high and to be proud of yourself and essentially be proud to be black.
RT: That’s exactly, yes! Yes! Never think of yourself any lesser than what you are, never think of yourself, always pride yourself. They always taught us that, that you pride yourself they taught us that at Bate school the all black school be prideful, always be prideful and even when we went to the white Danville high school they sad be prideful, get in there and show them you can do just as well as they’re doing. A Lot of the white teachers didn't want us in their classes they tried their best to get us out of the classes, you know that was one of those things of integration. When they said integrate they meant integrate. They didn’t integrate the school and then have an all black class. No they meant integration and I had one white teacher that I said I guess I’ll just go back there and sit with all the black people in this classroom. And don’t you know that she told me that you will not sit back there, you’re not gonna sit there, you’re gonna sit in the front, you’re gonna be up here in the front. I never will forget that, that woman didn’t know me from adam’s apple and she said I said now why did you move me up to the front like that, she she said I saw something in you, I saw something in you and I will not let you destroy yourself for whatever in this classroom. I’m not gonna let you that. And I said and I appreciate that woman and I spoke at her funeral and I brought that up. I brought that up and how I appreciated her doing me like that because she didn’t have to do that. She could’ve, you know as somebody heard that from some of the white teachers and stuff. They might’ve made some issue out of that, you know but she said that she told me that I’m not gonna let you sit back there as smart as you are and be destroyed by something like that so you oughta sit right here. And after that I remembered that well and I appreciated that well and I had , don't get me wrong, I had good black teachers too now. I had some good ones, I had some good ones and I had some good white teachers, some very very good white teachers. One man that was the assistant principal of our school he and I are still good friends today and he’s eighty something years old and we are still good friends and he fought for us. He fought for us during the integration path, he fought for us and I never will forget that, never will forget that. But you don’t wanna know all that part what else do you need to ask me.
RB: Well I do, do you mind me asking what the teacher’s name was?
RT: Well I’d rather not
RB: Ok
RT: I’d rather not give the teachers names and um. Yea I’d rather not give the names but I can say that they both were white teachers and they were very very good disco- one is a gentleman and he was very very good to the black students even though- now he had to get on us now don’t get me wrong. He had to do his job but he always would talk to us, he would always make us feel welcome. That this is your school, this is your school too, this your school. He always told us that and I was really surprised that here we are integrating and he’d tell us- I remember going in the back door of restaurants and getting sandwiches and stuff and that was the norm, we thought that was the norm and the whites would go in the front door and the blacks go in- I remember all that, I did that. In Danville, Kentucky. You’d say “Danville?!” Yes Danville. Yes. I worked at a restaurant where blacks didn’t really get to go in the front, they didn’t get to go and I worked there and I was the bus boy and everything, it’s just a lot of things that you remember and I know you want more of the time from of urban renewal but urban renewal just came in and destroyed the black community. It didn’t put no assets to anything in the black community, it just took away from the black community and added four, up in town there are four houses, out of twelve or thirteen houses down on walnut street. I’ll just tell you where it’s at down on walnut street. Those, I think it’s four houses down on walnut street and maybe one or two down at the bottom of oak or something like that. That these houses were taken, black homes were taken form the black people and they bought them these nice little homes but the homes that people had were nicer than the ones that they had built anyway. It was ok, it was ok at least that, that’s the fruit of urban renewal in Danville Kentucky in downtown Danville. And sometimes if you are riding and you have a car with someone, just comedown Walnut Street and you can see it, a doctor’s office across the street on second street. The only thing that is left is first Baptist church up on Second Street. Up in that area of second and walnut. And they didn’t really want us to put that church back there because that was the old church that burned- but we did out the new church right down that corner. So it’s a whole lot, we had shows, we had pictures shows.
Kentucky theatre and another theatre and another theatre going there down towards Centre College and we could not attend any of those white theatres, if we did the only ones we could go to was Kentucky theatre and we had to sit in the balcony. We had to sit up in the balcony and that was the nastiest, the nastiest, filthiest place. They did not, evidently they did not do a lot of cleaning in the balcony but the whites sit down in the lower part, very neat, very clean and everything like this. They would give us, sell us day old popcorn and stuff. The fresh popcorn was always given to the whites and everything like this and we could not get the fresh popcorn a lot of the times. The only time we could get the fresh popcorn was when it was out in both places and they had to give us it, the fresh popcorn. It was a lot of things man it was a lot of things. You people are fortunate, you young people are fortunate to live in a society where, it’s not perfect don’t get me wrong, it’s not perfect there are still some things that can take place but you need to know the past too. You need to know that past and what it was all about because the past is what presents us to the future.
RB: That is why this stuff is so interesting now, obviously we couldn’t see it so kinda have to learn about and it’s so different now.
RT: Right, right and you all will have a past to tell your children. That things are gonna be different when you all had children and they are coming up, you will be able to tell your children some things and then if you take it way back your children would say ‘What?! That happened in America?! Wow’
RB: It is a very interesting kind of time line
JS: So Mr. Trumbo we are right about at an hour into our conversation now which means we could move towards wrapping it up. I was wondering if there was anything you haven’t said that you would like to say as a part of this conversation. To open up to anything that you would like to add as part of the record here.
RT: No, I think that I have covered everything probably covered too much but anyways that’s alright. I’m an old person now so you say what you have to say and but I spoke the truth I did not it anybody, if anybody would talk to you they would say he is probably not lying, he's probably not lying. I could go into some depth about a lot of other things but time will not permit it. TIme will not permit it and I’m glad I was able to go do just this little bit.
RB: Yeah, we appreciate it.
JS: Matthew or Bo do you have any other questions you would like to get in?
RB: I do not
MS: I’m just curious about something you mentioned that there was a lot of white people in the community that supported a lot of you, a lot of the black students, I was curious as to what their reaction was during this era of urban renewal? What the white community essentially felt than the people that were blatantly racist.
RT: Now, I honestly believe the whites thought they were doing the blacks a favor and they were showing that what things that could be done but this wasn’t done for everybody because they even on the green street and the walnut street side as I mentioned earlier there was some beautiful homes that did not have to be torn down. But they wanted them torn down and they bought these houses from these people and they tore those houses down, that were nice homes. And so this is why I say that urban renewal, urban renewal was good in one way and bad in another. I hope that maybe I have given you some enlightening situations that you probably, well you wouldn't have known anything about this part of Danville in the first place because what you knew about Danville was Centre College and Danville was not, it was just a typical college town. It was a nice, Danville is a beautiful little town, it’s a beautiful town setting and it been well taken care of and things like this but it does have a history also. There’s some other areas that I could get into but time will not permit it and I appreciate you asking for my input and if I can be of any assistance any other time or something like this feel free to call me. If you just wanna talk feel free to call me.
JS: Thank you so much for that offer it’s wonderful before I let you go there was one Centre professor that you mentioned during one of your responses and we didn’t catch the name. Could you please, could you say who that was again or maybe spell that
RT: I almost hate to give his name out
JS: Ok
RT: I almost hate to give his name out but I can tell you what you can do. You can ask around some of those people on campus that have been there for a while and some of those professors that have been there for a while and they could let you know who they are.
JS: Ok that’s fair, that sounds good. Alright well I will let you go if that’s alright and I wanna thank you again for all you input here and your answer and the generous use of your time.
RT: Well thank you for inviting me to be a part of this and I hope that I have given you some enlightening situations, you know that enlightens the timeframe and Danville is a good town to live in because whenever there’s a problem we all stick together. Now white and black when there is a problem we always try to stick together.
JS: That's a great note to end on. Thank you so much for your time and we will talk later
RT: Ok bye.
MS: Thank you.
RB: Thank you.