Oral History Interview with Caroline Taylor Crocker

Caroline Taylor Crocker, a woman of mixed African American and white ancestry born around 1902, recalls growing up in Anacostia until her marriage in 1924. Topics include her ancestry and schooling at Birney Elementary School. She recalls growing up with her brother, Pierre McKinley Taylor, in the Frederick Douglass Home where her parents (John W. Taylor and Gertrude Burleigh) maintained the property and attended Campbell AME Church every Sunday. Throughout the interview, Crocker talks about prominent community members, including Lucille and John Henry Dale Jr., George and Susie Cooke, and Gladys Wilkerson and her family. Crocker describes her work at Western Union and the difficulty of being a mixed woman in a predominately white job. She also touches on her father having trouble getting work as a laborer with no union. Crocker ends the interview commenting on the absence of racial tension when she was growing up but in contrast to escalating tension in recent years about the Urban League's work with the League regarding segregation and discrimination, and about her own struggles with her race. Caroline Taylor Crocker was interviewed by John Bradshaw on December 30. 1970. Digital audio files include white noise and static; interviewee can be heard clearly for most parts.