Oral history interview with Evelyn Gammon, 1999

Biographical Note

Evelyn Gammon was born in St. Louis, Missouri. She was raised in racially-conscious family. She attended DeAndreis High School. She first got involved with CORE in 1963 at the age of seventeen years after being introduced to the organization by her neighbor, Loretta Hall. She was hired as the first Black telephone operator at Southwestern Bell Telephone Company at eighteen years of age. Gammon held many different positions within the company over the thirty years she worked there

Scope and Contents

In this interview, Evelyn Gammon discusses her involvement with the St. Louis, Missouri chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). She describes the Jefferson Bank demonstrations of 1963. She speaks at length about her experience being the first Black telephone operator at Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. She delves into the inner workings of St. Louis CORE, and describes different conflicts and schisms within the organization

Subjects

• Civil rights demonstrations--Missouri--Saint Louis.
• Civil rights movements--United States--History--20th century.
• Gammon, Evelyn--Interviews.
• Interviews.
• Michaels, Sheila, 1939-2017, interviewer.
• Oral histories.
• Southwestern Bell Telephone Company.
• St. Louis Committee of Racial Equality.
• Telecommunication--Employees
• United States--Race relations--History--20th century.