Oral history interview with Gretchen Lockett, 1999

Biographical Note

Gretchen Lockett was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. Her mother was from Mississippi and her stepfather from Arkansas. Lockett's maternal grandfather was active in the Mississippi NAACP. She attended school in St. Louis, and was one of the Black students who integrated Soldan High School, a predominantly Jewish school. Lockett earned her undergraduate degree from Harris-Stowe Teachers College (now Harriet-Stowe State University). Professionally, Lockett has been an elementary and secondary education teacher, is published, and has taught and worked in higher education administration. Lockett was formerly married to CORE member Winston Lockett, and they have one child

Scope and Contents

In this interview with Sheila B. Michaels, Gretchen Lockett reminisces about her family and early life, her involvement in the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and the civil rights campaigns she worked on. Lockett's earliest memories are of sit-ins occurring in St. Louis prior to the Greensboro sit-ins in 1960. She describes the locations in Woolworth's and Kresge where Blacks were allowed to eat, separate from whites. Lockett recalls St. Louis segregation, integrating Soldan High School, and the measures taken to ensure Black and white students would not mix in the school's locker rooms or swimming pool. Lockett describes watching coverage of the 1963 March on Washington as her impetus for becoming involved in the civil rights movement. She worked as a teacher after finishing Harris-Stowe College, participated in St. Louis protests and pickets, and was active with CORE while working as a teacher. Lockett left St. Louis in 1964 to work with CORE in Meridian, Mississippi; Chicago, Illinois; and Knoxville, Tennessee. Lockett notes characteristics and demographics of participants

Subjects

• Civil rights demonstrations--United States.
• Civil rights movements--United States--History--20th century.
• Congress of Racial Equality.
• Interviews.
• Lockett, Gretchen--Interviews.
• Michaels, Sheila, 1939-2017, interviewer.
• Oral histories.
• School integration--Missouri--St. Louis.
• St. Louis Committee of Racial Equality.
• United States--Race relations--History--20th century.