Oral history interview with Alice Parham and Vera Rhiney, 1999

Biographical Note

Alice Marie Parham is a native of Bolivar, Tennessee. Parham moved to Paducah, Kentucky to attend high school and Kentucky State College. Upon graduating from Kentucky State, Parham relocated to Meridian, Mississippi. In 1955, Parham moved again to St. Louis, Missouri. There, she received her Master's of Education in 1960 from Washington University and became an elementary school teacher. Parham was active in St. Louis CORE from 1958 until 1963 and participated in demonstrations in Miami with the National CORE conference in 1960. Vera Williams Rhiney was raised in St. Louis, Missouri, as the daughter of a minister. She attended Saint Louis University, from which she received her Master's degree in 1955. Rhiney initiated an impromptu sit-in with Alice Parham in 1958 before joining CORE. She was an active CORE participant until 1963. She worked in government finances at local, state, and federal levels until her retirement in the 1980s

Scope and Contents

Parnham describes the segregation in her hometown of Bolivar, Tennessee, and the events which led her to live with an uncle in Paducah, Kentucky for high school and college. She compares race relations in Bolivar, Paducah, and Meridian, Mississippi, her third place of residence and the site of Emmett Till's murder. Additionally, she gives her first impressions of St. Louis, Missouri. Rhiney describes her upbringing in St. Louis as well, from her childhood to her education at Saint Louis University. Rhiney recalls the events of her and Parham's first demonstration, an impromptu sit-in at Famous-Barr in downtown St. Louis in 1958. Rhiney describes early CORE meetings and names Miriam and Charlie (Charles) Oldham as leaders. Together, Rhiney and Parham explain CORE methods and list the commercial targets of the group. They also discuss day trips to Little Rock, Arkansas, and Sikeston, Missouri, in which integrated groups traveled by Greyhound bus. Next, Parham describes the National CORE Conference in Miami in 1960 and the associated action at Shell's Super Store. She recalls a Baptist preacher's mid-sermon rejection of the integrated group during one of their visits to Miami's segregated churches. Rhiney and Parham speak about ethnic and racial hatred, and about the challenges they faced in their careers as Black women. Rhiney outlines her experience working for local and federal agencies. Finally, Parham and Rhiney explain why they left St. Louis CORE with the 1963 Jefferson Bank Demonstration. They detail CORE meetings and the organization's coverage in local press before analyzing the significance of St. Louis CORE and Jim Farmer's leadership on the national level. The two women conclude with remarks on their experiences with Martin Luther King, Jr.

Subjects

• Civil rights demonstrations--Missouri--Saint Louis.
• Civil rights movements--United States--History--20th century.
• Congress of Racial Equality.
• Farmer, James, 1920-1999.
• Interviews.
• King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968.
• Michaels, Sheila, 1939-2017, interviewer.
• Oral histories.
• Parham, Alice--Interviews.
• Rhiney, Vera, interviewee.
• Rhiney, Vera--Interviews.
• St. Louis Committee of Racial Equality.
• United States--Race relations--History--20th century.