Interview withThelma Walton

In this interview, Thelma Walton talks about life Alabama during segregation. Walton recalls being on segregated buses and restaurants and department stores. She says it didn't bother her then: because I was young and didn't know no better. She says she understands now and sees it differently. Walton talks about registering to vote. She didn't have to answer any difficult or strange questions; she did have to show up with a white person to vouch for her and help her make sense of the paperwork. She also recalls vagrancy laws, that blacks couldn't be outside after a certain time of night or they would be taken home by the police. She describes seeing the Ku Klux Klan march and says she was afraid of them. She remembers seeing Civil Rights marches, too, but did not participate in them. Walton talks about the various recreational possibilities in the city, including music and dancing, drinking bootleg whiskey, and attending baseball games. Walton also discusses her church at length