Transcript of Interview with Charles and Pauline Thomas, January
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An Interview with Charles & Pauline Thomas January 23, 2008 Dorchester, Massachusetts Photos from the Keepsake Album of Mr. Joseph Thomas An Interview with Charles & Pauline Thomas January 23, 2008 Dorchester, Massachusetts Charles and Pauline Thomas 2 Northeastern University Lower Roxbury Black History Project INT: So, today is January 23, 2008, and I’m in Dorchester, Massachusetts, and I’m with -- and tell me your name again. PT: Pauline Thomas. INT: And could you spell Pauline? PT: P-A-U-L-I-N-E. INT: And your name? CT: My name is Charles Thomas. INT: And I’m here today with the Lower Roxbury Black History Project as you know. And I guess you’re members of Twelfth Baptist Church. CT: Yes, we are. INT: And when I was speaking to Clara one day on the phone, she said -- oh, you should interview my parents. So, that’s why I’m here. So, I don’t know where you’re from or either one. So, Pauline, do you want to start, and maybe if it’s okay tell me what year you were born. PT: I was born in 1918, and I was born in Virginia in a little country town -- New Kent County. INT: New Kent County? PT: In Virginia. And I came to Boston -- I don’t really remember this from my parents about 1922, I guess, and my mother and father came. And I had a brother that was born here in 1922. INT: Do you know why your parents came here? PT: For better living conditions and working. They lived in the country and on a farm. When he came, some friends of theirs had -- my mother had a sister who had come here, and her husband was working -- he was a longshoreman down on the Charles and Pauline Thomas 3 Northeastern University Lower Roxbury Black History Project Northern Pier. And he came there, and he got my father a job there. I always lived in Lower Roxbury until now. I lived on Kendall Street and Marble Street -- streets that have been (word fades). INT: Do you remember any of those addresses on Kendall Street? PT: Yes, I don’t remember Kendall Street. I think Marble Street was 9. INT: And just for the record -- your mother’s name and a little bit about -- PT: Oh, my mother’s name was Clara, and my maiden name was Walker. And I had a brother James, and he passed. He was young. And I went to the school in Lower Roxbury, the Hyde School, and I went to Practical Arts High School, and I often think of how everybody -- the busing and riding the bus, and I always think that I never walked -- never took a car -- walked from Lower Roxbury up to Greenville Street to the Hyde School. We never took the bus. INT: I’m trying to think if there’s anything else I want to know because I like to sort of get where your parents came from. Oh, and your father’s name? PT: It was James -- James Walker. INT: Do you have any idea of either of your parent’s birthdates or years? PT: I don’t remember my father’s birthday. My mother was born in 1899. INT: And I think that takes care of that. Charles. CT: I’m Charles Thomas. I’m a native of Boston -- born, bred as a kid, married here. My parents -- mother and father also born here. Grandparents were from New Jersey. So, I’ve been a native here all my life. And like I say, I married Pauline, and we have three children. They’re all scattered all around, but we’re in close contact with them almost on a daily, daily basis. And I’ve seen the city change so much, and lots of times we go down to areas in which we used to play and meet in our neighborhood years Charles and Pauline Thomas 4 Northeastern University Lower Roxbury Black History Project and years ago when we were real young and youthful. It’s completely gone now. There’s no buildings left. I shouldn’t say -- no. There are very few buildings that are left that brings back memories when we were young, and we were down in that particular area. As Pauline said, she went to the Hyde School. I also went to the Hyde School because at one time, I lived on Hammond Street. So, it was very easy for me to go from Hammond Street to the school because my father always scolded me because he said I always lived closer to the school than anybody else, and I was always late. But I used to go to the Hyde School, and then from the Hyde School, I went to the Lafayette. From the Lafayette, I went to the Asa Gray. From the Asa Gray, I went to the Sherwin, and from the Sherwin, I went to the Mechanic Arts, and that’s where I graduated. INT: So, if we can go back a bit, you said your grandparents came from New Jersey to Boston. Can you tell me anything about that? CT: My recollection of what I have been told that my grandparents just came here -- grandfather and grandmother. I believe my grandfather when he came here from Jersey, he wasn’t married at the time. But I do believe one of my aunts telling me that he married when he came here and that brought forth (inaudible word: 6:59) grandmother of mine. I remember both of them very, very well, though, very well. INT: Those were your grandparents. Can you tell me their names, or when they were born. CT: My grandfather’s name was Joseph Thomas. And my grandmother’s name was Melissa Thomas. And I have two aunts. Well, I had more than two aunts. I had quite a number of aunts and uncles, but unfortunately most of them died before I was born. So, I only remembered just my father and my two aunts and my grandparents. So, my other aunts and uncles like I said previous, they had all died before I was born. So, I didn’t Charles and Pauline Thomas 5 Northeastern University Lower Roxbury Black History Project know them. But I was very close with my father and with my two aunts. INT: So, your grandfather, and you said he was -- this takes me a little bit working on these family trees. So, you have a grandparent that comes from New Jersey. CT: New Jersey, right. INT: And then he marries someone here -- CT: Here in Boston, correct. INT: So, that would be your great grandmother -- CT: Well, not my great but my grandmother. INT: Your grandmother? CT: Grandmother -- right. INT: And so, do you know when your grandfather -- what year he was born? CT: No. That’s another mystery, although I do have a book that he kept a lot of notes in, but I doubt very much if he listed the year that he was born. But he did leave a lot of notes of things that he has done in his lifetime, and I still have that on record here. I would be more than happy to show it to you if you care to look at it. And then, of course, on my mother’s side, her mother was from England, and she came here, and she married a man up in the West End. And at that time he was a sexton at the Twelfth Baptist Church. His name was Joseph Blake. And my mother’s maiden name was Martha Blake. My grandmother on my mother’s side -- her maiden name was Sara Holland. And she married Joe Blake. And my mother, she had two relatives. She had a brother and a sister. Her brother’s name was Eddie, and her sister’s name was Mamie. Of course, they’ve all died at this particular time. CT: Well, we’ve been happily married for 68 years. And not to be repetitious, but we brought forth three children. They’re all doing very well. We have two grandchildren Charles and Pauline Thomas 6 Northeastern University Lower Roxbury Black History Project and two great grandchildren. So, everybody is doing very well, and we’re pleased at this particular time. INT: So, your father was born here -- yes? CT: Yes, father and mother both. INT: Father and mother both? CT: Right, born in Boston. INT: I don’t recall already if I asked you what year your father was born in. CT: If my father was --? INT: What year your father was born in? CT: I’d have to look on his death certificate to find out again. INT: But your father was born in Boston, and your mother was born in Boston. CT: Correct. INT: And your mother -- CT: Mother’s mother was born in England. INT: And married someone from the West End who was a sexton at Twelfth Baptist? CT: Correct, yes. INT: And your birthday is? When were you born? CT: I was born March 20, 1919. INT: And did you say you had siblings? I don’t remember. CT: If I had what? INT: Brothers and sisters. CT: I had no brothers and no sisters. I asked my mother one time why I didn’t have any brothers or sisters. She said to me, son, once your father and I looked at your, we Charles and Pauline Thomas 7 Northeastern University Lower Roxbury Black History Project said this is the end. No more.