Interview with <hi rend="bold">John Daniels</hi>

Interview with <hi rend="bold">John Daniels</hi> [electronic resource] Creation of machine-readable version (transcriptions of formal taped interviews in Microsoft Word format): 2004-07-23The Film and Media Archive at Washington University Libraries Conversion to TEI.2-conformant markup: Digital Library Services at Washington University Libraries Washington University in St. Louis Washington University Libraries Special Collections and Archives, Film and Media Archive St. Louis, Missouri

One Brookings Drive Campus Box 1061 St. Louis MO 63130

dan0015.19525.003 19525

Material is free to use for research purposes only. If researcher intends to use transcripts for publication, please contact Washington University’s Film and Media Archive for permission to republish. Please use preferred citation given in the transcript.

2016 Recording by Blackside, Inc. Production Team NA

1979 Interview with <hi rend="bold">John Daniels</hi> Blackside, Inc. edited the filmed interviews for broadcast. Interviews were transcribed directly (unedited) from the tapes. Interviewer: intervieweeJohn Daniels Interview gathered as part of Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years 1954-1965. This interview recorded as formal filmed interview.

This collection consists of 115 transcriptions of selected interviews filmed by Blackside, Inc. for the Eyes on the Prize: American's Civil Rights Years 1954-1965 documentary series that premiered January 21, 1987 on PBS. The transcripts are retrospective eye-witness accounts of events that took place during the American Civil Rights Movement from 1954 to 1965. Additional transcripts will be added to the collection as they are prepared.

Washington University Film and Media Archives supervised the editing of transcriptions to correct transcriber errors which included spelling of names, places, etc. using Microsoft Word; however grammatical errors made by speaker were left alone. Transcriptions were then cross-checked by listening to the interview for accuracy and completeness.

Digital Library Services performed additional regularization and spelling correction (files should undergo separate spell check process).

Although these files represent transcriptions of speech, they have been encoded with the Tag Set for Drama, instead of Transcriptions of Speech.

The rationale for this decision was that the more formal character of the interview had a structure closer to the drama than the speech tag set, and for ease of delivery of XML.

Library of Congress Subject Headings, 21st edition, 1998 1979 English formal taped interview for Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years 1954-1965

Daniels, John African Americans — Civil rights — History — 20th century. African Americans Civil rights Study and teaching. Civil rights 1950-1960. Civil rights 1960-1970. Civil rights — Equality before the law United States. Civil rights and the struggle for Black equality in the twentieth century. Civil rights movements — Civil rights demonstrations — United States. Civil rights movements United States History 20th century Sources. United States Civil rights. United States Race relations History 20th century Sources. United States — Race relations. Eyes on the Prize (Television program). Hampton, Henry, 1940-1998. Blackside, Inc. created XML transcript Interview with John Daniels Production Team: NA Interview Date: 1979 Interview Place: Birmingham, Alabama Camera Roll: Sound Rolls: Interview gathered as part of Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years (1954-1965). Produced by Blackside, Inc. Housed at the Washington University Film and Media Archive, Henry Hampton Collection. Editorial Notes:

Preferred citation: Interview with John Daniels, conducted by Blackside, Inc. in 1979, for Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years (1954-1965). Washington University Libraries, Film and Media Archive, Henry Hampton Collection.

These transcripts contain material that did not appear in the final program. Only text appearing in bold italics was used in the final version of Eyes on the Prize.

INTERVIEW QUESTION 1 John Daniels:

My name is John H. Daniels.

CAMERA CREW MEMBER:

THANK YOU.

INTERVIEWER:

I WANT TO KNOW—

[sync tone] INTERVIEWER:

—REALLY IS, WHAT WAS IT LIKE RIDING THE BUSES BEFORE THE BOYCOTT? NOT SO MUCH THE PROCESS—

John Daniels:

[coughs]

INTERVIEWER:

—HOW DID YOU FEEL? HAPPENED TO GET ON AT THE FRONT, YOU KNOW—

John Daniels:

Well, we felt, to a certain extent, humiliation. Of not having a chance to ride the bus or enter in the front. If it was so kinda [sic] loaded, you know, course we had to go to the front of the bus and put our nickel in or reach it in to the driver [coughs] and we’d go to, then, the rear of the bus and to try to get on. And the thing that made it though, to a certain extent, harassing was sometime [coughs] the bus would be loaded. And we would, we would not be able to get on and the driver would pull off and leave us and have, have our money in the meter. Well, we’ve had that to happen several times. But—

QUESTION 2 INTERVIEWER:

DO YOU REMEMBER ANY SPECIAL INCIDENT THAT HAPPENED TO YOU THAT MADE YOU REALLY ANGRY?

John Daniels:

[laughs] Well, this is one that I just related to you that, that really kindled my anger because, at this particular time, I was a dining car waiter [coughs] and I had come in tired of—from all three heading in. Running out of Cincinatta [sic] into Montgomery at Tumble or New Orleans. And you could see I’d been out six days and I worked on a six and four basis. So I’m tired and I want to actually go to sleep and rest, because I’ve been out working for six days. I comes [sic] up to—actually come up to [coughs] Lee and Montgomery Street and that’s about two blocks I had to walk to get a bus that would carry me directly home. And I caught Washington Park. I wanted to catch Washington Park, but I put [laughs] my nickel in the bus and I went—goes to get to the rear the driver supposing, I guess, that I was on this so pulled on off. That actually made me kind of angry. And then I had to go over to one of the bus stations and get me a taxi, cause I really didn’t want to wait. So I had to pay double fare. [coughs]

QUESTION 3 INTERVIEWER:

DID YOU DO A LOT OF WALKING DURING THE BOYCOTT?

John Daniels:

I done a good little bit of walking all during the bus boycott. Not too much either, because I was working for the Veterans Administration out on Prairie Hill Road and I had to ride to work. But I did work with the people who were walking, because I served as one of the drivers. From Maxwell Field in the afternoon I had a shift then. I was actually going to work at six o’ clock in the morning [coughs] and getting off at two o’ clock. And that evening I would enter the little car that I had into the pool. And we would drive off from Maxwell Gate to downtown Cromwell Street. So I could actually see a lot of people who were walking, but I didn’t walk, you know, too much because I was helping those to get a ride who were walking.

QUESTION 4 INTERVIEWER:

AND HOW DID THAT WORK? I MEAN WHAT DID YOU DO WHEN YOU GOT OFF AND PUT YOURSELF IN THE CARPOOL?

John Daniels:

Well, we had a carpool set up and it was oh on Monroe and, I believe, in McDonough Street. And if you were able to drive you would go by there and give Mr. Rufus Lewis your name and he would assign you wherever you was to drive that afternoon. So sometime—it—mostly was my lot to drive from Maxwell to Downtown, but other areas I did cover too.

INTERVIEWER:

AND DID YOU SOMETIMES PICK UP PEOPLE WHO WERE WALKING?

John Daniels:

If I had room for ‘em we would pick ‘em up. But we had to be very careful about stopping because we’d get a ticket. Oh, now, the police here was really desperate on giving us tickets in this drive. You had to really, really be careful. Sometime you’d get a ticket if you came up to a stop sign and you didn’t quite come far enough and then you pulled off from where you was or if you pulled up too close he’d say you’ve come too far out into the traffic and he’d give you a ticket for that.

QUESTION 5 INTERVIEWER:

AND HOW MANY HOURS DID YOU WORK ON THE CARPOOL?

John Daniels:

Well, I worked on the carpool from two o’ clock. I had—I would already have my lunch because I eat on the job where I work. And I would work in the carpool from two o’ clock until something like six or seven. Sometime it was a little bit later, but we all were dedicated to this bus boycott to a certain extent. We wanted it to work and sometimes we went a little bit beyond what we said we would do [coughs].

INTERVIEWER:

OK, I APPRECIATE IT. THAT’S VERY NICE.

John Daniels:

All right.

[cut] [end of interview]