Oral History Interview with Audrey Procter Holte

Object Details

Names: Armstrong High School (Washington, D.C.); Bethlehem Baptist Church (1872-) (Washington, D.C.); Birney Elementary School; Garfield Elementary School; German Orphan Home of the District of Columbia; Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church (Washington, D.C.); Saint Elizabeths Hospital (Washington, D.C.); Bradshaw, John; Holte, Audrey Procter, 20th century (active)
Collection Creator: Anacostia Community Museum

Place: Anacostia (Washington, D.C.); Barry Farms (Washington, D.C.); Chesapeake Bay; Anacostia Community Museum

Topic: African American women; African Americans; African American families; Anacostia Neighborhood Museum; exhibit

See more items in: Evolution of a Community: 1972 Exhibition Records; Evolution of a Community: 1972 Exhibition Records / Series 2: Interviews

Sponsor: Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).

Extent: 1 Sound recording ((1 data disk DVD-R digital, 24-bit 96kHz WAV. ))); 1 Sound recording ((1 sound disk CD-R (00:58:16). digital, 16-bit 44.1 KhZ)); 1 Sound recording ((1 sound cassette (00:58:16)))

Type: Archival materials; Audio; Sound recordings; Oral histories (document genres)

Collection Citation: Evolution of a Community: 1972 Exhibition Records, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution.

Collection Rights: Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Scope and Contents note: Audrey Procter Holte, an African American woman born around 1913, discusses growing up in Anacostia. She talks about how most children in her neighborhood attended school at Garfield School and Birney School, before crossing the river to finish high school at either Dunbar High School or Armstrong High School since there was no high school for African Americans in Anacostia at the time. She describes recreational activities, such as swimming in Eagle Harbor and at places on Chesapeake Bay, school dances at Dunbar High School, and church picnics at Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Holte provides information about the three main churches people attended: Bethlehem Baptist Church, St. Johns Methodist Church, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Holte talks about how the neighborhood was segregated, but all residents used the same library and shopped on the same streets; about different neighborhood landmarks, such as the German Orphan Asylum, St. Elizabeth's Hospital, and Jack Morse Cemetery; and about the difficulty of landing a teaching job in Washington D.C. as an African American woman. Audrey Proctor Holte was interviewed by John Bradshaw on December 28, 1970. Digital audio files include white noise and static; interviewee can be heard clearly for most parts.

Restrictions: Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.