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Oral history interview with Lemuel Delany, July 15, 2005 interview R-0346, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007). Cover Image E-book

Oral history interview with Lemuel Delany, July 15, 2005 interview R-0346, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)

Interview R-0346, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) (other title)
Interview with Lemuel Delany, July 15, 2005 (portion title)
Delany, Lemuel 1920- (interviewee). Delany, Esther (interviewee). Hill, Kimberly (Kimberly DeJoie) (interviewer). Southern Oral History Program. (Added Author). University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Documenting the American South (Project) (Added Author). University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. (Added Author).

Summary: Lemuel Delany Jr. was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1920 into a prominent African American family. The son of a doctor and a speech teacher, Delany describes growing up in the "black world" of segregated Raleigh and his growing awareness of racial discrimination as he grew older. In discussing his formative years, Delany offers information about race relations in the segregated South, his family's history dating back to the colonial era, and his family's interactions with an African American "who's who." After finishing high school, Delany stayed in Raleigh for a few years, working as a garbage man and as a lifeguard. Because of the lack of economic opportunities, Delany moved to New York in 1942, where he lived in Harlem. Delany remained in New York for nearly sixty years before resettling in Raleigh. In New York, he worked briefly in a factory before establishing a career as a funeral director. Having spent considerable time in both the North and the South over the course of the twentieth century, Delany draws comparisons between the nature of segregation and race relations in both regions. In addition, he devotes considerable attention to a discussion of his reaction to Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years, a book written by his aunts Sarah Louise "Sadie" Delany and Annie Elizabeth "Bessie" Delany. Delaney argues that his aunts' book obscured the accomplishments of the entire Delan family by focusing too narrowly on their own lives. As he sees it, the "real" story about his family is one of upward mobility, beginning with an enslaved ancestor who established a name for himself following his emancipation. Finally, Delany offers his thoughts on the civil rights movement, arguing that the negative consequences of desegregation as seen in the demise of black economic, educational, and social institutions far outweighed its benefits. He further maintains that the NAACP failed to support African American enterprise.

Electronic resources

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Record details

  • Physical Description: electronic resource
    remote
    1 online resource
  • Edition: Electronic edition
  • Publisher: [Chapel Hill, N.C.] : University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill, 2007.

Content descriptions

General Note:
Duration: 01:33:44.
Interview participants: Lemuel Delany, interviewee; Esther Delany, interviewee; Mrs. Delany, interviewee; Kimberly Hill, interviewer.
Text encoded by Jennifer Joyner. Sound recordings digitized by Aaron Smithers.
This electronic edition is part of the UNC-Chapel Hill digital library, Documenting the American South. It is a part of the collection Oral histories of the American South.
Title from menu page (viewed Nov. 28, 2008).
Type of Computer File or Data Note:
Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 163.6 kilobytes, 171 megabytes.
Original Version Note:
Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series R, Special research projects, interview R-0346, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Transcribed by L. Altizer. Original transcript: 43 p.
Funding Information Note:
Funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services supported the electronic publication of this interview.
System Details Note:
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
System requirements: Web browser with Javascript enabled and multimedia player.

Search for related items by subject

Subject:
Delany, Esther Interviews
Delany, Lemuel 1920- Interviews
Delany, Sarah Louise 1889-1999
Delaney family
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
African American families North Carolina
African American men North Carolina Raleigh Interviews
African Americans Segregation New York (State) New York
African Americans Segregation North Carolina Raleigh
African Americans New York (State) New York Social life and customs
African Americans North Carolina Raleigh Social life and customs
United States Race relations
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