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Singleton, Rose (audio interview #1 of 3)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the first of three interviews with Rose Singleton conducted in her home in Compton. The sound level on the second side of the tape is very low due to technical difficulties. 6/17/1980
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- 2021-08-11
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- SUBJECT BIO - Rose Biffle Singleton was a student at Santa Monica City College and new to the work force when she got her job at Douglas Aircraft in 1942. Born in Colorado, the second of three children, Singleton moved to Los Angeles with her family in 1939, where she attended high school. She remained in the aircraft industry for three years, working the night shift and continuing with her college work during the day. In 1944, she married an army pilot in the 99th squadron and moved to Ohio when her husband was stationed there. She returned to California with her 3 year old son, following her husband's death in a plane crash, and took up her career as a math teacher. She eventually remarried and had another son in 1959, and continued to teach until her retirement in 1978. Three interviews were conducted with Singleton in her somewhat spacious home in an older, integrated neighborhood in Compton, California. Although Singleton was a willing participant, there was a certain tension in the interview process, largely due to Cleary's uneasiness and cautious concern about offending Singleton. Unfortunately, the sound level on the tapes is very low as a result of technical problems. TOPICS - family background and family history; parents; housing; childhood; family activities; discipline; religion; and schooling;schooling and education; family history and family background; mother's occupation; childhood activities; economic status; religion; household chores; holidays and celebrations; and discipline and punishment; Notemove to Arizona; school segregation; schooling; education; speech; recreational and sports activities; racial demographics of Phoenix neighborhoods; menstruation; gender expectations; move to California; academic
- *** File: rrrrsingleton1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-4:36)... Singleton's maternal grandparents were born and raised in Tennessee. Her grandmother was half Cherokee Indian and an excellent fisherwoman. She was a homemaker and made extra money by sewing from home. When Singleton's mother was thirteen years old, her grandmother left her grandfather and moved to Pueblo, Colorado. Her grandfather remained in Tennessee until he moved to California at the age of eighty. Singleton was born in Colorado. Her grandmother played a significant role in raising the grandchildren because Singleton's mother worked. Singleton's paternal grandparents and his siblings were raised in a Catholic orphanage. (4:36-6:26)... Her mother was raised in Pueblo, Colorado. She went to school at certain times during the year, and was promoted from the fourth grade to the seventh grade because of her Latin skills. She had an older sister, who died at the age of twelve, and a younger brother. (6:26-8:45)... Singleton's grandmother's home in Colorado was a two-story house with a living room, dining room, and a kitchen. The home was equipped with a bathroom that was furnished with a bathtub and a washing basin; however, the toilet facilities were located outside in an outhouse. Her grandmother cooked on a combination gas and coal-burning stove. (8:45-10:20)... Her grandmother did not do any work besides sewing to make a living. She re-married when she moved to Colorado. Singleton thought he was odd because he bathed and changed his clothes ten times a day. She believed he was employed in the steel mills or with the railroad because these were two major industries in Colorado at the time. (10:20-13:12)... When she was a little girl, Singleton spent time with her grandmother fishing. Her grandmother liked to tell Singleton scary stories and make ice cream for her when the other family members were not home. Singleton's grandmother ran a boarding house for steel workers and coal miners working in the area. Her grandmother died in 1945. (13:12-17:08)... Singleton's mother was born in 1903. Her mother was a soft-spoken woman, and Singleton never saw her mother get angry. Her mother disciplined her children by restricting their activities and very rarely physically punished them. Family activities involved visiting lakes and parks in the Colorado area. Her mother liked to attend dances in Colorado Springs and when the children were born, the family went to dances together. (17:08-18:17)... Singleton's parents met when her mother was eighteen years old. Singleton does not remember how her parents met or what their courtship was like. (18:17-20:56)... Singleton barely remembers her father because her parents separated when she was a young girl. People who knew her father thought he was a good man, but she did not put much stock in these reports because her father did not do anything for his children. He worked as a brick mason and a carpenter and worked steadily. He was constantly moving to different cities in search of work and was the first person in her family to move to California. Singleton's mother remained close with his siblings even after they separated. Her father died of cancer. (20:56-24:04)... Singleton was born at home in Colorado. She was the middle child between an older sister and a younger brother. At the time of her birth, her father was working in the coal mines. He decided to train as a mason and became highly skilled in this occupation. (24:04-26:30)... Singleton attended a Presbyterian school, where she and her sister were the only two Black children. She did not notice any differences between herself and the other students and no one treated her poorly because of the color of her skin. She was reading before she went to school. She enjoyed religious study and was at the head of her class in mathematics. End of tape. *** File: rrrrsingleton2.mp3 (0:00-2:22)... Singleton's mother taught her how to read and write before she started school. She started going to school when she was about five years old. She attended a few different schools in Colorado, depending on where her family lived. (2:22-2:57)... Singleton's mother supported her children by working in domestic service. (2:57-9:06)... Singleton describes the activities she enjoyed as a child. Even though her family was poor, she had a happy childhood and was well cared for by her mother and her grandmother. (9:06-10:36)... The community of Pueblo, Colorado was integrated. It was not until she moved to Arizona that she started associating with Blacks exclusively. Arizona was racially mixed and included Blacks, Whites, and other European ethnic groups. (10:36-12:15)... Singleton was not restricted from doing very many activities when she was a child. Her mother did not like her to climb trees for safety reasons. She was discouraged from running and jumping for the same reasons. (12:15-13:03)... Singleton's mother and grandmother were religious women, but church activities and religious studies did not consume their lives. They did not force Singleton to go to church when she did not feel like going. (13:03-15:11)... She describes the division of chores in her household. Her mother thought it was easier and more manageable to assign certain chores to each child. Singleton's responsibility was cleaning the bathroom. (15:11-17:10)... Singleton's family celebrated birthdays and attended church activities on traditional holidays and special occasions. (17:10-18:40)... Her family visited her father's relatives in Denver even after her parents separated. She occasionally saw her father, but those times were few and far between. She remembers seeing him once when she was in fifth grade and once when she graduated from high school. (18:40-23:45)... Singleton's grandmother used physical punishment to discipline the children. Her mother, however, did not like spanking her children and disciplined them by sending them to bed. Singleton did not like this type of punishment because she could not read or do any activities while being punished. Whenever her mother resorted to physical punishments, she cried. She discusses some of the things she did as a child that resulted in disciplining. End of tape. *** File: rrrrsingleton3.mp3 (0:00-8:29)... When her mother re-married, the family moved to Phoenix, Arizona. This was the first time she interacted with a significant number of Blacks. The schools in Phoenix were segregated. She attended elementary school until eighth grade and then went to Phoenix Union Colored High School. Singleton had a difficulty time adjusting to segregation. She received speech training from a White teacher while attending school in Pueblo, Colorado, and consequently found it difficult to communicate with her classmates because their speech patterns were completely different. Although she excelled in her studies, she had problems with her handwriting until the sixth grade. She discusses her educational interests and coursework in high school. (8:29-11:36)... Singleton was involved in organized sports while in high school and college. While in college, she befriended a Japanese girl and they participated in most of the same types of sporting activities. (11:36-13:25)... Singleton was not disappointed about her mother's re-marriage and their move to Arizona. She was unhappy with the fact that schools were segregated, but eventually adjusted to this environment. The housing in Arizona was not segregated. There were about three Black families living in her neighborhood, but her immediate neighbors were Mexican and White. (13:25-15:22)... Singleton's mother continued to work when she remarried. Singleton's stepfather worked as a chef. When the family moved to California, her mother stopped working. (15:22-19:17)... Singleton learned about menstruation through her mother and grandmother. She also saw films in high school about menstruation. She always thought her periods were a messy inconvenience in her life. She was told not to run and jump when she was on her period. Her mother tried to get her to act more like a lady, but it was a difficult task because Singleton was a tomboy. (19:17-25:38)... Singleton's mother decided to move to California for better job opportunities. She insisted that her children go to school and wanted to provide them with better educational opportunities. The family settled in Venice and Singleton finished high school at Venice High School. She was placed in vocational courses, which bothered her because she wanted to take academic courses in preparation for college. Singleton does not believe that an emphasis on vocational training in high school was based on her race. She explains that her first encounter with racial biases occurred when she interviewed for a position at Douglas and was told that White employees would never work under a Black woman. (25:38-26:59)... Singleton wanted to pursue a career in medicine until she realized that she could not stomach the sight of blood and body tissue. She is glad she discovered this early so that she did not waste several years in medical college. (26:59-29:51)... When she was a young girl, people told her that she would be an "old maid" schoolteacher because she was so focused on learning. She started to believe these people and never expected marriage for herself. She met her husband in grade school and they corresponded after he moved to California. When they got engaged, her husband was a soldier in the 99th Regiment. End of tape.
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