Cecil A. Partee Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield
Cecil A. Partee Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield Cecil A. Partee Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield
on. My mother and dad used to give me books at Christmas and birthdays and that kind of thing. Not always just toys. Q: So you liked reading very much, then. A: Very much. And still do. Q: Let's'see, were you involved in plays, dramatics, in any way? A: Yes, we had dramatics there in high school and also, when I was in college, I was a member of the Players Guild and also a member of the debating team when I was in college. be of the motivations for the college was that--the school had some formal dances and I didn't have a tuxedo, but if you made the debating team, the school furnished you a tuxedo. Q: Oh! Well! (laughter) A: So that was a part of my motivation to get into it in college. But I always enjoyed debating. It's always been a very interesting kind of thing for me. Q: Do you remember any of the plays in high school that you took part In? A: Well, we had a play that we did, East Lynn. And what were some of the others, I don't . . . Death Takes a Holiday, we did that in high school and in college. I don't remember the names of any of the rest of them. SESSION 2, TAPE 2, SIDE 1 Q: Sir, what I would like to do, if we could, is spend some more time on Blytheville and your life in Blytheville. A: Okay. Q: What was your first job there, first paying job? A: I guess my first paying job was selling newspapers. Q: Yes. You talked about that the other day. A: No, that's another experience. That was the daily papers. Z first sold weekly papers, the ones that came out of Chicago, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh. They were black papers and we sold them on the weekends. They were weekly editions and I started writing a column in those papers so that I could say to people, "Your name's in the paper,'' and they would buy one. (laughter) They had news from all over, all these little towns where they sold their papers down South. I wrote a column in all of them, just a little penny-ante news about different things. As a consequence, people would buy them because people never got their name in the paper in those days, unless they killed
somebody or something foul. So, had a little column, "Mrs. So-and-so had a party, a birthday party, or a grandson came to visit from Oceola," or something, you know. Q: How old were you at this time? A: Oh, about nine, ten, something like that. Q: What was your deadlbe for getting your copy in? A: Well, you would have to get it in by Tuesday, which meant it usually had to go out Sunday night so they would get it Tuesday. The paper was printed abovt Wednesday or Thursday. You would get it back on Friday or Saturday. Q: Was this for all three of the newspapers, you sent the . . . A: Yes. I think I had two at one time and then, at one time, I had all three of them. Q: What were the names of the papers, sir? Do you remember? A: The Chicago Defender, the Pittsburgh Courier and the Kansas City Call. Q: How did you sell these? Did you deliver or did you have a stand? A: No, I would deliver and I would go downtown on Saturday. A lot of people came in from the country on Saturday, you know, from all the rural areas. I would just circulate through the crowd and sell them. But I had some regular customers, you know. Paid six cents for them, sold them for a dime. Q: And did you get paid for the column that you were writing? A: No, the incentive for writing the column was to get more people to buy the paper. Q: About how many did you sell each . . . A: Oh, I used to sell maybe fifty to a hundred a week or maybe sometimes a hundred and fifty. They sold pretty good. Q: And you were about nine or ten years old at this time? A: Yes. Q: How long did you conduct this business? A: Urn, until--1 guess a couple of years. Q: Why did you stop? A: I don't know. I don't know. I got a little past that and started working
- Page 1 and 2: University of Illinois at Springfie
- Page 3 and 4: ILLINOIS LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 107 St
- Page 5 and 6: CECIL A. PARTEE Illinois House of R
- Page 7 and 8: Mr. Bartee retired at the end of th
- Page 9 and 10: Volume I SESSION 1, TAPE 1, SIDE 1
- Page 11 and 12: Q: You say she taught there near Bl
- Page 13 and 14: The third grade teacher taught us t
- Page 15 and 16: A: No. None as dramatic as that. Ha
- Page 17 and 18: and said, in one of the contests, L
- Page 19 and 20: I 1 Q: Oh? i '1 A: And then I had a
- Page 21 and 22: So the whole family relationship an
- Page 23 and 24: a tie-in between that and what we c
- Page 25 and 26: A: And my grandmother. My grandmoth
- Page 27 and 28: But I think it was more or less a S
- Page 29: a debate on , "What is most destruc
- Page 33 and 34: when prohibition was over and they
- Page 35 and 36: A: Mixed crews, yes. Q: Do you reme
- Page 37 and 38: to her for fear she wouldn't pay me
- Page 39 and 40: lawyer who became a judge there. He
- Page 41 and 42: A: (pause) I don't know. I think pr
- Page 43 and 44: CHARLES CECIL AND BESSIE DUPREE PAR
- Page 45 and 46: COURTESV OF BESSIE D. IVY CECIL PAR
- Page 47 and 48: CORNEAL DAVIS (L) AND CEClL PARTEE.
- Page 49 and 50: A: Beautiful. I stayed in the dormi
- Page 51 and 52: A: I didn't know any of them until
- Page 53 and 54: A: Well, just like going out for th
- Page 55 and 56: 4 1 SESSION 3, TAPE 3, SIDE 1 Q: I
- Page 57 and 58: yourself and so forth. Whereas, in
- Page 59 and 60: A: Yes, I remember a fellow by the
- Page 61 and 62: six inches, into my leg. And just m
- Page 63 and 64: Q: And you're still in touch with t
- Page 65 and 66: A: But they said, "You can go somew
- Page 67 and 68: Q: How did you get back and forth?
- Page 69 and 70: just on the weekend which was a lot
- Page 71 and 72: A: Well, I was there for about a ye
- Page 73 and 74: old fellow told me that he's from t
- Page 75 and 76: We tried to get a decision between
- Page 77 and 78: 63 Abraham Lincoln Hotel and we wer
- Page 79 and 80: Q: That had already finished? A: No
on. My mother and dad used to give me books at Christmas and birthdays and<br />
that kind <strong>of</strong> thing. Not always just toys.<br />
Q: So you liked reading very much, then.<br />
A: Very much. And still do.<br />
Q: Let's'see, were you involved in plays, dramatics, in any way?<br />
A: Yes, we had dramatics there in high school and also, when I was in college,<br />
I was a member <strong>of</strong> the Players Guild and also a member <strong>of</strong> the debating team<br />
when I was in college. be <strong>of</strong> the motivations for the college was that--the<br />
school had some formal dances and I didn't have a tuxedo, but if you made the<br />
debating team, the school furnished you a tuxedo.<br />
Q: Oh! Well! (laughter)<br />
A: So that was a part <strong>of</strong> my motivation to get into it in college. But I<br />
always enjoyed debating. It's always been a very interesting kind <strong>of</strong> thing<br />
for me.<br />
Q: Do you remember any <strong>of</strong> the plays in high school that you took part In?<br />
A: Well, we had a play that we did, East Lynn. And what were some <strong>of</strong> the<br />
others, I don't . . . Death Takes a Holiday, we did that in high school and<br />
in college. I don't remember the names <strong>of</strong> any <strong>of</strong> the rest <strong>of</strong> them.<br />
SESSION 2, TAPE 2, SIDE 1<br />
Q: Sir, what I would like to do, if we could, is spend some more time on<br />
Blytheville and your life in Blytheville.<br />
A: Okay.<br />
Q: What was your first job there, first paying job?<br />
A: I guess my first paying job was selling newspapers.<br />
Q: Yes. You talked about that the other day.<br />
A: No, that's another experience. That was the daily papers. Z first sold<br />
weekly papers, the ones that came out <strong>of</strong> Chicago, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh.<br />
They were black papers and we sold them on the weekends. They were weekly<br />
editions and I started writing a column in those papers so that I could say to<br />
people, "Your name's in the paper,'' and they would buy one. (laughter) They<br />
had news from all over, all these little towns where they sold their papers<br />
down South. I wrote a column in all <strong>of</strong> them, just a little penny-ante news<br />
about different things. As a consequence, people would buy them because<br />
people never got their name in the paper in those days, unless they killed
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