Cecil A. Partee Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield

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SESSION 3, TAPE 3, SIDE 1
Q: I was in the train station on the way up hers last Friday and ran into
Mr. and Mrs. Rountree.
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A: Oh, yes.
Q: Alvin Rountree from Springfield.
A: Yes. Alvin Rountree. And his wife's name is Georgia.
Q: I don't know her that well. I worked with Mr. Rountree , . .
A: She was one of the first black teachers in Springfield.
Q: Oh, is that right?
A: Yes.
Q: They said that they had been schoolmates of yours at Tennessee State.
A: Tennessee State, that's right.
Q: She's from Nashville, I believe.
A: She's from Nashville; he's from East St. Louis.
Q: Oh, he is? I didn't know that. Yes, they were on their way to Kansas City,
I don't know what for, for the weekend. He said he's going to be retiring, I
guess, in about a year. Said he was thinking about going into part-time
teaching, so he would have freedom, and also that he might be involved with
the Urban League in some way or other.
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A: Yes, I think he works over in the secretary of state's office, in archives
or somewhere over there.
Q: Yes, in the Illinois state archives. hat's where I met him. He's been a
great help in the last three or four years.
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A: He's been there a long time.
Q: Yes, sir, way back in the thirties. She said to be sure and ask you about
the newspaper you edited at Tennessee Statec
A: Yes, I guess there was--I was editor of the paper my senior year, yes.
1 9: What kind of paper was it?
A: Just general news circulation. One of the things that was disturbing to me
was that we had a request, as a matter of fact they were picketing, for /a