Cecil A. Partee Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield
Cecil A. Partee Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield Cecil A. Partee Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield
finished. And he called me in one day and said, "~ecil, I want you to go to Texas with me. I want you to go to Houston, Texas." This was in 1946. He said, "Houston, Texas, by 1980, will be the third largest city in America. I'll go down and I'll help you to get set up and get started down there and," he said, "bring you along to be my protege." He says, "That city is gonna I grow so and you will grow with it." He says, "The time will come when your 1 people will own banks and savings and loans and all the kinds of businesses that we have, and," he says, "you'll be right in the mainstream of that." c Well, I appreciated it and I told him so, but I had just come from the South and had to go upstairs in the theaters to see a movie and all that and--you know, you see a drinking fountain and it's not for you and that kind of t thing--and I just decided I didn't want to go through that again. Q: Yes. A: So I stayed in Chicago. I've thought about it since in terms of what life might have been like down there but I don't have any regrets. Q: Where did you llve while you went to the university? I 1 A: I usually lived with families, a husband and wife. I would rent a room in someone's home. I never had an apartment of my gwn or anything like that. Was this in Evanston? No, no. The law school is in Chicago, on Chicago Avenue. Oh, I see. Yes, the law school and the med school are here in Chicago is out in Evanston, The rest of Where did you live, then? What part of Chicago? In the south side of Chicago, 5600 south on Michigan Avenue for a period. / / I wanted to live in the Y.M.C.A., which is right up the street from the university. But at the Y.M.C.A., at that time, they were not admitting blacks. (2: Oh, I see. A: You know, you don't realize--the Young Men's Christian Association-- couldn't even get a cup of coffee in that place. Q: Did they have a school cafeteria there at the . . . 1 A: Yes, they had a school cafeteria, Q: So you ate there- A: Yes, had lunch there every day.
Q: How did you get back and forth? A: I took public transportation. Q: You did. A: Yes. I made arrangements for dinner. There were a couple of young ladies, one of whom I knew who had gone to my school who had met another young lady here at the University of Chicago. They were both working on their masters, and they shared an apartment, a very small efficiency. I made arrangements with them to help supply the food and I had dinner with them each evening. So I had a good meal every day, the dinner meal, in an atmosphere with young people who were in the same kind of boat I was, going to school. So then, I met their friends and so I got a chance to meet nice people, people who were progressive and people who were doing things. Q: Were there other people from the school that came up to the law school here that you knew? A: Yes, there was a fellow here from West Virginia who's now a lawyer for the government and there was a fellow in my class from Washington, D. C., who had been a real estate man out in Washington. He came here. He started when he was thirty-nine years old. There were very few blacks in my class, I think there were maybe three or four. And then, the next year, there was one or two, you know, so I met those fellows. One of the fellows that I knew during that era was a fellow named Hooks who went to De Paul law school. He's from Tennessee and he went to De Paul law school and he's now the national president of the NAACP [National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]. Q: oh? Yes. (pause) When did you join the NAACP? A: Oh, I suppose after I got out of law school, I took a membership. Q: So you weren't active while you were in the university? A: No. Q: 1 noticed also that you belong to the Chicago Urban League. Were you active at that time? A; Yes, I always have kept a membership in the Chicago Urban League, yes. Q: When did you get started with that? A: Oh, probably after I got out of school sometime or the other. Q: Yes. You mentioned the one professor, Leon Green. Do you recall any of the others that were of particular significance? A: At the law school?
- 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 and 30: a debate on , "What is most destruc
- Page 31 and 32: somebody or something foul. So, had
- 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: A: But they said, "You can go somew
- 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
- Page 81 and 82: legislation, I think one day what I
- Page 83 and 84: A: No, that was about two years bef
- Page 85 and 86: A: Yes. q: Did she continue active
- Page 87 and 88: Q: Was this in replacement of Mr. C
- Page 89 and 90: Filipino or some man may be married
- Page 91 and 92: deal of controversy about them. Q:
- Page 93 and 94: well paying jobs but they had to do
- Page 95 and 96: joined other organizations for the
- Page 97 and 98: A: Generally just before an electio
- Page 99 and 100: A: No, I don't think we had opposit
- Page 101 and 102: where they paid you far two years t
- Page 103 and 104: BLACK DEMOCRATS IN THE 77TH ILLINOI
- Page 105 and 106: CECIL PARTEE AT WORK IN THE SENATE
- Page 107 and 108: A: No, it was the Legislative Refer
- Page 109 and 110: Q: Well! (laughter) A: Yes, didn't
- Page 111 and 112: esearch if you needed it? A: Bill I
- Page 113 and 114: started from nothing. Q: Did that o
- Page 115 and 116: A: Well, not specifically as to the
finished. And he called me in one day and said, "~ecil, I want you to go to<br />
Texas with me. I want you to go to Houston, Texas." This was in 1946. He<br />
said, "Houston, Texas, by 1980, will be the third largest city in America.<br />
I'll go down and I'll help you to get set up and get started down there and,"<br />
he said, "bring you along to be my protege." He says, "That city is gonna<br />
I<br />
grow so and you will grow with it." He says, "The time will come when your<br />
1<br />
people will own banks and savings and loans and all the kinds <strong>of</strong> businesses<br />
that we have, and," he says, "you'll be right in the mainstream <strong>of</strong> that."<br />
c<br />
Well, I appreciated it and I told him so, but I had just come from the South<br />
and had to go upstairs in the theaters to see a movie and all that and--you<br />
know, you see a drinking fountain and it's not for you and that kind <strong>of</strong><br />
t<br />
thing--and I just decided I didn't want to go through that again.<br />
Q: Yes.<br />
A: So I stayed in Chicago. I've thought about it since in terms <strong>of</strong> what life<br />
might have been like down there but I don't have any regrets.<br />
Q: Where did you llve while you went to the university?<br />
I 1<br />
A: I usually lived with families, a husband and wife. I would rent a room in<br />
someone's home. I never had an apartment <strong>of</strong> my gwn or anything like that.<br />
Was this in Evanston?<br />
No, no.<br />
The law school is in Chicago, on Chicago Avenue.<br />
Oh, I see.<br />
Yes, the law school and the med school are here in Chicago<br />
is out in Evanston,<br />
The rest <strong>of</strong><br />
Where did you live, then? What part <strong>of</strong> Chicago?<br />
In the south side <strong>of</strong> Chicago, 5600 south on Michigan Avenue for a period. / /<br />
I wanted to live in the Y.M.C.A., which is right up the street from the<br />
university. But at the Y.M.C.A., at that time, they were not admitting blacks.<br />
(2: Oh, I see.<br />
A: You know, you don't realize--the Young Men's Christian Association--<br />
couldn't even get a cup <strong>of</strong> c<strong>of</strong>fee in that place.<br />
Q: Did they have a school cafeteria there at the . . .<br />
1<br />
A: Yes, they had a school cafeteria,<br />
Q: So you ate there-<br />
A: Yes, had lunch there every day.
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