TRANSCRIPT

MD - Marjorie Dawson, interviewee / LR - Lyn Royce, interviewer

LR: What are some of the...

MD: When my husband came home from overseas, the first thing he did was, was build a home. I'm living in the home [in 2008] we, he built right now. But that was the first thing he did, he said 'We're going to build a home.' And so he... Mortgages and things like that were... I think we took out a mortgage. We paid about $25 a week, or something like that; nowadays you can't do that, you know. So... I don't know we built a home... And, um... It was my brother- in-law's suggestion we buy a lot and build a house... Because at that time it was the same you go in to this place and that place and they don't want black people livin' in their neighbourhood. We bought a house... we put a payment down on a house, and the neighbours must have complained; the man gave us back our money, said something happened, we didn't know what it was, something... But you know when I look at that place I'm so happy we didn't get that place. So my brother-in-law said. 'If you get, buy a lot down near where we are, 'round Pelham Road,' he said, 'we'll build a house.' So my husband says, ''Okay, that's fine.' So my husband... I got pictures of that too - my husband with his uniform on, they were building the place, 'n the windows and doors; there was a woodworking place next door to us, the man built all our windows and things. Our windows are changed now because, you know it's been a long time, it's been about 60... 60[years]... I think I been living down there since [19]'46 when my husband come home from overseas. And so, uh, we built this house, and we took a mortgage out for about $1,500 dollars, you know, $1,500 dollars - just imagine...

LR: [in background] ...wow...

MD: ...[ you can] get that paid off, you know, they even said they would give us a grant if we built way down the street in some project there and we had 20 years to pay for it; but we didn't want that, that was too long to have to pay for a place. So we built this place and it took us a while but, you know, we had to go easy, we had to you know, maybe cook on a... one of those plates and things, you know...

LR: A hotplate?

MD: ... electric plates, 'n stuff. But after a while my husband got working; he did work in General Motors and he got a little more money and that, and... So we bought a few furnitures [sic], some beds and stuff like that, you know. But it wasn't all that hard to me and now when I think about it, wasn't as hard as the kids nowadays have it; it wasn't that hard. So we... He went back to work and... But he got involved in some many things, so many things... Union... He loved to do sports. He used to be... organize football games; and hockey games; and work at the UAW; they had like, um, [an] auxiliary? And he worked with them... and I have... I wish I had brought the pictures, but I didn't know you were going to ask me about those things.

LR: We'll come back and get 'em [chuckles]...

MD: Yeah... bring in some of my books and things to show you how they were building the house 'n stuff. My sister lived not too far down the street, eh. But it was... you know, we were young; things are different now, when you think back about, you're older, you wonder how we did those things but we were young.