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Barbara Billups: Okay. Okay, so you really haven't heard anything about
people who you knew, who even knew people who had no experience? Anne
Nixon: No, no. Billups: Okay. I really don't know if I have or not. I read
about it all the time, but I never knew anybody personally. Nixon: Mama,
did you ever hear of anybody who knew anybody who actually the Klu Klux
Klan had done anything to.
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Nixon's Mother: I heard about them.
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Nixon: I know, right? Right. I've never really heard anybody who knew
anybody who had a real experience to tell. Billups: All right. Okay. Um,
what do you think of the Black participation in the Bicentennial? Nixon:
You're asking me, do I think that we should be in it? Or are you asking me
do I think that we're doing enough? Billups: As I see it is, do you think
we should participate in it? Because. So if you said we do, I guess you
would say that this is our country. And-- Nixon: I certainly would.
Billups: Okay. Nixon: I think this country owes us more then they do the
White people, in a way. Billups: Well, that's true. Nixon: We work like a
dog. We're the ones that, you know, laid all the railroad tracks, for
instance, We did all that. So I really think that that we should be in it.
And since we are now getting a lot more facts about what Blacks have done
over the years than we've ever known before, you know why there's a lot of
Black people that really have this country wouldn't have been what it is.
Billups: Right. Do you think we should be in it because we should educate
others about people who did put into the country? Do you think that we
should celebrate the-- Nixon: I think we should celebrate because it's our
country. I feel like that that we don't have any other country that we can
claim. Like I told you in the very beginning of this, I can't claim Africa
because I cannot trace any of my people back to Africa and I don't even
know what section of Africa they might have come from or anything.
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Nixon: So consequently, the United States is all I've got. And so I feel
that my people, as far back as I can go in this country, helped to make
this country what it is and help to make me what [chimes sound] I am. So I
feel like I have a part in this bicentennial and I just would like for our
Blacks to bring out more about what our Blacks have done. Tell me more
things. You know, I heard the other day about, oh, what was that? Something
like it wasn't the radio, but it was something that I had never heard
before that a Black man had invented. And I had never heard that. I can't
remember what it was since I've been getting all this information somebody
said that a Black man was the first one that did open heart surgery.
Billups: Yeah. Nixon: Yeah. And I didn't know that before when I was in
high school, nobody ever told us anything. Billups: I heard about that--I
heard. Well, Charles Drew, uh, I heard a lot of different things Blacks had
done, and I was trying to remember all of them, but I can't. I know. I just
heard yesterday that Roebuck was Black with Sears and Roebuck. Nixon:
You're kidding! Billups: I'm not kidding. Nixon: Oh, my goodness. She said
she just heard yesterday that, you know, Sears and Roebuck-- that Roebuck
was Black. I wouldn't be a bit surprised. Billups: They said he was Black.
They said-- Nixon: You know, these White people really did a job on us. I'm
telling you.
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Nixon's Mother: If a Black man stopped [unintelligible].
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Nixon: Made it? You may be right, Mother.
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Speaker3: [unintelligible] with a tin can [unintelligible].
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Nixon: Uh, somebody else had probably--
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Nixon's Mother: The White man-- The White man bought the--called the
patent.
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Billups: Patent? Patent？
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Nixon's Mother: White man bought it took over then, you know, then and so
on. We hear about it then too.
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Nixon: And you know that a Black man laid out the city of Washington DC.
You've heard that? Billups: I think I've heard that. Nixon: I've heard
that. Uh huh. Billups: That sounds very familiar. Yes, I heard they made
the Capitol. Nixon: So if we just knew all the things that we had done.
Billups: Oh yeah. Nixon: We really done an awful-- Billups: And we probably
couldn't even find out, you know, even the things that had been done, we
couldn't probably find all of them. Nixon: Right. And we probably never
will. Billups: Right. So I'm trying to think, is there anything that I left
out that I think that maybe you want to elaborate on? I know that we
already talked about your children and-- I'm trying to think if there's
anything else that I think that would really be beneficial to this. Oh,
well, how about anybody else that you think would be of interest for me to
interview? Because, you know, we're always taking in names of people, you
know. Nixon: What kind of people are you interested in? Billups: Well,
anybody really, you know that, you know, because this is like for research
and anybody can contribute really to history. Right now, they're focusing
on people who are that were--sure yeah. Who are-- Nixon: This man that I
was telling you that used to live across the street from us was our
neighbor for 37 years or something, rather. Um, I, I guess I would have to
call him and ask him would he be willing to talk with you? But I really
believe he was born in Pittsburgh and he is. He can't be too much younger
than my mother, if any, because he served in World War One. Billups: Ooh.
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Nixon's Mother: He's somewhere around [unintelligible].
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Nixon: Uh huh. And so if you want me to, I could call him and ask him. Or
I could call him and let you ask him would he be willing to let you talk to
him. He's retired, of course, old man, you know, And he lives right down
the street on the other side in one of the-- Billups: Do you have his
number? Because, you know, if I had his number and his name, I could easily
talk to him or-- Nixon: Very good. I can get you. His name is John Bell.
Billups: John Belt? Nixon: Yes. B-E-L-T. And his address is 539 Francis and
I can get you his phone number and maybe I'll just let you call him and you
tell him that I-- Billups: 6-8-3 Nixon: 0-4-5-9 Billups: 0-4-5-9. And oh,
we definitely call people up before we even contact them. And they're--
Nixon: Right. Right. Like you did me. Billups: And you were sent a letter,
right? Nixon: Yes. Yes, I got the letter. I got to find that letter, too,
because I--you probably don't need this on your tape. [sound of tape
pausing] Billups: Okay. Now you belong-- Nixon: You want me to go back and
tell you that I belong to the Toastmistress? It's an international
organization. My local group is called the Golden Triangle Toastmistress
Club. Billups: I've heard of that? Nixon: And--you've heard of that?
Billups: Somebody else was telling me about that. Nixon: Hmm. I wonder who,
maybe one of our members. Billups: Did you give anything on the top of the
triangle or anything? Nixon: Yes! We had our speech contest last week.
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Billups: Oh was it last week? Nixon: Yes. Last Thursday night we had our
speech contest and I from being the winner from last year. Each year,
whatever person wins that year, the following year is not permitted to be
in the contest. It's not really a rule. It's just a sort of a custom that
grew over the years because they felt that the the new contestants would
feel sensitive about being in contest with the person who just won last
year-- Billups: Right, I see. Nixon: --because she must be good. Billups:
And it's a speech contest? Nixon: Speech contest. Yes. Each speaker has
to-- Billups: That's my major--speech and hearing. Nixon: Is it? Oh, you
should come and visit our meeting sometime. Billups: I would like to.
Billups: We we we meet the first and third Thursdays of every month at the
YWCA downtown. Right this minute. I can't tell you exactly what time the
meetings are. I believe they're 6:30, but I missed a couple while I had the
flu and my mother had the flu. Billups: Right. She was telling me. Nixon:
Consequently, while I was out, they changed something or other and they
only had one dinner meeting and one business meeting. And I'm not sure
exactly how those go. But before you leave here, I'll get your name and
your telephone number or address or something-- Billups: Oh that's good. Oh
that's good. Nixon: --and then I can tell you when we're having a meeting.
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Nixon: In the meantime, next June,--have you seen Kathy Milton on TV?
She's on Channel four. Yes. Billups: I don't know. Nixon: She's like, sort
of like a news commentator. Billups: Oh, I probably--yeah, I know the name.
Nixon: She's Black--yeah, well, she's going to be our speaker when we have
our meeting at which we initiate our new officers in June. And that will be
at the Cork and Bottle. And Kathy Milton is going to be our speaker. But
let me get back to the speech contest. Billups: Because you said you won
twice? Nixon: Yes, I won last year. Like I said, we have this four levels.
Billups: Right. Nixon: And I won on the local level. That's the Golden
Triangle. And then the local level, there's about eight clubs formed the
council and I won on the council level and there's about 7 or 8 councils
formed the region and I represented the council at the regional level. It
was in Philadelphia last year, but I did not win. I did a good speech. I
feel that I did and all of my council members and local members felt that I
did. But the judges are kind of like a jury. When you are having a trial,
you just never know which way they're going to go, you know? And last year
it just turned out that they happened to like funny speeches. The there's
three winners. And the first winner, she talked about soap operas on the
TV.
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Nixon: And it really was not the kind of speech that is most
representative of of Toastmistress training because she didn't have to do
any research or anything. And that's what Toastmistress likes for you to
do. They like for your subject to be the kind of subject that you have to
go to the library and do some research, you know, and maybe prepare outline
and all that kind of thing. And your speech is a minimum of five minutes
and a maximum of eight minutes. And also another feature of the speech
contest is that you are given three words two weeks, exactly two weeks
before time for the contest. The the speech contest chairman calls you up
and gives you your three words and then you have two weeks to pick out one
of those three and prepare it and be ready for the the night of the
contest. And it's just really fascinating. It's-- Billups: Oh, I want yes,
I want to see that. Nixon: It's really, really good. Well, you've missed
our contest, but if you come to a meeting, you'll still hear speakers
because at every meeting we have what we call table topics, a topic
mistress will get up and introduce any topic that she chooses. She picks it
herself and she'll take maybe a couple of minutes to introduce her topic
and talk about it.
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Nixon: As an example, she may say that the price of tea in China has gone
up $0.15 this year. Well, it could be true or not true. It doesn't make any
difference. You got to have something to talk about, you know, and then she
will elaborate on that, how much the Chinese people like tea, you know, and
how important it is to their daily life or something. And while she's doing
all this, you're sitting there listening and then just out of a clear blue
sky, she points to you and say, well, now what do you think that this is
going to do to the the basic structure of the Chinese people? The mere fact
that tea has gone up and you have to get up on your feet and talk and you
should not talk less than one minute. Billups: Oh, wow. Nixon: It's very
good training. Billups: Your speech is very fluent, I can say. Nixon: Very
good training. And then we also have a speaker that has been forewarned
that she is to talk for that night. She will be allowed to pick her own
subject. The only time you are given your subject is when we have the
speech contest, unless it's a special occasion, like when we're going to
have our initiation of the new officers--induction, I should say of the new
officers. Why the--the speaker that night will be asked to speak on
whatever the incoming president wants her to speak on.
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Nixon: I was the speaker for last year and the two presidents asked me to
join their two subjects together. The the outgoing president, her theme had
been, uh something or other about your pizzazz. I can't think of what the
thing said now, but it was something or other about your pizzazz. And the
incoming president's theme was spread your wings. And I talked and joined
these two themes together in such a way that it is very smooth and all and
left everybody feeling that we were going to use our pizzazz to really
spread our wings, you know, and do a big job for the coming year. So each
year the the two presidents can either get together or the incoming
president can ask the club speaker to speak on whatever she wants her to.
And then, of course, Kathy Milton, I will probably tell her what our theme
is and then she can talk on that if she wants to or she can talk on
anything she pleases. But the people generally try to talk on something
that's pertaining to women and pertaining to toastmistress if they know
anything about this. We just had our our local speech contest Thursday
night and I was the oh, I know what I was telling you since I could not be
in the contest this year, having won last year, then the next highest
position for me then is to be toastmistress at the speech contest and that
person has to get up and open up the program.
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Nixon: You talk and sort of like welcome the visitors or that are there
for the evening and you build up the audience so that they aren't too um,
what shall I say? Oh, the opposite of being happy, too--too sad or
something. Because you don't. The first speaker has a hard way to go if the
audience is sitting there all dry faced and everything. And so the
toastmistress has the job of trying to sort of lift the spirits of the of
the audience. And then it's my job to also give the the contestants the
rules of the contest, the judges. I have to give them the rules that they
have to be guided by. Each judge has a hostess sitting with her, and I have
to tell the hostess what her duties are. I have to tell the timers what
their duties are and see, you're only allowed, I said, a minimum of five
minutes and a maximum of eight. So then the timers have a big round light
that they they are sitting there watching the time very closely and at five
minutes they light this light and it stays on for 60s and then they put it
out and they don't give you any further notice.
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Nixon: So you have to speak at least five minutes, but you can't go over
eight because if either way you're disqualified and then when the when the
contest is over, then I call for a report from the timers to see if
anybody's disqualified, you know, and then the judges finish marking their
ballots and then the tellers pick up the ballots and then they go out and
count these ballots to see who has won. And while they're out, then I have
to give biographies of each one of those judges and each one of the
contestants. I had to give nine biographies Friday night. Of course, I
don't have to exactly make the stuff up. The people give me some material
about themselves, you know? But it was really interesting. I had like a
whole book of material that I had been working on for like, oh, about ten
days or so. This was our program, by the way, and this was a butterfly at
night. I stood up like that and the girl who made that and this whole book
was my material that I used to to do my thing for Thursday night. Now the
council is having its speech contest on the 24th of April in Washington,
Pennsylvania, and I will be Toastmistress again because I won on the
council level last year. Oh, that's right.
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Billups: So even if you won for the council level, can you try for the
other two levels that you didn't win on?
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Nixon: No, no, you can't try for the other two because you've got to start
at the bottom each time to make it up. Billups: Oh, I see. Nixon: The
person who won in our club on Thursday night, why then she will be our
representative on the 24th of April at the council. And then whatever
person wins on that level, then she will go on to represent the council on
the regional level. Billups: And you did that already? Nixon: I represented
at the regional level, but I didn't win. And the person who wins on the
regional level will represent the region to go on to be in the
international and I must put this in the records--last year, was it last
year or the year before? It must have been year before last. We had a Black
girl got all the way to the top, but she didn't win on the international
level. And my president says the only reason that the people didn't let her
win is because on the very, very top level, all the judges are past
presidents and they play politics. You know, they decide among themselves,
what shall we do here? And that particular year, this is 76. That must have
been 74. That was the first year that a group had ever participated in the
international contest from Australia. So they decided to let the Australian
woman win. But that Black girl, her name was Nixon, by the way-- Billups:
Was it? Nixon: --and she was from Bronx, New York. Girl, I'm telling you,
[chimes sound] she was just way out of this world. She was absolutely
fabulous. Billups: Oh, wow. Nixon: Really, really great. My president came
back mad and she's White. Came back mad because they didn't let that--
Nixon should have won, she said. She was really great. Well, then last year
she was toastmistress on the regional level where I was a contestant.
Billups: Yeah. Right. Nixon: It was really funny. Everybody, the two
Nixon's up there. [laughs]
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Billups: That is. Wow.
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Nixon: Kind of nice. In my speech, by the way, I could mention this, too.
I used what was my subject. Uh, something about legends. I can't remember
exactly now. But I was--I started out talking about legends, and I talked a
little bit about King Arthur and the search for the Holy Grail or
something. But I was leading up to eventually talking about Martin Luther
King, having been such a great man for the Black people, that there may
come a day when he will become a legend. Billups: Right. Nixon: And in
getting to that, I talked about how Paul Laurence Dunbar had written a poem
concerning Moses leading the children of Israel out, you know, and on to
the Promised Land. And eventually in this poem, Paul Laurence Dunbar's
minister who was preaching, said that Moses is coming to lead us out. And
this brought me up to Paul--to Martin Luther King. And when I was using
this poem, I said about four verses in the dialect. And I think that's what
probably part of what caused me to lose, because I don't think the
judges--as a matter of fact, I don't think none of the White people knew
what I was doing. Billups: Yeah. Nixon: And it just, you know, sort of went
over their heads like and then probably also, like I say, that was the year
that they liked funny speeches anyway. Billups: Right. Nixon: Maybe my
speech was a little too heavy.
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Billups: Yeah, that's what it was--too serious.
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Nixon: But it was it was a it was a really good speech. And I was so. Oh,
the Black people just really made me feel good. When it was over, all of us
contestants were like in a receiving line, you know, And people would come
by and shake our hands and make nice compliments. So many Black people
said, girl, you--oh, I haven't heard anything like that in so many years.
They were just so happy about. And the one woman told me that she was an
elocution teacher and she happened to know that particular poem. She said,
you really did a beautiful job. Billups: And that's hard to do! Nixon:
Yes.
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Billups: That's very hard to do.
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Nixon: I was really, really happy that the Black people, you know, liked
it so well. They just really they thought it was just out of this world.
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Billups: Oh, wow. That's nice. I know you feel good.
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Nixon: I really did. I really did. I didn't know how they were going to
take it, you know, because I was still remembering my experience from back
in high school-- Billups: Right, when they didn't, which is-- Nixon: And
I'm up here before all these White people, but the Black people thought
that was just out of--they said you were it girl, I don't know why you
didn't win, but they just that dumb stuff they picked. The lady who won
third prize--she evidently had prepared her speech after she got to the
hotel because she talked about going swimming down in the swimming pool
that she had seen. And she wanted the weatherman on the radio to tell her
whether it was going to rain or not. I thought, boy, how can anybody--the
judges evidently didn't know what to look for. She did no preparation
whatsoever. They gave her third prize.
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Billups: And what did you win on that time? Second?
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Nixon: No, I didn't even--didn't even place.
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Billups: What?
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Nixon: No, sir. I didn't even place.
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Billups: Oh, I'll be disgusted. Highly disgusted. Oh, that's simple.
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Nixon: But the girl who won first prize, who talked about the--the soap
operas, my president said at the international. See, she went on to
international then to represent our region. She did the same mistake that I
made. She gave a speech on the habits of the New England people or
something or other. And in her speech, while she used some of the
localisms, you know, and things like that, and the judges looked at her
like, I don't know what's she trying to do. And she didn't even place
either.
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Billups: That's ignorance. That's ignorance.
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Nixon: And she had to have done a lot of work on that on that first one.
You know, the one with the soap opera, she didn't have to do anything. She
started off-- Billups: All she do is look at him. Nixon: Yeah! Yeah.
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Nixon: Talked about how she rushes home every day to see what Sam's other
wife's sister in law's brother is doing to so-and-so's niece or something.
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Billups: Oh my sister could have made that one. [laughter]
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Nixon: Right, right, right. It didn't do a thing.
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Billups: Oh, well, then I really appreciate it.
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Nixon: Well, I've enjoyed talking.
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Billups: I know. Oh, that's wild.
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Nixon: I work at Vintage Senior Citizens Center. And it's in East End
Christian Church. I am the job counselor helping to get jobs for these
senior citizens. And I'm also a consumer services coordinator, which means
that if any of these senior citizens buy something at a store or something
from a house to house salesman or whatnot, and they feel like they've
gotten ripped off or cheated or whatnot, then they can come to me with
their complaints because if they go to Better Business Bureau, they are
rushed too much to tell their story. Better Business Bureau tries to finish
off a phone call in like a minute and a half. So that's why they set up my
office, because I have plenty of time to talk with them. But the part I'm
trying to tell you about is when I got to work this morning, I don't have
to be there until ten, but my boss is there, I think like 830 or something.
She had gotten a call from a Miss Joan Aaronsburg from the governor's
office. There is going to be a Conference. On Aging--Pennsylvania
Conference on Aging. April the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th. And she would like
for me to attend and wants me to be on a panel with somebody out of the
governor's office. And I think somebody else told me, Congressman Heinz is
going to be on this panel and some attorney from Philadelphia. The
particular panel that I would be on has to do with frauds. And I would be
able to discuss that because I have handled some cases already, you know,
and I'm real excited about it, although I don't--my boss doesn't think that
Vintage is going to feel that they can afford to send me because I counted
it up and it would cost altogether about $109 for those four days.
00:22:37.000 --> 00:23:42.000
Nixon: But I finally said to them that I would be willing to pay my own
transportation. I didn't tell them, but because I am the widow of a
railroad employee, I can go on the train for free. Billups: Oh, you still
can? Nixon: Yes. So I called the railroad and they could take me as far as
Harrisburg and then I would just have to pay bus fare from Harrisburg to
Hershey. That's where the convention is going to--conference is going to
be. And it was cost $1.75 round trip or something or other. So it brought
the price down to like $84. So I don't really know if I'll get to go, but I
sure wish I could. That would be quite an honor, I think. Billups: Oh, yes.
Nixon: From the governor's office, yet! I thought, oh brother, that is
really something. Billups: Indeed. Nixon: I'll have to tell my
toastmistress about that. Billups: Well, I wish you luck. Nixon: Well, even
if I don't get to go, why, they'll want to know. Because we have in our
toastmistress set up what we call a brag board. And each time we go to
council, each club brings its brag board and puts everything on there that
any of its club members have done, you know, during the three month period.
And we sort of contest with each other to see who has the best board, you
know.
00:23:42.000 --> 00:24:07.000
Billups: Oh that's slick.
Nixon: So our board is our--our group is always saying, don't forget to
bring in whatever you've done, you know? And if you're in the newspaper,
please clip that out and bring it! And I'm going to be speaking next
Sunday. like I told you, at Hill House and I'm trying to find the
invitations. I don't know what I did with them. They're somewhere around
here and I'll give the brag board one of those so that they can put it up
because I'll be a speaker and oh, if I could get on this panel with them--
Billups: That would be-- Nixon: --the governor's office. That would really
be something!
00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:09.000
Billups: That would definitely be nice.
00:24:09.000 --> 00:24:10.000
Nixon: I sure hope I get to go.
00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.000
Billups: I wish you luck. Nixon: Thank you. Billups: So, is there anything
else you want to tell me about?
00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:18.000
Nixon: I can't think of anything else. I've been going on for, what, two
hours?
00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:21.000
Billups: That's good.
Nixon: My heavens. [laughter]
00:24:21.000 --> 00:25:21.000
Billups: That's perfect. Oh, okay.
