Oral History Interview with Jesse Shead, July 22, 2016

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Jesse Shead was born in 1947 in East Austin, a segregated African American neighborhood with thriving businesses. He grew-up going to African American schools, such as Campbell Elementary and Kealing Junior High, and experienced a middle-class lifestyle in his ethnic enclave. Shead went to Anderson High School before its closure and and reopening as an integrate school in 1971. After attending Huston-Tillotson University in Austin for two years, he was employed for the Humble Oil and Refinery Company in Baytown as it was transitioning to Exxon. While in Baytown, Shead witnessed instances of discrimination where he was refused service at … continued below

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5 video recordings (1 hr., 9 min., 10 sec.) : sd., col. ; digital

Creation Information

Enriquez, Sandra; Rodriguez, Samantha & Shead, Jesse July 22, 2016.

Context

This video is part of the collection entitled: Civil Rights in Black and Brown and was provided by the TCU Mary Couts Burnett Library to The Portal to Texas History, a digital repository hosted by the UNT Libraries. It has been viewed 312 times. More information about this video can be viewed below.

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Description

Jesse Shead was born in 1947 in East Austin, a segregated African American neighborhood with thriving businesses. He grew-up going to African American schools, such as Campbell Elementary and Kealing Junior High, and experienced a middle-class lifestyle in his ethnic enclave. Shead went to Anderson High School before its closure and and reopening as an integrate school in 1971. After attending Huston-Tillotson University in Austin for two years, he was employed for the Humble Oil and Refinery Company in Baytown as it was transitioning to Exxon. While in Baytown, Shead witnessed instances of discrimination where he was refused service at local businesses. He talks about how desegregation efforts in Austin lead to the drain of African American professionals in the schools and overall community of East Austin, the weak company union at Exxon, how he was one of the few African Americans to work in the Exxon's processing department, his inability to rent in certain areas of town due to his race, and racial discrimination at Lee High School during the time that his two sons were attending. Shead also describes his unsuccessful bid to serve on the board of regents for Lee College, organizing around the police brutality case of Tyrone Henry, police harassment in African Americans in Baytown, his work for Crime Stoppers, how he participated in gang prevention through education, his involvement in the PTA in the Central Heights community, and how he struggled to address issues concerning lower income students.

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5 video recordings (1 hr., 9 min., 10 sec.) : sd., col. ; digital

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This video is part of the following collection of related materials.

Civil Rights in Black and Brown

Based at TCU, the Civil Rights in Black and Brown (CRBB) Oral History Project collects, interprets, and disseminates oral history interviews of the brown and black freedom struggles in Texas.

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Creation Date

  • July 22, 2016

Added to The Portal to Texas History

  • March 27, 2018, 9:33 a.m.

Description Last Updated

  • June 19, 2018, 2:30 p.m.

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Total Uses: 312

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Enriquez, Sandra; Rodriguez, Samantha & Shead, Jesse. Oral History Interview with Jesse Shead, July 22, 2016, video, July 22, 2016; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth987532/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting TCU Mary Couts Burnett Library.

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