Episodes

  • 11 Retirement and Jim Crow

    11 Retirement and Jim Crow
    May 25 2021
    Our final episode! Ben Watford talks about retiring back to NC. It's 1986 and Ben soon throws himself into numerous causes. no restful retirement and watching TV for this man...
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    34 mins
  • 10 Integration and Jim Crow

    10 Integration and Jim Crow
    May 11 2021
    What did Ben get up to outside the classroom when he lived and worked on Long Island? A black man in the midst of a nearly all white community, Ben set about bringing some long overdue changes to his community and beyond. We find out about it in this episode.
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    23 mins
  • 09 College, Teaching and Jim Crow

    09 College, Teaching and Jim Crow
    Apr 27 2021

    Ben graduates high school and leaves Winton NC to take up a place at Howard University. But how does a poor black boy get himself through college? And how does he land a plum teaching job at a traditional all white school on Long Island?
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    44 mins
  • 08 Childhood Stories and Jim Crow

    08 Childhood Stories and Jim Crow
    Mar 27 2021
    More stories from Ben Watford. He talks about growing up in rural NC under segregation in the 1930s and 40s.
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    23 mins
  • 07 Police, KKK and Jim Crow

    07 Police, KKK and Jim Crow
    Mar 16 2021

    Ben and I chat about his encounters with the police and the KKK. His mom would sit him and his brothers down regularly and give them "the talk". This was her warning about encounters with the police in and around Winton.
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    26 mins
  • 06 "Light, Bright, and Damn Near White" and Jim Crow

    06 "Light, Bright, and Damn Near White" and Jim Crow
    Feb 28 2021
    Ben and I chat about 'shade'. Back in Winton NC in the 1930s and 40s there were light skinned blacks, and there were dark skinned blacks. Discrimination? You betcha....
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    27 mins
  • 05 Winton Folk and Jim Crow

    05 Winton Folk and Jim Crow
    Feb 22 2021
    In the little town of Winton NC, where Ben Watford grew up and went to school, there were two local black people who were important to the town back in the mid 20th Century. Here we find out about Mrs. Katie Hart, librarian, and JE Reid, wealthy local businessman.
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    30 mins
  • 04 Siblings and Jim Crow

    04 Siblings and Jim Crow
    Feb 14 2021
    Ben Watford grew up in rural North Carolina in the 30s and 40s. He was one of 15 children. In this episode we find out about 3 of his siblings - Annie, Cleo and Alvin.
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    26 mins