{"id":9277,"date":"2023-04-19T22:18:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-19T22:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/?page_id=9277"},"modified":"2023-06-19T20:12:25","modified_gmt":"2023-06-19T20:12:25","slug":"curtis-smith-oral-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/curtis-smith-oral-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Curtis Smith Oral History"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_spacing=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][divider line_type=”No Line”][vc_column_text]\n

Curtis Smith Oral History<\/span><\/h1>\n[\/vc_column_text][divider line_type=”No Line”][page_submenu alignment=”center” sticky=”true” bg_color=”#008542″ link_color=”#ffffff”][page_link link_url=”https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/manuscripts-and-guides\/” title=”Manuscripts & Subject Guides<\/strong>” id=”1681942459922-10″ tab_id=”1681942459923-1″] [\/page_link][page_link link_url=”https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/guides-to-the-collection-page\/” title=”Collections Portal<\/strong>” id=”1681942459931-3″ tab_id=”1681942459931-1″] [\/page_link][page_link title=”Visit<\/strong>” id=”1681942468149-9″ tab_id=”1681942468150-4″ link_url=”https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/departments\/archives-museum\/visit\/”][\/page_link][page_link title=”Make a Request<\/strong>” id=”1681942468848-9″ tab_id=”1681942468849-10″ link_url=”https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/departments\/archives-museum\/requests\/”][\/page_link][page_link title=”About Us<\/strong>” id=”1681942469639-2″ tab_id=”1681942469640-4″ link_url=”https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/departments-archives-museum-about-us\/”][\/page_link][page_link title=”Yearbooks Online<\/strong>” id=”1681942475296-7″ tab_id=”1681942475297-1″ link_url=”https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/departments\/archives-museum\/yearbooks-alumni-magazines-delta-state-histories\/”][\/page_link][\/page_submenu][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_spacing=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]July 15, 2006<\/strong><\/p>\n

Interviewed by Eleanor Green and Emily Weaver<\/strong><\/p>\n

Transcribed by W. Ray \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

My name is Eleanor Green and this is July 15, 2006 and I am here with Curtis Green at the Cleveland Farmers\u2019 Market and I am here with Curtis Smith interviewing him for the Delta Black Farmers<\/p>\n

Oral History Project.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Can you tell me your full name?<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Curtis L. Smith<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Can you tell me where you are from?<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Merigold.<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Can you tell me when you were born?<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 October 11, 1942.<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Can you tell me about your parents?\u00a0 Were they from Merigold, or did they move here from somewhere else?<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My mother is from Hillhouse, Mississippi.\u00a0 My father was from Friars Point.<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How many brothers and sisters do you have?<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Six brothers and three sisters.<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Do any of them live in the Mound Bayou or Merigold area?<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I got one sister that still lives there.<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Did your family own land and farm when you were growing up?<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes we did.<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How and when did your family acquire the land.<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ever since I can remember, I guess in the early \u201940\u2019s.\u00a0 \u201943 I believe.\u00a0 1943.<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Do you remember how they got the land and how much they had?<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 40 acres.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Several people in that area say they have 40 acres and they got it from the railroad.<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t get it from the railroad.<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Where is the land located?<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Two miles.\u00a0 Between Mound Bayou and Merigold.<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Is the land still being farmed?<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes, some of it is.\u00a0 (inaudible)<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So it is farmed by yourself?<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Right<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And you sell what you grow at the Farmers\u2019 Market?<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (inaudible)<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Do you know some of the history of the land and what else has been grown there and what has been done there over the years?<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well we just mostly, cotton and beans.<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Was the farm ever used for share cropping or tenant farming?<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (inaudible)<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How has technology and what you produced changed over time?<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Basically we are the same.\u00a0 We never changed a whole lot.\u00a0 We don\u2019t have an irrigation system and we have never had one.\u00a0 We don\u2019t, we didn\u2019t use as many chemicals as we have used.\u00a0 But, they used to farm, they used to plant cotton earlier.\u00a0 The beans used to come off later than they do now.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 They used to come off later.\u00a0 So we have to start up early now.<\/p>\n

EG: Do you know did your family farm anywhere else before they came to the Delta?<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As far as I can remember they were there in the same location?<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Has the land ever been divided?<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well, I still have it.<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You still have all 40 acres?<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes.<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Are there any original buildings?<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No.<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What is the value of the land here in your family, not in monetary value but how you view it in importance?<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well I don\u2019t think you can really put a value, place value on something your family has worked on.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t look at it as a monetary thing.\u00a0 I don\u2019t even think of selling it.<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So you see this land as always being in your family?<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Right.<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How do you feel about keeping the land in the family for future generations?\u00a0 Do you think that will be difficult?<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I don\u2019t think so.\u00a0 Everyone seems to be real pleased with the way it is now.<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (inaudible)<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (inaudible)<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What would you tell a young person in the next generation about farming (inaudible).<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well, you know if you have the time and the resources I think it is a good thing to farm it if you can have, farm if it is going to be productive.\u00a0 I find that vegetable farming seems to be as productive as the other.<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How long have you been doing vegetable farming?<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 About four or five years.<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Have you used any assistance such as co-ops or USDA programs or NRCS?<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The co-ops from time to time I would go out there and get advice from them on different things.<\/p>\n

(Tape cuts off)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

END OF DOCUMENT<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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