Ernest White oral history interview

Tape-recorded interviews conducted by Larry Gosset on April 1, 1968.

White's father came to Spokane in 1894 and became a gold miner, forming an all-black company called the Gold Hump Mining Company. Ernest White was born in West Virginia. He attended high school in Spokane and although he was the only black in the high school, he was well accepted. He noticed discriminatory treatment when he left school in 1917 to support his mother and sister after his father's death. He came to Seattle after being drafted in 1918. Army conditions were discriminatory and later when he returned to Seattle, employers discriminated. In 1921 White became a mail carrier, a job he held for 39 years until 1960 when he retired. Housing, theatres, restaurants and stores were discriminatory. White tells of some incidents throught the country when he and his family went on vacation. White feels the blacks of the 1960s were becoming militant and change was necessary to preserve America.

Complete summary of interview attached to Basic Data Sheet.