Esmont Oral History Project

Interview of Ruth Brooks by Sarah Lawrence on February 21, 2002.

Ruth Brooks was born in Esmont in 1928 to the Gardner family (see her sister's interview, Jettie F. Gardner-Hardy) and has lived there all her life. She recalls the daily chores she and her seven siblings performed, including going to the spring with other neighborhood children to collect water for washing; they played, talked and joked along the way. Brooks recounts numerous play activities while growing up, especially the sports at school and sometimes against other schools. She tells of her experience with polio and describes various home remedies her family used to treat minor illnesses. Brooks joined the Household of Ruth, a social organization, at age 16, and was a member up until last year. She received her degree in cosmetology at St. Paul's Institute and started the first and only beauty salon in Esmont. She names other black owned stores that have existed in Esmont. Brooks says her family did some shopping in Charlottesville but she especially remembers making dresses out of the pretty material of feed bags. Brooks discusses how the ministers of her church have changed their style over the years. She and her husband Edward were among the few parents who sent their children to Scottsville school as part of the "Freedom of Choice" movement toward desegregation.

Listen to the Interview - Part 1 (65 minutes long):     28.8K     56.6K     Other
Listen to the Interview - Part 2 (42 minutes long):     28.8K     56.6K     Other

Read the transcription of the interview

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Esmont Oral History Project: Building Digital Communities, Race and Place: African American Community History, Albemarle County, Virginia. Prepared by the Virginia Center for Digital History, Charlottesville, VA, 2001-200