Code,990006
Subject,Donna McIntyre Whyte
Date,5/30/2013
Interviewer,Katherine Talylor
Abstract,"Donna McIntyre Whyte, a Shaker Heights resident, has led a colorful life. She describes the life of her parents. Her mother was a pilot in the 1940s, an unique job for an African American woman, and her uncle was a Tuskegee Airman. Whyte's parents passed a strong work ethic and a belief in the value of education on to her. Whyte describes growing up in the Mount Pleasant area and the fun she had with friends. She tells a great story about how kids would hide in the trunk of the car when they went to drive-in movies to avoid paying admission. Whyte attended OSU and stayed in Columbus after graduation. She moved back to Cleveland after 15 years in Columbus. She moved to Shaker Heights in the 1980s. Whyte discusses how Cleveland changed while she had been away. Whyte became very involved with the Shaker schools while her daughters were there joining the PTA and eventually serving on the school board."
Tags,"Shaker Heights, Mount Pleasant, avaition, education, Ohio State, African Americans"
Special Notes,"notes about high points, audio quality, etc..."
minutes:,
0,Whyte's mother was Dorothy Lane MacIntyer. mother's background from VA but lived in NY for a while
1,mother was the second child. mother's mother died and father remarried. family background
2,Second wife died and grandfather decided to raise the kids. Whyte's aunt moved in with him to help
3,Whyte's mother moved to NYC after high school and went to college.
4,Some cousins encouraged her to go to West Virginia State College  because there were more black people there which she had not been exposed to much
5,West VA had an aviation program and they let in 1 woman for every 10 men so she decided to try to get in
6,mother had always been curious about aviation. she got her pilot's license in 1940 and moved to Cleveland
7,She was hired to be a bookkeeper for Alonso Wright. he owned gas stations
8,Whyte's mother met her father in Cleveland. They got married before he was deployed to North Africa
9,Whyte and her older sister were born right at the start of the baby boom. 1946 and 1948. Whyte didn't realize how special it was for a black woman to be a pilot.
10,Whyte's father moved to Cleveland as a child. Whyte's mother became a social worker. Whyter's sister became a dnce choreographer
11,Whyte's mother always worked. her grandmother took care of her and her sister. Whyte went to A.J. Rickman school.
12,Whyte's father was home when she got home from school for lunch. Mother was psychiatric social worker then became a teacher
13,Whyte learned that she could do a lot of things. mother kept her pilots liscense current for a while. she took Whyte for ride when she was 14.
14,flying was special during that time. they would watch airplanes at the airport. Whyte was 21 when she first went on a commercial flight.
15,Whyte was close to her father. she resembles her father's family
16,Whyte has 9 cousins on her father's side and they all look alike
17,Whyte grew up in Mount Pleasant. it was a mostly white community. it was Whyte's first experience with race
18,Whyte's family talked about race in terms of what people looked like. Whyte went to the local schools
19,Whyte had a few white friends in kindergarden but they left the shools. the class was mostly black.
20,over time the white families left Mount Pleasant. One of Whyte's friends was biracial by today's standards but was considered black.
21,"even though Whyte noticed the white kids left over time, it didn't bother her. school was fun"
22,school memories. Whyte was in the small class of 42 kids.
23,"by second grade, Whyte was part of a small group of 8 kids who were always together and put with the kids who were a half year ahead of them."
24,Whyte had teachers of all races. She only had one male teacher. Whyte's daughter is a teacher.
25,Whyte went to camp through the Mount Pleasant Community Center
26,Whyte went to a lot of activities at the Community Center and in the parks like Woodhill
27,Everyone went skating (ice and roller). biking swinging playing softball in the park
28,Whyte played croquet. her father taught them how to play games
29,Whyte did whatever she wanted. She played all over the city with her friends.
30,St. Cecilia Catholic Church was in the area. Whyte doesn't remember to many black churches. everyone went to church.
31,St. Cecilia was a big part of the community. Whyte went to St. Andrew Episcopalian Church in Cedar were her father had grown up
32,local businesses
33,most stores were family owned. some were Jewish owned.
34,Whyte remembers the 10 cent store. she thinks it was Kresge's. there were no vacant buildings.
35,there were a lot of different ethnic groups in the area. She went to a Polish bakery nearby. there were stores on every corner.
36,"more local businesses. When the McDonalds's was built, it became a hangout for teenagers."
37,Whyte's family would drive to Big Boy's. The food was brought out to the car.
38,Whyte went drive in movies a lot. There was playground at the drive in.
39,"when Whyte and her friends went to the drive in as teenagers, a few people would hide in the trunk to avoid paying admission."
40,The Shaker Theater was within walking distance. the Avalon was nearby too. movies cost 50 cents. Whyte had an uncle who was a Tuskegee airman.
41,Whyte didn't realize the significance of Tuskegee as a chilld. Her uncle and his kids raced soap box derby cars
42,Whyte thought boy's toys were more fun.
43,Whyte had a lot of boy toys in addition to her dolls. She liked her train set.
44,Whyte's father was close with his brothers so Whyte was close with her cousins. father fixed everything in the house
45,Whyte took woodworking classes and home ec classes.  Whyte moved to Shaker Hieghts in 1982 after college at OSU.
46,Whyte wanted to be an English teacher but failed an English class. She went to her sister for advice.
47,"Diane, Whyte's sister, was a role model."
48,Whyte had an interest in business and she knew how to type.
49,Whyte's mother was progressive and wanted her daughters to have a job. mother kept her maiden name.
50,mother's sister was part of the black elite in Baltimore.
51,Whyte's best friends in Mount Pleasant.
52,Whyte taught her friends Cynthia how to do everything. Cynthia went to OSU because Diane and Whyte went there.
53,"Cynthia was very politically aware. She connected with radicals at OSU so Whyte was introduced to Civil Rights. In 1968, students took over the administration building."
54,Whyte did not participate because she did not want to jepordize her education.
55,
56,Whyte wouldn't say that she was radical. Cynthia introduced her to the man she married (now divorced).
57,there was a fair number of students from NYC and NJ at OSU. there was a small number of black students they all knew each other.
58,All the balck students were friends. the fraternaties and sororities were active.
59,Whyte recently went to a college reunion.
60,Whyte was in a sorority. Diane was not part of the radical black students
61,Whyte remembers when she decided to stop processing her hair. She lived off campus.
62,Whyte cut her hair and had an afro which was a statement.
63,Whyte and both of her daughters have natural hair. Whyte and her husband lived in Columbus.
64,Whyte remarried after she and her first husband split and moved back to Cleveland in 1981.
65,"Whyte's kids went to Cleveland schools for only a year before pulling them out. In Columbus, they had gone to Montessori schools."
66,The kids were going to be bussed and Whyte didn't want that.
67,They went to Charles Dickens Elementary for a year and Whyte was not satisfied.
68,"Compared to Whyte's education in the same school district, a lot had changed."
69,That was a tough year.
70,Whyte ran into a friend in Heinen's who lived in Shaker Heights. Shaker was considered racist when Whyte was growing up.
71,
72,Whyte did not know much about Shaker growing up.
73,Whyte mostly knew people in Mount Pleasant and Glenville. Color determined a lot.
74,Light-skinned black people had more options.
75,Whyte worked at the Hough playground during the summer when she came home from college. She was working there during the riots. She had little experience with Hough before getting that job.
76,Whyte thought Cleveland was more of a city than Columbus which was more country. Whyte's family was working class but thought like middle class people.
77,Some parts of Mount Pleasant was middle class. directions in Cleveland.
78,Whyte was aware of class as a child.
79,"When Whyte moved back to Cleveland, she was surprised by how people spoke."
80,Whyte wouldn't date anyone who didn't speak well. She believes that the dialect is more pronounced now.
81,Whyte discussed the issue with a langage coach she knew. Columbus was more white collar than Cleveland so people spoke well.
82,Whyte always had a lot a freinds.
83,Whyte thinks that where somone grew up rather than class influenced how people spoke. She liked working at the Hough playground.
84,Kids in Hough were reluctant to go to Mount Pleasant. Cleveland was a different city when she moved back.
85,Whyte's friend said that Shaker school were good so she moved. They rented for a few years before buying a house in 1990.
86,Shaker had changed while Whyte had been away. it became more inegrated.
87,Whyte also considered Cleveland Heights.
88,"Whyte didn't know too much about the suburbs. Parma had a reputation of ""white people in bobby socks"" and it was spoofed on TV."
89,East West Side divide was much stronger in the past especially before the highway was built.
90,Whyte knew people who lived in Cleveland Heights but she liked Shaker better.
91,Whyte was changed by the time she spent away from Cleveland. She never felt like she was home.
100,She felt like she was home when she bought the house in Shaker. Whyte was on the school board and the library board.
101,Whyte's kids attended Moreland School and could walk to it. She likes living near where she grew up.
102,Whyte became the president of the PTA.
103,"Whyte likes to be a part of the Shaker ""establishment"" and being connected to the community."
104,There was an achievement gap between white and black students but Shaker was a good school district.
105,Being on PTA gave Whyte a voice in the school. She could take care of issues that she thought was racist.
106,
107,Whyte had a few issues. A vollleyball coach didn't play any black players during an away game.
108,Whyte joined several organizations which led to being on the school board.
109,She always made sure she was accessible to the community.
110,"At the dive ins, only boys would hide in the trunk."
111,Whyte's father knew all the roads in Cleveland so he knew how to get the West Side.
112,how the highways were built appeared to be racial. Parma has changed. Celveland is still very segregated.
113,The West Side is very different from the East Side. There are different ethnic groups on the West Side. The younger genreation is less concerned about race.
114,Shaker is not afraid to talk about race.
115,Whyte's mother has pictures of her as a pilot.
116,Diane created a dance based around her mother's life.
117,Whyte's mother was featured for black history month in the Plain Dealer.
118,
119,
120,