Code,990023
Subject,Renee Harrison
Date,6/20/2013
Interviewer,Katherine Taylor
Abstract,"Renee Harrison grew up in Glenville in the 1950s-60s.  After graduating from Glenville High School, she attended Cleveland State University beginning in 1969.  She began teaching in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights school district in 1974 and moved to Cleveland Heights the following year.  She was a founding member of the Heights Alliance of Black School Educators and spends considerable time describing this stage of her career."
Tags,"Glenville, Cleveland Heights, University Heights, CH-UH Schools, Gearity Elementary, Heights Alliance of Black School Educators, Cleveland State University, Jews, racial discrimination"
Special Notes,
0,"Born in Glenville; attended various schools there; overcrowding at Hazeldale, so bussed to William Brett School in Collinwood area"
1,"Glenville was ""wonderful""; Glenville High School; started at CSU in 1969"
2,"Stillwell Hall, Fenn Tower, quonset huts at CSU; felt unwelcome at William Brett School"
3,"""Almost like being in a foreign country""; ""stared at"""
4,Segregation within the school
5,Glenville was predominantly black; Glenville Shootout; National Guard; curfews; looting
6,Glenville Shootout; remembers feeling of fear and anger; worked for CH-UH school district
7,First teaching job in 1974 in Cleveland Heights; remembers new influx of black students and negative assumptions about their potential
8,"Harrison was in Heights Alliance of Black School Educators (HABSE), which championed diversity"
9,HABSE
10,Saw white flight and more influx of black families except in Roxboro district
11,CH-UH seemed open to addressing issues surrounding integration of schools
12,HABSE grew; had workshops for parents to help them navigate the schools' policies
13,"HABSE did parent workshops, educated staff"
14,HABSE role in bringing multicultural into curriculum
15,HABSE blended with CH-UH to a degree
16,HABSE effort to deal with kids' special needs in positive way
17,Bad experiences recalled
18,""""
19,""" ; Louis Farrakhan"
20,""""
21,Experienced no real racial difficulties in Cleveland Heights
22,Worked with and supported Heights Community Congress
23,Retired in 2004; moved to Lyndhurst; noted concerns about Gearity School
24,Jewish community tried to buy Gearity and turn into a Jewish school but failed
25,Gearity School's location in University Heights explained
26,"Began as a teacher in 1974, started working on curriculum committees; CSU adjunct instructor"
27,Became parttime multicultural coordinator and taught half a day
28,"Mentored new teachers; at CSU, got certification"
29,Went to Kent State to pursue Ph.D. but backed out due to time difficulties
30,Became principal of Gearity School
31,""" ; after six years she knew it was time to step down"
32,Felt like true professional for first time as adjunct at CSU
33,""""
34,""" ; set up ""office"" in corner of classroom when she returned to CH-UH"
35,CSU
36,""""
37,Started Gift Passages (business)
38,"Experience as only black female in CSU classrooms in business courses, so transferred to education instead"
39,"Loved kids, so enjoyed education; Mary Kay beauty consultant; tutor"
40,Mentors kids and teen mothers through sorority
41,On her hopes for children
42,""""
43,"Experiences of racial discrimination:  via employment agency, went to West Side, got lost..."
44,"Business was in middle of residential area, so she walked from bus stop; kids on porch used N-word to her face as she passed"
45,"When she left, ended up at gas station, called mother to ask to be picked up"
46,Got job at Kraft Foods as receptionist temp worker; went to school to learn teletype machine
47,Was 17 years old; had to contact salesmen in field to be sure they were following their itinerary; on phone it was fine but...
48,"when they came into the office, it was different; people acted strangely"
49,Office manager fired her soon after; she cried
50,"Called mother, who said to take a cab home; mother called office manager who said salesmen didn't like black woman checking up on them"
51,Had higher aspiration to go to college; father spoke with George Forbes about lawsuit but decided against it
52,"At Gearity School, staff had been stable for many years; did not like the culture there"
53,"because it wasn't very friendly toward children; thinks they may have thought she would ""crack a whip on these black kids that were out of line"" because she was black"
54,Three Strikes program initiated
55,""""
56,She didn't like this punitive mindset; parents began complaining
57,""""
58,She preferred to emphasize catching kids being good rather than bad; positive reinforcement
59,""""
60,On the need to avoid saying bad things about parents in front of their children in school
61,""""
62,Recalls Crosby Furniture Store on St. Clair Ave. in Glenville
63,Bad experience of being abducted in front of grocery store as child in Glenville
64,""""
65,""""
66,Parents overprotective so she didn't go out often when growing up; Cory Methodist Church
67,Dances at Masonic Temple in high school
68,Came to Cleveland Heights in 1975 a year after starting teaching there; racial steering in suburbs (no detail)
69,"At CSU, sit-in protests over laying off of Raymond Winbush, head of Black Studies"
70,""""
71,Winding down...
72,Ends at 1:12:11