Code,915016 Subject,Thelma Tucker Date,6/26/2012 Interviewer,Gabriela Halligan-Taylor Abstract,"In the 2012 interview, Thelma Tucker describes her childhood which led her to the Shaker community. Originally raised in New York City, she was the daughter of Norwegian immigrants who valued education at a young age. She describes the racial discrimination she witnessed as a child, and how her Scandinavian background always viewed race as a non-issue. Working in Ghana after marriage, she then attended church before making her way to Shaker in the 1960s. She goes on to explain her feelings about Shaker schools, American education, and the integration during the turbulent 1960s. Mrs. Tucker ends with thoughts on the community today." Special Notes,"Shaker, discrimination, Hough, integration, schools, education, elite education, social and demographic problems" minutes:,63 0,"Introduction, childhood, moving to Shaker" 1,"joining a church in Hough, getting involved in the Shaker community" 2,The Russells welcoming the Tuckers into Shaker 3,"her childhood education, ""..I'll buy her a pair of shoes if she can come to school..""" 4,Schooling and meeting her husband in Queens and NYC 5,"""..Race was never an issue.."" as a Norwegian immigrant family" 6,a story on experiencing race relations in the US 7, 8,race discrimination during WWII 9, 10,coming back to the US after working in Ghana with her husband 11,"the church in Hough, the Hough community" 12,looking for housing in Shaker as a young family 13,"""..we weren't exactly the typical Shakerites..""" 14,moving into Shaker culture 15,"on ""elitest attitudes""" 16, 17, 18,"""..I was very please to be a part of Shaker.."", her kids in Shaker schools" 19,Racial tension in Shaker.. housing and neighbors 20,experiencing lower class neighbors in Shaker 21,Shaker school integration in the 1960s 22, 23, 24,"""..there was a fear that the schools would deteriorate..they did not want [an integrated community]..""" 25,"a class issue, rather than a race issue, African American culture" 26, 27,her children's school experience after integration 28,"More on school's and integration... the ""downgrade"" of the school system" 29, 30,personal story about tutoring a girl who was told she couldn't pass a class 31, 32,"""..[my kids] were annoyed by the kids that didn't want to learn..""" 33,The Shaker school changes in the 1970s 34, 35,"""... if you're very selfish, you shouldn't move into Shaker..""" 36, 37,"""entertaining"" a man from Ghana, his comments on the schools" 38,the police station blowing up in Shaker 39,"''..I really remember having good neighbors.. a real strong sense of community..""" 40, 41,globalization changing Shaker's demographics 42,"the ""garden city concept"" in Shaker" 43, 44,the houses in Shaker 45, 46,Shaker houses verses the houses in other parts of the country 47,Shakerwood as a Levittown in Cleveland 48, 49,The Shaker retail changes throughout the years 50, 51,retail bringing in lower classes into Shaker 52, 53,single parent homes affecting student performance 54,Shaker Square 55, 56,"""..unless a person [serves others]... you're going to have a lot of problems...""" 57, 58, 59,"""..You owe people, besides yourself, something...""" 60, 61, 62,""".. Well, I came back.""" 63,[end]