Interview with Dr. Shazia Ali, a professor from Dallas, Texas. Ali discusses her life and career as a Pakistani-American, including her family origins, growing up in Karachi and Dubai, her education, her work for a newspaper, the slums of Karachi, meeting her husband, being married over the phone, emigrating to Dallas, employment at UT-Dallas, having children, attending Richland College, cultural effects of September 11th, getting a PhD, parenting, and navigating cultures.

Interview with Erma Peace, a former student at the Frederick Douglass Colored School in Denton, Texas. In the interview, Peace describes what it was like attending the school, and includes details concerning the facilities, extra-curricular activities, the layout of the school, teachers and the principal, and activities. Peace comments on segregation in Denton.

Audio log for a recording of an interview with Dean Finley, former ticket agent for Braniff International Airways, conducted for the Flying Voices oral history project. Content includes personal reflections of Braniff’s impact on the DFW area and the airline industry as a whole, Braniff’s rise to the top of preferred airlines, and its bankruptcy on May 12, 1982.

Interview with Russell Ellis, a Navy veteran, concerning his experiences aboard the merchant ships USS Santa Leonara, USS Jose Bonaficio, USS Daniel H. Hill, and the repair ship USS Amphion in the European Theater during World War II. North Atlantic convoys; German submarine and aircraft threats; personal observations of civilian conditions in England, Belgium, and France.

In TFS Extra Book #28, Beatrice Upshaw shares her memories of growing up in County Line. A Biscuit for Your Shoe captures the lore of a community which began as a freedom colony west of Nacogdoches in East Texas. The book is a memoir, but it shares more than merely family memories of significant events. It tells of beliefs, home remedies, folk games, and customs, as well as the importance of religion and education to a community of like-minded people. The narrative is a rich source of colloquial language and proverbial sayings that help define a group of people and their strong sense of place. Richard Orton was first introduced to County Line by F. E. “Ab” Abernethy, the Secretary-Editor of the TFS for nearly four decades. Richard eventually did a photographic book on the people of the community, The Upshaws of County Line: An American Family, but he believed that Beatrice’s memoir should be developed into a separate work that could be shared with an audience larger than just family and friends. Richard’s introduction explains the value of the stories Beatrice Upshaw presents in A Biscuit for Your Shoe; they are personal, but the overall narrative speaks collectively about …