Interview with Leroy Sterling, an Army veteran and educator from Bryan, Texas. In his interview, Sterling discusses his family background, living under Jim Crow segregation, segregated neighborhoods and housing, agricultural work, military service and his experience being one of the first African-American students to attend Texas A&M University.

Interview with Rafael Torres, community leader from Laredo, Texas. In the interview, Torres discusses his family background, geography and politics in Laredo, experiences in school, participating in Teacher Corps, and activism in Crystal City.

Interview with Mildred Davis, teacher from Bryan, Texas. Davis discusses her childhood, education, career, and community involvement. She also discusses the Brazos Valley African American Museum.

Lilia Escajeda was born in El Paso, Texas. She grew up between El Paso, Van Horn, and Amarillo; and she remembers going to segregated schools in Van Horn. She settled in Amarillo as an adult after her husband died, and she eventually became the first female loan-officer for any bank in Amarillo, at the Amarillo National Bank. She joined various community organizations, boards, and became both the first Mexican American women Amarillo College board member and City Commissioner (later City Council Member).

Audio recording of an interview with Johnnie Mae Carter, who was born in East Texas and grew up partly in College Station, Texas, Colorado, and Slaton, Texas. While living in Slaton, Carter was not allowed to attend the local high school because she is African American. Thus, she attended Dunbar High School in Lubbock, Texas. Her family later moved to Odessa, Texas. In Odessa, Carter attended Odessa College to become a nurse. She worked several years as a nurse and also volunteered and later worked for Planned Parenthood in Odessa.

Joann Davenport Littleton was born and raised in Crane, Texas. In Crane’s high school, Davenport Littleton became the first African American class president. Indeed, her mother was the first African American to graduate from the same high school. As a talented volleyball player, she received an academic scholarship to Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas. Davenport Littleton did not like the athletic structure she had to adhere to and left Angelo State University after a semester. She moved to Odessa and worked for the city as well as a privet company while joining the Ector County Democrats. In 1990, deeming south Odessa being underserved, Davenport Littleton ran for city council. She won with a majority ethnic Mexican electorate. In the city council she worked to bring development and city services to south Odessa as well as to clean the environmental problems of that city section.

Described his early childhood in a segregated Liberty, TX, his early involvement with environmental issues, his trajectory to becoming an environmental lawyer, and finally, his work as a Democratic elected official.

Mr. Calyen was born and raised in Conroe, Texas. He lived in a segregated neighborhood and attended Booker T. Washington schools until 1966, when he participated in "freedom of choice" and attended Conroe High School. While in high school, he participated in three marches in 1964 and 1965 to protest continued discrimination. He graduated in 1968 and enrolled in the military. He spent a year in Vietnam and then moved to New York City, where he married and spent almost thirty years as a postal carrier. He then returned to Conroe where he has remained active in his community. Mr. Calyen described race relations in Conroe in the 50s and 60s, segregation and integration, the black community, the impact of the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, his experiences in New York as compared to Conroe, and community activism in Conroe since the 1990s.

James Josey Sr. was born in Galveston in 1947 and grew-up in the predominately African American neighborhood located north of Broadway St. Josey Sr. came of age witnessing segregation. He attended Central High, the African American High School, served in Vietnam, and lived in Los Angeles, California for a few years before returning to island in 1991. He talks about the robust African American business sector during Jim Crow and how the national movements for Civil Rights, lead by MLK and Malcolm X, spurred the youth-directed desegregation efforts in Galveston. Josey Sr. also addresses his involvement in gang prevention, becoming a mentor to young African American males, the role of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity in Galveston, and the meaning of Juneteenth. He speaks about why he founded the first African American History Museum in Galveston and the critical role that it has played in the community. Lastly, Josey Sr. discusses notable African Americans in Galveston.

Cornelia Harris Banks was born in Galveston in 1947.She grew up in a neighborhood on the South of Broadway, which was a mixed neighborhood. Harris Banks witnessed segregated public spaces on the Island and the integration of schools in the 1960s. She graduated from high school in 1965 and attended Pepperdine University in Los Angeles, where she remained until 1996. Upon her return to Galveston in the late 1990s, she became very involved in the community. Subsequently, Harris Banks became the first African American Woman City Council member on the Island in 2000. During her tenure, she became involved in housing efforts (which she continues to work on in present day), in creating parks and recreation spaces, and revitalizing Galveston in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike in 2008. Harris Banks is also involved in the local chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and in local preservation efforts that highlight the history of African Americans in Galveston.

Guadalupe "Lupe" Mendez was born in 1976 in Jalisco, Mexico and came of age in Galveston. On the island, he spent his early years in the Mexican American Magnolia Homes and the African American Palm Terrace, two public housing projects that were destroyed during Hurricane Ike. Mendez attended Catholic schools and had to overcome the lack of bilingual education programs. He eventually relocated to Houston to attend the University of St. Thomas, where he as participated in several ethnic and cross-racial literary endeavors including Nuestra Palabra, the Word Around Town, and Tintero Projects. Mendez talks about how the Latina/o community is the silent minority in Galveston, the political machine on the island, and how hurricanes have shaped the social, political, and economic landscape of Galveston. He also discusses the goal and purpose of Nuestra Palabra and Tinero Projects in providing a space for Latina/o poets and writers, how the World Around Town brings together ethnically diverse poets to present in several communities throughout Houston, his dedication to bilingual education, and the struggle for Mexican American Studies in K-12.

Mr. Walker discussed growing up in Corpus Christi during the Jim Crow era and desegregation and his career as a minister.

Nancy Vera received her degrees from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, including her Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership. Vera specializes in working with at-risk students who are in danger of dropping out and live in poverty. Vera is President of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Council No. 4444. She pioneered “Operation Right Track” a public campaign to raise awareness about gang violence, drug, and alcohol abuse. In her interview, she discussed her career as a union organizer/AFT president of Corpus Christi.

Mr. Serna discussed his childhood and career in Robstown, Texas.

Gilberto Torres grew up around Uvalde and the Winter Garden area. He recalled different instances of discrimination against people of Mexican descent, particular in school settings. Torres had a long career in the military and a prolonged tenure in the Uvalde County Commissioner's Court. He reminisced about his contentious relationship with other members of the court, and the sometimes heated exchanges between them.