Mordecai Walker and Andrew Walker Oral History Interview

Interviewee

Mordecai Walker
Andrew Walker

Files

Interviewer

Julie Buckner Armstrong

Publication Date

Summer 8-4-2021

Date

2021-05-02

Abstract

Mordecai Walker was born in Citrus Park, FL and moved to St. Petersburg in 1958. Andrew Walker was born in St. Petersburg and lived in several different places before returning in approximately 2010. They lived in the Gas Plant area at 1224 5^th Avenue South until the interstate went in, the property was bought out, and they relocated to the Driftwood area of St. Pete. The interview covered detailed information about the area; nearby families, churches, and businesses, including funeral homes; and the cemeteries and their relocation. They were members of St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church, on the southern end of the cemetery complex, and First Baptist Church, also in the Gas Plant area. Both churches relocated prior to or because of the interstate going in. Neither has, to their knowledge, ancestors buried in the cemetery complex, but M. Walker, a retired school teacher and realtor, remembers remains being relocated. Interview 1 had some technical problems, so a second interview was scheduled to clarify information. In Interview 2, A. Walker discusses his experiences working with McRae Funeral Home as a teenager and M. Walker specifically describes what he saw regarding remains being exhumed.

Keywords

African American Burial Ground Project (AABGP), African American Burial Grounds Oral History Project, Oaklawn cemetery, Evergreen cemetery, Lincoln cemetery, Reinterment, Reburial

Extent

02:18:45; 63 page transcript

Language

English

Media Type

Oral histories

Format

Digital Only

Identifier

A67-00002

Recommended Citation

Walker, Mordecai and Walker, Andrew, "Mordecai Walker and Andrew Walker Oral History Interview" (2021). African American Burial Grounds Oral History Project. 7.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/african_american_burial_grounds_ohp/7