Otis R. Anthony African Americans in Florida Oral History Project
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Interviewer
Anderson, Sherri
Publication Date
4-13-2011
Date
2005-11-04
Abstract
Oral history interview with West Tampa neighborhood leader Ruth McNair, the president of the West Riverfront Crime Watch Association. McNair was born in Marianna, Florida, in 1931 and was raised by her great-grandmother. As a child, she was a sharecropper on a cotton farm and left school after fifth grade. She moved to Tampa when she was sixteen and worked as a maid. She and her husband, the late Joe McNair, were married after he returned from the Korean War; they had three daughters and were married for fifty-three years. The family moved into their house in West Tampa in 1958, and McNair continues to live there. She frequented many of the businesses in West Tampa and occasionally went to Central Avenue, the primary African American business district. In this interview, McNair discusses the changes to West Tampa over the years that she has lived there, as well as her involvement with the Crime Watch Association.
Keywords
African Americans, Social life and customs, History, Florida, Tampa, West Tampa (Fla.)
Subject: geographic
West Tampa (Fla.)
Holding Location
University of South Florida
Language
English
Media Type
Oral histories
Format
Digital only
Notes
Interview conducted November 4, 2005. Interviewed by Sherri Anderson.
Identifier
A31-00092
Recommended Citation
McNair, Ruth, "Ruth McNair Oral History Interview" (2011). Otis R. Anthony African Americans in Florida Oral History Project. 9.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/otis_anthony_ohp/9
Rights Statement
