Session 1 transcript, 2020-10-24

Item

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This is the first session of a life history interview with Edith Crutchfield. In this interview Ms. Crutchfield primarily discusses her early life in Culpeper, Virginia, before moving to Washington, D.C., at age 17 in 1953. In discussing her upbringing, Ms. Edith talks extensively about her family life with her parents and nine sisters. She talks about her parents work and explains that she and all her sisters began domestic work at age 11. Ms. Edith also discusses her educational experiences at segregated schools in Culpeper and recounts some of her early experiences in Washington, such as attending Miner Teachers College when the school merged with Wilson Teachers College to become the integrated DC Teachers College.

Dates

Creation: 2020-10-24

Creator

Crutchfield, Edith Amanda, 1936- (Person)
Peterson, Max (Person)

Language of Materials

English

Biographical / Historical

Ms. Edith Amanda Crutchfield, born August 28, 1936, is a retired librarian and native of Culpeper, Virginia. Ms. Edith is the daughter of John Duff Grasty and Sarah George Ross Grasty and is one of 10 sisters. She migrated to Washington, D.C. at the age of 17 after finishing high school in Culpeper and has remained in D.C. for the rest of her life. All 10 of Ms. Edith's sisters migrated north after high school and none of them returned to live in Virginia. Ms. Edith initially lived with sisters and other family upon arriving in Washington and attended Howard University for a semester before transferring to Miner Teachers College just as Miner's and Wilson Teachers College were being integrated and combined into DC Teachers College. Ms. Edith had a 30-year career as a librarian in government libraries (FDA and DOJ) and spent the last fifteen years of her career in private libraries of law firms. Ms. Edith married and had one daughter, Debra, who passed away in 2015.