Session 3 transcript, 2020-12-06

Item

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This is the third session of a life history interview with Ms. Edith Crutchfield. This interview was recorded at three different locations in the Park View and Petworth neighborhoods of Washington, D.C. The first two locations, 3316 Warder Street NW and 4125 New Hampshire Ave NW, are residences where Ms. Crutchfield lived in the years after she first arrived in Washington in August 1953. The final location is Ms. Crutchfield’s current home on Rock Creek Church Road NW. In this interview Ms. Edith discusses her experiences in Washington from the 1950s when she first arrived, to 1978 when she moved to Silver Spring,\Maryland. She also recounts how and why she returned to Washington in 2011 and reflects on her life in the D.C. Region. She also discusses her family life in Washington and the lives of her daughter, Debra, and her husband, Richard, who passed away in 2015 and 2018 respectively.

Dates

Creation: 2020-12-06

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.