Oral history interview with Curtis Ward
Object Details
- General
- Associated documentation, including partial transcripts, for this interview is available in the Anacostia Community Museum Archives. The textual transcripts are not verbatim of the audio recordings.
- Title created by ACMA staff using text written on sound cassette, contents of audio recording, textual transcript, and/or associated archival documentation.
- Names
- Howard University
- Garvey, Marcus, 1887-1940
- Marley, Bob
- Ward, Curtis A.
- Collection Creator
- Smithsonian Institution. Anacostia Community Museum
- Place
- Jamaica
- Washington (D.C.)
- United States
- Occupation
- Lawyers
- Topic
- Jamaican Americans
- African Americans
- Manners and customs
- Rastafari movement
- Reggae music
- Education
- Emigration and immigration
- Emigration and immigration law
- Discrimination
- Racism
- Stereotypes (Social psychology)
- Taxicab drivers
- Discipline of children
- Associations, institutions, etc.
- Interviews
- Culture
- Jamaicans
- See more items in
- Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. Exhibition Records
- Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. Exhibition Records / Series 3: Oral History Interviews
- Sponsor
- Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
- Extent
- 2 Digital files
- 1 Sound cassette
- Date
- 1993 February 01
- Archival Repository
- Anacostia Community Museum Archives
- Type
- Archival materials
- Digital files
- Sound cassettes
- Citation
- Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
- Collection Rights
- Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
- Note
- The total playing time of interview recording is approximately 1 hour and 50 minutes.
- Scope and Contents
- Curtis Ward spoke about his parents and his siblings, growing up on a small farm in a rural area in Jamaica, the businesses his father managed, primary school and high school, discipline in the school and in the community, and where he worked before he left Jamaica to attend Howard University. Ward spoke about his experiences when he first arrived in the United States, as a student at Howard University for undergraduate study and law school, working for the embassy of Jamaica, leaving civil service, and establishing a law practice. He also talked about his involvement within the Jamaican community in Washington, DC area, including his time as president of Jamaican Nationals Association; working as taxicab driver; his wife and children, including how he disciplined his children and their Jamaican heritage pride; the feeling of freedom when stepping off plane in Jamaica; cooking Jamaican style food at home; his various residence statuses in the United States; music, including Bob Marley and reggae music, and warning labels on records; influence of Jamaicans and Rastafarians on the community; legacy of Marcus Garvey; discrimination of Jamaicans and stereotyping of Jamaicans in the United States; his thoughts on the television show "Going to Extremes"; immigration reform under Reagan and its impact; and the importance of family and Jamaican culture. Interview is in English. Digital audio files include very loud white noise and static, and some sound distortions / voices distorted. Interviewee can be heard and voices are intelligible for most of the interview.
- Collection Restrictions
- Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
- Record ID
- ebl-1712088000981-1712088003351-1
- Metadata Usage
- CC0