TRANSCRIPTION OF INTERVIEW WITH DR. NAOMI MILLS GARRETT
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Location: Garrett Homestead,
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[Note: This is not a chronological transcript; nor was our conversation chronological. Rather, "Aunt Mills" would go off on different tangents as she clearly delighted in relating these 'tidbits' for me, as she and my father reminisced about family connections and folks of long ago.]
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Re: HOW HER PARENTS MET
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"My mother's father came from a different type of family. They had what would be called the taxicab concession today; but back then, they were called "drayers." They met every seaboard train. One day a young country boy came in with a box on his shoulder. They asked if he wanted a ride. He didn't have the amount [of money], so he said: 'Let my trunk ride and I'll walk along behind. I'm here to go to school.' He (Mother's father) was so touched that the boy wanted an education that he said: 'Get in. I'll take you.'"
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"My mother had never done anything-you know, any kind of work. They had servants. She got so disgusted hearing her father talk about this poor boy, whom he had formed an attachment to. She and Cas later became friends; but still she did not know he was the one, until one day, she invited him home to dinner."
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"Mother came from an affluent family. She had never cooked, never even made eggs and things like that. My father often said: "I taught your mother how to cook! She tried to fry a turkey!"
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*Interview by: Beryl Dakers Burton
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Dr. Naomi Mills Garrett was a South Carolina African American history pioneer, you can read more about her at: http://www.scafricanamerican.com/honorees/view/1992/2/
