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Holloway, Mary (audio interview #1 of 3)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - The audio quality of this first, short interview with Mary Magdalena Holloway is poor because of background noise, including the sound of her rocking chair. This is coupled with the crackly voice of a fragile 92 year old. Nevertheless, except when noted, she can be understood. The interviews with Holloway were conducted by a student in a UCLA women's oral history class. 2/21/1974
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- 2021-02-23
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- SUBJECT BIO - Mary "Mother" Holloway, like many other Black women, focused her social reform activities in the church. She held leadership positions in the Women's Missionary Socety both before and after her move to Los Angeles in 1947. In Los Angeles, she worked with other women of various denominations to institute social programs for young women. Some of her involvement in NAACP, Church Women United and NCWN is elaborated by her daughter. TOPICS - family background; education; marriage; menopause; childbirth; birth control; activity in secret fraternities and missionary societies; and efforts with NAACP National Council to desegregate schools in Oklahoma;
- *** File: refmholloway1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-5:14)... The interview begins with a brief introduction. Holloway was born in Azle, Texas and lived there until she was eighteen years old. Her mother, Laura Ann Williams, was a homemaker and her father, John Williams, was a farmer. Her parents had twelve children (she provides the names and ages of her living siblings). In 1900, at the age of eighteen, Holloway married Reverend P.H. Hughes and moved to Oklahoma where she lived for several years. While in Oklahoma, she became severely ill and was hospitalized until her son brought her to live with him in New Mexico. In 1947, she moved to Los Angeles, California. She explains that she made two previous trips to Los Angeles in 1929 and 1940. Holloway's mother died in 1960 at the age of 100. (5:14-7:06)... In Texas, she received a public school education and also attended a Normal school for teacher training, after which she taught elementary school in Kennedy, Texas. She recalls that it was necessary for her to work during this period in her life. Hughes died in 1918 and she married Reverend J.L. Parker, who died in 1925. (7:06-18:43)... In 1926, she was elected Grand Mistress of the Loyal Friends of America, a secret fraternity. In this capacity, she visited lodges in eastern and southern Texas. This organization worked for the uplift of "fallen" humanity. In 1927, she was offered a new position to organize fraternities in Oklahoma. She describes her activities creating these lodges, indicating that she held meetings and went door-to-door organizing people for the group. In 1926, she met her third husband, R.H. Holloway, while giving a lecture at a Loyal Friends of America meeting. She describes this encounter and his marriage proposal after only one-day of courtship. However, she did not marry him until 1929, and they remained married until 1943. (18:43-24:39)... Note: there is background noise in this segment , which makes it difficult to hear the narrator. When she began going though the "change of life," she stopped teaching. During this time, she was menstruating very heavily and was often confined to bed rest. She gave birth to five children, using a midwife for her first birth; the others were delivered by male doctors. All children were conceived during her first marriage. Although she did not use any birth control methods to prevent pregnancy during her second and third marriages, she did not become pregnant. She was aware of the availability of contraceptives, but did not require their use. (24:39-27:14)... After leaving her teaching career, she remained a homemaker. She occasionally earned money for cooking, but did not work in the public sector. She describes her involvement with missionary societies and the secret fraternity, Eastern Star. (27:14-29:05)... Note: background noise in this segment makes it difficult to hear the narrator. The first time she voted was in Oklahoma on the Democratic ticket. She discusses working with the NAACP National Council for the desegregation of Oklahoma schools. During these efforts, Holloway recruited a "mulatto" woman to approach the superintendent of each school, as well as the governor, to request permission to attend the school. end of tape
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