Byrd, Venella, 1922-2009
Biography
Venella Foster Byrd was born in 1922 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, to Mae Ella Williams and Oliver Foster. She had five sisters. Venella Foster married Palmer Byrd in 1950. Byrd had one daughter and four sons. After marrying, having children, and moving to Waterloo, Iowa, she pursued education by taking night classes at East High School. Byrd served as an outreach worker for the Jesse Cosby Center, becoming director in 1968, and retiring in 1982. She was president of the Waterloo Quota Club, the Waterloo Women’s Civic Club, and Grant Elementary PTA. Byrd was a member of Antioch Baptist Church. Venella Byrd died in 2009 at the age of 86. Biographical information found in Byrd’s obituary as published in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Byrd, Venella, Approximately 2009
In her interview, Venella Byrd recalls that unlike white children, she and other African American children could not return to school in the fall until the cotton had been harvested. Byrd shares her experiences cooking and cleaning for two white families, and she describes the kind of food she prepared. She recalls experiencing some discriminatory treatment, including an incident in which one of the men she worked for did not want her to use the same wash pan that he did when washing her hands.