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Hickman, Nancy, 2010-09-24

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Scope and Contents

Nancy Hickman’s oral history interview focuses on her experiences growing up in Mississippi in a sharecropping family. Hickman describes a culture of integrated socializing between Black and white children in Mississippi. She also recollects her move to Des Moines, Iowa, where she worked as a housekeeper. While raising three children, she worked full days at multiple houses each week. Hickman recalls cordial relationships with many of the women she worked for, including sharing meals, watching television together, and talking about their personal lives. She says she was treated with respect by all of the families she worked for.

Dates

  • Creation: 2010-09-24

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research. Audio recordings of three oral history interviews are closed, but the associated transcripts are open.

Biographical / Historical

Nancy Frye Hickman was born in Hollow Springs, Mississippi, in 1926 to a sharecropping family. Hickman worked in the fields picking cotton. She later moved to Des Moines, Iowa, to be with family already living there. Hickman worked in a restaurant for seven years, and after the restaurant closed, she began working as a housekeeper. Hickman had three children.

Extent

From the Collection: 5 linear inches

From the Collection: 19 audiocassettes

From the Collection: 31.5 Gigabytes

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Repository Details

Part of the Iowa Women's Archives Repository

Contact:
100 Main Library
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City IA 52242 IaU
319-335-5068
319-335-5900 (Fax)