Fashion Entrepreneur

Okay.$$Okay.$$You were talking about the entertainment in Jackson [Mississippi] and the, the musicians that came through there. And just, well, you know, continue to talk about that.$$Well, that was one of the very, very wonderful things about being at Tougaloo [Tougaloo College, Tougaloo, Mississippi] because we, we were only 20 miles outside of Jackson. And all of the big entertainers would come through Jackson. They would perform at this place called the Rose Room. And coming from Port Gibson [Mississippi] where we didn't even have a red light, I just thought the Rose Room was the most beautiful place in the world. It had this beautiful rose right in the center, all neon. And it was a huge room with a stage, and they'd have a band. And when I was a Tougaloo, I got to see Ted Turner, James Brown, Jackie Wilson. Any star during the '60's [1960s] would come through Jackson and we would find a way to get there to see them, and we never missed any. In fact, I can remember James Brown sweating as if it were yesterday. And we were all standing on top of the tables so we could make sure that we got a real good look at him. But it was really a wonderful experience, a wonderful experience. I remember going to see B.B. King [HM] for 50 cents, and James--Bobby "Blue" Bland. There was a very special place call the, the Blue Room in Vicksburg, Mississippi, which is about 20 miles south of Jackson. And we would go there to see some of the stars too. It was a very special place. In fact, the owner, Tom Wince, was on "60 Minutes" about three years ago, how he developed this club. And I think he was the only guy in Mississippi that was a polygamist.$$Really, he--$$Yes, he had several wives and a beautiful club, I mean just absolutely gorgeous.$Now when did Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee come to Tougaloo [Tougaloo College, Tougaloo, Mississippi]?$$I think in 1960, 'cause there was a relationship all the while I as there. They call it SNCC [Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee]. And somebody was always there to talk about stuff or to motivate kids to get involved, that kind of thing. But I, I, I, I did the first sit-in, sit-in in my hometown of Port Gibson [Mississippi]. The day they passed the Civil Rights Bill I had my husband--'cause I married in college, so I had my husband [James Davis] drive me to Port Gibson. And there was this drugstore called McDaniel's Pharmacy, and when I was a little girl growing up we'd have to go around to the side to get our milkshakes. And I always wanted to play the jukebox and sit down and have a milkshake. So I--when I was growing up in Port Gibson I wasn't--I don't know. I guess I just never thought about, you know, why I had to go around to the side. Once I became involved in the movement, I realized, everything came clear. So I said when they pass the Civil Rights Movement I'm gonna go to McDaniel's Pharmacy and have a milkshake. So I went down there and that's exactly what I did. And Mr. McDaniel's was friends with my family. And he said to me, little Carrie Dean, I don't why you're doing this. Now you know better, but he serve--he reluctantly served me. And he said you know, after all, I did give your grandmother good credit. And when I go back down there I always go to see him. He's still--he's, he's in his nineties and he's still alive. And I'm doing a book, and I'm going to interview him this summer. I liked to have just feel--you know, he's just a changed man, and I'd like to know what he--what he's thinking now and how his reflections might be.$$And that was my next question: How have you changed or how is he, you know.$$Well, he hi--he's hired lots of, of, of Afro Americans in his business. In fact, he has a new store now. And I understand he's still doing prescriptions. He's obviously had a change of heart, because after I did the sit-in in Port Gibson, everything changed. I mean there was a bit--there were--it was sit-ins; there were demonstrations; there was a big boycott, and it ended up that a lot of the white merchants, in fact ninety percent of, lost their businesses because of the--of, of the boycott. Several of the merchants that I used to buy from and my paren--family when I was there, they said that no black person would ever ring that cash register. And so black people just stopped going to those stores. And I don't know if you're familiar, but--and I should have brought all the information, and I can probably still get it, but I there was a suit filed against the NAACP [National Association for the Advancement of Colored People] by the whites in Port Gibson because of the big losses. But I, I don't think they ever won anything, because the town now is--there are a lot of black entrepreneurs as well as whites there. So it really changed for the better I think.$$Is the town majority black, Port Gibson [Mississippi]?$$Port Gibson is about probably half and half, probably half and half. It's a very small town, probably less than 4,000 people, maybe--$$(Simultaneous)--$$--a little more now.$$So black customers are significant, you know?$$Oh, certainly, certainly. But before that, no one had ever thought about, you know, doing anything. I mean whites owned all the businesses there basically, you know, the, the, the retail stores, the few that we had.