Newspaper Manager

But what I remember is--have you ever been to Evanston [Illinois]? Okay, back then there was an old Wieboldt's store [Wieboldt Stores, Chicago, Illinois], Wieboldt's department store, and my mom [Marjorie Rosemond Hunter], my brother's a year older than me so I'm in third grade, he's in fourth grade okay? She took off 'cause she was a domestic, she had two or three jobs. One of the things she did was domestic, one of the things she did was she was an elevator operator part time in Evanshire Hotel. It's out in Evanston [Illinois]. She took off from work one day and showed us how to catch the bus from where we were living, got us registered in St. Mary's Catholic school [St. Mary's School, Evanston, Illinois], showed us how to take the bus and get back home, okay, and it was September of 1944 and she bought us some heavy coats and some clothes, 'cause she obviously couldn't--had to leave everything we had down there, she couldn't--okay, and she says, "I'm only taking off one day to show you guys what you need to do. You guys have got to pay attention and you've got to do it, but if you behave yourselves, come out of the Wieboldt's store and you don't clown too much, we'll go across here to the Woolworths store [F.W. Woolworth Company]," which is right across from Wieboldt's, five and ten store, "and we'll get a soda, an ice cream soda." Oh, yeah, hell yeah we'll behave for an ice cream soda but, and she took us and after we got through with Wieboldt's and she took us into the Woolworths to get the sodas. She told us to sit down at the counter, she had to restrain us. There's no way in our minds we could sit down at that counter because we came from you know? I mean she had to physically restrain us and make us sit there because in our mind there was no way we could sit down at that counter and have a soda, you know, it's 1944 in Evanston, and I think about that so often because when my wife [Leila Hunter] and I got married in '61 [1961], I think the first time I had gone back south, I went down in '86 [1986] to bury my mother-in-law. I didn't go back 'til like '96 [1996], because I was working two and three jobs and hustling and trying to pay bills 'cause I had two other boys soon after that. So I'm trying to be a father and provider you know, so my wife went and took the kids [Stuart Hunter, Aubrey Hunter and Kenyon Hunter] down every year but I never went back. The first time I went back and had any time to spend there it was like '96 [1996] and I was just absolutely blown away and it still does a thing with my head to have white folks say, "Yes sir," and "No sir" because I was eight years old and I remember that's not what you were called in 1944 (laughter), that's not what you--believe me. Yes, sir and no, sir and thank you and however genuine or not it is, it just--I contrast that in my mind to that September 1944 thing where my brother and I were being constrained by my mom so that we would sit there and partake of what we--you know and so if you ask for a signature moment as a kid, that's probably the signature moment for me was that incident in the--at the dime store.$$Okay.$$Yeah.$I was the representative [for Standard Oil of Indiana; BP Corporation North America Inc.]--that was my sales territory where the riots started. I was on the corner of Madison [Street] and Kedzie [Avenue], right down the street from Marshall High School [John Marshall Metropolitan High School, Chicago, Illinois] when the riots broke out, but that was my sales territory.$$Now that was in 1968?$$That's '68 [1968] (simultaneous).$$(Simultaneous) Right after Dr. King [Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.] was killed April 4, '68 [1968].$$That was '68 [1968]. Right.$$What--$$I was standing right there on the corner of Madison and Kedzie.$$Now what did you see, I mean what?$$(Makes noise) And people looting and running and shooting and shouting and yelling and pulling folks out of cars, whites that were driving through they were pulling 'em out of car and beating 'em and, and I left there and I went down to twenty- to 22nd [Street] and St. Louis [Avenue] 'cause they had a station down there and I called into the office and they said, "Get the hell outta there, forget about that territory go home." And I left 22nd and St. Louis 'cause it was exploding down there and I went over I had a station at Warren [Boulevard] and Western [Avenue] which is one block north of Madison around on Western, just north of and all the way down all you could see was looting, TVs, clothes. Madison was--at that point in time I had two of the busiest stretches in the City of Chicago [Illinois] in terms of commercial business in my territory. There was on the corner of Madison and Western, there was the corner of Pulaski [Road] and Washington [Boulevard]. Retail--I also had Roosevelt Road, but I didn't get down that far and all you could see was looting, yelling and screaming, shooting and beatings, that's all you could see. So I made it to Western and Warren and from there I went straight north on Western and got the hell out of there, I didn't come back for a week. And when we came back there was just nothing but devastation.$$And they actually set the stations on fire, they--?$$No they didn't set any stations they were just looting, the worst thing you saw was looting, just yelling, screaming, running and looting.$$Now how, how did you first hear about Dr. King being killed. Do you remember when you first found out (simultaneous)?$$(Simultaneous) I heard it right there, that's where I heard it, right there on the--there's a restaurant at Madison and Kedzie and I was in there, that's when I heard about it.$$How did you feel about it?$$I, I was surprised he lasted as long as he did, because when I first learned about him, I remember my buddies and I were saying this guy is either a saint or a fool. This is like '62 [1962], '63 [1963] something like that and if he's a saint he's not gonna last very long. We were surprised he lasted 'til '68 [1968]. Said the things he's espousing especially when he really became anti-Vietnam [Vietnam War], said things he's espousing they're gonna get him. I mean that's in our, my immediate circle that was the feeling, they're gonna get him and when he lasted 'til '68 [1968] they said, "Damn, we might be wrong, he might--he may actually get outta this," and because it had started to (gesture), you know it started to (gesture), it started to--by '68 [1968], but in essence we just said hey that guy's talking about--the things he's talking about can't last, that's, that's not what (laughter), that's not the mindset of the powers that be.