Collection Title: Jackson Purchase Oral History Project - Lifestyles
Series Number: OH097
Interviewee: Broady, Edward
Interviewer: Bates, Mary
Date interviewed: October 18, 1979
Processed by: Tara Marcum
Date processed: April 27, 2011
Description: 1 sound disc (18 minutes)
Abstract: Edward Broady discusses his early childhood by describing daily chores and attending segregated school. He recalls his career as a laborer and mechanist for the Illinois Central Railroad Company at Paducah, Kentucky. He reflects upon the times he attended church, the flood of 1937 and the Great Depression. Broady details the decline of African American men working in railroad construction, coal mining and the riverboat trade. He describes his mother's laundry business and how she collected clothes with a horse and wagon. He mentions the prohibition era and an underground saloon and moonshine distillery in Paducah. He concludes by pointing out numerous changes that have occurred in Paducah from the time he was child to the 1970s. He also mentions attending the "8th of August" celebrations as young child.
Biographical / Historical note: Edward Broady was born in Paducah, Kentucky and resided in an African American community on the south side of the city. His father was a yardmaster at West Kentucky Coal Company prior to his death when he was three months old. He attended Washington Street Baptist Church and worked with the Illinois Central Railroad Company until his retirement.
General information: No user access to original recordings. Use audio user copies, digital derivatives, transcripts, and/or tape indexes. This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code). Permission for reproduction must be requested from Murray State University.
Subject Headings / Descriptors:
Broady, Edward
Paducah (Ky.) – History.
African Americans – Kentucky – Paducah.
Railroad employees – Kentucky – Paducah.
Illinois Central Railroad Company
