This interview with Prudence Hawkins was conducted on May 3, 1976. The interview discusses the subjects life from her childhood in Florida, her employment as a domestic worker in the Southern and Northern regions of the United States, settling in Providence (R.I.), and progress made in the way of opportunities for black people in the United States. In addition to the audio recording of the interview, there is a typed summary and abstract.


Original abstract (1976): Mrs. Hawkins was born in a small town in Florida in 1915. Her family roots go back to the slave system in antebellum Florida. She married a neighbor at the age of sixteen and moved to Miami where she and her husband became domestics. After several years in Florida the Hawkins moved to Champaign, Illinois with another wealthy white family. In 1941, they lost their jobs and decided to go to New York to work. They came north with another family of domestics who were hired by a man in Providence. In a short while, the Hawkins secured jobs as domestics in an East Side household where they remained for twenty years. Twenty years ago they moved to East Providence and eventually gave up their jobs as domestics.
Mrs. Hawkins supplied some interesting information. For example, she talked about the groups she joined which gave her a sense of belonging when she first came to Providence. On the whole, though, this was an interesting but not particularly informative interview.