Rare audio recording of Anne Moody

The 1969 interview, conducted by Commissioner William H. Booth of the New York City Commission on Human Rights, sheds light on stories in her famous book

By Roscoe Barnes III

Chairman, Anne Moody History Project

Copyright© 2017

#AnneMoody

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Anne Moody (1940-2015) 

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Monday, Oct. 9, 2017, was the day I wanted to scream, “Eureka!”

The reason? I found an audio recording of civil rights pioneer Anne Moody, author of Coming of Age in Mississippi. And it's nearly 30 minutes in length.

I was using Google to search for an article in The New York Times when I stumbled across a link for a 1969 audio recording of Moody. When I saw it, I felt a sense of nervousness and excitement because I didn’t know that the recording existed. I had previously searched for both audio and video recordings of her and had only found a short video clip of her at the Woolworth sit-in in 1963, but there was no sound. No recording of her voice. I had read her book, learned of her speaking ability, and spoken with a number of her family members, but I had not heard her voice. What did she sound like?

When I found this recording, I found an important piece of history, a significant link to our past. It was, as scholars have put it, a real treasure. And it seemed to fall from heaven. It was exactly what I needed.

The recorded interview is conducted by Commissioner William H. Booth of the New York City Commission on Human Rights. It is presented online courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archives WNYC Collection. The interview is part of the series, “The Black Man in America,” which, according to Booth, is “devoted to examining the history and life of African Americans and the contributions they have made -- and are making -- to the material, cultural and spiritual wealth of this county.”

In 1969, the time of the recording, Moody was 28 years of age and married to Austin Straus, a young Jewish poet. They were living in New York. Her book, Coming of Age in Mississippi, was published a year earlier by Dial Press. Booth notes that the book had won “wide acclaim.”

Angie Creech Green, a retired English teacher, listened to the recording and said she was impressed with the former civil rights worker: “She is so articulate and holds her ground with the interviewer.”

Moody’s sister, Frances Jefferson, was touched by the recording. After listening, she offered a word of gratitude.

“Thank you so much,” she said. “It’s lovely to hear my sister’s voice.”

Moody grew up in the segregated south where she faced racism and bigotry while trying to overcome poverty. She was born in 1940 in the small rural town of Centreville, Miss. She was raised by parents who worked as sharecroppers in Wilkinson County in southwest Mississippi. In the interview, Moody “shares her views on prejudice, and her eventual realization that the issues she has confronted are in fact prevalent in many other parts of America and the world,” according to the WYNC website.

The interview opens with Booth asking Moody about her book being compared with Manchild in the Promised Land (1965), a novel by Claude Brown, and Down These Mean Streets (1967) by Piri Thomas.

Moody replies by stating: “I would say any book … primarily written by a Negro and concerns his struggle… his struggle to exist, can be compared to Manchild … [It] can certainly be compared to the life of any Negro in America, I would say. In a certain way… we’re all in same bag.”

Moody notes that her “book is a little different … because life in the south, life in the rural south, is much different from life in the ghetto.”

Throughout the interview, Moody recounts some of the stories narrated in her book. She also elaborates on some of the sensitive stories that are now well-known from her book, including the hatred she felt towards blacks for not standing up to racism, and the hatred she felt towards whites for terrorizing and killing people of color. She mentions Emmett Till, who was 14 when he was lynched in 1955 in Mississippi. She also talks about the impact of poverty, and how she often went hungry.

When asked about her life growing up in the south, Moody said the thing that stood out for her was “being hungry most of the time” and waiting for her mother to come out of the field. She said she was also lonely.

I invite you to take a moment and listen to this piece of history. Discover Anne Moody. Hear her voice. Feel her passion. Begin right here.

Reference:

The NYPR Archive Collections (Feb 16, 1969)

Website: http://www.wnyc.org/story/anne-moody

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For more information: 

See the Anne Moody page here.

Questions about the Anne Moody History Project may be directed to Roscoe Barnes III via email at doctorbarnes3@gmail.com or roscoebarnes3@yahoo.com For updates on Anne Moody history and the on-going work of this community service project, simply follow this blog or follow AMHP on Twitter (@AnneMoodyHP). #ComingOfAgeinMississippi