Title Page & Abstract
An Interview with Rosia Adams
Interview #: SAA-A-D-2006-004
Conducted by the Springfield African-American History Foundation
For the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library
Rosia Adams was born in Hardaway, Alabama and graduated from Pinellas High School in Clearwater, Florida. She attended Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Langston University in Langston, Oklahoma and moved to Springfield, Illinois shortly after graduating with a degree in Home Economics and a teaching certification. Adams taught Home Economics at Washington Middle School for thirty years and taught an additional two years at Southeast High School, retiring in 2005.
Interview date(s): November 29, 2006
Interview Location: Springfield, Illinois
Interview Format: audio cassettes
Interviewer: Lee Patton
Transcription by: __________
Edited by: __________
Total Pages: 80
Total Time: 2 hours, 25 minutes, 26 seconds / 2.71 hrs
Interviews are archived at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois.
Abstract
Rosia Adams
Springfield African-American History Foundation Project
Biographical Information and Synopsis: Rosia Adams was born in Hardaway, Alabama in 1950. She had six sisters and four brothers. When she was in seventh grade, she moved to Clearwater, Florida with her family and graduated from Pinellas High School in 1968. She attended Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. After a year at Coe, Adams transferred to Langston University in Langston, Oklahoma, graduating with a degree in Home Economics and with a teacher certification. Shortly after graduation, she moved to Springfield, Illinois with her daughter’s father, Norman Smith, and her daughter, Allyce, and began teaching Home Economics at Washington Middle School, where she taught for about thirty years. After leaving Washington, Adams took a new job at Southeast High School, where she taught for two years before retiring in 2005.
Topics Covered: Springfield, 1970s – present; farm life in Alabama; Segregation in the 1950s and ‘60s; Coe College; Langston University; Washington Middle School; Southeast High School; Elbert Betts; desegregation case; Minority Teachers Union; University of Sarasota; foster care; Faith Logan; Urban Development Program
Note to the Reader: Readers of the oral history memoir should bear in mind that this is a
transcript of the spoken word, and that the interviewer, interviewee and editor sought to
preserve the informal, conversational style that is inherent in such historical sources. The
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library is not responsible for the factual accuracy of the
memoir, nor for the views expressed therein. We leave these for the reader to judge.
COPYRIGHT
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