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Title
Oral history interview with Charles B. Maxey [Sound Recording 04]
Date(s)
- 1994-03-04 (Creation)
Extent
Audiocassette; 00:30:26
Name of creator
Biographical history
Charles Britton Maxey was born in St. Augustine, Texas, in 1917. His parents separated when he was young, and he moved with his mother to Longview, Texas. He earned a bachelor of arts degree from Texas College in Tyler, Texas. In 1939, he and Johnnie Obina Samples were married; they later had five children. After briefly seeking employment as a teacher in Utah, he relocated to Portland, Oregon, in 1943, where he found work in the shipyards during World War II. Johnnie Maxey followed soon after. After the war, Charles Maxey got his certification as a barber and owned barbershops in North Portland. After his first two shops and his home were seized by the state of Oregon for the construction of Interstate 5, he opened a barbershop and grocery store in North Portland, which the family operated for many decades. He was also active in the Oregon Republican Party. He died in 2001.
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Scope and content
Tape 3, Side 1. This oral history interview with Charles B. Maxey was conducted by Jim Strassmaier at Maxey’s home in Portland, Oregon, from February 25 to November 18, 1994. Johnnie Obina Maxey was also present and occasionally contributed to the interview. The interview was conducted in six sessions. In the second interview session, conducted on March 4, 1994, Maxey revisits the topic of his early life in St. Augustine and in Longview, Texas, including racism he experienced, learning to navigate a racist world, and working at a drugstore. He also revisits the topics of his first impressions of Portland, working in the shipyards, and beginning his career as a barber. He describes racism he experienced in Portland.
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Copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.
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- eng
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Subject access points
- Oregon--Politics and government--20th century
- African Americans--Oregon--Portland
- African American barbers--Oregon--Portland
- Barbers--Oregon--Portland
- Business enterprises--Oregon--Portland
- Gentrification--Oregon--Portland
- Grocery trade--Oregon--Portland
- Racism--Texas
- Racism--Oregon
- Shipbuilding--Oregon--Portland
- World War, 1939-1945--Oregon--Portland
- Republican Party (Or.)
- Maxey, Johnnie O. (Johnnie Obina), 1919-
Place access points
Name access points
- Strassmaier, James (Contributor)