Bridges Digital Archive: Audio and Video Recordings

Loading...

Media is loading
 

Document Type

Oral History

Publication Date

9-17-2014

Abstract

In the first part of the recording, Jamie Zeffery interviewed Jack Hill. Starting with the topic of the New Hope Baptist Church, Hill talks about his early reading difficulty. After his Sunday School teacher made an insensitive comment about staying at home if he couldn’t read, Hill never returned. Hill did, however, join a Bible Study group later in life as it was a space he felt comfortable in, some of which he attributed to a high school class in public speaking. The focus of the interview moves to Hill’s time in the Chamber of Commerce. Zeffery then mentions that Hill had his catering service and was part of the library board, the latter leading to a learning center being in his name at a local library. Being involved in the library also had connections to his mother, who was unable to read, and to his sister, who helped his literacy. Hill mentioned the Kiwanis Club, an organization that helped schools and children as education was important to him. After recollecting seeing mothers and children getting aid from the Salvation Army, the interviewee talks about how he started the first Black Boy Scouts troop in San Bernardino. There is also a discussion on housing development and Hill’s role in it. This section of the interview ends with Hill talking about his organization, the Neighborhood Housing Services of the Inland Empire, and how he wants to help homeowners and people of low income find a place to live.

Share

COinS