Bridges Digital Archive: Audio and Video Recordings
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Document Type
Oral History
Publication Date
1-2022
Abstract
Marcella Pruitt (later Grier) was born and raised in Redlands where her grandmother moved in the early 40s. She shares stories of her grandmother who raised her children, and Marcella, as a single mom working cleaning houses. In 1947, a Black real-estate agent, Mr. Burton helped her grandma purchase a house on Herald street in a predominantly Mexican neighborhood. Marcella “Susie” Pruitt Grier describes the tight knit Redlands community she grew up in, the diversity of north side neighborhoods and the strong connections among Black families. She shares stories of Second Baptist Church where her grandmother put on plays and her father Kenny Pruitt was in a church singing group. Marcella attended Redlands High School and was a recipient of the Caesar Hangan scholarship. Despite growing up during the Civil Rights movement, Susie Pruitt did not feel her race limited her and she experienced no direct racism, though her uncle did. Overall, she shares fond childhood memories of growing up in Redlands and worries that race relations seem worse today than she remembers growing up.
Recommended Citation
Wilmer Amina Carter Foundation, "Marcella "Susie" Pruitt Grier" (2022). Bridges Digital Archive: Audio and Video Recordings. 98.
https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/bridges/98
Comments
Interview conducted by Jennifer Tilton.