In 1977, Ruth Winegarten recorded seven hours of oral history from Ms. Annie Mae Hunt, after a friend insisted she meet this fascinating Dallas woman. In 1983, Winegarten collected the interviews and published I Am Annie Mae: The Personal Story of A Black Texas Woman.
Annie Mae was born in 1909 in Washington County, Texas. She was the granddaughter of Matilda Boozie, a slave of the Boozie family. Matilda was given 1500 acres of land after the family discovered she was pregnant by the owner’s youngest son. That land would initially help the family financially but was eventually sold away during hard times. Matilda married Eli Randon, Annie Mae’s grandfather, in a jumping the broom ceremony in Navasota, Texas. Matilda told her granddaughter there was no Klu Klux Klan, but instead a group they called the paddy rollers, who tracked down slaves accused of wrongdoing.
Annie Mae’s mother, Callie Randon, moved the family to Dallas. The time was near World War I and Annie Mae routinely pelted out renditions of “Over There” or “Keep The Home Fires Burning.” When she was 15, Annie Mae married John Robert Prosper and became pregnant a total of 13 times over the course of her life . Only six of those children survived. Annie eventually left her husband and raised her children in Dallas during the Great Depression. She made ends meet by washing and ironing for local well to do families. She later was a child caretaker for a Dallas family and sold homemade pies at Nall’s Pie Shop on Wall Street. After the Depression lifted, Annie Mae resolved to never clean someone else’s house again and earned income as an Avon salesperson.
Later in life, Annie Mae became involved in Dallas politics, working with the likes of then precinct chairman Ernest Dillard. She became an active member of the Democratic Women of Dallas County and attended the inauguration of President Carter.
Annie Mae’s life story captures a valuable account of African-American history in Dallas from slavery, through the Great Depression, up through the latter half of the twentieth century. She draws a clear line between treatment she tolerated and treatment she outright refused. Reading history is one thing. Reading and hearing Annie Mae's own words is another.
This information taken from:
Winegarten, Ruthe. I Am Annie Mae: The Personal Story Of A Black Texas Woman. Austin, TX: Rosegarden Press, 1983. Print.
