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Parallel and Crossover Lives: Texas Before and After Desegregation
What was gained and what was lost? This project was developed to document personal narratives about the coming of school desegregation in Texas communities. In partnership with the Texas Association of Developing Colleges (Dallas) and the Texas African American Heritage Association (Austin), the Texas Council for the Humanities (now known as Humanities Texas) developed Parallel and Crossover Lives: Texas Before and After Desegregation, a pilot community oral history project at Jarvis Christian College in Hawkins and Huston-Tillotson College in Austin.
With funding through the “Extending the Reach” initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the two private, historically black colleges hosted public screenings of Ricardo Ainslie’s grant-funded video Crossover Lives: A Story of Desegregation and held oral history workshops before launching projects to record oral histories from members of the community. Each project site produced a video, which can be rented through Humanities Texas. Interview transcripts are available as links from this page.
Introductory essay
An essay by Dr. Glenn Linden, Dedman College Associate Professor of History, Southern Methodist University, and author of Desegregating Schools in Dallas: Four Decades in the Federal Courts, offers a brief overview of the project.
Meet the People of Parallel and Crossover Lives
A brief biography of the people interviewed about their experiences with desegregation in their communities and schools.
Interview transcripts
Full transcript of each oral history interview, including portions not included in the films.
Teacher’s Guide
This guide offers discussion and activity ideas related to the Civil Rights movement, desegregation on the national level, and the interviews available here.
Related video documentary projects
Contact Humanities Texas staff to rent a video that includes the 25-minute Crossover and Parallel Lives: Remembrances of Austin and the 35-minute Crossover and Parallel Lives: Remembrances of Fouke, Hawkins and Big Sandy in addition to a video discussion guide.