Name/Title
Interview, Ronald RamseyEntry/Object ID
R2021.38.11Scope and Content
Oral History Interview for Vine Avenue with Ronald Ramsey.
Mr. Ramsey’s interview takes listeners for a walk down 1950s Vine Avenue from 28th street to 34th, from the Tex Café and the “casket place” to JQ’s grocery and “Joe Mearns”. Ronald reminisces about the air quality from the steel mills turning line-drying clothes yellow, leaving the neighborhood women to do laundry according to the mill’s blast furnace schedule. He remembers changes in the late 60s – Vietnam, schools closing, businesses shuttering – but friendships stood the test of time. “…families were tight. And to this day, Gene Garza and I, and he hasn’t been here [Lorain] since ’68 and every year on July 20, I call him for his birthday and every November 24, he calls me for my birthday. So, I mean, there’s friendships that just never go away.” Ronald is African American and grew up near Vine Avenue.Collection
Latino Lorain History ProjectAcquisition
Accession
2021.38Source or Donor
Tober, BethanyAcquisition Method
Collected by StaffCredit Line
Latino Lorain History ProjectOral History Details
Interviewee
Ramsey, RonaldInterview Date
May 19, 2021Oral History Notes
A full transcription is available at the Lorain Historical Society. Please contact us for research inquiries.