The Cotton Maker's Jubilee: interview with Mrs. Ethel Venson

Title

The Cotton Maker's Jubilee: interview with Mrs. Ethel Venson

Subject

Activism

Description

Ethel Venson and her husband founded the Cotton Marker’s Jubilee in 1935. In this interview from 1984 Mrs. Venson tells of the reasons behind the Jubilee, the struggles it took to get it going and the effects it has had on the Memphis, Tennessee since it was started. The Vensons had taken their nephew to one of the parades for the Cotton Carnival, and the only blacks in the parade were men dressed in white that pulled the floats. When the Vensons went to the white leaders of the Cotton Carnival to see if blacks could get more important role in the festivities they were told no. These inequalities are some of the factors Ethel Venson states that inspired her and her husband to start the jubilee. To be able to have a celebration as good as the Cotton Carnival took a lot of money. In the interview Ethel Venson talks about how they were able to raise the capital needed. It was the men and women who wanted to be part of the court, and maybe even get elected as the king and queen of the jubilee, that raised the money needed. Societal conflicts were another issue the Venson’s had to face. They had to battle the white community who did not like blacks having this event, and having to deal with members of their community who fears what the white community would do to those that helped the event happen. At the end of the interview Ethel Venson talks of the positive outcomes that the jubilee brought. Many of the men and women that took part in the jubilee went on to get a great education, prestigious jobs, and make differences in their communities. The interview also contains pictures so that the reader can places faces with the names mentioned as well as see what the jubilee was like.

Creator

Williams, Sanders Duke; Venson, Ethyl

Source

Mississippi Valley Collection

Publisher

The University of Memphis Libraries

Date

November 30, 1984

Rights

Digital image ©2015 ,University of Memphis Libraries Preservation and Special Collections Department . All rights reserved

Relation

Hist4851, Spring 2015

Files

Citation

Williams, Sanders Duke; Venson, Ethyl, “The Cotton Maker's Jubilee: interview with Mrs. Ethel Venson,” Making an Impact: The Lives of Tennessee Women, accessed March 29, 2024, https://umhist4851.omeka.net/items/show/76.