My Interview with Mrs. Craft

My interview with Mrs. Craft was one of the more memorable experiences that I have the privilege to take part in during my time working on this project. Mrs. Craft was a great interviewee and was very knowledgeable about the things she talked about. She was also a wonderful host and offered me and Naraij coffee and cake when we arrived at her residents. Before as well as after the interview she had plenty of stories and things to talk about with me and Naraji which made it a surprisingly comfortable situation.

Mrs. Craft was born and moved to Johnsons Park Neighborhood in 1941 when she was only 18 months old. Her and her family was the first black family to move into Johnsons Park Neighborhood. At the time they moved into the neighborhood she said they were the only black family there. She said at first the people there did not like that there was a black family living there but after a while people became accustomed to the fact that there was a black family there since her family were respectful and hard working and just wanted to fit into the neighborhood. She explained that her family worked very hard for her house, and that her father would walk everyday to work to the south side of Milwaukee and back in order to save enough to by a bike. That story was really amazing because in this day and age you almost never see or hear of people walking to work in order to get enough money to pay for a bike and then a car and their house. I personally think in this day and age most people take their homes for granted and don’t work as hard as the Craft Family did for their home. And I would guess that’s why Mrs. Craft home means so much to her.

The entire interview was great and I’m glad I had the chance to interview Mrs. Craft because I learned so much about the history of the neighborhood that I never knew about before I started this project. It was also great to have the chance to interview someone who has lived in the neighborhood all her life and has been able to experience all the different changes that have gone on throughout her life and to convey that to us.