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The People Who Lived on the Land that is Now Redstone Arsenal, page 275
he had relevant experience. Walter said he went to “Squirrel Hill” [Building 112 on Redstone Arsenal] to apply for a job??"a professional job. He was told “there was nowhere in the model-making area for a Nigger to work. Grounds-keeping, maybe.” When asked if he thought color was still an important issue in working for the government, Walter answered, “Yes.” Walter's past experience with this Army installation throughout its history is not the focus of this research, but it is relevant because it set the tone for the researcher's first contact with Mr. Joiner when asking him to give his time and talk with her to assist in research she was conducting for Redstone Arsenal. He had the opportunity to express what Redstone Arsenal had done for him. Mr. Joiner is an educated and analytical man who has been concerned with social issues. He said he would “tell it like it is,” and if the researcher did not want to hear it, it would be best if she not talk with him??"it was obvious that continuing talks with Walter Joiner would be based on the researcher's ability to cope with that. The researcher told Walter that he could “tell it like it was,” and she would “tell it like he said.” He could terminate an interview whenever he chose to do so. Herbert Joiner. Walter's brother. Initial contact with Walter Joiner by telephone was in the summer of the year 2000. He had called the Directorate of Environmental Management and stated that he wanted to visit his former home place. He said his father was buried in a cemetery there. Danny Dunn (Division Chief), Carolene Wu (Cultural Resources Manager), and the researcher, Beverly Curry (Staff Archaeologist), escorted Walter on his visit, driving to the area where his family once lived, trying to find landmarks that would identify past places. The roads had changed, and the landscape had changed. As Walter talked, some notes were taken and a tape recorder was turned on and off, but neither the pen on notebook nor the audio recording functioned well with the vehicle windows open, the group talking, and the vehicle bouncing in four wheel drive over the fields. The second interview was in Walter's home. For some respondents, information must be “pulled out” by constant probing. Walter is an intelligent man who is a living history book. It was hard to keep the focus limited to his life on the land that is RSA. However, listening to Walter talk about social issues and other happenings did provide insight 275 - (4308)