For Penn State Public Broadcasting, I'm PJ O'Connell.

The Pennsylvania parade and the rural America documentary project, which has been the umbrella under which most of these programs have been produced.

As one of its central themes, a sense of history, but not for the most part, history long past.

Ours was a sense of the importance of today as history.

Our programs are a record of the joys and struggles of our neighbors in rural America over the past quarter century.

It is an unusual, perhaps unique television history, and we hope you find it as interesting to watch as the producers here at Penn State public broadcasting found it to produce.

This edition of the Pennsylvania parade has history, long past and recent as a major topic, along with events of the present, All joined together in a joyous scene of family celebration.

[sister sledge, "we are family"] (SINGING) We are family Thank you.

(SINGING) I got all my sisters with me (SINGING) We are family Get up everybody and sing I gotta get some more.

Shoot it, bud.

Yeah.

I heard it click.

Get your finger away from the lens.

Sex.

Woo.

Who's in the back, all the way in the back?

NARRATOR: This celebration has been going on for over 50 years.

It is a celebration of freedom and survival and achievement and continuity.

It is the story of a family and of that family's role in their community and in the Black history of rural Pennsylvania.

That's beautiful when we can come together rejoicing and thanking the lord for bringing us one more year, one more time together on a happy occasion.

So praise the lord today as you celebrate the 51st homecoming of the Paris plan reunion.

(SINGING) There are blessings you cannot receive Till you go [inaudible] When you say 51 years, that's a long time.

It's longer than I am old.

But we go up there and I enjoy it.

They call it a one horse town.

But I said for a one horse town, it's not bad at all.

A prayer, sweet hour of prayer that calls me from a world of care and bids me at my father's throne.

Make all my-- Labor day has been a significant day in our lives for 50 years.

And it's just family getting together, being one unit, loving each other.

As I had a cousin that once said, if you can't stand each other any other time of the year, at least you can once a year.

And so you are more than welcome.

This is your home away from home.

And we're so happy to have all of you here on this, our 51st annual reunion and practically homecoming.

And it really brings together the feeling of joy and praise.

And we can truly praise the lord because he is good.

He's brought us safely over the highways.

He brought us together.

And before we think of festivities, we will think of him and joy.

[gospel singing] But there's nothing like being right there.

Being able to see that person, to have that chit chat time that you need to have that hug that you need.

And we never know what might take place within that year.

We may not be seeing each other again.

[music playing] You know, it's always a good feeling for me when I sit in that church because I was born and raised in that church and served on the Trustee board there for over 30 years.

And well, I'll say for myself, I look forward to it too, because all the young girls, they went to church too.

On Sunday, I'd have a chance of seeing them anyhow to say hello.

(SINGING) And I know-- Yes.

(SINGING) --he watches He watches me Everybody singing.

Yes.

(SINGING) I sing because I'm happy I sing because I'm free Oh His light-- I think music really makes you feel good.

And the music is a big part of me.

(SINGING) And I know-- Singing that Sunday, it made me feel good that if I can just touch somebody, you know, I just feel that if-- then my living will not be in vain.

[music playing] Good to be here.

Yeah, God bless you.

Yeah, I've met him a little earlier.

I know you travelled so far.

How are you doing?

I was in the Navy for, let's say, 3 and 1/2 years.

And when you're in the service like that and you're far away, you know, you start missing home and everything and you start to think about your family, how much you care about them, how much you miss them and everything.

So this gives me a chance to see everybody, and basically, what brings me back here.

NARRATOR: On a daily basis.

More than 7,000 people are with their families in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.

The city is the County seat of Huntingdon county, hub of a small manufacturing and recreational community located between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg.

Founded in 1767, Huntington grew and prospered, especially with the building of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the post Civil War boom in transportation.

In this century, the area's population has remained mostly stable, with Blacks making up between 1 and 2% of that population.

Still working at [inaudible], are you?

I'm still working at-- How long have you been there?

About 13 years.

13 years.

Who else is up there now with you?

You're Andy.

I'm Andy.

This is just a family reunion.

You know, no one really pays much attention to Black or whatever.

It's just basically family.

You know, this is.

This is our family.

And I don't think they really care whether it's-- you know, it's just family.

Black doesn't have anything to do with it.

You're on candid camera.

[laughter] Two people in the seat.

It must have been only those three who came up.

Yeah.

I'm not sure what they've been up to.

7:00 Monday morning, he called me.

He was thirsty.

He'd been up all that time.

That's a heavy-- Packing up, get ready to leave to go to Saudi Arabia.

And then at that point, they weren't sure where they were headed.

We've been working so you guys can have everything nice.

A woman's worth nothing.

Everybody's worth.

I just want to introduce you to Jackie.

You haven't met Jackie yet.

This is my grandmother.

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

So now you know why I'm so lovely.

Yes.

Take after my mom.

That's why.

That's why I'm so good to you.

But how did Kevin get in the family?

I don't know.

[laughter] Whoa.

You would have hand this coffee to her.

I didn't know.

I know.

He's precious.

I really feel proud that my family continues to do this.

When I talk to friends of mine, they find it hard to believe that we have a reunion each and every year because a lot of them may not be close with their family.

They may not be close to their relatives.

They find it fascinating that we continue through doing this.

[laughter] They taught me everything I know.

Isn't that right?

And a whole lot we didn't tell them.

[laughs] That's why I'm so sweet.

Don't take my picture.

[laughs] [inaudible] Oh, they cut it.

They edit it.

You don't have to worry about that.

They're not going to put this on.

I feel like I'm wilting over.

Ooh, it's hot.

Madam President, are we ready?

50 first annual Harris clan reunion meeting will now come to order.

We will have prayer led by Lena Coleman.

Gracious Lord, we come to you today In memory of our 51st family reunion.

Bless this family and all [inaudible] maybe we have many more.

Well, previous to us really getting started as a family outing.

The usual time we would get together would be a funeral or something.

So I rarely saw these cousins and uncles and aunts, except at these grown up and crying and all dressed up occasions.

Nell, you heard me speak about Nell.

She was, she and my brother in law, John, was the founders.

She was always a person whose house was always open.

And any time we wanted to go anyplace or needed something, we would go to Aunt Nell's.

They did all the cooking at her house.

And I can remember they bought this great big wash boiler to cook the ham and green beans in.

And we had salads.

We had all the good things.

And we would go out every labor day.

We did this for about three or four years.

We'd go out there and prepare the stuff, and we would have our meal the next day.

But there was a lot of enthusiasm and just the joy of getting together and having a good time.

Labor day, is labor day itself, that is actually the reunion day.

And since we enjoyed coming together and so many of us had come so far, we decided to stretch it out for two other days.

Before we branched out and went into a hotel to have our affair, everybody used to pal in [inaudible] and Uncle Jack's house.

And the family got quite large.

And it was a lot on her for everybody to pal in there, even though it was just for a short period of time.

And it was just-- I think in the early part of the 70s is when Aunt Ada and Uncle Jack said, enough.

Do we have any births?

So would you please make the announcement, give me the child's name.

I know we have one birth at least, and that's Derek of homes.

Well, we will enter Derek's name into the records.

Are there any deaths to be acknowledged at this time?

Amen.

That's good.

Yes.

Any marriages?

Not yet.

Not yet.

OK. Do we have any promotions?

Tell everyone that my son Brian asked me to give you all their greetings from London.

Said they were sorry that they could not-- I'm originally from Huntington, Pennsylvania.

This is my hometown.

This is where I was born.

And, you know, the first years of my life and growing up, I certainly did enjoy it I guess in the high school years when you begin to want to socialize more.

The fact is that there are some social differences which were still made and based on race lines.

So for a lot like for dating and so on that, there were people that I knew in Mount Union and Lewistown and Altoona and so on that.

And in town actually for any Black male that was my age, I think we were all related.

[laughs] So a lot of us felt that there was a lack of opportunity too at that time to do the thing that you really wanted to do in Huntington.

And so in pursuit of a job or in pursuit of higher education, we tended to float away.

It's a very long distance between Huntington and Washington, DC.

It's quite a ways.

A lot of people did leave Huntington.

A lot of kids my age left Huntington because there were no opportunities there for them.

I went to Altoona, and then I left and came to Washington.

But I'm not a city girl.

And I would like to go home again sometime, maybe.

City, Philadelphia is a very fast pace in which normally you're not out after dark.

You're not-- you're very skeptical and very cautious.

And you have to be very protective of family as well as self when you're there.

You can't be-- I don't feel that you have to be the type of person to be hard rocks because they can see through this.

And then they try to manipulate you.

But you basically, come from a small town.

You try to be yourself, but not to be overly friendly.

I know some of them come back to Huntingdon.

Like my mother, she went off to Philadelphia and Altoona, Pennsylvania.

And she's now living back in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.

So she's come back home.

They move away, but they tend to come back home.

I come from like right around from DC.

And when I get up there, everybody tells me how different I talk from what they're used to.

I really wouldn't like to live there because it's not enough going on.

There's no-- there like a main attraction around, there's nothing.

Only reason-- if my grandparents didn't live there, I wouldn't really want to go, except for that and the reunion.

Is to establish an apprenticeship program.

And that is anyone, young people, old people.

We're not restricted by age who would like to find out what goes on in planning the reunion activities to serve as an apprentice right under one of the officers.

And I would like volunteers for that.

And if I don't get enough volunteers, then I'll recruit.

Give your response back to any one of the executive members.

The children are completely included.

And I think that by doing that, we keep them interested, we keep them involved.

And that's one way that we feel will keep our family reunion going year after year after year.

[music playing] All right, everybody get fired.

Right.

All right.

Stay where you are.

Is that good?

No.

Yeah, yeah, Yeah.

Get out of here.

That man could get you on the camera.

That's all.

That's all.

That's all.

[music playing] [laughs] The dance.

Well, I love to dance now.

I won't deny it.

I love to dance.

I think if you look nice, you feel nice, you know?

And then it just brings out that personality can be nice.

I think I got out there once or twice, but just to see who was out there.

That was all.

I enjoy myself.

I enjoy it.

[music playing] How you doing?

Real good.

Yourself?

OK. OK. OK.

I can do it better than that, Melissa.

Watch my feet.

Turn around.

Turn around.

Turn around.

Ahh.

I'll give you his number and his address.

You can call.

All I need is that number.

All right.

3-- See?

Hold on.

3, hold on.

3736686.

OK.

I hope you get lost, too.

No, I'm putting down John's hill because he's up on that hill.

John's hill?

His name is Jim.

[laughter] He's messing with you.

He's messing with him.

Get out of here, Richard.

I think family is extremely important.

I probably wouldn't be doing the things that I'm doing now if it hadn't been for the kind of family support that I had as I came up.

Are you being bad?

That's a white thing.

You could be a neighbor.

And we are a very affectionate family.

And we embrace a lot.

And it's not phony.

And it's not put on.

And our family is just like that.

I had friends, a couple of boyfriends who couldn't get used to this.

They said, wait.

They're not used to that because they didn't have it in their family.

But I said, wait, this is my cousin, or this is my friend.

And that's just an acceptable thing in the Harris clan to be warm and affectionate and caring.

Raffle tickets going.

Stakes are high.

All right.

I need to sell three more.

six.

OK. For some reason the women have been running things for quite a while.

I can't tell you why, but the women have been running the family reunions for a while.

All right.

That's probably true.

But you know, like women-- I don't know-- as far as I know, the women are more creative, and they come up with all these ideas, but they get help from the men.

The women sort of outnumbered the men.

I guess that could be one reason.

Perhaps for the men, it's easier for the women to do it.

Most of the females in our family, such as my aunts, my mother down to my sister, more or less as I've grown up, tend to try and rule the male.

That's the way I feel sometimes.

They more or less try to set the standards and tell you what to do, what's right or wrong.

They're going to kill me for this.

But that's the way I feel about it.

And I think maybe there are more girls in our family than boys.

Not really sure.

We really never took a count.

But I think that's one thing we need to consider.

I mean, you didn't get him today, though, did you?

I didn't get him today.

They're just as good as today they were last night.

They threw them away last night.

You better get something today.

Is that the sun?

No, you do it.

You have to push hard.

Here.

Push on here.

Push hard.

I'm Marlene Warner, and I've been going to the reunion since 1981.

Well, basically I brought it because I live with her.

And I've enjoyed going every year.

They always treated me like I was wanted.

I always had a good time.

As far as the rest of the family, you get a mixed reaction.

You know, some of them are nice and some of them aren't.

And that's just human nature.

It doesn't really bother me because the ones that probably don't like it, I probably don't really see that often.

And they really probably don't know me that well.

I always felt wanted.

Well, like I said, I've always had a good time.

It's one time we always look forward to going.

Catch up on what happened to different ones during the year.

And-- That's what Susie warned.

No, it's not.

That's-- I remember the face, but I don't know who it is.

Oh, wait a minute.

Who is this?

Oh, that's a good one.

Is that me?

When was this?

1982 I might have been back in 82.

Where?

Which one is me?

See right there.

Sure is.

Sure is.

There it is.

Oh, this is my son.

That's Lottie.

That was Uncle Bob's wife.

And Debbie.

I don't know.

Milton, isn't it?

Is that who that is?

I remember that plaid shirt there.

Let me see.

That's not Milton.

And who's this?

Isn't not Cornelia there?

That's her there.

Yeah.

There you are.

But that doesn't look like her.

It doesn't.

She looks like she was angry.

Well, I think there's a certain amount of nostalgia there.

Brings back a lot of pleasant memories.

Some things that you have forgotten.

And it's very pleasant to reminisce.

Anna, these are Skate's kids.

And there's no bickering or complaining or fighting.

It's just one happy time.

Oh, get out of here.

I'm not going to-- [interposing voices] I'll keep it if you don't stop.

No, you won't.

Just grab a picture like that.

I said I'll give it to you.

I see Gale's on this, Gale.

I'm not getting excited because-- [interposing voices] That's me.

Someone may get a little teed up with the other one.

And the next thing you know, they're laughing.

they'll forget about it.

There's nothing to it.

And it's great.

No, it's me.

We wanted to do something special for the 50th.

We felt that 50 years of celebrating reunions was not something that you could just say, oh, yeah, 50 years and that's it.

50 years from 1939.

They are held annually.

And apparently through all the wars that took place, the reunions went on.

And it was just a way of sitting back and patting ourselves on the back and saying, you really have done something.

You've really-- this is really nice.

You've kept the family together.

How many other families can say that they have done this?

How many other families can even say that they do have a family reunion?

A lot of families get together for funerals.

Yeah.

Framed and-- you pay attention.

We had to do it when we could do it.

Yes, indeed.

You got me there.

I didn't want her to get me down that one.

Where did you find that, ace?

You disappointed her there.

Sorry about that.

You trying to get-- why you want to do all that?

So I can get over to you.

Jay?

Yeah.

Because the case is coming off.

This is one of the founders, the history goes back to.

This is grandma Harris, our grandmother.

They're grandmother.

Nellie's daughter, Nellie's mother.

Nellie's mother.

That's right.

My great-- Great, great, great grandmother.

My great, great grandma.

We're the only grandchildren here.

That's right.

My name is Lena Del Coleman.

And Theodosia was my maternal grandmother.

My name is John De Day.

And Theodosia Harris was my grandmother.

Well, I am Ada McNeill, and Theodosia Harris is my great grandmother.

My name is Marlene Purvis, and I am the great great granddaughter of Theodosia.

My name is lance Ellis and Purvis, and I am related to Theodore Harris because she is my great, great, great grandmother.

She was very strict.

And when she'd come to visit, she took over.

In that day, they wore blouses and long skirts.

And when she was dressed, she'd have on a hat and her gloves.

And I thought she was very stately looking person in addition to her sternness with his grandchildren.

We're the only grandchildren who are here.

You're just a great-- you're just one great.

You're one great.

No, you-- she's your grandmother.

So she's my great, great grandmother.

Just one great.

One great.

One great.

All right.

Oh, Lena, now you know it's only one great.

Dolores is two.

Of course, everybody saw Roots, and so did I.

And I thought that's a nice story.

And I ask a few questions and nobody knew any answers.

And so I forgot about it for a while.

And then I heard someone one Sunday speaking about Black people in Africa, talking about where Black people came from, the fact that they at one time had been Kings and Queens and princes and princesses.

And how they were artists and mathematicians, scientists, that kind of thing.

And that's what really piqued my interest.

And I wanted to know, well, who are we and where did we come from?

[music playing] NARRATOR: Theodosia is the Harris family's link to the past.

The granddaughter of the family's first known ancestor, Jeremiah Norris.

Jeremiah Norris was born in Maryland in 1775, a slave of Joseph Norris, from whom Jeremiah took his name.

Jeremiah was moved to Pennsylvania when he was 12 years old.

By 1805, almost 60 years before Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves, tax records listed Jeremiah as a single freeman, meaning he was over 21, single, and employed, and therefore taxable.

Six years later, the record showed Jeremiah as the owner of 300 acres of land and other property.

He and his wife, Violetta, were to live on the Norris farm for over 50 years.

In 1829, Jeremiah transferred a portion of his land to his daughters, executing the deed in the manner common in those days by making his mark.

Jeremiah and his wife had nine children, and the Norris's were active in the affairs of their community and their country.

The Civil War began in 1861, and by 1863, regiments of US CTs colored troops were being organized, including men from Huntington.

Levi Chaplin, who married Jeremiah's daughter, Sophia, was an occasional correspondent for a local newspaper reporting the experiences of local soldiers.

John Norris, Jeremiah's son, was killed in Virginia at the battle of new market heights, one of 38,000 colored troops to lose their lives in the union cause.

And Thomas Richardson, who married Jeremiah's daughter, Violetta, also fought for the union.

He returned to Huntington, where he lived until his death.

Among his survivors was his daughter, Theodosia Harris.

Following the war, the Black community in Huntington continued to develop.

In the 1870s, a colored school enrolled a number of local students.

And a grandson of Jeremiah Norris, John Chaplin had become a successful businessman and a successful painter.

Chaplin's work was exhibited in Chicago and Saint Louis and purchased by collectors in Philadelphia and Washington, DC.

20 years later, in the mid 1890s, Herbert smith, who was not related to the Harris family, became the first Black student to graduate from high school in Huntington.

And that same year, the cornerstone of the local African Methodist Episcopal church was laid.

One of the founding board members of the new church was Jeremiah Norris's granddaughter, Theodosia Harris.

The history of the Norris Richardson Harris family is scattered through dusty record books and newspaper archives in the family's long time home, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.

For the 50th reunion, family historian Jacquelyn Cunningham gathered the facts for a family history.

Many branches have been lost from the record and from memory.

Only the Harris's, descendants of the stern grandmother, Theodosia, have retained a sense of continuity and the initiative to celebrate over 200 years of a Black family's history in rural Pennsylvania.

When Jackie made her presentation of her paper.

I think that you could have heard a pin drop in the room.

And that really just gave an insight that took it back historically and very accurate in terms of the history that just I think everybody kind of-- all of our chests got a little bigger in terms of a sense of pride of knowing where you came from and what your roots really are.

Our family history, the family tree is fascinating.

From the people I talked to, they were like amazed because no one-- I don't think anybody really knew where everything started at.

A lot of it I did not know.

Actually, most of it I did not know.

I have always wondered why we call it the Harris clan family reunion.

And now there are only a few people with the last name Harris.

Most people have different last names, such as mine is not Harris, and everybody's branched out.

I think it's important for anyone to know, unless you have a background that you shouldn't know about, but to know your beginnings and to know, because I really didn't realize that our family tree went back that far.

We're an old family.

We are an old family.

There was at one time an individual who had started research.

And it was said that after doing-- I don't know what the amount of research was-- that was decided that it was best to leave it alone because there were too many skeletons in the closet.

[laughs] Well, and this is not-- you can't relate this to black, white, or what have you.

It's like you say, well, they say about skeletons in the closet, and they're in everybody's closet.

I don't care what color they are.

That's enough said on that.

I can remember that my grandfather used to say to me, there's just some things you just don't want to know.

There are a lot of things I could tell you, but you just don't want to know.

And I kept saying, I want to know.

I said, I'm an inquiring mind.

I'd like to know.

What she had to say was very important.

And I learned about a lot of ancestors that I did not know of.

I learned of a lot of interracial couples, or interracial people in the family, and how some of us-- why some of us have some features that we do.

And yes, we did have mixed blood at the time, Indians, whites, whatever.

But I mean, our forefathers, that's to be expected.

I don't think anyone should have really been shocked.

Most Black people were going to concede that somewhere, someplace in their history there is a connection to this slave background.

Slavery was-- back in that time, that's what was going on.

And it's interesting to see what happened after that, what these people were able to do with maybe nothing and how it contributed to your life presently.

We were blessed as a family that we grew up that way and had a had a good feeling for where we came from.

And I think that helps to sustain you as you as you look forward to where you want to go then because you've got something to build upon.

For so many families, there's so many there's so much going on out here with drugs and the crime, that young people really don't know who they are.

They don't have a real sense of who they are.

They don't have a real sense of who their parents are or where they came from, who their ancestors were, what they went through.

And I think it's important that they know that.

It's not the answer to all their problems.

But I certainly think that it can be a start.

You know, sort of what year this was taken?

Have any idea?

Probably early 1900s.

Might be able to find it out.

I'll tell you what-- Let's do another race.

We need one more.

I need one more.

Hey, now, what happens if you win?

All right.

All right.

What a sport.

Oh god, let me go.

Come on.

Come on, come on.

Go on back.

Go on back.

Go back.

Many people pitch in to make sure that that the kids are entertained and that the adults are entertained, too, because the adults love to get into whatever the kids are into.

Go.

Yes, we did.

Yes, we did.

You hold ours baby.

OK.

Grab two for ours.

Everybody has eggs on this side, right, on the left?

All right.

When I say toss, you toss the egg to your partner.

Stay close.

Toss.

Everybody who dropped the egg has to step out.

Toss.

Oh god.

Catch it.

Oh.

One step back.

Come on, Johnsie.

[laughter] Look at you.

You did that.

Your hand comes out after I toss it.

OK. We lost two of them.

I heard it.

Toss.

[laughter] She can't even toss.

My husband and I just pitched in.

Just helped to make sure that everyone was enjoying themselves.

But that's the nice part about our family.

It's everybody seems to be very willing to do that.

Marlo and I have been married for 20 years, so I've been affiliated with this thing for 20, 21 years.

And I've always liked it.

I've always liked just the whole idea of it since I first met her.

And she explained to me or told me that they had that sort of a thing in her family because family means a great deal to me also.

I have seen families, particularly in the African-American communities, start to disintegrate, or at least not be what it was when I was a child.

Look at this.

Oh.

I've been going since, I guess, as long as I can remember, I've been going.

It's been been fun every year I went.

I basically like going and seeing all my relatives, all my cousins and everything, just see how everybody is doing.

It has meant something not only to me personally, but now my boys are feeling about the reunion as I feel.

It's something they look forward to.

They start talking about the reunion as early as may or June.

As soon as school is out, they start talking about the reunion.

When do we go to the reunion?

It's something that we as African-Americans need because we've lost so very, very much.

And we're losing a lot more.

And every time a family can do what we're doing when we go there each labor day and spend those three or four days together talking, loving, kissing, hugging, just arguing.

It means something because it's family.

And out of all of the things that I've done, I can't think of anything right now as I speak to you that means more to me than family.

Nothing means more to me than family.

Asking me if I do the whole time.

It's got nine hours.

Yeah.

OK. You're going to take my baby home.

Where does she go?

Oh, look at you.

Nine hours.

You got to put some TV now.

Goodbye baby.

You take care of my daughter.

Where is she?

She's somewhere over there.

Oh, I see her.

Give me a kiss, baby.

Kiss your grandma.

You leaving?

They had nine hours they had to travel.

She has to go to school tomorrow.

Everybody down.

[inaudible] Everybody.

Hurry.

Do the hokey pokey.

Hurry, hurry, hurry.

Start with me, Joyce Russell.

Tim Robinson.

Alison McNeil.

Mcgee McNeil.

Dolores Holmes.

Say your name, baby.

Hurry up.

Lorine.

Colina and Anne.

Marlene.

We have a chain there, and we make our chain.

Hopefully that the circle will not be broken-- Marvin Philip Morris.

--For another year.

Edie McNeil.

Landsberg.

Ernest Lipscomb.

Jeff Kurt.

Alice Lipscomb.

Joseph Timothy Howard.

John Day.

Jamie Harris.

Laurie Harris.

Tower Howatson.

Lorraine Vincent.

Ray Day.

Roberta-- And then we want to go out as we come in and wish everyone a safe journey.

And we'd like to repeat the mizpah, may the lord watch between me and thee while we're absent one from another, Amen, And ask for mercy's journey.

Rosalind Russell.

Carolyn Josh.

Zella Harris.

Mark Purvis.

Billy McNeil.

Eleanor Adams.

Henry Adams.

Jackie Cunningham.

Bruce Purvis.

Nancy Howard.

Marlene Purvis.

Mary Allen.

Walter Allen.

All right.

[applause] He's going to be late for work.

He's in California then?

Hmm-mm.

Bob was up from North Carolina.

We, of course, have people still living in Pennsylvania.

There are folks from New York, New Jersey, Missouri.

We also have people in Kansas, California, New Hampshire.

Now, we have several people in Saudi Arabia, one in Turkey.

I believe someone is in Germany.

We're scattered across the country.

We were raised with the idea of leaving Huntington, going elsewhere and making our lives.

What I sense then and what I believe was true then was that the opportunities for Blacks were very limited.

I enjoyed very, very good relationships with white students that I attended school with, with neighbors.

And there was there was a certain closeness.

I spent weekends with my white friends.

They would visit me often.

I was on the cheerleading squad.

However, I feel and I felt then that while there was a certain willingness to have relationships between whites and Blacks, and there was a certain easy, close friendship at times between white and Black, there was a subtle kind of racism, subtle in that the good jobs were not going to Blacks.

The job that I qualified for and got in Washington, DC without even an interview, I would not have had a chance getting that kind of a job in Huntington.

I didn't feel that I would have had a chance.

And I think it's because I didn't see any Blacks in the bank.

I didn't see any Blacks in the loan institutions.

I didn't see any Blacks in the school system.

So it sent a message.

One of the things about Huntington was that it was very difficult to get a job there.

When I graduated high school, I had several interviews.

I was either overqualified, which was an interesting term, since I didn't feel that I had any real experience or the businesses weren't hiring.

But, you know, you might learn next week that somebody else was hired.

So I think there was a bit of prejudice.

There was a lot of stuff that was done like-- when you went to high school with the kids, you'd never get invited to nothing, any of the parties or anything because, you know, why don't you invite me to your party?

Well, you know, I wasn't allowed or something like that.

Yeah.

And as you got older, the white kids didn't really-- I don't know.

They didn't really associate with the Black kids.

And I like thought, like it was like-- I don't know-- if they were afraid to, or just forbidden to.

I don't really know.

But it just seemed like, it was like, well, you're Black and I'm white, and you go do what you want to do, and we're going to stay and do what we want to do.

And it just always seemed like it was more or less isolate it.

It's strange because at the time I didn't really consciously think about it.

Later I resented it.

I don't know.

I guess it really didn't bother us that much because we had each other.

So we did the best we could with what we had to do.

And I don't think it really bothered us a whole lot.

I know that prejudice exists, and I know it's here as well as anyplace.

But in all fairness, I'll have to say that I have been well received in most anything that I've attempted to do.

I don't know if it's because the people know me well, if it's because I have been involved in a lot of things, a lot of activities, organizations, or they're out there and people know me, but I have been well received and I have not felt slight.

The things I go back to the 60s, and when I know when I came back from the peace corps, which was just a few months after Dr. King's assassination, I found a completely different kind of country that I came back to.

Almost felt like a foreigner coming back.

But got caught up in the emotions of the time and the necessities of the time.

The things that needed to be done in terms of marches that were going on then, but really looking at how we were going to improve our national situation for everybody.

And I think that came really just from my growing up in Huntington and the feeling that we're all in this thing together.

And I found working in Huntington was quite different.

When I came back here at first, it was OK for Huntington, but the institution I found for the first time in my life I was ever discriminated against.

And it was really strange because the people that I'd gone to school with were really neat.

They knew my brothers and sisters went to school with.

It was really great.

But it was these other people were from the backwoods.

They did not want you in there.

Not only the fact that I was Black, but because I was a female.

And I was working at a maximum correctional institution, even though I wasn't a guard, and I was working medical records and secretarial, it was just something that you could feel and you knew this was the case.

For some reason, and I think that's why I have such fond memories of Huntington, I didn't feel it.

I remember being called [muted].

I remember fighting some of the local kids because of that.

For some reason, it did not leave a bad taste in my mouth at that time.

I certainly, thinking back on it, I get angry all over again.

[music playing] Bye bye, Angel.

Bye bye.

Looking forward to see you next year.

All right.

All right.

[interposing voices] Yeah.

Get his wrath going.

I'm [inaudible], boy.

I'm going to tell your best buddies.

This boy getting all the sugar.

Ain't no more good.

All right.

You tell your dad hi for me, too.

OK?

All right.

Drive carefully.

The-- reunions really seemed to bring us closer together.

So I try to go and see who's still around and what the news and gossip is on the family level.

Yeah, I like to see the children.

And there aren't too many of the older ones that are living anymore.

It's over 70.

Our number is decreasing.

Take care, Newport news.

Don't forget, baby, when you come up my house, wear some shoes.

We wear shoes in there.

[horn] I love you, Nancy.

I'm going to help to make sure that it continues each and every year, so that we never stop.

I'd like to be around to see the 100th anniversary, which I pretty much could be.

It looks pretty good.

I could be around for the 100th.

OK, you decide.

Bye bye.

Bye.

I just love everybody.

And I just hope we continue forever and ever and ever.

I want to look down from the heavens and even smile on those that are here when I'm gone.

So that's the way I feel about my family.

So that's kind of in jest what our family reunion is all about and what it means to me.

What it means to the Harris family is plain to see.

What it means to the rest of us includes a sense of tenacity and endurance, patience, intelligence, family cohesiveness, and roots.

Would that all our family connections could be as strong?

The 1995 Harris family reunion went off as planned, with perhaps a record number of individuals in attendance and an increased number of states represented.

Alas, two faces were missing.

John Day and Joyce Russell.

They are no longer among us.

Their laughter and their songs will be missed.

Andy Harris says it's no Black thing.

It's just family.

Regrettably, our program goes beyond that simple description, recalling the routine slights and affronts, tapping into the quiet resentments of an American family much like any other except for the fact of color.

It is a condition our producers encountered with distressing regularity in this series of examinations of Black experiences in rural America.

For Penn State public broadcasting, I'm PJ O'Connell.

[music playing]