Tom Dent interviews Barbara Williams Jenkins in Orangeburg, South Carolina. She was born in Union, South Carolina. She talks about moving to Orangeburg with her father, who worked as an Agricultural Extension Agent and became State Supervisor of Agricultural Extension Work for South Carolina. She talks about her education at Felton Training School, Wilkinson High School, Bennett College, and the University of Illinois. She now works as head librarian at South Carolina State College. She discusses the segregation of Orangeburg and compares and contrasts Orangeburg with Union. She recalls demonstrations in Orangeburg by the White Citizens Council and by civil rights supporters, with demonstrations on the South Carolina State College campus occurring as early as the 1950s. She describes segregation in South Carolina, including at State Parks and beaches, and the presence of the Ku Klux Klan. She discusses job losses that resulted from reprisals from White employers in the 1950s. She talks about what has changed between then and now. There are hurdles which prevent African Americans from entering the teaching profession.
