Document text
Forms to be Filled out for Each Interview
STATE
NAIVE OF WORKER
ADDRESS
DATE
SUBJECT
FORMA
Circumstances of Interview
New York
Vivian Morris
225 Nest 130th Street
July 14th, 1939
1. Date and time of interview
2. Place of interview
3. Name and address of informant
4. Name and address of person, if any, who put you in
touch with informant.
5. Name and address 'of person, if any, accompanying you
6. Description of rpom, house, surroundings, etc.
FOLKLORE
NEW YORK
(Use as many additional sheets as necessary, for any of the forms,
each bearing the proper heading and the number to which the material
refers.)
STATE
NAME OF WORKER
ADDRESS
DATE
SUBJECT
FORM C
TEXT OF INTERVIEW (UNEDITED)
New York
Vivian Morris
225 Nest 130th Street
July 14, 1939
FOLKLORE
NEW YORK
Lilly Undo, one of the Apollo Theatre dancing girls,
isn't as happy as she looks 'ben she trips out on the stage
four times each day, seven days a week. In between showy and
after the last show at night she rehearses for the next week's
bill.
"I been doin, this for goin' on two years now, hopin'
an' shishim0 that some day I'll get a break an' be embody.
I want t'see mah name in tlectric lights ant in alla newspapers.
I knows I'm black, an' I knows black folks has gotta go a long
-ways bet,' they arrive. But I got one thing in till beak a this
head a mine, ant that is 'Color Can't Conquer Courage'.
gonna be a Florence Mills. Does you remember her, Miss?
,74
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rknows when she started dancin' she was oney 5 years old? At
an entertainment her Sunday School was puttint on it was, ant
she kept on from there to the nickelodeons on 135th Street an'
on, an, on, til she became the sensation of two continents.
She danced an' sung for kings, princes an' all the rest a royalty.
Lewd, am I wishint an' hopint that one a these nights some a them
white folks who come to Harlem lookin, for talent will see sumthin'
in me ant give me a chance where I whouldn't have t'do four shows
a day for 7 days a week.
"Florence Mills knocked 'em dead ev'vy time she came on
the stage. The Duke a Win'sor, (then he was the Prince a Wales)
saw her 'strut her stuff' thirteen times. They even call her
the Negro Ambassador to the World, but things like that never
went to her head. Her spirit was typical of the Negro, and did
she have pride in her awn peoplel Whenever she was playin' in a
show on Broadway she always seed to it that it come to Harlem
even for a week so that her own people who didn't have money
enough to go down on Broadway would not be denied the privilege
of seem' her. Lewd, I can see an' hear her now, singin't 'I'm
a little Blackbird lookin' for a Bluebird', in her small warblinl
voice, her figgitin' feet dancir0 as though she was welkin' on
fine wires ant had 'lectric sparks goin' through her body. Jesusl
she shore did her stuff with enjoyment. I'm gonna be that sumday,
shore enough. I'm 23 now. Keep watchin' the newspapers —you
gonna read about me. Florance Mills was one a God's chosen
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chillren. She make as much as three thousant five hun'red dollars
a week ant she didn't leave 133rd Street either, until God saw fit
tItake her of fa this wicked earth, an' she was moved outa there.
Sometime I think God am' fair as He should be. Florence Mills die
when she reached the top. She didn' enjoy the money she made. She
was in demand. They had big plans for her ant all of a sudden God
came on the scene. She was one of His chill'ren; He step right in
ant clip her wings. Her shufflinl feet danced her way toGlory.
She was a God-given Genius. People like Florence Mills make this
world a better place tIlive in. She did a helluva lot t'wipe out
race prejudice.-- If all they say about the Hereafter is true,
then the Heavenly Gates must a swung ajar for Florence Mills
t'enter an' Shine in Heaven, 'cause she sure did shine dawn here.
That was some year ant month a dissapointments in Harlem,
November 1927. The Republicans swept Harlem, Marcus Garvey was
beint deported ant our Queen a Happiness died.
END