<I>Selena Williams and Bonnie Taylor-Williams Oral History Interview</I>
date: label: Date
content: September 14, 2019
name: label: Created by
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture, American, founded 2003
label: Recorded by
content: Trudy Hutcherson, American
label: Interviewed by
content: Kelly Elaine Navies, American
label: Interview of
content: Bonnie Taylor-Williams, American, born 1959
label: Interview of
content: Selena Williams, American, 1925 - 2024
label: Subject of
content: House of Beauty, Inc.
label: Subject of
content: Pershing Hotel, American, 1924 - 1964
label: Subject of
content: B.B. King, American, 1925 - 2015
label: Subject of
content: Selena's House of Beauty, American, founded 1956
notes: label: Description
content: An oral history interview with Selena Williams and Bonnie Taylor-Williams. It consists of two versions, unedited (2023.4.1.1, .mxf) and edited (2023.4.1.2, .mov), of a single digital video recording. Selena Williams and her granddaughter, Bonnie Taylor-Williams, were interviewed by Kelly Elaine Navies on September 14th, 2019. The interview took place in the family business, Selena’s House of Beauty, a hair salon in Chicago, Illinois. At the time of the interview, Ms. Williams was 94 years old, and Ms. Taylor-Williams was 59 years old. Ms. Taylor-Williams is the primary speaker throughout the interview.
label: Description
content: Ms. Williams and Ms. Taylor-Williams begin the interview with a discussion of Ms. Williams’s move from Mississippi to Chicago in 1941. Through this discussion, they talk about Ms. Williams’s early experiences doing hair and the beginnings of her career as a beautician in Chicago. Ms. Taylor-Williams then recounts how her grandmother founded her own hair salon in 1956 and discusses the development and expansion of the business after her grandmother was introduced to the method of hair weaving in 1959. Ms. Taylor-Williams also discusses the shop’s clientele. Through this discussion, Ms. Taylor-Williams recalls her own upbringing in and around the shop in the 1960s and 1970s and how the family all took part in the business. She also shares stories about the shop from her own career as a Hair-Weev Technician. Ms. Taylor-Williams then talks about the process of writing With These Hands: A Country Girl Came to Town, a book about her grandmother’s life, and discusses the history and storytelling traditions of her family. She also talks about her grandmother’s (and her) relationship with blues artist, B.B. King. Ms. Taylor-Williams reflects on the lessons she’s learned from the women in her family and the legacy they’ve left. She concludes the interview with a brief discussion of her writing and her desire to continue to preserve and share her family’s history and stories.
place: label: Place captured
content: Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
label: Place depicted
content: Clarksdale, Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States, North and Central America
label: Place depicted
content: Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Beauty culture
label: Topic
content: Beauty salons (Beauty shops)
label: Topic
content: Beauty schools
label: Topic
content: Black Enterprise
label: Topic
content: Blues (Music)
label: Topic
content: Business
label: Topic
content: Families
label: Topic
content: Great Migration
label: Topic
content: Hair
label: Topic
content: Musicians
label: Topic
content: Urban life
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Time-based Media - Moving Images
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2023.4.1
objectType: label: Type
content: oral histories
label: Type
content: digital media - born digital
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: digital
label: Dimensions
content: Duration (2023.4.1.1): 1:25:50
label: Dimensions
content: Duration (2023.4.1.2): 1:40:38
label: Dimensions
content: File size (total): 150 GB