Oral history interview with Maurice Spears: OKC Black Neighborhoods

Описание: Interview Date: 06/20/2024
Interviewer: Finchum, Tanya
Interview Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Maurice Spears, born in 1937 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, recalls his youth in the Oklahoma City neighborhood known as the Northeast, a historically Black area of the city. He shares memories of growing up in the 1940s, working in his parents’ café, and interacting with other Black youths who lived nearby. He explains how he became interested in playing the bass trombone and how that progressed into a lifetime profession. He talks about some of the great jazz musicians he had the opportunity to work with, from performing with them to being a music copyist. He discusses his reaction to relocating back to Oklahoma City after living in Los Angeles, California, for fifty years and noted the devastating impact urban renewal had on his childhood community.

This interview was conducted as part of the Oklahoma City Black Neighborhoods at the OSU Library. This project was a collaboration between the City of Oklahoma City’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, the Oklahoma Black Museum and Performing Arts Center, and the Oklahoma Oral History Research Program. For more information on this interview or to view the transcript, visit https://cdm17279.contentdm.oclc.org/d.... To learn more about the collection or the Oklahoma Oral History Research Program, visit http://library.okstate.edu/oralhistory/ © Oklahoma State University

This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. No permission is required from the Oklahoma State University Library for educational (or classroom) uses. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses, including any form of commercial publication, you need to obtain permission from the Oklahoma State University Library. For more information contact [email protected].