Oral history with Mr. Percy Greene

              Oral history with Mr. Percy Greene
This oral history is provided through a cooperative project of University of Southern Mississippi Libraries and USM's Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage.
Funding provided by a National Leadership Grant for Libraries from the Institute for Museum and Library Services
The transcript is presented here for reference purposes only. Interviews in this collection are protected by copyright. PERMISSION TO PUBLISH MUST BE REQUESTED from the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage. Please call ( 601) 266- 4574 for more information.
Biography
Percy Greene was born September 7, 1897 and died April 16, 1977. His parents were George Washington Green and Sarah Stone. Although he traveled throughout the United States and saw other parts of the world, his heart and his life was Jackson, Mississippi, his birthplace.
He grew up in a family of twelve children. His mother died when he was quite young. Percy Greene was educated in Jackson, Mississippi schools. He attended Smith Robinson Elementary School, Catholic High School, Jackson College High School, and Jackson College and was tutored in law by attorney Sidney D. Redmond. Percy Greene was a highly intelligent and disciplined man. He was a scholar who read diversely and constantly. He never went to bed without reading a book, magazine or newspaper before falling asleep. He was a man who never stopped educating himself.
He led an exciting and adventuresome life, always making the core of it Jackson, Mississippi. He slipped off and joined the army at the age of 17. He carried mail in the U. S. Postal Service. He was closely associated with Tuskegee Institute as a magazine salesman, due to his admiration of Booker T. Washington and his philosophy. He worked in the Civilian Conservation Corps ( CCC), which was a President Franklin Delano Roosevelt depression program.
Percy Greene was a short, muscular built man about five feet seven inches tall and probably weighing close to two hundred solid pounds. He was a golfer, a swimmer, a boxer, and a football player. He is honored in the Jackson State University " Hall of Fame" for his outstanding talent as a football player there. Until his death, he was actively golfing and swimming and was a frequent spectator at most sports events.
Percy Greene returned from military service and began to work and to resume his education. Foremost in his life was his marriage on June 16, 1921, to Frances Lee Reed of Raymond and Jackson, Mississippi. They became the parents of two daughters, Frances Lorraine and Gwendolyn Louise. Percy Greene was proud of his family and loved them devotedly. He delighted in showing off his little girls. He enjoyed his family life, as an example, Saturday night suppers were a ritual. He called them the " Dutch Lunch" and they were like a picnic. He brought home unheard of cuts of cheese, all types of luncheon meats and sardines, pickles, olives and other condiments and various types of crackers and breads. We all had a wonderful feast and fell in bed satiated. mus- coh. greenep. doc Page 1 of 52