Oral history with Phillip West

              An Oral History with Phillip West
This oral history is provided through a cooperative project of USM Libraries and USM's Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage It is presented here for reference purposes only. Interviews in this collection are protected by copyright and PERMISSION TO PUBLISH MUST BE REQUESTED from the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage. Please call ( 601) 266- 4574 for more information.
Biography
Phillip West was born on November 30, 1946, the seventh of twelve children, in Adams County, Mississippi. He attended Broomfield Elementary School and Sadie V. Thompson Elementary and High School, as well as three years at Alcorn State University, majoring in biology. He was drafted into the U. S. Army where he served for two and a half months, until he was sent home because of a restricted left foot. After leaving Alcorn, he was hired at the Armstrong Tire and Rubber Company in Natchez, Mississippi. He was elected vice president and then president of the NAACP. In 1979, he became the supervisor of Adams County's Beat Four. He is married and has two children.
Topics Discussed
Family background Childhood College years Separate societies of black and white Natchez in the forties and fifties Public school Move to Chicago Marching at Alcorn NAACP membership President Kennedy's assassination Involvement in civil rights in Natchez Charles Evers Murder of Wharlest Jackson Murder of Medgar Evers Active participation in NAACP Threatened by anonymous white man in 1964 Impact on black Natchez of murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner Resurgence of Klan activities Natchez march of 1980 August 1979 bid for and election to Beat Four supervisor's position Aaron Henry mus- coh. westp. doc Page 1 of 44