Carol

I was born in Chicago at Providence Hospital in 1940. My dad worked on the railroad. When I was four my mother got really sick, and she went into the hospital... [my siblings and I] were alone, but we lived in an upper flat— so the lady downstairs called our grandparents and my aunt came to pick us up. Four of us. My aunt lived in Evanston. She came to pick us up and my grandparents picked us up the next day, and brought us in North Chicago...and that was in 1944.

My mom was born in Georgia. And they all came when they came north— I know my mother was nine years old. They settled in Evanston until my mother had graduated from Evanston high school.

When my grandfather came from Evanston to North Chicago, he bought two lots here...because it looked like Georgia. He had built homes in Georgia, for people and for his mother and father, and he was looking for a place to build a home. And so, he came to North Chicago and he'd built a home on Elizabeth Street. 1429. It's still there.

What's the best part of living in North Chicago?

You know, I think it's safe. Now, we've had our times, you know, some violence and stuff, but I think it's safe.

Everybody can participate in community activities. And I do. I'm a volunteer for the American Legion. And I'm a volunteer for a sorority; Chi Eta Phi, Nu Phi Chapter. It's a sorority of nurses in Lake County. I think I have the opportunity to help people.

North Chicago has brick homes. You know, surprisingly it has a good market for buying a home. And we just opened up the beach, which I used to go to when I was a kid. It closed because we had a lot of factories. We don't have a lot of factors anymore, but people can still get jobs. We have a marina; I remember when everybody had a boat— whether they were poor or not. Everybody had a boat, and my cousin he had almost a yacht! And fishing is good here.

What was life like for you in North Chicago as a child?

I had a lot of fun growing up; it was in the ‘40s. We had friends across the street, across the alley...we had a lot of weeds and forest around— you know, it was like country. We had water because we lived on the east side of Lewis Avenue. But on the west side of Lewis Avenue, they didn't have running water. They had wells. And then they would have to get water from a well or bring their water from another neighbor and wash and everything.

Was there a sense of "haves and have-nots" with your neighbors right across the street living so differently?

Grandma said it was. She said the people that lived on the west side of Lewis Avenue— they weren't as good— because they didn't take baths. They had to take them at work and at school. And I said Grandma; "There's nothing wrong with those people except they just smell because they can't take a bath. But it's nothing wrong with them!"

Some of the people on the west side of Lewis thought we were living easy, you know, because we had this and we had that. They had outhouses. The waste ran in a ditch, all throughout the west of Lewis Avenue— all in a ditch. It smelled very foul out there.

When there was a fire across the west side of Lewis, the firemen would come and just stand there. I asked this firemen one day, "Why would you just come and stand there and let the house burn down?" He said we were waiting for water. And I says, "Well, how does the water come?" He said in a truck. That was very unfortunate.

That lasted until 1958. I left here in 1960. Urban renewal came through and changed that situation. When I came back in '72, it was all done.

What's your fondest memory of growing up in North Chicago?

Well, I think it has to do with church. I went to Nat King Cole's father's church, and his mother– she guided us a lot in singing and stuff like that. But another thing was my high school years. You know, my high school years; black and white, we could all participate in all the activities, and there was not a lot of prejudice. But there was some. I was one of— my sister and I— the first black cheerleaders in North Chicago. At that time, there was no sports for girls, so cheerleading was the only thing you could do.

What was that like— being the first black girls on the team?

It was it was good. My sister and I established a cheerleading team at my grade school; Commonwealth. And so when we got to high school, we were surprised that me, even as a freshman I could try out. She was a sophomore. It was good. They liked us. We got to travel all over. We met people in Rockford and different places. Some were black, some were white. She and I both excelled in it. When I headed up the 70th class reunion, the kids would say, "Weren't you a cheerleader?! You was a cheerleader! Do you remember that!?"

Do you remember any of your cheers?

Yeah! I'll say one that we said in grade school, then I'll say one we said in high school:

"Go back, go back, go back to the woods, 'cos you ain't, 'cos you ain't, 'cos you ain't got the goods! 'Cos you ain't got the rhythm and you ain't got the class, and you ain't got the team that Commonwealth has!" Okay, that's one…

And then, let me see. This one: "Hoo rah-rah-rah, hoo-rah-rah-rah, hoo rah-rah-rah, North Chicago! Beat Warren! Hoo rah-rah-rah, hoo-rah-rah-rah!" Those are the only ones I can remember right now…

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You grew up in North Chicago, left for a few years, and decided to move back. What was behind that break?

Well, I wanted to hit the big time. I went in North Chicago high school, graduated, worked at the VA in the kitchen for six months, went to LPN school— licensed practical nurse— did that for a year, then moved on. I worked at Victory Hospital for six months, and then moved on to Chicago— to the University of Chicago. I worked there until I got married. But, I wanted to leave the area because it was small. And I thought Chicago was bigger. And you know, Chicago was where I was born. My dad was there, so I had that connection.

I got married, I owned a business. My husband opened a business and he repaired TVs and radios, and I was the secretary and administration. Then, after I got a divorce I moved back here. I just came home. And I was glad, because you know, Chicago was real fast. And I liked it. I loved it. But when I came back here, I could cool off. In Chicago, you did things every night. Out here, you did things on the weekend; you would do all your work and everything on the weekday, and then you could go out on the weekend.

How old were you when you came back to North Chicago?

Thirty-one. Enough of the big city. My mother was here...my aunt was here. I had people here.

I got a job at Victory Hospital again, right away, doing the same thing. After that, I transferred and worked at the VA. Then I went to school to be an RN. And then I went to school to get a bachelor's degree. I came back, got a job and went right to school at the College of Lake County. So I was 35 when I became a Registered Nurse. Then I got married again. I had a baby. I've got I got seven kids. Two of them passed away.

If your children got together and agreed on three words to describe you, what would they be?

Honesty, dedication, and perseverance, I think.

Other than your children, what are you most proud of?

Well, you know, I'm kind of proud of having had a hard time in Chicago, and coming up and elevating myself here. I also retired as a captain in the Army Reserves. I stayed in that 25 years. At first I was in administration. And because I was an associate degree nurse, they wouldn't accept me as a nurse. So I was a secretary. And then after I got my BSN degree, I went in as a nurse— as a first lieutenant. And then I retired as a captain.

What prompted your decision to join the Reserves?

Do you know what? After the Vietnam War— I came here in 1972. In 1974, they were in the Belvidere Mall, recruiting. They were recruiting and they said, you know, "Do you want to join the Army?" I said, "Are you kidding? What? Join the Army!?" When I graduated from high school, I wanted to join the Navy. And I was going to do it. But the guys talked me out of it, saying that if I joined the Navy I wouldn't be a "good girl" anymore. So, I didn't join.

What did they mean by that?! Too many men at your disposal and lack of self control?

Yeah, that's what they thought. And that's ridiculous. That but but I was young and kinda innocent. And, they thought that the guys might take advantage of me.

So the Navy was against you joining, but the Army…

Yes, the recruiter was with the Army and and he said, "Oh come on, I'll take you down there, right now." And so, I went. And before I knew it, I had taken the test. And I passed the test, and I was sworn in. They were taking anybody that they could after that Vietnam War, because nobody wanted to join. They took people with cancer. And they took— you know, anybody. I was living with my mother. Every time I would go on a mission, she could go shopping at the commissary there. She'd say, "Oh, Carol's getting ready to go. I'm gonna save my money so I can go shopping at the commissary!" Oh, she loved that!

Your mother was more interested in shopping than being worried about your well-being!?

Yeah, she loved it. But there was no war going on then. I remember in 1944 and '45, we were worried about my cousin because that was World War II going on.

Your service in the Reserves is just one of your accomplishments. You've done a lot, including returning to College of Lake County to teach a nursing class.

You know, there's two or three things that I've done good in my life. And one is working. Of course, being an LPN, that was good. And working at University of Chicago hospitals was one good thing. And joining the Army Reserves was another good thing that I have done. And then working at the VA. I co-wrote to articles for the Journal of Psychiatry while I was at the VA. Those were growth mechanisms for me. Another thing is going to church— reuniting with my church— because I was able to help a lot of kids there.

Do you have a credo or a motto that you live by?

Keep God in your life. Keep God in your life and you will be okay. And stay prayerful.

With so many interesting experiences behind you, what do you aspire to now?

Oh, now I'm self actualizing. I just want to help somebody. I want to give up some of my responsibilities of volunteerism and stuff— but I do want to help somebody.

I've had a full life.

I've had a full life, and I've enjoyed it.

This conversation has been edited and condensed.