James Rouse, 1976 August 19
Abstract
James Rouse (1914-1996) was a pioneering real estate developer, urban planner, and social activist. He co-founded and owned The Rouse Company and focused his career on creating planned communities and helping underdeveloped communities. In this oral history interview, Rouse discusses his early experience with racial prejudice and how it led him to his work on improving underdeveloped slums in Baltimore with Yates Cook (1909-1996), director of the housing bureau of the Baltimore health department. Rouse relates how he and Cook attempted to get the city to comply with their own housing regulations and create legislation that would require them to follow housing codes. He then discusses his relationships with Governor Theodore R. McKeldin and Lillie May Jackson and how he saw their impact on the civil rights movement. He speaks of his respect for Vernon Dobson and how his influence has impacted the movement, as well as his thoughts on different aspects of the civil rights movement.
Dates
- 1976 August 19
Creator
- Rouse, James W. (Narrator, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research use.
Extent
51 Minutes (Audio recording)
12 Pages (Transcript)
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Physical Location
The supplementary material is located in Folder D.
Scope and Contents
This collection is comprised of 87 oral history interviews and 4 other related items. Materials available for the interviews include audio recordings, transcripts, tape indexes, newspaper clippings, biographical information, and interview evaluations. Each item record indicates whether a complete transcript or an uncorrected transcript is available for an oral history.
All recordings within the collection are digitized and continue to be added to MCHC's Digital Collections portal.
Interviews were conducted from 1975-1977, with some earlier recordings made prior to the project added to the collection. Narrators range from leaders in the Maryland civil rights movement and local activists, to people opposed to the movement. Narrators include Lillie May Carroll Jackson’s children: Juanita Jackson Mitchell, Virginia Jackson Kiah, and Bowen Keiffer Jackson; Parren Mitchell, U.S. Congressman, 1971-1987; Donald G. Murray, the first African American admitted to the University of Maryland Law School; Verda Welcome, one of the first Black women to be elected to a state Senate; Thomas J. D’Alesandro III, mayor of Baltimore, 1967-1971; Clarence Mitchell, Jr., chief lobbyist to the NAACP; Vernon Naimaster, Great Titan of the Maryland Ku Klux Klan; and Dr. J.E.T. Camper, a prominent physician who also devoted his career to seeking racial justice and equality.
In addition to these oral history interviews, there are four items related to the project that are included with the collection. There is an audio recording of a radio program on which narrators David Glenn and Judge Robert Watts appeared to discuss the McKeldin-Jackson project with host Alan Christian. There is an audio recording as well as textual materials from the colloquium and exhibition held at the Maryland Historical Society to commemorate the McKeldin-Jackson project on November 16, 1976. There is also a research paper written by a Goucher College student on Theodore R. McKeldin and the civil rights movement in Maryland and a binder containing information on the development and progress of the McKeldin-Jackson project.
Creator
- Rouse, James W. (Narrator, Person)
- Lanman, Barry Allen (Interviewer, Person)
Repository Details
Part of the H. Furlong Baldwin Library Repository
H. Furlong Baldwin Library
Maryland Center for History and Culture
610 Park Avenue
Baltimore MD 21201 United States
4106853750
specialcollections@mdhistory.org