SUMMARY: Bill Eddings’ sharecropper family came to Arizona in 1935. Attending both segregated and integrated schools, Bill was challenged to reach for educational goals his parents could not have obtained—and that weren’t easy for any black man. His inspiring story of his struggle to teach, his desire to instill in young people a philosophy that would help them build their own successful futures, and his experiences as a member of Casa Grande’s City Council, are well worth reading.
Date of Interview: March 30, 2004
Interviewer: Sara Turner
Transcriber: Merrilyn S. Ridgeway
Begin Tape 1, Side 1
Sara: Today is Tuesday, March 30, 2004. It is 11 a.m. My name is Sara Turner and I am here with Mr. William Eddings, Sr. of Casa Grande, AZ, at the Casa Grande Valley Historical Society in the Rebecca Dallis School House to do an oral history. We will now start our interview questions.