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[00:00:04] Interviewer: I am interviewing Mr. Thomas Dennis of Allen Road in Eden, Maryland. Thank you very much for helping us out today, Mr. Dennis. [00:00:17][12.7]

[00:00:21] Interviewer: What are your memories of Allen Road? [00:00:23][2.3]

[00:00:27] Thomas Dennis: My memory of this street when I went to school, when I was here, you walked to school, everyone in this vacinity, everyone in Jones Town and everyone in Stanford Town, we all walked, went up in some of the street. And I remember that these three rooms, they had Uh-huh, uh-huh. Wood-stoves. And in the winter time, we had to come out early in the morning. There would always be somebody inside to start the party. So when the rest of the children come, the place would be warm. And at that time when I was here we had three teachers. One for second and third (grade). The next room was for fourth and fifth. And this third one was for 6th and 7th, it was two classes, one would be on one side and one on the other. The one in this 5th and 6th grade, her name was Miss Katie Williams. And the one for the 5th, -no 4th and 5th his name was John Handy. And I just want to tell you I've not forgotten the one that was in here. Two and three. I think she was a mother, but I'm not sure. I can't think of her first name. And all of the things I remember, I remember that the convenience for the outdoors facility was very nice. The men were banging in between with the wood house where you kept the wood. And on this end, close to the screen. Was the latest of the girls. And I remember too that in this little school, I don't know if you, I don't know if it's been there now quite a while, there was a quartet that originated right from this school called the Franklin Harmonizers. Right from this school was Katie Williams, with the director of it. It was Arvo Brooks, George Collins, Harold Sheeve, and Teddy Sheeves. Then from them, they got famous. They sang all over. I think one of them, I think, Arvo, he sang with a quartet out of New York, and they left around there. It was a famous quartet. And the other one, George, George Collins, he sang with the Richmond Parmenade boy. That's after they got up in the morning. He went second in the state. Yep. And, uh, trying to think. Oh, and at this time, at that time, we had a teacher. A man teacher over there. He stayed over. He wrote in his horse and bugger here. Horsin' Buggy Brought the feed for his horse. Brought it out there to feed his horse so when he got through he could ride the horse and bug him. Boy, it was something out here now. It was different. I've seen a lot of things. Oh, look at that way you see these houses now. I don't know how it's over there. One house over there, and that was in Scaly Williams. And our husband owned all that you see over there were all those houses there. It was gone. John Williams had his team. [00:04:30][242.4]

[00:04:34] Thomas Dennis: Uh, did I feel? I think I have, I think, I've always been able to, wherever I went, to be recognized and given a relationship with God. One thing I found out, as you go down through the years, if you learn to respect yourself, others will respect you. If you know how to talk to people, you'll get a lot of things done. It's very bloody. It's caught on in the right way. You get a lot of things done, and I found that is down to you. Everywhere I've been, sadly and always. [00:05:16][41.6]

[00:05:24] Interviewer: Thank you. What was his name? I don't know. He... I don't know. [inaudible] [00:05:32][8.1]

[00:05:38] Thomas Dennis: Ah, well, you know it. You know that you are above. You have to realize the condition of the world at that time. You have to abide with it if you want to get along and have a satisfied mind. You do have to go along with it. When you know it's there, so just settle down and go about your business and do things right to another people like you want to be treated regardless of you. Don't get the same treatment that they do to keep it on treatment that you want to keep. Sometimes that will wake up, that'll wake people up, and then it dies down later, and so on. Well, I have to go along with Ken. I have something about him that made him stick, with no fear, regardless of something about it that made me stick, and by a secret, it made the world a better place to be. Yes, the wonderful thing, what a good look at, but yet, he was able to score that non-violent. Regardless of what they've done to him, none of us, we always try to preach to them. None of us. They've done a long way, you see. I see change is now that to me, not for the best, I see it, especially with our young black men. This dress code that they got, I just, I don't know what it got to do with it, but I don't know, but i don't think nothing about it, but I feel when you dress like that, you got no respect for this, and honestly I feel bad. And I said, I've experienced it with a girl somewhere, living in the high street with a group of young people coming in with the same dress. I said I have four boys of my own. I said you don't see Michael coming in like that. You're not going to come in like this, you're going to stay on the mountain. And of course he came in like, but I stuck to it. You got it I was already coming into my room, I was coming into my rooms. That was good. See, when I slept in the room, I knew it. In this day and time, the women have raised a family a lot of times. I think that is hard. They're trying to work, trying to raise a family. And the children just don't get the room. The disability is huge. Just a hand is too much. Now they know call the lower take zone but as you see you see it on there every day you see The way they dress me up, I would not have tipped to come out on this road. No, no, no. Because I've already done it. But that is fair. Yeah, that one Pilots, especially in high school, that was certain parents of a class, they instructed you on your best course, even when you went to get a job, don't dress presentably, and you'd be instructed to do it, but I don't guess they have too much time for that. Children. They instructed you to do that, and a lot of changes I've seen in this new place here in Gulf of New York, everybody that had a place in the North, their future is in it. That's why the names we let go where I do live in this region you know, Alpha, Alpha clone and also I agree from all those things that I do with that spirit see because a lot of the people now in the community that when I was raised up around here they're not here now no, they're gone and what And as they grew up, a lot of them left them into different places. And these other people moved here. So we're really the worst, but we've accepted. And things have changed. In other words, people move here. But, when you drive, you know yourself. One of those things is you're going to move here, but oh, there's no people. I don't know why they say that. Do you know that? Because they're providing food. So if you want to take an opportunity to sing on that street up that road, five stores were there. Five stores down that street, and everybody done this. Well, you know how it is, big fish never live, you what I mean, in other words, the big cutlass could sell good fish. Much cheaper than these stores. I have had several storekeepers who said, look, I can go and buy this stuff much cheaper than I can even sell it to you. They said, so what are we going to do? [00:12:14][396.2]

[00:12:30] Thomas Dennis: My advice would be to leave them right now. If you're doing what you have to do, use that respect. If you respect yourself, others will respect you. And that would be mine. When you start doing that, a whole lot of things change. Attitude changes. But it's not a whole lotta world that you just change. You're just treating other people as you wish to be. [00:13:07][36.6]

[00:13:23] Thomas Dennis: Of my life. I don't know. I can say that I have worked ships. In other words, right down the lane, I worked for a lot of ships. Seven days a week. I've worked five days, seven days a year. In the wintertime, it wasn't a ship. You worked for it, but by rather than because the plant is fully grown. I was in the mechanic, I went far to all of us. I would have to get up any time when that temperature dropped. I'd get up and go down. And before I'd done all this, I'd keep on leaving the pipes. I've done that many times. And you get so after far. Anytime you want to wake up, you can wake up. You need to get used to that. And that's where I'm at right now. I don't need no problem at all. I just got used to it. So, this is the plan that you guys are going to see. [00:14:24][60.6]

[00:14:26] Interviewer: Thank you very much. I really appreciate your time today Mr. Dennis. [00:14:26][0.0] [800.7]