Interview with Churchill Cotton. Interviewer, Judith Monachina

Interview with Churchill Cotton. Interviewer, Judith Monachina
CottonChurchill_NAACP

Item Information

Title:
Interview with Churchill Cotton. Interviewer, Judith Monachina
Description:
Churchill Cotton was born in Pittsburgh, PA, in 1950, and shortly after moved to Chicago, where he lived until the age of 10. His father became an AME minister there, and most of the family life was centered on the church. When he was age 10, they moved to Galesburg, Illinois, then when he was 15, back to Chicago. CC talks about being the child of a pastor. His sister’s name, Marda, comes from Mark (New Testament) and David (Hebrew Bible). CC’s father was active in Civil Rights activities. Martin Luther King gave a speech at his (father’s) church. Living in a neighborhood with gangs, coming home from school when his mother was at work, the Chicago Cubs, shooting marbles. Churchill was awarded several college scholarships, went to Lincoln University. He recited If, by Rudyard Kipling and discussed other poetry. After college, worked at GE (Philadelphia), came to Pittsfield with GE, in 1972. He met Patricia, his future wife, was engaged in 1972. Discussed interracial marriage and parents’ responses. He has two sons, John Walden and Churchill. He was working (finance, auditing) at GE when they sold the plant to Martin Marietta, then Lockheed Martin. He moved to GE Plastics, then KB Toys, Guardian Insurance (all Pittsfield). He is a member of the Second Congregational Church, on the Berkshire United Way board, took the Berkshire Leadership Program, and worked to help minority parents to have a voice in the public schools. He also served on the Pittsfield School Committee and City Council; is involved with the Samuel Harrison House. He discusses his Christianity; CC is a direct descendant of Frederick Douglas.
Interviewee:
Cotton, Churchill
Interviewer:
Monachina, Judith, 1960-
Date:
August 10, 2017
Format:
Audio recordings (nonmusical)
Photographs
Genre:
Portrait photographs
Oral histories
Location:
Housatonic Heritage Oral History Center at Berkshire Community College
Collection (local):
NAACP Oral History Project
Subjects:
Historically Black colleges and universities
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
Places:
Massachusetts > Berkshire (county) > Pittsfield
Extent:
1 audio recording (1 hour, 55 minutes, 30 seconds) + transcript (38 pages) and 1 photograph
Permalink:
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/sf26hc708
Terms of Use:
Release form included in file.
No known restrictions on use.
Publisher:
Housatonic Heritage Oral History Center at Berkshire Community College
Language:
English
Notes:
Title from accompanying material.
Photographer: Julie McCarthy
Chicago, IL; Galesburg, IL; Christianity; Basketball; Historically Black College/University (Lincoln University); Frederick Douglass (descendant); Learning about Racism; Martin Luther King’s death; Interracial marriage; AME Church, Chicago; Second Congregational Church, Pittsfield, MA; Samuel Harrison House; Pittsfield School Committee; Pittsfield City Council; General Electric; GE Plastics; Finance career; Auditing career; KB Toys; Guardian Insurance; Rudyard Kipling
Notes (date):
Date from accompanying material.
Identifier:
CottonChurchill