East Saint Louis Oral History
Project: Neighborhood Activism and Community Change
Volunteer Outreach Weekend Report
27th – 28th September 2002
Interview
with the President of SENDO: Fern Watts
Date of Interview: September
27, 2002
Place of Interview: Truelight
Baptist Church, East Saint Louis, IL
Names of Interviewers:
Zakia Clayton
Emily Glover
Beth Woolley
Other people present:
Samantha Baacke Nicole
Knysch
Adam Basch Judie
Levy
William Collins Marchant
Martinelli
Gareth Giles Bob
Zimmerer
Fern Watts
President of South-End
Neighborhood Development Organization (SENDO)
Brief Biography
Mrs Watts
grew up Natchitoches, Louisiana until her junior year in high school when she
moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas. During
high school she worked in a florist as well as a dress-shop. In addition, Mrs. Watts volunteered at her
high school by washing blackboards, sweeping the floors, and helping with other
janitorial work after school.
Mrs.
Watts’ father worked as a landowner and a businessman while she was in high
school. She has two older sisters and
no brothers. As for her own family, her
and her husband, who worked with the railroad industry in East Saint Louis,
have one daughter.
She
moved to the St. Louis area in the 1940s.
Summary of the Interview
The
interview took place in the basement of Truelight Baptist Church on Friday
afternoon, September 27, 2002. The
Urban Planning group members and Mrs. Watts sat around a table facing each
other during the thirty-minute interview.
Group members introduced themselves to Mrs. Watts by telling her their
name and something unique about themselves in order to break-the-ice before the
interview began. During the interview,
a fan turning on and off in the room caused parts of the interview to be
inaudible. Nevertheless, at the end of
the interview Mrs. Watts hugged every group member; completely “melting-the-ice.”
Some of
the topics Mrs. Watts’ mentioned included the Casino Queen Riverboat and the
South End Neighborhood’s past and present.
Her revelation of the Casino Queen’s importance pointed out its drastic
and positive effect on the city’s finances.
(For example funding basic services like police cars.) More importantly, she focused on the absence
of community involvement in East Saint Louis.
This amazed the group because community involvement struggled throughout
the city’s history – from the time she moved there in the 1940s until the
present. Mrs. Watts said she created
and joined SENDO for this very reason.
(see quotes below)
The
Casino Queen (view from across the river) The
Group (St. Louis skyline from old Route 66 Bridge in South End)
Quotes from Mrs. Watts
“I
thought [South End Neighborhood] would be a good place to live. I like
substance and after driving around looking for a place to move I could tell.”
“I better get involved in what is going on; as opposed to
just
living here and spending my time in St. Louis!”
Interviewer: You indicate that you may have had the choice
to leave East St. Louis but did not. Is that accurate?
“How did you guess? [Laughter] So Smart!”
Interviewer: Could
you describe why you chose to stay?
“Perhaps it was a challenge.”
Interviewer: What made you want to become apart of this
organization?
“I
felt that there was so much that needed to be done and I felt that I
could help.”