Howard Herron Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield

Howard Herron 6 1
Q: Wasn't that a Sunday?
A: I don't remember that. I just remember when it happened. He was
down at the home they had for crippled children. They all took shots to
get rid of it.
Q: Infantile Paralysis.
A: Yes, infantile paralysis. See, he had infantile paralysis. He
walked with braces, Roosevelt brought America out of the doldrums.
America was down and everybody was disgusted. You had nothing to bank on
or nothing else but Franklin D. Roosevelt, he was an old timer, you
talked to him. He said, "How are you?" Oh, he was the finest man that
there eves was. But Harry Truman was Vice President and he just took
over and of course he was a student of FDR and he kept it on. Truman was
the next best, well-liked President. I guess him and Roosevelt ever was
outside of George Washington and Abe Lincoln, but I think they played Abe
Lincoln, played that to death, Springfield has.
End of Tape Three, Side One
Q: Howard, I would like to ask you about Kitty McKinnis who you told me
one time owned a set of apartments where you lived.
A: That's right and that was on the corner of Fifth and Adam Street and
everybody knew her as Miss Kitty. She was employed by the bank at Auburn,
the Auburn State Bank. There was mostly men that roomed there at that
time, instead of apartments, they are apartment buildings now. There's
four apartments in that building, but before she sold it out, well she
had I and Mr. Pierce and Jim, I can't think of his last name now.
Q: Well, Kitty worked at the bank and then did she come home and sort of
take care of the apartments too?
A: Yes, she did and toward the last though Mrs. Bradley and her got a
room there and they took care of, kept the apartments clean and everything.
Q: And Kitty never told you about any of the old time days?
A: No, she never ever did.
Q: But you did mention a Ms. Johnnie Lanham?
A: Yes, well, Ms. Johnnie Lanham, she used to be my school teacher in
the sixth grade and she was a wonderful woman. Her father lived to be
over 100 years old and after he passed away, why she later come to, when
my wife and I and my son, I sold my business and we moved, took a trip to
California, and Ms. Kitty or Ms. Johnnie Lanham came to room at our
house. And she stayed there until she moved to the Parks Memorial Home
and there she took a lifetime membership in that, Parks Memorial Home and
she lived there until she died. She was over 100 herself, I think,
before she passed away.