Medic service during the vietnam war, racial tension, and being wounded in battle. The interview is about 70 minutes. Pointare here at the west center for oral history studio with mr. Ry 23, 2015 henry james thomas. Hello, mr. Thomas. Hank hi, how are you doing . We are very happy to have the chance to talk to you today. Bityou tell me a little about your childhood . I am interested because it seems your independent fighting spirit seemed to emerge earlier than most. Hank yes. Childhoodrt of my and georgia, in the middle part of georgia. I was born in jacksonville, florida, and i think from age wasably three to eight spent in georgia. Considered middle georgia, not are from augustine, georgia. After that, i went with my family to saint augustine, florida, and that is where i came of age as a teenager. Activism very early. An innate sense of what was right and what was wrong, and i dont know exactly where i got that from. Andidea of segregation things that white people could do and blac
Museum. I am laura wilson and i am the curator here. I am going to tell you about lynchburg history. We are going to focus on transportation and manufacturing history. We are standing in the timeline gallery main courtroom of the Lynchburg Museum and our exhibit inexhibits start in 1607, honor of the 400th anniversary of the founding of virginia. At that time, lynchburg was not a town yet. The monaghan indians were here. Lynchburg was not started until the 1750s by john lynch. That is who lynchburg was named after. The whole reason the town is here is because of the james river. There was a shallow spot in the river where lynch had a fairy ferry thatd crossed over to what is now Madison Heights in amherst county. Because of the river, lynchburg history begins with transportation. Behind me, we have early examples of the boats on the river with the creation of the canal in the 1830s. The canal comes to lynchburg in 1836 and this is a model of the type of boat that wouldve been on the ri
Spirit seemed to emerge earlier than most. Hank yes. I spent part of my childhood in georgia, in the middle part of georgia. I was born in jacksonville, florida, and i think from age probably three to eight was spent in georgia. An area considered middle georgia, not are from augustine, not too far from augustine, georgia. After that, i went with my family to saint augustine, florida, and that is where i came of age as a teenager. I came by my activism very early. I always had an innate sense of what was right and what was wrong, and i dont know exactly where i got that from. The idea of segregation and things that white people could do and black people could not do, i understood very early. Maybe as early as 7, 8 years old, that there was something wrong with that. Obviously i wasnt capable of any deep philosophical thinking, it is just that, why cant we go there and the white folks can . Or why are we poorer than white people . Those were things as a child that concerned me. I did ha
Cspan is in lynchburg, virginia learning about local history. Next, historic sandusky during the battle of lynchburg. House was central to the 1864 civil war battle at lynchburg. While the battle raged, the union use this as its headquarters. Lets take a look at how it got its name. It was built by Charles Johnston, who grew up in the richmond a hand petersburg area. He entered Business Life as a merchant, stock worker, clerk. When he was about 20yearsold he went to kentucky to accompany his boss through the ohio territory through the state of kentucky to survey some land his boss bought. But went to the ohio river, a boat, picked up six passengers and traveled down the ohio river with the goal of reaching kentucky. They were warned about hostile native american indians. They were careful to stay in the middle of the ohio river. At one point to white men came to the banks of the river and us andhelp us, save they went to the bank to say them. It was a decoy. Byy were instantly attacked
Than most. Hank yes. I spent part of my childhood in georgia, in the middle part of georgia. I was born in jacksonville, florida, and i think from age probably three to eight was spent in georgia. An area considered middle georgia, not are from augustine, georgia. After that, i went with my family to saint augustine, florida, and that is where i came of age as a teenager. I came by my activism very early. I always had an innate sense of what was right and what was wrong, and i dont know exactly where i got that from. The idea of segregation and things that white people could do and black people could not do, i understood very early. Maybe as early as 7, 8 years old, that there was something wrong with that. Obviously i wasnt capable of any deep philosophical thinking, it is just that, why cant we go there and the white folks can . Or why are we poorer than white people . Those were things as a child that concerned me. I did have one incident in georgia wherein i guess i violated a very