“Don’t go south of Poyntz they say!” 

Mrs. Arlene Cole, a widow: “I can’t hear, I can’t see, I look terrible, but I remember! I’ve lived in Manhattan for 75 years and [have been] living in this house for 73 years.”

Mrs. Cole came to the Little Apple from Ellsworth, Kansas, with her first husband. She goes on to recall that not many Black people lived in Ellsworth during her time growing up. She mentioned going to grade school and being only one of five Black families. She said, “ What was important to me was getting my education and being an educated black woman!” Mrs. Cole said the “mess” —meaning racism — was going on during her time as a child and said it still is going on. She said she only seldom heard the word “nigger” being used in Ellsworth, but when she did hear the word being used, it sent fear and chills through her body. She said that upon graduating high school, she wanted to go to a Black college, so she went to Lincoln University in Missouri. After graduating, she married her first husband, who was in the Army, and that brought her to Manhattan, Kansas. After that marriage didn’t work, she then married Mr. Cole, her second husband. She worked at McCall’s for 19 years and retired just after Mr. Cole died. Mrs. Cole said that to keep busy, she joined a few Black clubs: the Eastern Stars, 20th Century Club, and a Black history club. She spoke about the changes on Yuma Street, on how the historical homes are being taken down and how the younger generation just doesn’t take care of things in the same way. At 94 years old, she is the second oldest woman living on Yuma Street.