Small, Sheryl

Interview 298a: In this interview with Jonathan Gerland and Emily Hyatt, Sheryl Small reminisces about spending time in the Boykin Settlement Community in southern Angelina County, at the home of her grandparents Harrison and Mary Frazier. Mrs. Small recalls the lessons she learned from her grandparents and other family members, attending the segregated African American school at Vernon/County Line, the difference in her small community and her schools in the Houston area, and all of her aunts and uncles. She discusses the Frazier’s thirteen children, their accomplishments, and how the family lived – their religious beliefs and how they navigated racial prejudice. She also discusses her education in segregated and then integrated Houston area schools, attending Texas A&M University as one of the few African American women at the school, and her career in the mining and petrochemical industries.