Hazel Robinson · Sewanee: Black Lives Matter Oral History Project

Title

Hazel Robinson (Abstract)

Interviewee/ Narrator

Hazel Robinson

Interviewer

Lilly Boston

Date

February 10, 2024

Location of the Interview

Zoom

Length

58 minutes, 45 seconds

Abstract

Hazel Robinson was born in 1943 in Kansas City, Missouri. She worked for 13 years as a nurse and then opened a small business. The interview begins by discussing Hazel’s background and all the places she has lived. She then illustrates her various moves throughout the United States. After Kansas City, she moved to Michigan, St. Louis, Missouri; Bowling Green, Kentucky, and finally, Crossville, Tennessee. She then discusses her journey into nursing during the Civil Rights Movement. In 1960, Hazel was in Kansas City when she pursued nursing school. She graduated in 1965 and began working in an indigent hospital. She discusses her journey through nursing school and the effects of the Civil Rights Movement on her education. Her career as a nurse ended in 1978, and she then moved to Michigan. Her time in Michigan and St. Louis was short, and the most notable portion of her life was in Bowling Green. Hazel discusses her life in Kentucky and starting her small business in the South. She also talks about her experiences with racism as she was moving to and living in the South. She then discusses her experience with the Black Lives Matter Movement and the effects it had on her day-to-day life. Her first exposure to Black Lives Matter was in Tennessee during the 2020 election. After delving into such a weighted topic, she takes a few steps back and discusses what inspired her to be a nurse. While she is unable to definitively say the exact moment that led her into nursing, she believes it is due to the age gap between her and her siblings. Her role as a caretaker transcended into not only her career but personal life as well. Hazel also compares her experiences in the north and the south, emphasizing the southern hospitality. This interview is part of the Sewanee Black Lives Matter Oral History Project.