Clipping 1 from interview with Wentford Gaines
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Title
Clipping 1 from interview with Wentford Gaines
Description
1 minute, 13 second audio clipping from an interview of Wentford Gaines by Jerone Dudley conducted over Zoom for the Black Cultural Center Oral History Project. Gaines discusses the athletic department's neglect and misrepresentations of the job he agreed to when he signed to play football at Tennessee Tech University in the spring of 1973.
Transcript of the clipping:
Wentford Gaines: And like I said, you going to bring me there under false, false pretenses and tell me that you’re going to have me, you got, you have a job for me. My job was to—they were doing remodeling, construction work in the stadium. And I’m there from morning to night throwing cinderblocks up to an old redneck chewing, chewing, chewing tobacco. And I’m throwing the blocks up to him.
Jerone Dudley: Up to him?
Gaines: Up to him, right. As he’s doing what he’s doing.
Dudley: So they was using your talents, your athletic ability for working hard.
Gaines: Yes, yes.
Dudley: Doing hard labor.
Gaines: You have me a job? Ok, I’m going. Cause, you know how it is with college students.
Dudley: Yeah.
Gaines: You don’t have money anyway.
Dudley: Yeah.
Gaines: And I can have a job? But, and then on top of that, when I get there, and you really don’t have a place for me to stay. I’m going from one person’s room to another person’s room. I’m being fed with other, other, the football players bringing me meals from the lunch room. So, you didn’t take care of me.
For the full interview recording, see the Tennessee Tech University digital collections here.
Transcript of the clipping:
Wentford Gaines: And like I said, you going to bring me there under false, false pretenses and tell me that you’re going to have me, you got, you have a job for me. My job was to—they were doing remodeling, construction work in the stadium. And I’m there from morning to night throwing cinderblocks up to an old redneck chewing, chewing, chewing tobacco. And I’m throwing the blocks up to him.
Jerone Dudley: Up to him?
Gaines: Up to him, right. As he’s doing what he’s doing.
Dudley: So they was using your talents, your athletic ability for working hard.
Gaines: Yes, yes.
Dudley: Doing hard labor.
Gaines: You have me a job? Ok, I’m going. Cause, you know how it is with college students.
Dudley: Yeah.
Gaines: You don’t have money anyway.
Dudley: Yeah.
Gaines: And I can have a job? But, and then on top of that, when I get there, and you really don’t have a place for me to stay. I’m going from one person’s room to another person’s room. I’m being fed with other, other, the football players bringing me meals from the lunch room. So, you didn’t take care of me.
For the full interview recording, see the Tennessee Tech University digital collections here.
Source
Black Cultural Center Oral History Collection
Date
Rights
Copyright held by Wentford Gaines, Jerone Dudley, and Tennessee Technological University. This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. In addition, no permission is required from the rights-holder(s) for educational uses. For other uses, you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/
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Type
Identifier
BCCOH_Gaines_20201127_clipping1
Citation
Gaines, Wentford E., 1953- and Dudley, Jerone L., “Clipping 1 from interview with Wentford Gaines,” Tennessee Tech University Archives and Special Collections, accessed April 30, 2024, https://tntecharchives.omeka.net/items/show/306.
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