Explore Black History

September 14, 2019

An oral history interview with Selena Williams and Bonnie Taylor-Williams. It consists of two versions, unedited (2023.4.1.1, .mxf) and edited (2023.4.1.2, .mov), of a single digital video recording. Selena Williams and her granddaughter, Bonnie Taylor-Williams, were interviewed by Kelly Elaine Navies on September 14th, 2019. The interview took place in the family business, Selena’s House of Beauty, a hair salon in Chicago, Illinois. At the time of the interview, Ms. Williams was 94 years old, and Ms. Taylor-Williams was 59 years old. Ms. Taylor-Williams is the primary speaker throughout the interview.
Ms. Williams and Ms. Taylor-Williams begin the interview with a discussion of Ms. Williams’s move from Mississippi to Chicago in 1941. Through this discussion, they talk about Ms. Williams’s early experiences doing hair and the beginnings of her career as a beautician in Chicago. Ms. Taylor-Williams then recounts how her grandmother founded her own hair salon in 1956 and discusses the development and expansion of the business after her grandmother was introduced to the method of hair weaving in 1959. Ms. Taylor-Williams also discusses the shop’s clientele. Through this discussion, Ms. Taylor-Williams recalls her own upbringing in and around the shop in the 1960s and 1970s and how the family all took part in the business. She also shares stories about the shop from her own career as a Hair-Weev Technician. Ms. Taylor-Williams then talks about the process of writing With These Hands: A Country Girl Came to Town, a book about her grandmother’s life, and discusses the history and storytelling traditions of her family. She also talks about her grandmother’s (and her) relationship with blues artist, B.B. King. Ms. Taylor-Williams reflects on the lessons she’s learned from the women in her family and the legacy they’ve left. She concludes the interview with a brief discussion of her writing and her desire to continue to preserve and share her family’s history and stories.

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Time-based Media - Moving Images

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

National Museum of African American History and Culture

2023.4.1

oral histories
digital media - born digital

© Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.

digital

Duration (2023.4.1.1): 1:25:50
Duration (2023.4.1.2): 1:40:38
File size (total): 150 GB

Title • Selena Williams and Bonnie Taylor-Williams Oral History Interview

nmaahc_2023.4.1

NMAAHC

SELENA WILLIAMS AND BONNIE TAYLOR-WILLIAMS ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW

National Museum of African American History and Culture

CC0

1920s • 2010s • 1910-1930

Taylor-Williams, Bonnie • Navies, Kelly Elaine • Hutcherson, Trudy • National Museum of African American History and Culture • House of Beauty, Inc. • Selena's House of Beauty • King, B.B. • Williams, Selena • Pershing Hotel

Clarksdale • Mississippi • Chicago • United States • Illinois • North and Central America • Tennessee • Cook County • Coahoma County • Memphis • Shelby County

Hair • Black Enterprise • Great Migration (African American), 1910-1930 • Music • Migrations • Beauty culture • Family • Beauty salons (Beauty shops) • Urban life • Beauty schools • Business

City • Chicago • County • Cook County • State • Illinois • Country • United States • Continent • North and Central America • City • Clarksdale • County • Coahoma County • State • Mississippi • City • Memphis • County • Shelby County • State • Tennessee

digital media - born digital • Oral histories (document genres) • Interviews

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