Mesa Historical Society

Abstract Booker, Burns, and Sato ? all from well-known families who helped settle Mesa ? participate in a panel interview to talk about Mesa in the early 1900's. They each tell how their families came to Mesa and what they did for a living, including farming and cooking at a downtown armory. They discuss everyday life ? doing laundry by hand, swimming in the canals for recreation, and keeping cool without air-conditioning. Booker talks about being part of the first African-American family to live in...

Abstract Booker, born in Naco, Arizona, talks about her family's history and her experiences as an African American woman in early Mesa. Her great-grand parents were slaves, and her grandfather and father were Buffalo Soldiers in the army. Her mother did laundry for a living, including for the O.S. Stapley family. She describes early downtown Mesa and mentions some businesses such as Everybody's Drugstore, the post office, J.C. Penney's, the hospital, and some churches. Booker discusses race...

Abstract Freeman tells the story of her families move to Arizona in 1927 in a covered wagon. She talks about her father's experience as a school bus driver driving relatively long distances to pick up kids for school and mentions the homes where her family lived. She recalls that her family had one of the first phones in Mesa and that many people stopped in to borrow it. Freeman describes downtown Mesa and mentions several business including Molly's, J.C. Penney's, Woolworth's, and Everybody's...