Donna McIntyre Whyte Interview, 30 May 2013
Abstract
Donna McIntyre Whyte, a Shaker Heights resident, has led a colorful life. She describes the life of her parents. Her mother was a pilot in the 1940s – a unique job for an African American woman at the time – and her uncle was a Tuskegee Airman. Whyte's parents passed a strong work ethic and a belief in the value of education on to her. Whyte describes growing up in the Mount Pleasant area and the fun she had with friends. She tells a great story about how kids would hide in the trunk of the car when they went to drive-in movies to avoid paying admission. Whyte attended OSU and stayed in Columbus after graduation. She moved back to Cleveland after 15 years in Columbus. She moved to Shaker Heights in the 1980s. Whyte discusses how Cleveland changed while she had been away. Whyte became very involved with the Shaker schools while her daughters were there joining the PTA and eventually serving on the school board.
Metadata
Sponsor this interview
Oh no! This interview has not yet been transcribed.
Transcription is expensive and time-consuming. You can support transcription on clevelandvoices.org by sponsoring an interview. As a sponsor, your name – or the name of your family or organization – will become part of the archival record. Donations to the Center for Public History + Digital Humanities are processed via the CSU Foundation and are tax-deductible.
Racial Integration in the Heights
Interviews in this series were collected by undergraduate students at Cleveland State University under the supervision of Dr. Mark Souther, with funding from the Office of the Provost. The series contains interviews with pioneers of suburban residential integration and social activists who supported peaceful managed integration/desegregation and fair housing in Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights in the 1950s to 1970s.