Brenda Holmes, Ph.D., Oral History Interview: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

An oral history interview with Dr. Brenda Holmes. It consists of a single MOV file (.mov). Dr. Brenda Holmes was interviewed at her mother's home in Dublin, Virginia, on May 26, 2022, as part of the NMAAHC Donor Oral History Collection. The oral history supplements both an interview with her mother, Mrs. Mattie Payne Morrison Holmes (NMAAHC 2024.50.1.1), as well as a donation of several objects related to the military service of her grandfather, George Emmett Morrison, Sr., who served in the 367th Infantry, 92nd Division, during World War I (NMAAHC 2023.24.1-.5).

The interview has a focus on Dr. Holmes’s early life in Dublin and begins with a discussion of Dr. Holmes’s memories of her grandfather, George Emmett Morrison, Sr. Dr. Holmes discusses her educational experiences in Dublin, particularly her experience integrating Dublin High School in the 1960s. Dr. Holmes then talks a little bit about her mother before recounting how she and another girl were sexually abused by a white pastor in Dublin as young girls.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 2022
• Created by: National Museum of African American History and Culture, American, founded 2003
• Interviewed by: Kelly Elaine Navies, American
• Interview of: Dr. Brenda Holmes, American, born 1950
• Recorded by: Trudy Hutcherson, American
• Subject of: George Morrison Sr., American, 1889 - 1951
• Subject of: George Emmett Morrison Jr., American, 1925 - 1991
• Subject of: Dublin High School
• Subject of: Howard University, American, founded 1867
• Type: oral histories
• Type: digital media - born digital
• Type: sound films
• Type: color films (visual works)
• Medium: digital
• Dimensions: Duration: 22 min., 57 sec.
• Dimensions: File size (Total): 92.4 MB
• Place depicted: Dublin, Pulaski County, Virginia, United States, North and Central America
• Place captured: Dublin, Pulaski County, Virginia, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Children
• Topic: Christianity
• Topic: Civil Rights
• Topic: Education
• Topic: Families
• Topic: Segregation
• Topic: Sexual abuse
• Object number: 2024.50.2.1
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.