Dr D B Gaines
From:
More Arkansas
#771
Interviewer: Samuel S. Taylor
Person interviewed: Dr. D. B. Gaines
1720 Izard Street, Little Rock, Arkansas
Age: 75
"I was born in 1863 and am now seventy-five years old. You see,
therefore, that I know nothing experimentally and practically about
slavery.
"I was born in South Carolina in Lawrence County, and my father moved
away from the old place before I had any recollection. I remember
nothing about it. My father said his master's name was Matthew Hunter.
"I was named for my father's master's brother, Dr. Bluford Gaines. My
name is Doctor Bluford Gaines. Of course, I am a doctor but my name is
Doctor.
"My father's family moved to Arkansas, in 1882. Settled near Morrilton,
Arkansas. I myself come to Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1885, October
eighth. Worked in the homes of white families for my board and entered
Philander Smith College October 8, 1885. Continued to work with Judge
Smith of the Arkansas Supreme Court until I graduated from Philander
Smith College. After graduating I taught school and was elected
Assistant Principal of the Little Rock Negro High School in 1891. Served
three years. Accumulated sufficient money and went to Meharry Medical
College, Nashville, Tennessee. Graduated there in 1896. Practiced for
five years in the city of Little Rock. Entered permanently upon the
ministry in 1900. Was called to the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church where
I have been pastoring for thirty-nine years the first Sunday in next
May.
"The first real thing that made me switch from the medicine to the
ministry was the deep call of the ministry gave me more interest in the
Gospel than the profession of medicine furnished to me. In other words,
I discovered that I was a real preacher and not a real doctor.
"Touching slavery, the white people to whom my parents belonged were
tolerant and did not allow their slaves to be abused by patrollers and
outsiders.
"My mother's people, however, were sold from her in very early life and
sent to Alabama. My mother's maiden name was Harriet Smith. She came
from South Carolina too. Her old master was a Smith. My mother and
father lived on adjoining plantations and by permission of both
overseers, my father was permitted to visit her and to marry her even
before freedom. Out of regard for my father, his master bought my mother
from her master. I think my father told me that the old master called
them all together and announced that they were free at the close of the
War. Right after freedom, the first year, he remained on the farm with
the old master. After that he moved away to Greenville County, South
Carolina, and settled on a farm, with the brother-in-law of his old
master, a man named Squire Bennett. He didn't go to war.
"There was an exodus of colored people from South Carolina beginning
about 1880, largely due to the Ku Klux or Red Shirts. They created a
reign of terror for colored people in that state. He joined the exodus
in 1882 and came to Arkansas where from reports, the outlook seemed
better for him and his family. He had no trouble with the Ku Klux in
Arkansas. He maintained himself here by farming."
Opinions
"It is my opinion that from a racial standpoint, the lines are being
drawn tighter due to the advancement of the Negro people and to the
increased prejudice of the dominant race. These lines will continue to
tighten until they somehow under God are broken. We believe that the
Christian church is slowly but surely creating a helpful sentiment that
will in time prevail among all men.
"It appears from a governmental standpoint that the nation is doomed
sooner or later to crash. Possibly a changed form of government is not
far ahead. This is due to two reasons: (1) greed, avarice, and
dishonesty on the part of public people; (2) race prejudice. We believe
that the heads of the national government have a far vision. The
policies had they been carried out in keeping with the mind of the
President, would have worked wonders in behalf of humanity generally.
But dishonesty and greed of those who had the carrying out of these
policies has destroyed their good effect and the fine intentions of the
President who created them. It looks clear that neither the Democratic
nor the Republican party will ever become sufficiently morally righteous
to establish and maintain a first-class humanitarian and unselfish
government.
"It is my opinion that the younger generation is headed in the wrong
direction both morally and spiritually. This applies to all races. And
this fact must work to the undoing of the government that must soon fall
into their hands, for no government can well exist founded upon graft,
greed, and dishonesty. It seems that the younger group are more
demoralized than the younger group were two generations ago. Thus the
danger both to church and state. Unless the church can catch a firmer
grip upon the younger group than it has, the outlook is indeed gloomy.
"We are so far away from the situation of trouble in Germany, that it is
difficult to know what it is or should be. But one thing must be
observed--that any wholesale persecution of a whole group of people must
react upon the persecutors. There could no cause arise which would
justify a governmental power to make a wholesale sweep of any great
group of people that were weak and had no alternative. That government
which settles its affairs by force and abuse shows more weakness than
the weak people which it abuses.
"We need not think that we are through with the job when we kill the
weaker man. No cause is sufficient for the destruction of seven hundred
thousand people, and no persecutor is safe from the effects of his own
persecution."
Interviewer's Comment
The house at 1720 Izard is the last house in what would otherwise be
termed a "white" block. There appears to be no friction over the matter.
Note that if you were calling Dr. Gaines by his professional title and
his first name at the same time, you would say Dr. Doctor Bluford
Gaines. He has attained proficiency in three professions--teaching,
medicine, and the ministry.
Dr. Gaines is poised in his bearing and has cultured tastes and
surroundings--neat cottage, and simple but attractive furnishings.
He selects his ideas and words carefully, but dictates fluently. He
knows what he wants to say, and what he omits is as significant as what
he states.
He is the leader type--big of body, alert of mind, and dominant. It is
said that he with two other men dominated Negro affairs in Arkansas for
a considerable period of time in the past. He does not give the
impression of weakness now.
Despite his education, contacts, and comparative affluence, however, his
interview resembles the type in a number of respects--the type as I have
found it.
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Mary Gaines
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Charlie Gadson
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