Cynthia Hurst Mays was born and raised in Rogers Washington Holy Cross, a historic East Austin neighborhood built by and for black professionals after World War Two. In this interview, she describes her childhood, her education, civil rights, and the continued sense of family in Rogers Washington.
Interview Highlights
Childhood and community ties
“And it was where different age groups had different siblings there, but everybody had a family member that had a friend that was in the same age. So it was like there was no fear in the neighborhood. We go outside, we ride bicycles. It was more or less going outside and we didn’t stay in the house a lot – I did because I was a reader. So I just wanted to stay in the house and do those kind of things. But for the most part, my siblings loved being outside riding bicycles and it was just community, families that were like relatives. “
Juneteenth celebrations
“On Sundays after church, we gather for holidays, Christmas and New Year’s and Easter and Juneteenth, especially Juneteenth. Oh, this was a big deal. My mother was part of the revitalization of Juneteenth. At one time, they did not celebrate it. There was a period in which it wasn’t celebrated. And then my mother and several of us decided it needed to be celebrated. So they actually started it again. We stayed up putting flowers and banners on trucks and cars. It was in the early ‘70s that this was a big deal.”
Educational rigor at LC Anderson
“We had teachers of our own race that taught us. But then the teachers, I felt that the teachers were teachers where it wasn’t a failure. It was where you were going to work hard to get what you needed to get, to learn what you needed to learn.It wasn’t where we were allowed to say, well, ‘he’s not teachable.’ That didn’t happen. You know, everybody was going to be taught. So then I think that doing that, that era, we miss out on it now because of the fact that that determination to make sure that we made the grade, made a difference.”
Civil Rights during desegregation
“But my mother was that kind of person, one that was called upon when desegregation and they had to go to McCallum. And there was actually guys waiting for them, my siblings, when they got off the bus for it to be a violent occurrence. And so the superintendent of schools then called upon my mother to come in and try to to help with controlling where there wouldn’t be a riot.”
The Rogers Washington community today
“Being a part of a community that we hope stays a community, because we still have those ties with everybody in the community. We go to church together, although it might be different churches within the city. But if there’s something going on that they’re involved in, we’re there to support them any way. So we’re still getting together and we’re still a family.We’re still a community. Our children – it’s now going down to the next generations. My children, Brenda’s children, and grandchildren, they all know each other because that family dynamic is still there within that community.”