Ora Higgins (Finding Aid)

Ora Higgins

1910 -

Favorite Color: Pink

Favorite Food: Oatmeal

Favorite Time of Year: Spring

Favorite Vacation Spot: Washington, D.C.

Interview Length: 91 minutes

Interview Date(s): August 28, 2003

Interview Location(s): Chicago, Illinois

Abstract

African American businessperson and foundation director Ora Higgins recalls her childhood and youth on the South Side of Chicago during the 1910s and 1920s. Businesswoman and foundation director Ora Higgins talks about her education at Chicago Teachers' College and Crane Junior College during the late 1920s. She tells about her volunteer work with the Chicago Urban League who were reaching out to white business owners in an effort to encourage them to integrate their staffs. This work, Higgins explains, led to a job at Spiegel, Inc., planning the integration of their workforce. Higgins became the national integration director for Spiegel and served as an integration consultant for other businesses. Businesswoman and foundation director talks about race relations at Spiegel, Inc., where she worked for twenty-six years directing the racial integration of the company and recruiting African American students for executive positions. Higgins also discusses the Ora Higgins Youth Foundation and shares her hopes and concerns for the black community. Ora Higgins shares photographs of her family and career and the work of the Ora Higgins Youth Foundation.

49 Stories (See Ordered Story Set)