Orlando L. Taylor (Finding Aid)

Orlando L. Taylor

1936 -

Interview Length: 87 minutes

Interview Date(s): June 14, 2004

Interview Location(s): Howard University, Washington D.C., Howard University, Washington, D.C.

Abstract

Linguist and educator, Dr. Orlando Taylor details his childhood in pre-civil rights era Tennessee. He describes life in his all-white neighborhood and the sense of isolation he felt. Taylor also discusses his secondary education and relationship with his family and extended relatives. Taylor describes a grandfather who was the child of a white father and black mother and how is biracial status elevated him from sharecropping. Educator and linguist, Dr. Orlando Taylor, details his post-secondary education at Hampton, a year on exchange at Dennison and his graduate work at Indiana University. He recalls his first years out of graduate school as a speech therapist Educator and linguist, Dr. Orlando Taylor delves into the theories and controversy surrounding Ebonics, a lingusitic theory and phrase he first coined. Taylor describes the issues facing blacks who speak non-standard English and his efforts to reach them through the use of Ebonics in an educational setting. He also examines why Howard is the largest producer of black PhDs and why that simultaneously gladdens and saddens him.

22 Stories (See Ordered Story Set)