Michael Bowen Mitchell (Finding Aid)

Michael Bowen Mitchell

1945 -

Interview Length: 144 minutes

Interview Date(s): June 9, 2004

Interview Location(s): Baltimore, Maryland

Abstract

Politician and businessman Michael Mitchell gives a detailed background of his family history, discussing an ancestor of his who signed the Declaration of Independence and helped to shape the early history of Maryland and Baltimore. Mitchell also focuses on his grandmother, the civil rights activist Lillie Carroll Jackson, and gives a history of the neighborhood in Baltimore in which his family resides. Politician and businessman Michael Mitchell continues to discuss his family background, delving into the histories of his grandmother Lillie Carroll Jackson and grandfather Kieffer Albert Jackson. Mitchell explains how the violent racism in the South shaped his grandfather's life and career, and tells stories of his time as a traveling silent movie exhibitor. Mitchell also discusses his family's Choctaw roots. Politician and businessman Michael Mitchell discusses the prominent members of his family, listing their accomplishments. He focuses on the civil rights activism of his mother, grandmother, and father, detailing a story of a Maryland lynching his father covered for the 'Afro-American'. Mitchell continues to detail Baltimore's and Maryland's history, focusing on the state's role in establishing the nation of Liberia in the 19th century. Politician and businessman Michael Mitchell continues to discuss the activism of his family, particularly his grandmother Lillie Mae Jackson. Mitchell also recalls various encounters with racial discrimination around the country, and explains the impact of the NAACP. Mitchell details his father's background, explaining his family's situation living in Baltimore during the Great Depression. Politician and businessman Michael Mitchell continues to describe his father's background, explaining how he got a job as a reporter for the 'Afro-American', where he was assigned to cover the landmark civil rights case 'Murray v. Pearson'. Mitchell details the legal strategies of Thurgood Marshall and Charles Houston, and tells the story of Marshall's own struggles with discrimination. Mitchell then recalls his father's antagonism with the FBI and recounts being brought up in a family that emphasized racial pride.

31 Stories (See Ordered Story Set)