Selena Williams and Bonnie Taylor-Williams Oral History Interview

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

An oral history interview with Selena Williams and Bonnie Taylor-Williams. It consists of two versions, unedited (2023.4.1.1, .mxf) and edited (2023.4.1.2, .mov), of a single digital video recording. Selena Williams and her granddaughter, Bonnie Taylor-Williams, were interviewed by Kelly Elaine Navies on September 14th, 2019. The interview took place in the family business, Selena’s House of Beauty, a hair salon in Chicago, Illinois. At the time of the interview, Ms. Williams was 94 years old, and Ms. Taylor-Williams was 59 years old. Ms. Taylor-Williams is the primary speaker throughout the interview. Ms. Williams and Ms. Taylor-Williams begin the interview with a discussion of Ms. Williams’s move from Mississippi to Chicago in 1941. Through this discussion, they talk about Ms. Williams’s early experiences doing hair and the beginnings of her career as a beautician in Chicago. Ms.

Explore Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture ↗