Her Story in Eleven Chapters
Ella Owen's life, told in her own words. Each chapter includes video clips from her oral history, the full transcript, and historical context.
Roots
"I was born on Klondike Road, close to Rockland Road. We lived in the tenant house—my granddaddy's tenant house."
1914 – 1922
Witness to Progress
"My grandmother had the first phone I ever heard. And we went to Mr. Howard's house to hear the first radio."
1914 – 1925
Moving Through Hardship
"If you didn't live through a Depression... Papa was put on part-time. Dr. Stewart would let Papa have the money."
1929 – 1933
Mama's Garden
"Did you know you have an angel for a mother? She said they didn't know what they would have done without those collards."
1930s
Don't Give Up Your Dreams
"Peter Marshall preached at our graduation. The only thing I remember him saying was: Don't give up your dreams."
1933
The Young Teacher
"I started when I was 17 and a half. I made $50 a month. You had to build your own fires."
1933 – 1937
Theron
"He stopped and asked me for a date. The second date, he said, 'You want to go to church with me?'"
1937
War, Children, and Sacrifice
"We were eating dinner on Sunday and it came over the radio that Pearl Harbor had been bombed."
1941 – 1949
Building a Life
"I went to Georgia State at night and taught school and worked at Comfort Zone Saturday."
1949 – 1960
Building a Church
"If we find a place for you to have Sunday school, will you come back and teach us?"
1960 – 1990
Feed My Sheep
"I want you grandchildren to feel the time and space that I can no longer feel when I go."
1990s – 2006