Local History
Dr. Gladys Peeples-Burks
Local history inverview with Dr. Peeples-Burks was conducted by Don Pearson, member of the Unified Civic Monuments Project Curriculum Committee.
Edwina McCree
Interview with long-time Benton Harbor resident and former Benton Harbor High School teacher Edwina McCree was conducted by Emanuel and Sharon Brown, of the Unified Civic Monuments Project Curriculum Committee. Ms. McCree came to Benton Harbor from Arkansas in 1968.
Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project
With gratitude, we share two oral history interviews with Benton Harbor figures from the GVSU Veterans History Project.
Roy Shoemaker
Roy Shoemaker Jr. was born in Benton Harbor, Michigan in 1930. He grew up there, finished high school in 1949 and got a job at the Whirlpool factory, and was drafted into the army soon afterward, in late 1950. Mr. Shoemaker was close to his family growing up, and had a lot of respect for his community despite multiple nationalities and low-incomes.
One notable dimension of this interviewer is that he offers commentary on the process of racial integration in the military. As an African American from the North, he had seen little by way of discrimination before going to Texas to train, and offers keen observations on different aspects of racial discrimination in both North and South, and of the Army’s efforts to desegregate Fort Hood, which was in process while he was there.
James Turner
James Turner was born on March 8, 1940 in Guntown, Mississippi. When he was five years old his family moved to Benton Harbor, Michigan. In 1960 (approximately) he enlisted in the Air Force. He received basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.
After that he served as chaplain’s assistant both in the United States and in Turkey where he conducted tours of the Holy Land and holy sites in the area. He served in Spain as part of the Military Police and at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany where he dealt with the Baader Meinhof Gang and Red Brigades (terrorist groups).
During his 20-year career in the Air Force he also helped establish human relations courses and race relations courses, specifically with the Department of Defense and President Nixon’s Secretary of Defense.