Interviewed on November 16, 1996 by Richard Portee for the Unified Committee for Afro-American Contributions Oral History Project, George Purnell Frederick Sr. was born in Clements, MD on August 25, 1922.  He was pulled out of the 8th grade because his father was ill. He was attending Banneker and his sister was boarding at Pomonkey High School in Charles County. After 27 years, he retired from St. Mary’s Public Schools as supervisor of custodial services. Mr. Frederick married Rita Elizabeth Dickerson in 1942 and they had 12 children and adopted three more children. He talks about his childhood and the food they would eat which was limited because people couldn’t make much money. He had a very good relationship with his siblings, attending St. Aloysius Church in Leonardtown and then St. Joseph’s in Loveville.

Mr. Frederick discusses transportation, travel, and how his family dealt with health and illness. He dreamed of becoming a teacher but had to work a lot of small jobs such as farming and vehicle mechanical services. Mr. Frederick and his wife were involved with a lot of community activities. He describes the quality of life during this time as significantly better than it is now, reflecting upon the present day. He talks about race relations, segregation, living in county vs. city and changes in the county because of the Base expansion. He was on the SMECO board for 29 years, received many awards/recognitions but mentions how he has not done everything he wanted. Mr. Frederick concludes the interview talking about how Blacks would get the news and then he recounts positive memories of school.

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A log and a verbatim transcript are available for this interview.