Lorraine O'Grady

NOTE for the record:

When I got to about 1972, I ran out of time and energy. I tried to do a few flash-forwards but didn't mention being a rock critic, and hardly discussed being an artist. One of these days, I'll put down the whole story....

Ciaradecided to limit the paper to her two grandmothers. . . as she said, the immigrant German woman who came to the US at 29, had six children and then, when they were grown, worked part-time in the local Catholic church rectory taking care of a succession of priests. . . and the black American who was educated and a professional and who’d had a series of colorful jobs but encountered a few problems.

She said she’d thought it was an interesting story, but her TA only gave her a check instead of a check-plus because she didn't cover enough family members!

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MY FIRST JOB

When I started college in 1951, I was going to major in History. But after a course in Central European history, I knew I’d never be able to read fast enough. I couldn’t stop sub-vocalizing! So I decided to major in Spanish Literature. But after I got married
and had a baby, I realized I would have to get practical. So I switched to Economics because I thought that would give me better job prospects. In my senior year, I went on a few interviews through the Career Center at Wellesley. But they weren't too interesting. In those days, it seemed like the
majority of recruiters, even at a high prestige women's college like Wellesley, were fashion retailers.

I went through the motions. I got dressed up, took the train to New York and talked with the people at Bergdorf's and Alexander's (opposite ends of
the fashion scale). But it was clear, women retail buyers could only go so high. You would spend most of your life in dreary back rooms on the store floors, talking to low-level vendors with carpet fleas biting your legs....

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