The Smith and Bradford lectures let me down as far as getting a deeper look into THE American musical gift to the world.  However, I loved to hear Bradford talk about his life experiences.  That is what stood out to me with these two lectures.  Being an historian and love stories, especially when they come from an elderly person that has been in the thick of it, so to speak so I could have listened to Bradford all night.  His talk gave us a great look into race and place in America in the South and Southwest during the 20^th century.  I found it fascinating to hear about how he and his family were treated because they were “black.”  The most intriguing of these stories was about the subtleties and pervasiveness of racism in American during the first half of the 20^th century.  It was the little tale about when his mother and brother were allowed to eat in a restaurant and he and his step dad were not because they were too dark.

            Race always has been and always will be (it seems) an issue in America.  Bradford and those of his generation are a great source of oral, social and cultural history that shows how race has shaped modern America.