Stone, Jean

              
ORAL HISTORY OF JEAN STONE
Interviewed by Keith McDaniel
October 23, 2013 
MR. MCDANIEL: This is Keith McDaniel and today is October 23, 2013, and I'm at the home of Jean Stone here in Oak Ridge. Jean, thank you for taking time to talk with us.
MS. STONE: I'm happy to.
MR. MCDANIEL: I want to know about your life, so let's start at the beginning. Why don't you ... why don't you tell me something about where you were born and raised, something about your family.
MS. STONE: I was born in Gallatin, Tennessee, which is just northeast of Nashville, but my parents lived in Nashville, so I was born at my grandparents' home, on a farm just west of Gallatin and they took me to Nashville and I stayed my first 15 years there.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right?
MS. STONE: I went to Isaac Litton High School one year and then, both my grandparents had passed away. My mother did not want to sell the farm so my parents moved and moved me, after my freshman year at Litton, me to Gallatin and I entered Gallatin High School and graduated from there three years later.
MR. MCDANIEL: What year did you graduate?
MS. STONE: 1949.
MR. MCDANIEL: 1949. So that means you were born in...?
MS. STONE: '31.
MR. MCDANIEL: '31, Ok.
MS. STONE: I continued to commute to Nashville twice a week because, in the sixth grade, I had left my first piano teacher and gone to Ward-Belmont Conservatory of Music for private piano lessons and theory lessons.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: And didn't want to discontinue that, so I commuted, usually by bus on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Usually managed on Saturdays to take in a movie while I was in Nashville.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, sure, of course.
MS. STONE: But I graduated from Gallatin High School in 1949, and then I went to college at Western Kentucky which is now university, it was Western Kentucky College then...
MR. MCDANIEL: College then... Now what did your father, your mother and father do?
MS. STONE: My mother was just a house maker, a homemaker but my father was in the livestock business and he worked in Nashville Stockyards all my life, or all his life. They used to joke and say he never missed a Monday from work except on my birthday.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right?
MS. STONE: The day I was born. He missed that Monday. But he stayed on the job, and just part time the last few years he lived. He died at 75.
MR. MCDANIEL: What did he do there?
MS. STONE: He was a livestock salesman.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, I see.
MS. STONE: And at first, for the first several years, he dealt with all kinds of livestock. The last, oh, 20 years, he dealt only in the swine market.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, really?
MS. STONE: He was a hog salesman and he was a buyer of many of the local meat markets.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: The companies, like Elm Hill and Armour and those.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now that was, that was a really... I mean, the livestock, the... What did you call it down in Nashville? What is it called?
MS. STONE: The Union Stockyards...
MR. MCDANIEL: Right. The stockyards were really booming in that era, weren't they?
MS. STONE: Oh, yes. Yes, they were. And, in fact, when World War II came along, my father was rather old. He was 40 when I was born.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: But when World War II came along, he was considered unable to be drafted because that was a very valuable job.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, sure.
MS. STONE: In fact, he even got a "C" ration card for gasoline.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right?
MS. STONE: And could buy tires any time he needed them because the meat industry was needed for the military.
MR. MCDANIEL: Yeah, sure, absolutely.
MS. STONE: So he did not serve in World War II.
MR. MCDANIEL: But he could have, even... even at that age.
MS. STONE: In that age, yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: 'Cause they were taking every able-bodied man, weren't they?
MS. STONE: Uh-huh. And I didn't realize until then how important a job he had. (laughs) I just thought it was ordinary, you know.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, exactly... So did you...Now, did you have brothers and sisters?
MS. STONE: I had one sister who was nine years younger.
MR. MCDANIEL: Ok.
MS. STONE: And we grew up not being very close. I was more like a mother to her. But we're very close now. In fact, she calls me from Oklahoma City every day, at least once and sometimes three or four times a day.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now... Where did your parents come from? Were they...? Did they grow up in...?
MS. STONE: My mother grew up in Gallatin.
MR. MCDANIEL: In Gallatin, right.
MS. STONE: And my father grew up in Hartsville, which is just a little bit east of Gallatin.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right, right... So, you graduated high school and you went to Western Kentucky and you were a musician, as you said.
MS. STONE: I was a music major, yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: You were a music major.
MS. STONE: And I graduated with a bachelor's in music.
MR. MCDANIEL: Ok. Now, what year did you graduate? So that would have been...?
MS. STONE: '53.
MR. MCDANIEL: '53, ok.
MS. STONE: And I went home and my first job was at Hendersonville, which was in Sumner County.
MR. MCDANIEL: Which is not far from Gallatin.
MS. STONE: Just 10 miles down the road. And then the next year, my high school -- old high school principal was just determined to get me on his faculty.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right?
MS. STONE: And so I went up there. Went back to Gallatin as a teacher.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now, how did you end up in Oak Ridge?
MS. STONE: Well, that's an interesting thing. I got married the first year I was teaching and I married an educator. He was teaching a course for veterans in agriculture and he was also farming. He lived on his parents' farm. We were married for a year and the house burned -- it was on the farm.
MR. MCDANIEL: On your parents' farm or...?
MS. STONE: No, his parents' farm...
MR. MCDANIEL: His parents' farm. Now, how did...? Did you know him prior to...?
MS. STONE: No. We went to the same church but we were not acquaintances.
MR. MCDANIEL: Ok, I see.
MS. STONE: And one Saturday I was going -- one Saturday morning, I was going in the courthouse with blue jeans on and that was a... that was a no-no back in those days.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, sure.
MS. STONE: But I was in a hurry.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: And I don't remember to do what, but anyway. I was in a hurry and I ran in the courthouse and jumped on the elevator and he was on the elevator going up in the courthouse to file his papers, the week teaching. And the elevator got stuck. (laughter) So my advice to anybody is, if you get stuck in the elevator with anybody, discontinue all (laughter) just shut off everything.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: But anyway, we got acquainted while the elevator was stuck. Wasn't too long, but it was long enough for us to make a date.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: And so, a year later, we got married.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, ok.
MS. STONE: And he got a job here with ORAU [Oak Ridge Associated Universities]. At that time, it was known as Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies [ORINS] and he got a job and was working at the museum. That was his first job.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right?
MS. STONE: And he stayed here 13 years.
MR. MCDANIEL: Ok.
MS. STONE: And then he left.
MR. MCDANIEL: Ok.
MS. STONE: In the meantime, we'd had four children.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right.
MS. STONE: And the children and I, we decided we'd stay right here.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right?
MS. STONE: Uh-huh. I was tempted to go back to Gallatin, but I realized in that length of time, Gallatin was changing a lot. It was... By then, it was not the Gallatin that I remembered.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: And it has absolutely changed. 'Course, they've got that steam plant. TVA put a steam plant in there and Yale Lock Company came in and now there's a dozen or more companies they have I don't even know, and I don't know the people that came with them.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right, exactly...
MS. STONE: So I would not be happy. So the kids and I stayed in Oak Ridge and we've been blissfully happy.
MR. MCDANIEL: So you ... so you had four kids and they're, obviously, all young.
MS. STONE: Very young.
MR. MCDANIEL: And this was home.
MS. STONE: This was home to them.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now, were you working?
MS. STONE: I started working. I went to school. I went to Anderson County schools and went over in the mountains. I had my choice, as music teacher I had a choice of about four schools because one of the government titles, Title I or Title something...
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: Had come through with money for cultural things.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: And so they were going to put elementary music in each elementary school.
MR. MCDANIEL: I see.
MS. STONE: I had my choice of schools and the one that intrigued me most was the one way over in the mountains.
MR. MCDANIEL: Ok.
MS. STONE: 'Bout six of seven miles as the crow flies from here, but 45 minutes if you have to drive it. (laughter)
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: I went to Rosedale in the Devonia Community.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now, I don't know where that is. Is that...?
MS. STONE: Oh, you've missed something. You must go.
MR. MCDANIEL: Rosedale in the Devonia... is that...?
MS. STONE: It's between Petros and Lake City.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, I see.
MS. STONE: 'Bout half way.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, ok.
MS. STONE: You cross Fork Mountain and then go up deeper into the mountains. It was a little school. I don't remember the enrollment, I think it was about 100, 120.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now was this an elementary school?
MS. STONE: Elementary school. One through eight, or K through eight.
MR. MCDANIEL: K through eight.
MS. STONE: And I went as music teacher, but as an aside, I had to teach what they called, Teen Living, and they'd never had that before.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: And I'd never had that before.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: And so it was interesting. (laughs) It was very interesting.
MR. MCDANIEL: You know... So, what year was that? That was...?
MS. STONE: That was '68.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, '68.
MS. STONE: '68.
MR. MCDANIEL: I'm surprised they called it Teen Living then, 'cause when I was in high school we had Home Ec. for the girls and then we had Bachelor's Living for the...
MS. STONE: For the guys.
MR. MCDANIEL: ...young men. Uh-huh.
MS. STONE: Well, that's what they called it. This was part of Lyndon Johnson's movement...
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right.
MS. STONE: You know, he started a bunch of new programs. So I went on that federal program.
MR. MCDANIEL: So you... So you went to that school full time, which was kind of unusual for a teacher.
MS. STONE: I worked full time and I had a classroom. And when I got there, the classroom had three items in it. It had a desk and it had a voting machine and it had a sink.
MR. MCDANIEL: 'Cause that's where they had the voting for the community, didn't they?
MS. STONE: Uh-huh. But they moved the voting machine out into the hallway and put a curtain around it on voting days.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, exactly. (laughter)
MS. STONE: So, I was supposed to teach Teen Living.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right...
MS. STONE: So I put the word out in Oak Ridge... Well, I also had another job.
MR. MCDANIEL: Ok.
MS. STONE: But at that time the Back Door Pizza Parlor had opened and they had asked me if I would be part of the band.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now, what had opened?
MS. STONE: The Back Door Pizza Parlor and it was where the Habitat for Humanity place is now.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, yeah.
MS. STONE: It was an old ballroom from the Oak Terrace.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, from Oak Terrace, sure.
MS. STONE: It was the back of the Oak Terrace.
MR. MCDANIEL: The back part of that.
MS. STONE: Yeah, so that -- hence the name, The Back Door.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right.
MS. STONE: And so I said, "Why sure, I'll be happy to play in that band."
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: I never saw any of those guys before, I just went to somebody's house in Woodland and played the piano and they said, "You'll do." (laughter) And I said, "Ok, I'll be happy to." And they said, "Now, we want music four nights a week or five nights a week."
MR. MCDANIEL: Wow.
MS. STONE: And I said, "Oh, I can do that." 'Cause being an old Oak Ridger, I said, "This place is not going to go."
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: Oak Ridgers are not coming in through this ballroom, I mean, I knew it as the ballroom, you know, 'cause they could seat -- they could serve, I believe it was five- or six-hundred people. They had a kitchen back there that would just knock your socks off. That's where John Kennedy spoke.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: That was the hub of Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: That was. That was the place.
MS. STONE: Oak Ridgers are not going to go there.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: This place won't last six weeks. I can hold out five nights a week. (laughter) Well, we sold it in '82. I wound up buying.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right?
MS. STONE: People said, "Oh, you own this place?" I said, "I don't own this place, I just work for 'em. They just give me a check every week." (laughter) And I had a ball. I mean everybody that was anybody came into the Back Door.
MR. MCDANIEL: How many years did you have it? Or did you play there?
MS. STONE: Fourteen years. (laughs)
MR. MCDANIEL: Fourteen years.
MS. STONE: Almost 14.
MR. MCDANIEL: Almost... Wow.
MS. STONE: But we did cut down. We didn't play five nights a week.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: But... And I guess we'd still have it, but I came down with cancer in 1980.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, my.
MS. STONE: And my chances of living weren't too good back then, you know.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, really?
MS. STONE: No.
MR. MCDANIEL: Yeah.
MS. STONE: No guarantees.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: So I thought, you know, if I make it three or four years, I'll be lucky. And my children were just at the cusp.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: They were almost grown. 'Course they thought they were grown, but they weren't.
MR. MCDANIEL: Of course, of course...
MS. STONE: And so I told my partners, when I went back, I said, you know, I've got to come out of here. I don't want to quit teaching school. I want to teach as long as I can, 'cause I enjoyed it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: I went to school every day and played. (laughs)
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: And I said, I've got to come out. Well, it took us about a year to sell it because everybody that wanted to buy it, we didn't think would be very good. And wound up, the fellow we sold it to, thought would be such a big success, he folded in no time flat. (laughs) He blamed it on the World's Fair, but I don't think the World's Fair had much to do with it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, exactly.
MS. STONE: He changed a lot of things, but that was his prerogative.
MR. MCDANIEL: But... But for 14 years, you taught during the day and then you played there at night, or ... How long did y'all play, like, what were the hours?
MS. STONE: Four hours.
MR. MCDANIEL: Four hours.
MS. STONE: Usually four.
MR. MCDANIEL: Wow.
MS. STONE: We cut to three and a half the last few years.
MR. MCDANIEL: But, you were... you know, you were a single mother, you had four kids, you were a school teacher which didn't pay very much...
MS. STONE: They were too young to stay by themselves but they were too old to take care, you know, to want to deal with a babysitter.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: They thought they were beyond that.
MR. MCDANIEL: Exactly.
MS. STONE: So I was kind of on the cusp there. It was ... It was difficult, but Oh! We had such a good time. And, as punishment to the kids, when they did something that didn't please me, I said, "You're going to go to the Back Door tonight and just sit and do your lessons at the table."
MR. MCDANIEL: Of course.
MS. STONE: That was the punishment. Well, that changed. In a few years, we got Joe Getsi in the band and Chris Miller, who were high school kids learning to play Dixieland.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: And the girls couldn't wait to get there. So, as punishment, "You stay home tonight."
MR. MCDANIEL: You stay home...
MS. STONE: You can't go.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right. How funny.
MS. STONE: So it worked out real well for me.
MR. MCDANIEL: I'm sure.
MS. STONE: It might not have worked for everybody but it worked for me. And, as they grew older and started dating, they dated from the Back Door and the date brought them back to the Back Door.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right.
MS. STONE: And I was criticized a lot by that, but it worked for me.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well, that's good.
MS. STONE: None of them got in trouble.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now... So, what was the Back Door? Tell me ...
MS. STONE: It was a pizza parlor.
MR. MCDANIEL: Pizza parlor, ok.
MS. STONE: And they served pizza and spaghetti, hoagies, all that stuff.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right.
MS. STONE: And sold a lot of beer.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sold a lot of beer.
MS. STONE: Lot of beer.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right...
MS. STONE: Red and white checked tablecloths and just... It caught on and I was wrong. You know, I thought it'd go six weeks at the most.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: I would never have agreed to play there if I thought the thing was going to last. (laughter) But what happened, one of the partners had some personal problems and he needed to leave town.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: And he wanted to sell his share of the business. And so, a couple of the band members and I bought it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, I see.
MS. STONE: And we weren't too crazy about the other partner, so it wasn't too long 'til he left. And that's all I'll say about that. (laughter)
MR. MCDANIEL: Right. I understand. So he got run off, didn't he?
MS. STONE: We had a tiger by the tail. We all had full-time jobs. One was a hairdresser, a male hairdresser and the other one was at ORTEC, which is now EG&G or something.
MR. MCDANIEL: Something else.
MS. STONE: And here we all had full-time jobs, families -- had no business at all in the restaurant business. Had no desire to be in the restaurant business.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now, did you have...? I'm sure you had people that, kind of, ran that end of it.
MS. STONE: Oh, yes. Yes, we had managers. We had some faithful employees, employees that stayed with us almost to the bitter end.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right? Now... So... What was it like? What kind of music did you play? What was the name of your band?
MS. STONE: Back Door Band.
MR. MCDANIEL: Ok. The Back Door Band.
MS. STONE: We not only played those nights of the week, but we had special gigs, you know. We always played for John Duncan's big barbeque thing.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: We played... I can't tell you how many clubs we played for. Played parties and annual parties. Decembers were a nightmare.
MR. MCDANIEL: I'm sure. Everybody's Christmas party.
MS. STONE: Yeah. So we stayed busy with just special gigs. And then we had special parties sometimes on Sunday night or Monday night.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now, did you have big turnover in your band or was it basically the same people?
MS. STONE: Well, it started off with four.
MR. MCDANIEL: Ok.
MS. STONE: There are two of us surviving.
MR. MCDANIEL: Who were those four?
MS. STONE: Those four were Harold Winslett, played the bass and he was our front man and he was our vocalist.
MR. MCDANIEL: Ok.
MS. STONE: And Jack Livesay played the banjo and he was the ladies hairstylist.
MR. MCDANIEL: Ok.
MS. STONE: Every woman in Oak Ridge of any age knew Jack Livesay 'cause he'd done their hair and slapped them on the shoulder and said, "Live it up, babe!" (laughter)
MR. MCDANIEL: Love your hair, hope you win.
MS. STONE: Oh, yes. And the fourth one was our trombonist, George Leichsenring.
MR. MCDANIEL: Ok.
MS. STONE: And he and his wife live at Greenfield now.
MR. MCDANIEL: So... So you played the piano.
MS. STONE: Harold played bass. Jack played banjo.
MR. MCDANIEL: Ok, I see.
MS. STONE: And George played trombone.
MR. MCDANIEL: Ok, all right.
MS. STONE: And he was from Winnekta, Illinois. I used to call him the Big Noise from Winnekta. (laughter) But we had such great times, glorious times. I'll have to say they were probably the best 14 years of my life.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: I still miss it. And, it's real strange that George and I were the two older.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure. And y'all are the ones that are ...
MS. STONE: And we're the ones that are surviving, yes. George is a little bit older than I, not much.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right...
MS. STONE: But we had a great time at the Back Door.
MR. MCDANIEL: But you added some band members later?
MS. STONE: Yes, we did. We added Joe Getsi and Joe is from the Getsi family and there were 18 children in that family. I'm sure you've heard about them.
MR. MCDANIEL: No. I don't know them.
MS. STONE: Oh, yeah. Bunch of 'em still live here in Oak Ridge. In fact, their mother just passed away, I would like to say within the last couple of years.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, really? So, what did he play?
MS. STONE: He played saxophone and clarinet.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, did he? Ok.
MS. STONE: We encouraged him and Doc Combs got him a scholarship to Tennessee Tech and we helped and he got his degree and went to Hawaii and went on the Constitution playing and then got promoted and put into a music director position. He didn't stay there very long 'cause Joe is a performer and he had performed at Opryland.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, had he? I see.
MS. STONE: Before he went to Hawaii so he came back to Opryland.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, I see.
MS. STONE: And he is now in Nashville. He teaches ... I don't know where he teaches.
MR. MCDANIEL: But he teaches.
MS. STONE: Yeah, he teaches and he does studio work.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, sure.
MS. STONE: So we're very proud of Joe. We feel like we raised him.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, I bet, I bet. My goodness.
MS. STONE: Then we... Before Joe, we added a trumpet player, Dexter Bates, who's now, I think, with Raytheon Corporation in Boston.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now, what kind of music did y'all play?
MS. STONE: We wound up playing Dixieland.
MR. MCDANIEL: Dixieland?
MS. STONE: When there were just the four of us, we just played ...
MR. MCDANIEL: Whatever ...
MS. STONE: Whatever we could. Or however we could. (laughter) But, as we added the trumpet and the clarinet, we went straight to Dixieland.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right.
MS. STONE: And were in great demand.
MR. MCDANIEL: I bet.
MS. STONE: To my knowledge there hasn't been a Dixieland group in Oak Ridge since then. Oh, there may be one that the community band puts together every now and then.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, sure, sure, exactly.
MS. STONE: But not one to hit the road like we did. (laughs)
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: But it was fun.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now... So, in those 14 years, now, where did you teach? Were you still teaching at the...?
MS. STONE: I taught up in the mountains for six years.
MR. MCDANIEL: Ok.
MS. STONE: And then the principal I had there the first year persuaded me -- he had gone to Lake City two or three years earlier -- he persuaded me to come to Lake City and I stayed there 12 years. I enjoyed that. I enjoyed that very much.
MR. MCDANIEL: That was a good drive, though, wasn't it?
MS. STONE: It was a good drive, but there was a carpool. There were always teachers going from Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: I see.
MS. STONE: Both ways. And several, in fact, two of us on this street went to Rosedale.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right?
MS. STONE: Yeah, yeah, we always... We had more fun in the carpool than a bunch of kids. The principal told us one time he wished we'd act a little more professional once we got on campus. (laughter) We'd be in the midst of telling a joke or something...
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right, right...
MS. STONE: But we had a good time.
MR. MCDANIEL: So did you ever have any backlash from the... from being a teacher up there and then playing nights in a pizza parlor that sold beer?
MS. STONE: Why, no. If they could get away, they'd come hear us. (laughter)
MR. MCDANIEL: I just wondered if any parents thought that that was, you know, not the appropriate thing for a teacher to do.
MS. STONE: I'm sure some of them would, but they didn't know, you know. But those that approved would come and bring their whole tribe, you know. All the uncles, and aunts and cousins.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: But a few years later...
MR. MCDANIEL: But it was a family place.
MS. STONE: Yeah.
MR. MCDANIEL: I mean, it wasn't like a beer joint.
MS. STONE: Oh, yeah. People would come in with a grandma and grandpa and set the baby thing up on the table.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: They didn't have those things when mine were babies...
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, exactly.
MS. STONE: But they'd come set the baby...They didn't need a babysitter. That's the reason we got a lot of young people.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: Because they didn't have to pay a babysitter to come, they'd just bring the kids with 'em.
MR. MCDANIEL: Exactly.
MS. STONE: And there was never anything off color or anything.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure. Right.
MS. STONE: The beer would be the only thing that some of them -- some of the Baptists, would, you know (laughs) would maybe be upset over it. (laughter)
MR. MCDANIEL: They'd be hiding in the corner, wouldn't they? (laughter)
MS. STONE: Yeah! In the meantime, I had another job.
MR. MCDANIEL: Ok.
MS. STONE: I still kept some of my piano students the first couple of years I taught at Rosedale, but that got to be too much. But I've always played for church.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: I started out at Trinity Methodist. I've been there two or three times.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: Then I, for about 10 years, I was at First Christian.
MR. MCDANIEL: Ok.
MS. STONE: That's before it burned. Up there on Michigan Avenue.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right. Sure.
MS. STONE: And then I played at First Baptist in Lake City. I played for a funeral there one day and they said -- this was after I quit teaching there. I think I was at Claxton then -- and I played this funeral and they came to me and they said, "Oh, Jean, can you recommend somebody to us? Our organ player has cancer and we don't know..." They'd just bought this real expensive, three manual organ.
MR. MCDANIEL: Uh-huh, sure.
MS. STONE: And they said, "We just don't know what we're gonna do! Do you know anybody you could recommend that we could get to play?" I said -- fool that I am, you'd think I'd learn -- I said, "I'll come help you until you can find somebody." (laughter)
MR. MCDANIEL: How many years...?
MS. STONE: Six or seven years later, I said, "You know, I've just got to go home."
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, I understand.
MS. STONE: Trinity was calling me back. And I thought, "I'm getting older." And my kids said, "Oh, Mama, you're gettin' older. That's too long a drive for you." And so, I resigned from there. I still miss that church and I said, "I'm not gonna play after Trinity, that's it."
MR. MCDANIEL: That's it.
MS. STONE: Well, then Trinity ran out of money and they were fixing to close, and they have, you know.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: And First Cumberland Presbyterian was calling and I had friends there and they said, "Please come play." And I said, "Ok. I'll do that for a little while." Well, I retired from there last January. (laughter) I've stayed all these years there.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: And I enjoy it and I still miss them.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: That's a beautiful congregation.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: So... But I'm through playing for church. Now I go to church with one of my daughters, we kind of swap up. I'm a member of First Methodist, but I don't get there very often.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right. I understand.
MS. STONE: It's been a great... It's been a great run...
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: ... in Oak Ridge. I have just... I have enjoyed it. I've been into so many organizations and met so many people.
MR. MCDANIEL: That's what I was going to ask you about. What are some of the organizations? I know you're in Altrusa.
MS. STONE: Well, years ago I was in the Business and Professional Women's Club.
MR. MCDANIEL: Ok.
MS. STONE: And then it fizzled somewhere down through the line. I don't remember what year. And then I was very active and president of Oak Ridge Pilot Club.
MR. MCDANIEL: Ok.
MS. STONE: And it has fizzled. Well, it's still meeting, but it has just a handful of members, I think. Or that's what I've been told.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: They still have their craft show and that's a large undertaking.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: So I'm not sure how they manage that with a small membership.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, sure.
MS. STONE: I was wrong about that fizzling, it was the Anderson County Pilot Club that, I think, has closed down. I hear nothing from them. I've been a member of the League of Women Voters. I don't get there anymore because I go to dialysis on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays so that wipes out mornings...
MR. MCDANIEL: Mornings for you, doesn't it?
MS. STONE: Mornings three days a week and then it wipes out the afternoons, too, because I come home and want to go to bed.
MR. MCDANIEL: I'm sure.
MS. STONE: But, I belong to Altrusa. I belong to an investment club. Oh, we have a good time in there. We don't make a whole of money...
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: But we (laughs) have a good time.
MR. MCDANIEL: It's an excuse to get together, isn't it?
MS. STONE: Oh, yeah, and eat dinner and have a good time afterwards.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, right.
MS. STONE: It's a great group of gals.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: I enjoy them very much. Don't go to Sunday School anymore. That's been off... off my radar for a number of years.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, sure...
MS. STONE: But I do go, when I go to church with my daughter at First Presbyterian, I go to Sunday School class 'cause she teaches it...
MR. MCDANIEL: There you go.
MS. STONE: So, I go to support her.
MR. MCDANIEL: What was it like being, you know, being an Oak Ridger in the time. I know you were busy. I mean, you were working all the time but you had, you know, you had kids. What was it like for a family growing up in Oak Ridge?
MS. STONE: Oh, it was great. Everything was geared toward children and the family. All those years before I went to work teaching and playing, I taught piano.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: At one time, I had 35 piano students, so that took a lot of time.
MR. MCDANIEL: Did you teach out of your home?
MS. STONE: Uh-huh, I taught right here at home.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, were you living here?
MS. STONE: Uh-huh. This is the... I lived in one little house just west of here the first year we lived here and we travelled. I travelled with my husband, at that time, frequently 'cause I just had one child.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: But I've lived in this house ever since.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right?
MS. STONE: So that's the reason I don't want to move.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: Back when I really needed to move and needed a bigger house, I couldn't afford it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.

MS. STONE: Now, I can afford it and I don't want to go. (laughter)
MR. MCDANIEL: You don't want to go anywhere.
MS. STONE: I'm rambling around here by myself in this house.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure. I understand.
MS. STONE: I'd like to stay in this neighborhood as long as I could.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: It's home.
MR. MCDANIEL: So you moved into this house in what year? '54? '55?
MS. STONE: '57.
MR. MCDANIEL: '57.
MS. STONE: I moved to Oak Ridge in April of '56.
MR. MCDANIEL: Ok.
MS. STONE: And we bought this house in April of... no, in January of '57.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, I see. Ok. Well, my goodness.
MS. STONE: So, it's beginning to feel like home. (laughs)
MR. MCDANIEL: It's starting to feel like home. So you have, you said you have four children.
MS. STONE: Mmm-hmm... I have four grandchildren.
MR. MCDANIEL: And, of course, they all went to Oak Ridge schools. What was school like for them? I mean, what was the Oak Ridge school system like for them. Since you were an educator, you've got a... 
MS. STONE: It was good for them. I had one child, my oldest child, had a lot of problems and he did not excel as well as the other three.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: But the other three graduated from UT.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: And he went to Roane State. But they got along well in high school. I never felt that there was, they were in any danger in high school.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: They made many friends. They still have some of them.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: One of mine meets with her friends once a month for lunch.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right?
MS. STONE: After all these years and I think that's remarkable.
MR. MCDANIEL: Yeah.
MS. STONE: As busy as people are now.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: I think it's remarkable that they'll take the time to get together and tell old war stories, you know.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, sure.
MS. STONE: It's bound to be fun.
MR. MCDANIEL: What...What was it like ...? What was it like to be a business owner in Oak Ridge? You know, you were, like you said, you ended up owning the pizza parlor, what was it like?
MS. STONE: I didn't find it too difficult. I felt great support from Oak Ridge Police Department.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, really?
MS. STONE: We never had, really, any trouble at the Back Door.
MR. MCDANIEL: Yeah.
MS. STONE: I think it's because we started off with very difficult ground rules.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, I see.
MS. STONE: And I think you continue like you start off.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right.
MS. STONE: And luckily, those two first owners started off very, very strict and word travels.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: And we... I could count on the fingers on one hand the times that the police ever, ever came.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right.
MS. STONE: We moved, after seven years, we lost our lease on that building and we moved out to where J&M's, the butcher shop
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, yeah, yeah...
MS. STONE: That was the Back... the second Back Door.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, that was the second Back Door.
MS. STONE: I call it Back Door eye-eye. (laughter)
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: And I remember, one time telling the guy that I called a bouncer -- he really wasn't a bouncer, he was just a good family friend who was always there. And he walked up to the piano and went... I said, "Mmm-hmm" (laughs) This was one Saturday night, the place was packed and coming through the middle of the crowd, shaking hands and greeting people was this huge black man. I thought, "Aw, he works with somebody, he's a friend of somebody. He knows everybody." He just walked right up to the microphone and said, "I'm gonna sing." (laughter) And I was going to say, "What key?" and before I could say, "What key?" he started, "Ooooh, baby, baby!" and I said, "He's in G." (laughter) And he went on and I thought, "Well, what else is to this song?" all he was saying was, "Ooooooh, baby..." he's getting lower every time, "Baby, baby..." And that's when my friend John walked up...
MR. MCDANIEL: And said...
MS. STONE: And I said... Mmm-hmm.
MR. MCDANIEL: Yeah, right.
MS. STONE: But I didn't know what he was going to do. I thought, We can't let him just stand there and sing, "Oh, baby, baby." You know, we had people walk up there and sing. We had an open band... open bandstand and we had some great talent come up and then we had some that wasn't too great.
MR. MCDANIEL: I'm sure.
MS. STONE: You know, the family thought they could sing.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, exactly.
MS. STONE: But anyway, I just thought, I've got to get him off this stage and I don't know how to do it. And that night, Harold was gone. He was not there.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: And so it was left up to me.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: Guys were looking at me like this... you know. And, so the police came in. John Shipley was a policeman then. John came in with another officer and, before coming to the bandstand, he moved some ladies from Clinton, who were there every Saturday night, Friday and Saturday night, and they had their place by a certain post.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: That was their table.
MR. MCDANIEL: That was their table.
MS. STONE: And don't touch.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: And I thought, "If he moves those ladies from Clinton, he needs to join the FBI or something, he's too good for Oak Ridge police." (laughter)
MR. MCDANIEL: If he can get them to move.
MS. STONE: They are not going to move.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: He moved 'em just slick as a ribbon. He had them up and out of the way. So he cleared a little path and then he came on up and said, "Come on, Chuck," or Mack or whatever he called him, "Come on." And he said, "I just want to sing." And he said, "Come on, you can sing to us." (laughs) And he escorted him out, not a cross word said. And the little ladies from Clinton got their table back and all was well. But we... I always felt great support from the police. They always said, "Jean, don't go home alone if you're taking the cash box, whoever's taking the cash box, call us, let us trail you home." You know.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right?
MS. STONE: They were so good. And a lot of times, they would stop ... Back then, Oak Ridge had a different shift. They were on three to...
MR. MCDANIEL: Three to 11, probably.
MS. STONE: Three to 11, yeah, and 11 to seven.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: Seven to three. And so, when that 11 o'clock shift would get off, they'd come to the Back Door and just see what's going on, who's there.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: You know, "Need any help?" "No, we don't need any help." But they were very solicitous and I've always been so grateful. I think we have as good police department now as we did then, except I knew 'em all then.
MR. MCDANIEL: They cared about you, they didn't want anything bad to happen, did they?
MS. STONE: Right, they did care about us. We worked out later on, we started having music on Wednesday nights and that's when New River and the Devonia Community fit in.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, really?
MS. STONE: They had a band and they didn't know how to organize it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: And Briceville had a health care center and a doctor from Vanderbilt was sent there and he was a bass player, he was a front man, and he organized them and they were a great bluegrass band.
MR. MCDANIEL: And they came on Wednesdays?
MS. STONE: And we had them on Wednesday nights and they drew quite -- a different crowd. It was an entirely different crowd to what we drew.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, sure, sure...
MS. STONE: But they all ate pizza and drank beer. (laughter) And that's what we were looking for.
MR. MCDANIEL: After prayer meeting, they came and ate pizza and drank beer, didn't they?
MS. STONE: But after them, we got a group, you may have heard of this bunch... Well, no, you wouldn't have, either. This is more years than I like to remember, a group formed in Knoxville called the Step Brothers.
MR. MCDANIEL: I remember the Step Brothers.
MS. STONE: They started at the Corner Lounge on Central and my kids were over there -- they weren't supposed to go there.
MR. MCDANIEL: Of course.
MS. STONE: But they let it leak that they had heard a group that I needed to hear, so they dragged me over. And I said, "Yes, I want them." So we got them coming on Wednesday nights and they broke all records.
MR. MCDANIEL: I'm sure.
MS. STONE: And the band members would walk in on the following Saturday night and say, "Well, we can tell that the Step Brothers are not here tonight." (laughter) Because we drew a much smaller crowd.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, of course.
MS. STONE: But we enjoyed the Step Brothers.
MR. MCDANIEL: Y'all were the house band, though, I mean, you know, people could hear you any time.
MS. STONE: They took us for granted.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: But it would take us 'til about two o'clock in the morning to clean up after that mob.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: And the police, whoever were on duty, would come and bring big sacks of Krystal's for the staff to have while they were cleaning up.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right? 'Cause that was ... That was the only thing open at that time of night, wasn't it?
MS. STONE: Back then, uh-huh. But they would come and bring those Krystal's for the clean-up crowd and I thought that was so sweet. I've never forgotten that. Never will.
MR. MCDANIEL: My goodness. Now this was... This was in the ‘70s and ‘80s, correct?
MS. STONE: We were gone by '82.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right, so it was late ‘60s, all the ‘70s...
MS. STONE: All the ‘70s and '80.
MR. MCDANIEL: Did you ever have ... Did you ever have an integrated crowd? I mean, did...?
MS. STONE: Oh, yeah!
MR. MCDANIEL: Did you? You had... I was just wondering if there were issues with that back then.
MS. STONE: No, we had... I don't recall any problem we ever had. We did not... Of course, playing Dixieland music, we did not draw a lot and we did not have a lot of Hispanics here in town then.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, sure...
MS. STONE: But my biggest regret from the Back Door years is not keeping a guest book because we had people from every country in the world, I think.
MR. MCDANIEL: I'm sure.
MS. STONE: And a lot of 'em were repeats. They would come back to Oak Ridge and they would come to ...
MR. MCDANIEL: Kind of the way Big Ed's is, I mean, now, you know, people come to Oak Ridge they say, "Well you got to go to Big Ed's if you're in Oak Ridge."
MS. STONE: Yeah, sure. But we had a lot of repeat foreign visitors.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: And visitors from out of Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: One funny stories I like to tell: When Joe LaGrone was appointed head here at the DOE, I said, "Oh, I know Joe." And people says, "Well he just got here, how do you know him?" And I said, "Well, he used to be head at San Francisco and he came to Oak Ridge frequently." And back then, Oak Ridge cabs quit running at 10 o'clock at night.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: And Joe would get to the Holiday Inn after 10 o'clock.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: And he knew to call the Back Door and tell Jean to send somebody to pick me up. (laughter)
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right?
MS. STONE: And he did and I did and they would and he came and ate pizza.
MR. MCDANIEL: And he'd come over ... Right...
MS. STONE: He was always hungry.
MR. MCDANIEL: Yeah, sure. 
MS. STONE: And there were no places open then in Oak Ridge much.
MR. MCDANIEL: Exactly.
MS. STONE: So I said, "Yeah, I've known Joe LaGrone for a long time."
MR. MCDANIEL: You know, that's an interesting story, somebody was telling me about -- this kind of reminds me of that. They were talking about when they went to Washington, you know, people from Oak Ridge would go everywhere and people know people from Oak Ridge. He said it was a hard week in Washington, they were testifying before Congress or something, so it was Friday night, he couldn't come home, he had to stay over the weekend, so he went to a liquor store that was just right there, local, close, and he -- the liquor store owner -- started talking to him and said, "Where are you from?" He says, "Well, I'm from Oak Ridge, Tennessee." And he says, "Well..." -- liquor store owner in Washington, D.C. says, "Well, tell Mr. Weinberg we said hello." (laughter) Apparently he was a regular customer. (laughter)
MS. STONE: Well, I knew a lady that went to Florida frequently and she went one winter and, at that time, there was something on the market good for sore throats or arthritis or something and it was -- had a number in it. The number was 10, I think. Anyway, she went in this -- no, the number was not 10, it was something far from 10. But anyway, she went in this drug store to buy some and she came out and she asked for X-10 and the druggist said, "Well, how are you folks up in Oak Ridge doing?" (laughter) She said, "How did you know I'm from Oak Ridge?" He said, "You asked for X-10 and it's 520," or something.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure. That's funny.
MS. STONE: But X-10 gave her away.
MR. MCDANIEL: Of course, of course.
MS. STONE: But, you know, growing up, with the kids growing up here, everything was geared to them. Festivals, races, walks, bicycle riding, everything.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: And you could, at that time, you could let kids go Downtown, you know, and never worry about 'em.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, right.
MS. STONE: And on Saturdays, when mine were little, they'd want to go to town. And I'd take 'em to town and I'd say, "I'll pick you up at four o'clock under the clock." At that time, Loveman's had a big clock over there.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: And I never got there that they weren't there and they never got there that I wasn't there. But they'd spend all afternoon down there just browsing, going to the Federal Bake Shop.
MR. MCDANIEL: Spend all afternoon... Sure. Going to the Federal, going into Woolworth's and, you know...
MS. STONE: Mmm-hmm. Having a good time. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Having a good time.
MS. STONE: McCrory's...
MR. MCDANIEL: McCrory's, right, right...
MS. STONE: Yeah. So, back then, times were a lot different then.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: Oak Ridge was a lot different then.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: And so, it was just an ideal place to raise children.
MR. MCDANIEL: It was... And that was... That was kind of still the ... leftover from the days of the gates when kids took off and spent all day and parents didn't worry about 'em, you know, 'cause Oak Ridge was the safest place you could be, you know.
MS. STONE: Right. I've been... Always regret -- I shouldn't say, 'regretted,' but I do. 'Regret's' the word to use. I've regretted not being here during the '40s.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: Those mud days.
MR. MCDANIEL: Those mud days.
MS. STONE: And dust days and all that. somebody told me one time, when you'd go to a party, you could tell how many people were already there by how many shoes or boots were lined up outside the door. (laughter)
MR. MCDANIEL: I'm sure.
MS. STONE: I just think that the, you know, that the whole feeling of Oak Ridge was great and I would like to have been a part of that.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well, it was a...
MS. STONE: I got in just on the tail end.
MR. MCDANIEL: Just in on the tail end of it. It was... Well, thankful you're just on the tail end, otherwise you may not be with us.
MS. STONE: That's true, that's true.
MR. MCDANIEL: Most of them are gone, or a lot of them are gone.
MS. STONE: They are. Do you know they've even let me in...
MR. MCDANIEL: Or they're leaving fast.
MS. STONE: They've let me in the '43 Club.
MR. MCDANIEL: Have they really?
MS. STONE: Because I've been here 43 years and worked.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well, they're running out of members, weren't they? (laughter)
MS. STONE: Right. They certainly are. They're getting smaller every month.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, exactly.
MS. STONE: And that's sad.
MR. MCDANIEL: It is sad.
MS. STONE: Because they all have a story to tell.
MR. MCDANIEL: But you think about, '43, that was 70 years ago and if they were in their 20s then, you know, when they got here... So, my goodness.
MS. STONE: Yeah. I would have loved it, at that age. You know, I would have loved being here. I think it would have been great.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well, yeah, you know, people that I've interviewed, that I've talked to, tell stories about those times, you know. They think back and, just like you were talking about those were the best 14 years of your life? Those people, that was the most exciting time in their life is when, during the war, you know, in the '40s in Oak Ridge.
MS. STONE: Those 14 years included those six years at Rosedale.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: And I have to tell you, honestly, I learned a lot more than the kids learned from me because it's a different culture there.
MR. MCDANIEL: That's what I was about to ask. What were those kids like? I mean, they were... 
MS. STONE: Oh, just as sweet as they could be ...
MR. MCDANIEL: They were country kids, I mean, just...farm?
MS. STONE: They were mountain kids. There's a difference between country and mountain.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, exactly.
MS. STONE: And, I guess they're a combination of both.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: But they're... Now, they don't take to strangers very well.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, sure.
MS. STONE: You have to prove yourself, but once you're proven they're your friend for life. I hear from some of 'em on Facebook.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right?
MS. STONE: Mmm-hmm, after all these years.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right...
MS. STONE: I'm still remembered by some of 'em.
MR. MCDANIEL: Yeah, sure.
MS. STONE: But I learned, partially, a different language. I had one student, the first year, was an eighth grader and she spoke what I think is old Elizabethan English.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right?
MS. STONE: I was talking to Sam Venable about this the other day -- he spoke at Altrusa, and we were talking later -- and I thought it was so unusual, but what really got my interest was when I met her mother and her two brothers, they didn't speak that way.
MR. MCDANIEL: Really?
MS. STONE: And you would think, in a family, everybody'd talk alike.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure. That's bizarre.
MS. STONE: But they didn't and that still puzzles me.
MR. MCDANIEL: You know, I'm surprised that there wasn't some Welsh, because that was, up in that area was the Welsh...
MS. STONE: Yeah, in the coal mines.
MR. MCDANIEL: The coal miners.
MS. STONE: Mmm-hmm, they were the first ones there.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, exactly.
MS. STONE: But there were a lot of expressions that I did not understand, like, if they walk in and they say, "Oh, what a gom." I didn't know what a 'gom' was. Well, it's a mess.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, ok.
MS. STONE: That's a mess. A lot of expressions like that and then a little bit of animosity between some families. Not the Hatfields and McCoys, not anything that serious.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: But some students didn't particularly want to sit next to so-and-so or talk to so-and-so and I'd say, "Ok, Ok," you know, "Sit over there."
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: You have to kind of adapt to that culture when you're dealing with 'em all day.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: I was confused. I got my first Teen Living group together and I had 'em in a circle around the table. I did get some other stuff moved in the room, got the voting machine moved out. Oh, there was a piano in there, too, but it went down around the hall, but anyhow...
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: I got 'em all in a circle the first day of class and I said, "I'm Ms. Stone and I'm going to go around and I want you to tell me your name and what your father does." Dumb me. The first one said, whoever she was, "He draws." I thought, "Oh, an artist." Well, I get to the next one, same thing: "He draws." I'm thinking, "Is this a Taos, New Mexico? Is this an artists' colony?" I mean, everybody over here can't be an artist. By the time we got halfway around that circle of 12, I had figured out what, "He draws," means.
MR. MCDANIEL: What's, "He draws," mean?
MS. STONE: Welfare.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right.
MS. STONE: Welfare check. I don't know what they call it now, but that's what we called it back then.
MR. MCDANIEL: That's what it was. Welfare.
MS. STONE: That's what it was. Most of 'em were 'drawing.' And I found out they don't like that food that they got on commodities. (laughter) They didn't like that real good cheese.
MR. MCDANIEL: They didn't like that government cheese.
MS. STONE: “And Mommy didn't like to use that flour to make her biscuits 'cause she had learned about those whomp biscuits that you can get in the store.” (laughter) You know, little things like that you pick up. So I learned a lot, but they're sweet people. Sweet, sweet people. And if they trust you, you could get by, I guess, with murder.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: You know, if they were...
MR. MCDANIEL: And they'd help you cover it up, wouldn't they?
MS. STONE: Yes, they would. They'd be the first to the rescue. But it takes a while. You can't just walk in and gain their confidence overnight.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, sure...
MS. STONE: But once you're in, you're in like Flynn.
MR. MCDANIEL: My goodness.
MS. STONE: So they were good years, real good years.
MR. MCDANIEL: And you... So you never taught in Oak Ridge, in the Oak Ridge school system, did you?
MS. STONE: No, uh-uh, uh-uh. I didn't want to teach in Oak Ridge 'cause at one time I had kids in all three schools, Linden, Robertsville... I had no desire to teach in Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right.
MS. STONE: I'd have made a little bit more money but I wouldn't have made the friends that I made and I would not have understood Anderson County. A lot of Oak Ridgers don't have a clue what's beyond Elza Gate.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: Or Hilltop.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: They have no concept...
MR. MCDANIEL: Even today.
MS. STONE: ...of what -- Right, today. And it gave me a good understanding of the county, the county problems, the county politics and I'm grateful for those years.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure. Right, right...
MS. STONE: I retired from Claxton and that was a different world entirely from Lake City. The culture is entirely different.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: But great.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: It's a great community. I enjoyed being there. I was a member of the Optimists Club when I was over there, but I bailed out of Optimists when I retired. I thought, "I cannot be going back to Claxton."
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, exactly.
MS. STONE: But I loved that community.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well, it's just, like you said, it's completely different than Oak Ridge. I mean, it's ... East Tennessee. Oak Ridge is not East Tennessee -- typical East Tennessee.
MS. STONE: And I put up -- I say, "put up" -- I tolerated, I think, with dignity, a lot of the hatred toward Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: Really?
MS. STONE: Especially in Lake City. I didn't get much of that at Devonia because they were too insulated.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: Isolated, I should say.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: But a lot of Lake Citians worked in Oak Ridge. A few were displaced out of Oak Ridge and that, I guess, that resentment will last through 10 generations.
MR. MCDANIEL: It probably will. They're still ticked off about it.
MS. STONE: And I understand that and I don't resent it. But there is a lot of resentment toward Oak Ridge and that's unfortunate because Oak Ridge is a caring community. If you've ever tried to raise money for any worthy cause, you know how caring Oak Ridge is.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, exactly.
MS. STONE: And I hate to see 'em criticized but yet I tolerated it because I knew where it was coming from.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, exactly.
MS. STONE: I wish it were not that way 'cause we have a lot to offer them besides a salary, you know.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, absolutely, absolutely.
MS. STONE: We have a lot of cultural things that they -- I tried to make sure my students took advantage of. We came to the ORCMA kids' concerts. You know, groups like ___ Company that did perform back then, we came to all that. And I would take 'em to UT to things. I understand that field trips are out of the question now.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: But I felt like both of those schools, they really meant a lot. They learned a lot.
MR. MCDANIEL: Exactly.
MS. STONE: One time I took ...
MR. MCDANIEL: They were exposed to things that they probably would never be exposed to otherwise.
MS. STONE: Right. At Rosedale, I took a group to UT to a folk festival one time, and it was the first time -- and probably the only time -- they'd ever seen real, live Indians.
MR. MCDANIEL: Really?
MS. STONE: They had on the headdresses and did war dances and all these things and those kids were just fascinated.
MR. MCDANIEL: I'm sure. I'm sure they were.
MS. STONE: Anything was new to them.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right...
MS. STONE: And that pleased me to see them get... become enlightened. And it was ... They were just good years.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well what else do you want to tell me about? What else do you want to talk about?
MS. STONE: Well, I can talk about just most anything. It may not make sense. (laughter)
MR. MCDANIEL: That's all right. Your life in Oak Ridge. What else?
MS. STONE: Oh, I wouldn't take anything for it. People ask me every time I go back to Gallatin, which is not too often -- I have no one left there -- "Why don't you move back home?" And there's nothing there for me. The town has grown and grown and grown. It and Hendersonville are together, you know.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: It's almost to Nashville.
MR. MCDANIEL: Mmm-hmm, yeah, it is.
MS. STONE: It's not the Gallatin that I knew, it's not the high school that I taught at or attended. There's a new one, much better one.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: There's still a few people living there that I remember. I've outlived most of my friends.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: There're still about 15 of us in our graduating class and, hopefully, next year we'll have our 65th reunion.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right?
MS. STONE: We get smaller...
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: ...every time we meet. But as far as the town is concerned, it's not the same town, little town I left. Oak Ridge has been my home for the majority of my life and I hope I never have... I won't say I'll never leave.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: I never say, 'Never.'
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: But I have no plans to leave.
MR. MCDANIEL: No plans.
MS. STONE: Except for my final journey. (laughs)
MR. MCDANIEL: The reason I asked you earlier about where your parents came from, in this, I don't know... I hope this doesn't offend you, is... You sound, you have a little bit of an accent that would sound like South Carolina.
MS. STONE: I've been accused of that before.
MR. MCDANIEL: And is that just from your mother, I mean...?
MS. STONE: It's just Middle Tennessee.
MR. MCDANIEL: It's just Middle Tennessee, Southern.
MS. STONE: And I hear that it is disappearing quickly down there.
MR. MCDANIEL: Really?
MS. STONE: Nashville used to have a real particular sound.
MR. MCDANIEL: Did it really?
MS. STONE: When I first started playing at Cumberland Presbyterian Church, I went to one of their circle meetings one day, a luncheon. This lady was talking to me at great length about something. Finally, I said, "Louise, where are you from?" And she said, "Ahh'm from Naaashv'lle." I said, "No wonder you sound so familiar to me." (laughter)
MR. MCDANIEL: You sound like home.
MS. STONE: Yeah! Exactly like home. They say "fo" o'clock.
MR. MCDANIEL: Yep.
MS. STONE: And they don't circle around the block, they "suh-kle"...
MR. MCDANIEL: That's right.
MS. STONE: Uh-huh, yeah, that's a lot of different ways ... My family laughs about it and they say that I don't talk that way -- to them, I don't talk that way much except when I'm on the phone talking to somebody who is there.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well, that's exactly... My wife grew up in Michigan and she doesn't have an accent until she's talking to her cousins in Michigan, then she sounds ...
MS. STONE: And then pick it right up.
MR. MCDANIEL: She sounds like a Yankee. I mean, she does.
MS. STONE: My kids always say you have to cross the Cumberland River to get into Sumner County.
MR. MCDANIEL: That's true.
MS. STONE: My kids say my language, my dialect changes when we cross the bridge. (laughter) And I don't even realize it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right. I understand.
MS. STONE: But I guess I won't ever completely lose it. I hope not.
MR. MCDANIEL: Probably not. That's what makes you, you. So...
MS. STONE: My sister's real worried. She says Nashville just doesn't sound like Nashville any more.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right.
MS. STONE: And she doesn't realize she's sounding more like Oklahoma every day.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well, Nashville doesn't sound like Nashville because it's not. And Oak Ridge is not the Oak Ridge we grew up in, you know, any more.
MS. STONE: Right. One thing that's always fascinated me about Oak Ridge is everybody you meet, I always want to say, "Where are you from?" because everybody's got a little bit different dialect, you know.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, exactly.
MS. STONE: And it always intrigues me, nowadays especially, since we have so many new industries here, or new companies here, it intrigues me what brings them to Oak Ridge. Now, years ago I knew what brought them to Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: It was either one of the plants or ORAU.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: But nowadays, you can get any kind of an answer and I don't -- a lot of times, I don't even have a clue what they're talking about.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: There are so many new companies here.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right... There's lots of small -- lots of small -- companies here, but they're also, most of 'em are federally... Federal-related, you know.
MS. STONE: ORCA, contractor or something.
MR. MCDANIEL: Yeah, sure. And the... I would tend to think we're still attracting, kind of, the same kind of people that Oak Ridge attracted in the '40s and '50s, you know. A little more educated, you know, a little more, you know... Those types of people as well, so, because of the type of work that most require.
MS. STONE: Well, I used to belong to the Chamber. I no longer belong to the Chamber so I no longer keep up with a lot of Chamber business. Don't go to their meetings and their Tuesday morning breakfast things.
MR. MCDANIEL: (sneezes) 'Scuse me.
MS. STONE: But, I've enjoyed being on a bunch of boards in Oak Ridge. I'm not on any right now. (laughter) I don't think. I think I've eased my way...
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: The last couple of years have been difficult. I was very ill.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: And had heart surgery and so I've eased out of everything I could, but during the years, I served on so many boards, and I enjoyed 'em all because I learned so much. I was on Clinch River Home and Health Board.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: Where I learned a lot about Medicare.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: And other things. I was on Emory Valley's board at one time. I was on ADFAC board when it was first getting started.
MR. MCDANIEL: Really?
MS. STONE: And that ... I felt like I could help them.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: Because of my years in the mountains.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MS. STONE: And that's where they're getting a lot of their, I shouldn't say 'customers,' their clients.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MS. STONE: But, I've been on these boards and have learned a lot. I learned a lot about hospitals and hospital problems. I served on the hospital foundation board. Hospitality House is still one of my major concerns.
MR. MCDANIEL: Ok.
MS. STONE: But my thing I've really had my sights set on this year has been the free medical clinic.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right.
MS. STONE: I'm a supporter of that and it has done so much good and I think it's going to do much greater good now that they've moved into a larger location. And I'm anxious to go to their open house.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now, where did they move to?
MS. STONE: They moved down on Division Road where First Christian was after their fire.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right?
MS. STONE: Right behind Zaxby's.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right?
MS. STONE: Mmm-hmm... I was never in there when First Christian was there before they built out Gum Hollow, but that's where they've moved. They had to do some renovation work and I've heard at First Presbyterian Church a report nearly every Sunday on how that's been coming along.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right... Sure, sure...
MS. STONE: And so, they have a waiting room...
MR. MCDANIEL: I didn't know they were moving, I didn't know they'd moved.
MS. STONE: Yeah, they have a waiting room where their clients can sit now. It's just a lot better ... better set up than Trinity was.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, sure...
MS. STONE: But they've done so much good and there's such a need for that.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well, there's... I would say over the years, there has been a growing need in Oak Ridge for those kinds of services. The free medical clinic, ADFAC, you know, those types of things. Whereas years ago, you didn't, you really didn't -- I mean, in Oak Ridge you didn't need it.
MS. STONE: You do now. There's a desperate need now.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, absolutely.
MS. STONE: And I was not aware until just a few months ago that the free medical clinic took people who work but have no insurance.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right? Oh, I didn't know that.
MS. STONE: Mmm-hmm. I had thought it was just for ... welfare people.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, the indigent.
MS. STONE: And for lack of a better term.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, sure.
MS. STONE: I'm glad to know that because I know there are so many people who work hard every day but have not one bit of insurance.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, exactly.
MS. STONE: And they are taking care of them. And this new location is near the hospital. It's going to work out much, much better.
MR. MCDANIEL: Yep, yep. Well, good, good... Well, anything else you want to talk about? Hey, now's your chance! (laughter) Anything you want to say about anybody. (laughter)
MS. STONE: Oh, I doubt that. I've probably said too much already. (laughter)
MR. MCDANIEL: No, not at all.
MS. STONE: I have a hard time shutting up after I get on a roll. (laughter) As my children and my friends can tell you.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well, there's nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with that at all. Well, thank you so much, Jean, for taking time to talk with us, sharing about your life in Oak Ridge.
MS. STONE: Well, I'm not sure who'll be interested in my life. I think it's been pretty boring. I've had a good time. It's been a good life.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well, I think the last hour or so that we've been talking is... sounds very interesting to me. I mean, I learned lots of things that I didn't know before, so.
MS. STONE: Well, I'm glad. I hope you learned some things. For whatever they're worth.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well, thank you so much.
MS. STONE: Thank you, Keith.
MR. MCDANIEL: Ok.

[End of Interview]