Reflections on Perry "Tiger" Thompson from his daughter, Lydia Thompson
Title
Reflections on Perry "Tiger" Thompson from his daughter, Lydia Thompson
Description
Lydia Thompson (b. Feb 3, 1940, d. Sep 20, 1996), eldest daughter of Perry “Tiger” Thompson (b. 1908, d. Apr 26, 1973), interviewed by telephone over two days regarding Tiger’s history. Ms. Thompson was at home in Bessemer during the call. Tiger Thompson was a radio announcer at WAPI, WBCO, WJLD and WEDR, a boxer, a record producer, a union president and a candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Alabama – all in the 1950’s
Creator
Lydia Thompson
Bob Friedman
Publisher
Birmingham Black Radio Museum
Date
November 5, 1993
Contributor
Mark Usry
Emily Bibb
Format
JPG
MP3
PDF
Identifier
TigerThompsonOH
Interviewer
Bob Friedman
Interviewee
Lydia Thompson
Transcription
Transcript of audio snippet:
Lydia Thompson: I guess I could have been nine, so it would've been about '40...'40....about '48, '49, somewhere along there.
Bob Friedman: Mhm
LT: Late '40s, early ‘50s.
BF: Right
LT: And then he left then and went and did WJLD and he stayed there for a long time.
BF: Oh really?
LT: Uh huh, and we were back in the woods up in there.
BF: Up in Homewood?
LT: Yeah, uh huh, cuz the only thing up there was just, drove up and nothing but trees.
BF: (chuckles) Right
LT: And cuz we were little kids and we'd go, you know, we'd go. We had, they'd bring us too. And so we just hung around till he got off. But on Sunday, he had a, um, CIO program. You know, he was vice president of CIO and finally became the first black president and when he did, um, I think they had a show, you know or a religious show, where they sung, the CIO singers.
BF: Really? see..
LT: Uh huh
BF: And did he...
LT: And I don't have a record of that either cuz they burned up in the house too.
BF: Yeah
LT: Cuz see, the records had on with the theme song, and it mentioned WJLD on it.
BF: No kidding
Lydia Thompson: I guess I could have been nine, so it would've been about '40...'40....about '48, '49, somewhere along there.
Bob Friedman: Mhm
LT: Late '40s, early ‘50s.
BF: Right
LT: And then he left then and went and did WJLD and he stayed there for a long time.
BF: Oh really?
LT: Uh huh, and we were back in the woods up in there.
BF: Up in Homewood?
LT: Yeah, uh huh, cuz the only thing up there was just, drove up and nothing but trees.
BF: (chuckles) Right
LT: And cuz we were little kids and we'd go, you know, we'd go. We had, they'd bring us too. And so we just hung around till he got off. But on Sunday, he had a, um, CIO program. You know, he was vice president of CIO and finally became the first black president and when he did, um, I think they had a show, you know or a religious show, where they sung, the CIO singers.
BF: Really? see..
LT: Uh huh
BF: And did he...
LT: And I don't have a record of that either cuz they burned up in the house too.
BF: Yeah
LT: Cuz see, the records had on with the theme song, and it mentioned WJLD on it.
BF: No kidding
Duration
Full interview: 17 minutes
Audio snippet: 2 minutes
Audio snippet: 2 minutes
Files
Collection
Citation
Lydia Thompson and Bob Friedman, “Reflections on Perry "Tiger" Thompson from his daughter, Lydia Thompson,” The Birmingham Black Radio Museum, accessed October 22, 2024, https://www.thebbrm.org/item/86.
Item Relations
| This Item | dcterms:relation | Item: Reflections on Perry "Tiger" Thompson from family friend Peacolia Barge |
| This Item | dcterms:relation | Item: Reflections on Perry "Tiger" Thompson from his daughter, Lydia Thompson (part 02) |
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