A dozen years ago when several groups came together in Yellow Springs intent on saving the stories of elders. William and Thelma Ross were high on the list of people to interview. They were both in their nineties.
Dr. Kevin McGruder: Can you tell me your name?
Thelma Ross: Thelma Ross.
William O. Ross: William O. Ross.
Dr. Kevin McGruder: And where were you born?
Thelma Ross: Richmond, Indiana.
Dr. Kevin McGruder: What was life like growing up in Richmond?
Thelma Ross: Well, it was nice. First, you had lots of friends and family there.
Dr. Kevin McGruder: Richmond, Indiana, had a well-established Black community when the Rosses were young. Free Blacks and those escaping slavery had come there before the Civil War, harbored by Quakers who had created the most active underground railroad network in the region. By the early 20th century Richmond had black churches with deep roots. It was known for its jazz music scene. It had an independent Negro League baseball team called the Richmond Giants and one of the oldest public libraries in the state. The Rosses grew up in a midwestern town with a rich black culture.
Was your elementary school? Did it have a lot of children there? Was it a small school?
Thelma Ross: Not too small. It went from the kindergarten to the ninth grade. And then you went to high school, ten to twelve.
Dr. Kevin McGruder: Was it black and white students at the same school?
Thelma Ross: Yes, it was integrated. We knew one another all through high school, as I said. We were boyfriend-girlfriend - sweethearts - from about the 11th grade on.
Dr. Kevin McGruder: After you finished high school, what did you decide to do?
William O. Ross: Uncle Sam decided it for me, and I went to World War Two.
Dr. Kevin McGruder: And where were you stationed?
William O. Ross: In England. In France and Germany. And then after we completed over in Germany, we headed to Japan. But the atomic bomb dropped and I was on the way back home.
Dr. Kevin McGruder: And Mrs. Ross, when you moved to Ohio, did you continue working?
Thelma Ross: Yes, I had started working in Richmond at the library for eight and a half years at public library. And she sent a nice recommendation, to Antioch College. And I worked there for 23 years.
Dr. Kevin McGruder: And what was Antioch College like when you started working there?
Thelma Ross: Oh, you couldn't have asked for a nicer place to work. I worked in the processing office and I did all the typing and filing and repairing books.
Dr. Kevin McGruder: William Ross went to work for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and soon they were able to buy a home in Yellow Springs, thanks to an enterprising man named Omar Robinson. He was also from Richmond, and he had bought a tract of land in Yellow Springs and was selling lots to fellow blacks.
How did you come to meet Omar Robinson?
William O. Ross: We met him in Richmond. We knew him. He lived in Richmond, Indiana. And then he built a home in Richmond. And then he sold it and bought this ground around here.
Dr. Kevin McGruder: Did he talk to you about his reasons for buying this land?
William O. Ross: Well, living in Richmond, Blacks only had certain places where they would go. Here, Blacks would be anywhere. And that's what I think they wanted.
Dr. Kevin McGruder: And so he bought the land, and then did he expect the people to live here, mainly to be African-American people?
William O. Ross: That is a good question. You know, but but naturally, once he put the lots up for sale, we saw who was moving in, who was buying them. You know, we could only buy in certain places. And here you get what you want for your money.
Dr. Kevin McGruder: And then how did you decide to build a house here?
William O. Ross: It was close to my job and I liked it. So my wife and I decided we will own.
Dr. Kevin McGruder: And so once the house was built, what was life like in Omar Circle?
Thelma Ross: Oh, I thought it was just a wonderful place to be and to see the homes go up. And it was just - for us it was really a wonderful place because we started building a home in Richmond and after we got it so far they said it was too nice for the neighborhood. So to us it was a wonderful everything seemed wonderful here and we couldn't have asked for a nicer situation. We worked hard together and it was a wonderful place to raise your children too.
Dr. Kevin McGruder: Thelma Ross and her husband William Ross, in their nineties when I interviewed them in 2017. Both have since passed away. The neighborhood the Rosses were so fond of still exists. It's called Omar Circle. I'm Dr. Kevin Magruder, associate professor of history at Antioch College.
