DescriptionVideotaped oral history interview with Clarence Broadnax. A dedicated civil rights activist, Broadnax was the first African-American hairstylist hired to work at the Neiman Marcus department store in Dallas. A member of the NAACP and the Nation of Islam, he was one of the key organizers of the prominent 1964 protest at the downtown Piccadilly Cafeteria, and he was arrested on several different occasions during the civil rights movement.
Interview conducted at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on August 14, 2006 by Stephen Fagin. The interview is fifty-seven minutes long.
Curatorial Commentary
Two years after this oral history was recorded, Mr. Broadnax participated in a Museum public program with Piccadilly Cafeteria protest co-organizer the Rev. Earl Allen in 2008. This program marked the first time that Allen and Broadnax had spoken in approximately four decades. Moderated by Dallas-Fort Worth journalist Bob Ray Sanders, this program may be viewed in its entirety on the Museum's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-d7GD_P-Nw.
A few years later, in 2013, Mr. Broadnax recorded a special Living History program for a group of educators as part of a civil rights teacher training institute at the Museum. This one-on-one conversation may also be viewed in its entirety on the Museum's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MugLOAdUT5I. - Stephen Fagin, Associate Curator
