Carolyn Dennis Oral History

Carolyn J. Dennis was one of six residents at Grace Presbyterian Village retirement community in Oak Cliff (located approximately four miles from the Texas Theatre) who recorded oral histories during a two-part outreach visit in 2008.

As of 2025, Carolyn is one of twenty oral history subjects who attended the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. However, her story may be the most unusual. As described in this interview, she took a lengthy multi-day bus trip from Mexico to Dallas to New York City to Washington, D.C. The last leg of her trip, from NYC to DC, was aboard a decommissioned school bus (that left New York at 5:30AM), sitting on a seat with a loose spring. Once she finally arrived at the march, after all of her efforts, she promptly fell asleep in "this nice shady spot" and woke up to cheering at the conclusion of Dr. King's iconic "I Have a Dream" speech. Laughing, she recalled, "I didn't realize the full impact of what I had missed." - Stephen Fagin, Curator