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‘Our African-American family felt unusual’
By Annie Brown Chapman
Published July 27, 2003
I needed to make some money in the summer of 1943 to buy my school clothes for my upcoming sophomore year at Central High School.
I, Annie Brown Chapman, and my friend, Faye Jackson, got jobs as elevator operators at the Buccaneer Hotel.
As the July 27 storm blew in, the elevators went out. The hotel management assigned all employees to vacant rooms.
My mother was so worried about me that she walked from Avenue I and 34th Street to the hotel on 23rd Street to be sure that I was safe. All phones were out, too.
When my dad got home, and the house was completely empty, he struck out and walked to the Buccaneer to check on us.
The streets were too flooded to drive from 34th to 23rd street.
Our African-American family felt quite unusual spending the night in the Buccaneer Hotel, a totally atypical occurrence at that time.
Once a BOI, always a BOI. I still work as a caregiver at the Edgewater Retirement Center on 23rd Street.
Annie Brown Chapman Galveston
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