Ollie Mae Cottrell
Ollie Mae Cottrell was born in 1931 in the logging camp of McNary, Arizona and fondly describes her childhood and adolescence there. In 1944, she moved to Flagstaff and describes the city as more prejudiced than McNary.
Ollie Mae lived in Flagstaff during the sit-in at El Charro Mexican Restaurant. Black residents were not allowed to enter El Charro until a successful 1960 sit-in by NAACP youth such as Shirley Hoggro Sims and others, granted them access to the restaurant (Reid, 2014).
She served many years in her community as a faithful devoted Christian on the motherboard of three different churches. Her last home church being First Missionary Baptist Church under the leadership of Reverend L.D. Marion and also Reverend Shirley Sims.
Ollie Mae was a very hard worker who didn’t mind helping others and standing up for what was right. She was a member if the Eastern Stars, Elks Lodge and NAACP. She believed that every child deserves a real education and would not settle for anything less than a diploma or better from each of her children, Grandchildren, nieces and Nephews.
Ollie Mae Loved To Dance !
What kind of dancing did you do?
Cottrell: Well, it was some dance. We danced regular dancin', danced the Mexican dance, danced the Indian dance. We did it all 'cause my daddy, he was part Indian
You were a dancer?
Cottrell: I really was, I won all kinds of contests. Praise God Almighty, I danced. I loved dancin'. I always did.
You won contests?
Cottrell: Oh, yeah. Let's see, it was jitterbug and fox trot and what other dance was it?
The El Charro Cafe in 1963
the Green Book travel guide published during the segregation era that identified businesses that would accept African American customers.
The Dunbar school was the school that was designated for Black students.
The El Charro Cafe in 1963
Ollie on Battling Racial Discrimination
What was it like when you moved here (Flagstaff)?
Cottrell: Oh, this town was prejudiced, very prejudiced.
Like they mingle now -they didn't do that. There were some soldiers, you know, and kind of straightened this town up.
How'd they do that?
Cottrell: I can't remember what that division was, came through here. They were havin' a dance, and they didn't want the Negroes and the Mexicans and all to be in this dance.
They didn't want the Mexicans either?
Cottrell: Unt-uh! No, this town is still prejudiced. Was prejudiced on your jobs, in bein' together. They don't give Negroes and Mexicans or what -Indians -no.... They give 'em some deals, and they just lately started givin' 'em these, as we call them, white-collar jobs. And I remember when the first Negro moved out here in East Flag, they burnt the place down!
And there's the El Charro Cafe. The NAACP went in there, and the Negroes had a chance to start going in there. That was a Mexican cafe. But the man that owned it, he didn't want it to happen.
Could you go in the other restaurants, but just not in El Charro?
Cottrell: Oh, a few of them. You see, we had Black cafes and all here then because just about going down on the left-hand side, comin' back across the track, it would be on the right-hand side. Most of all that was owned by Negroes -Pearl Polk, you might have heard of her.