DIY History | Transcribe | Nile Kinnick Collection | Nile Kinnick correspondence, January-May 1942

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Nile Kinnick correspondence, January-May 1942

1942-02-06: Page 02

traveled--nothing but a wagon trail, and a poor one at that. It was hilly, winding, poorly marked, and full of chuck holes and boulders. I thought my poor car was going to shake to pieces before we hit concrete again. About midnight we drove in to Jonesboro, Ark. where we stayed the night. Although it was a poor bed in a tourist camp, I found it mighty welcome, having had but 3 hours sleep the night before.
The next morning it was raining making it doubly difficult to get up and going. We managed to make it around 8:30 AM, immediately pointing for Memphis, Tenn., not even stopping for breakfast. My impression of Arkansas was anything but good--nothing but poorly marked, poorly surfaced roads, swamps, gullies, sterile looking soil, mules, people who looked like hungry hound-dogs, unpainted one room shacks, and the darkest looking Negroes I have ever seen. At Memphis we hit highway #61 which follows the river south to New Orleans. The land in Mississippi was very level and looked as if it might have been quite fertile at one time. However, it now appears weary--almost.

Saving...

traveled--nothing but a wagon trail, and a poor one at that. It was hilly, winding, poorly marked, and full of chuck holes and boulders. I thought my poor car was going to shake to pieces before we hit concrete again. About midnight we drove in to Jonesboro, Ark. where we stayed the night. Although it was a poor bed in a tourist camp, I found it mighty welcome, having had but 3 hours sleep the night before. The next morning it was raining making it doubly difficult to get up and going. We managed to make it around 8:30 AM, immediately pointing for Memphis, Tenn., not even stopping for breakfast. My impression of Arkansas was anything but good--nothing but poorly marked, poorly surfaced roads, swamps, gullies, sterile looking soil, mules, people who looked like hungry hound-dogs, unpainted one room shacks, and the darkest looking Negroes I have ever seen. At Memphis we hit highway #61 which follows the river south to New Orleans. The land in Mississippi was very level and looked as if it might have been quite fertile at one time. However, it now appears weary--almost.