Home > Stories > Otis McGowan

Biography

Otis McGowan was born in Arkansas.  He moved to Cedar Rapids in 1965 at the age of twenty-two.  This father of two has been involved in making a difference in his new hometown, especially through his involvement in the NAACP.

Transcript

Date of Interview: 2010

Jonathan Yates: My name is Jonathan Yates.

Otis McGowan: My name is Otis McGowan

Jonathan: Are you from Cedar Rapids?

Otis McGowan: No, I’m originally from Arkansas.

Jonathan: When did you move to Cedar Rapids?

Otis McGowan: I moved to Cedar Rapids in 1965.

Jonathan: How old were you when you moved to Cedar Rapids?

Otis McGowan: I was twenty-two.

Jonathan: How long have you been involved in the African-
American community in Cedar Rapids, Iowa?

Otis McGowan: OK, I’m involved with, I guess I would say the NAACP, one organization I am involved with, I got involved in maybe round about 1990, I got actively involved.

Jonathan: OK. Was there a particular event that caused you to be involved in the community?

Otis McGowan: Oh, no I would say, I don’t know, it was just something I decided that I wanted to, it wasn’t anything particular at the time, I guess I just wanted to get involved.

Jonathan: OK, what memories do you have of the Civil Rights Movement?

Otis McGowan: Civil Rights Movement? I guess some of my earliest memories I guess I have was Martin Luther King, Dr. Martin Luther King involvement with the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott. That’s some of my earliest I guess memories.

Jonathan: OK. How has the Civil Rights Movement affected you?

Otis McGowan: How have it affected me? I guess it affected me in having a opportunity to go places that I felt that I was welcome. Before you saw a lot of public, and private places I guess, in the community or in housing, I guess being able to move in a house you wanted to move in, that’s one of the ways I guess I felt.

Jonathan: How have you experienced change in the African American community in Cedar Rapids, Iowa?

Otis McGowan: How have I experienced change? More diversity in the African American Community, I would say, more diversity in employment, I would say, one of the big changes.

Jonathan: OK. What are you most proud of in your life?

Otis McGowan: What am I most proud of in my life? I would say some of the most proud moments in my life I have two adult kids, to see my daughter to go back to school and get her degree, will make me very proud. And another, my son, to see him grow into a very productive young man and get married this past year so it’s some of the proudest moments of my life. I’m very proud to be a resident of the Cedar Rapids and I’m very proud to be involved in help making some of the changes in Cedar Rapids by being involved and being able to give back to Cedar Rapids.

Jonathan: Thanks, Mr. McGowan, for this interview and all that you have done for our community

Otis McGowan: Thank you, Thank you.