doi:10.7916/d8-6237-qw35Oral history interview with May, 1980Mayoral historiesmixed materialDrug addicts--United StatesImprisonment--United StatesDrug traffic--History--20th century.--United StatesDrug abuse--History--20th century.--United StatesHeroin abuse--History--20th century.--United StatesDrug addicts--Rehabilitation--United StatesMethadone maintenance--History--20th century.--United StatesProstitution--History--20th century.--United StatesMayIn this interview, May discusses her life in Virginia, Connecticut, and New York, with a focus on her drug use. She discusses being raised by her grandmother, and her first job after her grandmother passed away as a live-in housekeeper. She describes leaving Virginia at thirteen years of age with her sister, and traveling to their aunt's house in Hartford, Connecticut. She describes her move from Connecticut to New York City, how she became involved in sex work, and how she began using drugs, including cocaine and heroin. She discusses the fluctuations in the price and purity of heroin across the latter decades of the twentieth century. She describes going to a doctor on West End Avenue in the 1980s to obtain a Dolophine prescription, and how this doctor eventually referred her to a methadone program. She discusses being arrested around six times for prostitution, and being incarcerated at the Women's House of Detention. She compares her impression of addicts in the 1950s to addicts in the 1980s. She discusses her three children, and how she feels that her priority of motherhood helped her survive her drug addiction