Levine Museum of the New South

Basketball and Culture in the Southern Piedmont
These interviews were conducted by staff of the Levine Museum of the New South in 1992 and 1993 as part of the research for the exhibit: "The Most Democratic Sport: Basketball and Culture in the Central Piedmont, 1893-1994." Interviews were conducted with players, coaches and others involved in basketball in the central Piedmont area between the late 1910s-1990s. The large majority of the interviews were conducted by project curator Pamela Grundy and project researcher Peter Felkner.
Charlotte Pipe and Foundry
Charlotte Pipe and Foundry chairman Roddy Dowd commissioned the Museum of the New South (now the Levine Museum of the New South) to conduct this oral history project in 1993, which provides a snapshot into the history and culture of the company from the 1920s to the 1990s. Personnel director Earl Raborn chose the subjects for the interviews and assisted the interviewer, Peter Felkner, in all but one interview, so these interviews may not fully represent the perspectives of all employees. Founded in 1901, Charlotte Pipe and Foundry started out as a local cast iron piping business. Over time the company grew to become a leading manufacturer in the piping industry nationwide. These oral histories reflect the perspective of both blue collar workers and company executives whose work at Charlotte Pipe and Foundry was shaped and altered by technological innovations and changes in production over time.
Latinos in Charlotte
These interviews with members of Charlotte's Latino community were conducted to complement a traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian, "Americanos: Latino Life in the United States," which was mounted at the Museum of the New South in 2002-2003. The exhibit portrayed the Latino community through the work of 30 prize-winning photographers. A portion of the interviews focus on interviewees' reactions to the imagery.
Professional Women
Jennifer Greeson interviewed seventeen professional women from the Charlotte region in 1993 as part of an internship with the Museum of the New South (now the Levine Museum of the New South). The project was funded by the Benjamin N. Duke Leadership Program of Duke University, the Duke Power Company Foundation, and the Museum of the New South. Interviewees were chosen to represent the arts, education, politics, journalism, and health care. The interviewees represent a diverse selection of local professional women who speak in detail of their lives, their careers, and their particular contributions to the local community.
West Charlotte High School During Integration
Interviews in this collection chronicle the experiences of teachers and students at West Charlotte High School, "the school that made desegregation work," primarily during the busing era of the 1970s and 1980s. The formerly segregated all-black West Charlotte was one of the first schools in Charlotte to integrate when the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system began busing in white students in 1969, in advance of the Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education Supreme Court decision in 1971. Proponents of proactive measures for school integration, as mandated by Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg, viewed West Charlotte as a model for successful school integration.