Ed Perzel WSOC Project on Twentieth Century Charlotte

In 1979, UNC Charlotte history professor Dr. Edward Perzel and a handful of dedicated volunteers conducted oral history interviews with elderly citizens from across Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. The project was sponsored by WSOC, a local media company, and initial interviews took place between May 21 and May 25 at the main branch of the Charlotte Public Library as part of Older Americans Month. The interviews capture an eclectic range of reminiscences on local history from the late nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth century.

Roosevelt Ray oral history interview, 1979 May 22
Roosevelt Ray discusses managing a family farm in Denmark, South Carolina and the changes he saw when he moved to Charlotte in the early 1940s. He recounts his personal struggles with chronic illness and how it affected his life. He also mentions the Great Depression and compares economic circumstances then with conditions during the time of interview.
Edmond J. Reizck oral history interview, 1979 May 22
Edmond J. Reizck recounts his memories of life in North Carolina and how Charlotte, North Carolina has changed throughout the years. He recalls his time in the U.S. Army National Guard in the Thirtieth Infantry Division during World War II and mentions several Charlotteans whom he served with during the war.
Paul G. Rodden oral history interview, 1979 May 22
Paul G. Rodden was a 70-year-old man at the time of interview. He was born in Davie County, North Carolina in 1909. He graduated from high school and was employed at Pilot Life Insurance Company as an insurance salesman., Paul G. Rodden recounts his years working as an insurance agent for the Pilot Life Insurance Company during the 1940s-1970s and his family history. He describes his interest in genealogy; the Rodden family in Davie, Rowan, and Mecklenburg Counties in North Carolina; his great-grandfather's work as a farmer, and his father's work as a sawmill operator. Mr. Rodden also recalls working at Cannon Mills in Kannapolis, North Carolina as a teenager beginning around 1923, and stories from his career selling life insurance.
Jeanne Scranton oral history interview, 1979 May 25
Librarian and church archivist Jeanne Scranton discusses her work with the First United Methodist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, which she joined in 1929, and Charlotte church history dating back to 1815. She also describes how Charlotte's first library was a Carnegie library, and was torn down right before their new library opened in 1956.
Mildred M. Siderman oral history interview, 1979 May 25
Mildred M. Siderman recounts her years working as a practical nurse in Charlotte, North Carolina at Charlotte Memorial Hospital before she moved out of state in 1944. Other topics include how the North Carolina flood of 1916 affected her family in Charlotte, World War II, and the Piedmont and Northern Railway line between Charlotte and Gastonia.
Horace A. Silver oral history interview, 1979 May 22
Horace A. Silver recounts his experiences after moving to Charlotte, North Carolina following World War II. Topics discussed include his work with the United States Veterans Administration and as a field tax auditor with the North Carolina Department of Revenue, his work with Dr. Bonnie E. Cone at the Charlotte Center (the predecessor of Charlotte College and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte), and changes in higher education opportunities.
Kathryn D. Speidel oral history interview, 1979 October 23
Kathryn Speidel recounts her fifty-five years working as a telephone operator for the New York Telephone Company beginning in 1927. She discusses the change from connecting callers through a manual switchboard to a key pulsing system, the working conditions at her company, and her thoughts on technological innovations.
Earl Stafford oral history interview, 1979 May 22
Earl Stafford recounts memories of Charlotte, North Carolina after moving to Mecklenburg County in 1943. He discusses North Carolina's flood of 1916 and how it destroyed many communities in western North Carolina. Other topics include change in downtown Charlotte, his volunteer work with the Red Cross and other charitable organizations, and his personal experiences with former Charlotte mayor (1935-1941) Ben Douglas.
Roger A. Stephens oral history interview, 1979 October 23
Roger A. Stephens recalls his memories of growing up in Atlanta, Georgia during the early twentieth century and life after moving to Charlotte, North Carolina in 1922. He describes selling newspapers as a boy and his career working in the freight transport industry, as well as his memories of Charlotte, including visiting ice cream parlors, riding streetcars for transportation and watching movies at the movie theater.
Aileen Thomas oral history interview, 1979 May 22
Aileen Thomas recounts her experiences living in Charlotte, North Carolina over the previous sixty years. Topics discussed include her memories of the city during World War I, including the Army training facility Camp Greene and Armistice Day; her experiences running several guesthouses for college students; and her volunteer work with the Salvation Army.
Ralph S. Underwood oral history interview, 1979 May 23
Ralph S. Underwood recalls growing up and attending school in the 1900s, working for the Duke Power Company, and his experiences during the Great Depression. He also discusses his memories of the stories his father used to tell from his service in the Confederate Army during the Civil War.
Juanita Upchurch oral history interview, 1979 May 25
Juanita Upchurch recalls events and occurrences that contributed to Charlotte's urban development and growth as she grew up in the city during the early twentieth century. Topics discussed include the work and businesses of Edward Dilworth Latta; her time at Columbia University; notable buildings and locations in downtown Charlotte, including Latta Park and Lakewood Park; her father's printing shop, Charlotte Consolidated Construction Company; and her husband's career in law.
Mary Clegg Walker oral history interview, 1979 May 25
Mary Clegg Walker discusses her family and her seventeen years as a kindergarten teacher in Matthews, North Carolina. Topics discussed include her father's high school in Rutherford County and how it was established; an anecdote about how J. B. Ivey worked for her grandfather as a young man and used the money to open his first store in Belwood, North Carolina; and her father's sermons, which inspired her to move forward in her education.
Henrietta Wallace oral history interview, 1979 October 23
Henrietta Wallace discusses her family's Jewish heritage and medicinal herb business, which dates back to the 1850s, and the growth of the Jewish community in North Carolina in the 1800s and 1900s. Other topics discussed include her career as a librarian, the life of Ms. Wallace's identical twin sister, attending college during the Great Depression, and the community and cultural opportunities that Charlotte offers for senior citizens.
Martha Harris Washam oral history interview, 1979 May 23
Charlotte native Martha Harris Washam recounts her experiences in the first half of the twentieth century. Topics discussed include her early childhood on her great-uncle's farm, her home in downtown Charlotte during World Wars I and II, and visits to Charlotte from President William Howard Taft and President Woodrow Wilson.\t
George A. Wearn oral history interview, 1979 May 23
George A. Wearn discusses life in Charlotte, North Carolina during the early and mid-twentieth century, his education at preparatory school Charlotte University School, and his employment with the textbook division for Charlotte City Schools. Other topics include his father's lumber business, Wearn Lumber Company; prominent Charlotte citizens that he knew; businesses and historic homes in downtown Charlotte and Fourth Ward; and his interest in circuses.
Mary Jane White oral history interview, 1979 May 24
Mary Jane White discusses living on a family farm in Union County, North Carolina during the early twentieth century, then moving to Charlotte, North Carolina to work in a private household in 1927. Other topics include her education in a one-room schoolhouse and her family.
Beaumert Whitton oral history interview, 1979 May 25
Beaumert Whitton recounts the history of the Boy Scouts in Charlotte, North Carolina during the 1910s and 1920s. Topics discussed include the founding of the city's first three troops, a short chronology of Mecklenburg County's Boy Scout camps, activities that Scouts undertook to support the war effort during World War I, and the central role that scouting played in the social life of teenage boys at that time.
S. Bruce Wingate oral history interview, 1979 October 23
S. Bruce Wingate discusses his working experience in the dairy industry, focusing on the sale and delivery of ice cream in Charlotte and other cities and towns in North Carolina before refrigeration was commonplace. He describes making ice cream, how it was delivered, and how various weather conditions affected ice cream delivery. Other topics include his first job as a dairy farmer and the drug stores where his ice cream was sold.
Emery Wister oral history interview 1, 1979 May 23
Emery Wister, a journalist and editor at the Charlotte News, recounts his life and experiences in Charlotte, North Carolina. He describes growing up on the edge of the Brooklyn neighborhood in Charlotte and discusses local race relations and the role of urban renewal in displacing members of the community. Mr. Wister discusses his long career in the news industry, focusing on his work as an entertainment reporter and as a business reporter. As an entertainment reporter and film critic, he covered the film industry, and he describes how changes made in Hollywood affected local movie venues. Mr. Wister recounts some of the important business stories he broke, including the mergers that created the North Carolina National Bank, the development of Lake Norman, and the growth of the airline industry in Charlotte. He also discusses the newspaper's associate editor, Wilbur J. Cash, whose developing war coverage from Europe predicted many World War II events before they occurred. Mr. Wister concludes by describing the rivalry between the Charlotte News and the Charlotte Observer, and by explaining how both newspapers' political leanings changed over time.
Benjamin F. Withers oral history interview, 1979 May 25
Benjamin Withers shares his memories of Charlotte, North Carolina during the first thirty years of the twentieth century. He describes the city's geography including businesses, theaters, the original Charlotte Speedway (built in 1924 in the Pineville area), and the development of the Myers Park, Dilworth, and Chatham Estates (now Plaza Midwood) neighborhoods. He also talks about the shift from horse-drawn wagons to automobiles, the importance of the railroads and streetcars, and his memories of Meck Dec Day celebrations and of military parades at Camp Greene.
Jessie Withers oral history interview, 1979 May 22
Jessie Withers describes working as a cook in various establishments around Charlotte, North Carolina during the twentieth century, including Good Samaritan Hospital, Windsor's Drive-In, the Ringside Grill, St. Martin's Episcopal Church, and the Elks Club. Other topics include businesses in downtown Charlotte and raising a large family on a tight budget during the Great Depression.
Arthur Zemek oral history interview, 1979 May 23
Arthur J. Zemek recounts his experience as a bank cashier in Chicago, Illinois after the stock market crash of 1929. He discusses the actions of the bank's chairman, former U.S. Vice President Charles G. Dawes, to prevent a run on the bank. He also discusses his experiences as a teenager working in the Chicago stockyards during World War I, including the constant harassment from military recruiters.
Esther Zemek oral history interview, 1979 May 23
Esther Zemek discusses her experiences attending school in a one room schoolhouse near Chicago, Illinois and the dedication her instructors exhibited. She describes traveling through deep snow to attend school and completing her eighth grade examinations with the second highest score in the county.