UNC Charlotte Oral History Interviews

Belk College Living History
UNC Charlotte Belk College of Business, in partnership with AISLE and Atkins Library, and in honor of the Belk College 50th anniversary during the 2020-2021 academic year, developed the Living History project. This set of interviews documents the growth and evolution of the Belk College, curating its history through the perspectives of emeritus and retired faculty.
Civil Rights Activism on Campus
The collection consists of oral history interviews with former students and faculty who played an important role during the Civil Rights period at UNC Charlotte, including Ben Chavis and T.J. Reddy. Interviews conducted by library staff Lois Stickel and Bridgette Sanders as part of a larger research project.
Historias de Vida: Life Stories from UNC Charlotte
Historias de Vida documents the lives and experiences of UNC Charlotte's Latinx community members. At the time of the interviews the Latinx community was the fastest growing demographic in North Carolina and UNC Charlotte was enrolling and graduating more Latinx students than any other four-year college or university in North Carolina. With the increased presence of Latinx students on campus there was also a growth of campus organizations established to serve the needs and interests of the Latinx community.
Interviews with Bonnie Cone
This series consists of multiple interviews conducted with UNC Charlotte founder Bonnie Cone during the 1970s and 1980s. Sixteen of the interviews, recorded from December 1987 to May 1988, were conducted by Dr. Ed Perzel, former Chair of the Department of History and Associate Dean for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at UNC Charlotte. During these interviews, Perzel and Cone discuss a number of topics relating to the creation, survival, and development of the Charlotte College Center into Charlotte College and later into UNC Charlotte. Among these topics are faculty and staff recruitment, fundraising and building political support, board members and donors, campus site selection and architectural design, athletics, student recruitment and college experience, Charlotte College's relationship with other universities and colleges in North Carolina, Cone's involvement in other organizations, and the development of Carver College and later Central Piedmont Community College. Interview 7 focuses on Bonnie Cone's childhood, youth, and early adult life.
Interviews with Loy H. Witherspoon
This collection includes interviews conducted with Dr. Loy H. Witherspoon (1930-2017), who worked closely with UNC Charlotte's founder, Bonnie Cone on the development of the university beginning in 1964. He led the Department of Philosophy and Religion, then established and chaired the Department of Religious Studies when it split off from philosophy beginning in 1972. He served as president of the UNC Charlotte faculty, as founder and director of the campus Office of Religious Affairs, and as faculty advisor to the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. The Loy H. Witherspoon Lectures in Religious Studies were established at UNC Charlotte in 1984 to honor him for his tenure of distinguished service. He retired in 1994 after 30 years of service to UNC Charlotte and its predecessor, Charlotte College. He was granted status of professor emeritus of Philosophy and Religious Studies and continued to be active in university life until his death. Born in Catawba, North Carolina in 1930, Dr. Witherspoon graduated from Duke University with a BA and a BD degree, and from Boston University with a PhD in the New Testament. Witherspoon was an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church.
Memories of Bonnie Cone
This collection consists of interviewees recounting their memories of Bonnie Cone.
Mining Memories CLT250
These oral history interviews took place during the 250th anniversary of the founding of the City of Charlotte at UNC Charlotte on December 3, 2018. Students, faculty, and members of the public were invited to sit for an oral history interview recorded in J. Murrey Atkins Library's Area 49 EZ Video Studio. Participants were asked to introduce themselves and describe when they came to the Charlotte area. They were then asked to select from a list of 10 questions about the Charlotte region and 10 questions about UNC Charlotte to answer.
Navigating the Unprecedented: Student Reflections on 2020 and 2021
Navigating the Unprecedented: Student Reflections on 2020 and 2021 is a collection of interviews created by students as part of the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 LBST 2301 courses taught by Professor Thomas "Joe" Howarth within the Honors College at UNC Charlotte. The project asked students to serve as oral history interviewers and narrators, relating their experiences of this unprecedented time in their own words. In the interviews students reflected on their, their family's, their communities, and UNC Charlotte's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Students tell stories of strength, struggle, and societal upheaval as the pandemic changed their lives and as it brought to light the realities of racial inequality and injustice.
Niner Nation Remembers Oral History Project
The Niner Nation Remembers Oral History Project is a collection of oral history interviews exploring interviewees' experiences and reflections concerning the April 30, 2019 campus shooting at UNC Charlotte, in which Reed Parlier and Riley Howell were killed and four others were injured. Participants in this project include UNC Charlotte students, administrators, staff, and faculty as well as first responders and law enforcement officers. Interviews cover personal experiences on the night of the shooting, emergency response and recovery efforts, and reflections on the impact to individuals and the extraordinary strength and resilience of the campus community.
Organizing for social justice on campus
This collection was created by students under the direction of Dr. Thomas J. Howarth as part of their Critical Citizenship and Community Service LBST 2301 classes in the 2019-2020 academic year. The focus of the class was to capture first-hand accounts to document social justice organizing efforts on UNC Charlotte’s campus during the previous four to five years. Three initiatives are represented in the collection: the creation of Peace Haven, a meditation space that resulted from combined efforts of the Muslim Student Association in conjunction with the Interfaith Niners; on-campus protests organized by the Black Student Union with other student groups in response to the police-involved shooting of Keith Lamont Scott in 2016; and community action organized by student group Customer 49 to protest actions and policies of UNC Charlotte and the administrators of the UNC System.
Telling Our Stories: Black Alumni
The Black Alumni oral history project documents UNC Charlotte's Black Alumni by collecting first-hand accounts of the lives of Black students over the decades. This alumni-driven project was inspired by interviews we have already gathered, notably that of James Cuthbertson, Jr., who was a member of the Black Student Union in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
UNC Charlotte Administration, Faculty, and Staff
This collection consists of oral history interviews with UNC Charlotte administration, faculty, and staff.
UNC Charlotte Students and Alumni
This collection consists of oral history interviews with UNC Charlotte students and alumni.
William T. Jeffers Interviews on UNC Charlotte History
The "William T. Jeffers Interviews on UNC Charlotte History" series consists of interviews conducted by Mr. Jeffers, visiting lecturer and public historian at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, as part of his research into the history of the university. The interviews are with university faculty and staff as well as public and private citizens, and focus on the chancellors of the University since 1989. This first group contains interviews related to the tenure of Chancellor James H. Woodward, which were undertaken in preparation for the publication of The Making of a Research University: James H. Woodward and UNC Charlotte, 1989-2005. Dr. James H. Woodward served as the third chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. His tenure saw the implementation of the university's first doctoral programs and eventual elevation to the status of research institution. In addition Chancellor Woodward oversaw a large physical expansion of the campus to address space needs for a growing student population, and unified the campus aesthetic through the use of brick as a predominant building material. This attention to the campus aesthetic helped shift the general perception of UNC Charlotte from a commuter school to a traditional university . The interviews in this series are with faculty, staff, and public and private citizens who reflect on Dr. Woodward's career, his decision making processes, and his legacy.