-
Title
-
Elizabeth Biggerstaff oral history interview, 1996 October 18
-
Interviewee
-
Biggerstaff, Elizabeth, 1922-
-
Interviewer
-
Rollins, Kimberly
-
Place of Publication
-
Charlotte, North Carolina
-
Publisher
-
J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections
-
Date of Interview
-
1996-10-18
-
Physical Description
-
1 audio file (1:01:51) : digital, MP3
-
Object Type
-
sound recording-nonmusical
-
Genre
-
spoken word
-
Language
-
eng
-
Interviewee Biography
-
Elizabeth Biggerstaff was a 74-year-old woman at the time of interview. She was born in Cliffside, North Carolina, on August 8, 1922. She had a high school education, and was employed as a dental hygienist, in her husband's dry cleaning business, and a manager in her husband's local fast food chain, the Little Moo.
-
Abstract
-
Rutherford County native Elizabeth Biggerstaff describes her life and how she balances work and family. She describes her early life growing up in the country outside of Cliffside, North Carolina, with two older brothers and attending local schools. Cliffside was a mill village built for the workers of Hanes Mill, which later became Cone Mill, and throughout the interview Mrs. Biggerstaff touches on the role of the mill in the Cliffside region. While her new husband was serving in World War II, Mrs. Biggerstaff explains how she saved money throughout the war, which he spent to open a dry cleaning business in Cliffside upon his return. Mrs. Biggerstaff recounts her paid work outside the home in the dry cleaning business, as an assistant and secretary for a dentist, and managing in her husband's fast food chain, the Little Moo. She talks about balancing work with raising twin girls during the 1950s-1970s, and how she began working in a dentist's office close to home so she would be able to get home quickly if one of her daughters became sick. Mrs. Biggerstaff's husband was active in local politics, and she describes her experiences joining him at events and seeking votes during his campaign for County Commissioner.
-
Digital Object Notes
-
MP3 access copy created on ingest from WAV preservation master. Interview originally recorded on analog audio cassette and digitized using a Digidesign 003 rack.
-
Interviewee Occupations
-
Dental assistants
Businesspeople
Fast food restaurants--Employees
-
Subjects--Names
-
Biggerstaff, Elizabeth, 1922-
-
Subjects--Events
-
World War (1939-1945)
-
Subjects--Topics
-
Country life
Mills and mill-work
Manners and customs
Education, Rural
Women in war
Working mothers
Small business--Management
Women--Political activity
Race relations
-
Subjects--Geographic
-
North Carolina--Rutherford County
North Carolina--Cliffside
-
Subjects--Genre
-
Interviews
Oral histories
-
Coverage--Dates
-
1910-2000
-
Digital Collection Title
-
David Goldfield student project on change in the Charlotte region
-
Digital Project Title
-
Living Charlotte : the postwar development of a New South city
-
Rights
-
The materials included on this web site are freely available for private study, scholarship or non-commercial research under the fair use provisions of the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, United States Code). Any use beyond the provisions of fair use, including but not limited to commercial or scholarly publication, broadcast, redistribution or mounting on another web site always require prior written permission and may also be subject to additional restrictions and fees. UNC Charlotte does not hold literary rights to all materials in its collections and the researcher is responsible for securing those rights when needed. Copyright information for specific collections is available upon request.
-
Grant Information
-
Digitization made possible by funding from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources.
-
Internet Media Type
-
audio/mpeg
-
Identifier
-
GF-BI0070