Ely, Vermelle Diamond

Mann, Keith

Davis, Price, 1920-
Funches, John, 1951-

Charlotte, North Carolina

J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

2004-06-29

1 audio file (1:30:54) : digital, MP3 + 1 transcript (41 pages)

sound recording-nonmusical

spoken word

eng

Vermelle Ely was an 71-year-old woman at the time of interview, which took place at the Second Ward Alumni House in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was born in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1933. She was educated at Second Ward High School and Shaw University, and was employed as a teacher. Price Davis was an 84-year-old man at the time of interview, which took place at the Second Ward Alumni House in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was born in Lincolnton, North Carolina in 1920. He was educated at Second Ward High School and was employed as a truck driver.    John Funches was an 53-year-old man at the time of interview, which took place at the Second Ward Alumni House in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was born in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1951. He was educated at Second Ward High School and Central Piedmont Community College, and was employed by Federal Express.

Vermelle Ely, Price Davis, and John Funches all attended Second Ward High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, and are all members of the Second Ward High School Alumni Foundation located on Beatties Ford Road in Charlotte. In this interview, Ms. Ely, Mr. Davis, and Mr. Funches reminisce about their high school experiences. Although they attended Second Ward decades apart from each other, all interviewees emphasize the feeling of camaraderie and family connection that they experienced there. In addition, Ms. Ely, Mr. Davis, and Mr. Funches describe their personal experiences with segregation, desegregation, and integration--Ms. Ely as a teacher in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system, Mr. Davis in New York City after graduation, and Mr. Funches in the military and the work force in Charlotte. The discussion turns to the interviewees' opinions on the significance of the black community in Charlotte, the weakening that both integration and urban renewal caused within this community, and the loss of black identity in the present generation at the time of interview. The interviewees express ambivalence about integration; they feel while it was mostly beneficial in that it provided everyone with access to the same educational system, blacks in Charlotte lost their strong sense of community.

MP3 access copy created on ingest from WAV preservation master file. Interview originally recorded on analog audio cassette and digitized using Digidesign 003 rack.

Teachers

Ely, Vermelle Diamond
Davis, Price, 1920-
Funches, John, 1951-

Truck drivers
Express service--Employees

Second Ward High School (Charlotte, N.C.)
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Second Ward High School Alumni Foundation (Charlotte, N.C.)

African Americans--Segregation
African American neighborhoods
Segregation in education
School integration
Students--Social life and customs
Teachers
Race relations
Blacks--Race identity
Urban renewal--Social aspects
Police brutality

North Carolina--Charlotte
North Carolina--Charlotte--Second Ward
New York (State)--New York

Interviews
Oral histories

1930-2010

The era before Brown v. Board of Education

Living Charlotte: The Postwar Development of a New South city

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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.

audio/mpeg

Price Davis oral history interview 1, 2004 May 25, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (https://goldmine.uncc.edu/islandora/object/uncc%3A1876); Price Davis oral history interview 2, March 19, 2004, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte; Price Davis oral history interview 3, November 18, 2006, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (https://goldmine.uncc.edu/islandora/object/uncc%3A232); Vermelle Ely, Price Davis, Wright Hunter, Calvin Davis, and Naomi Davis oral history interview, March 25, 2005, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (http://goldmine.uncc.edu/islandora/object/uncc%3A2366)

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