Hair, Elisabeth G. (Elisabeth Green), 1920-2014

Greeson, Jennifer

Charlotte, North Carolina

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

1993-06-25

1 audio file (1:58:57) : digital, MP3 + 1 transcript (46 pages)

sound recording-nonmusical

spoken word

eng

Elisabeth Hair was a 73-year-old woman at the time of interview, which took place in her home in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was born in Saint Louis, Missouri in 1920. She was educated at John Burroughs School and Wellesley College, and was employed as president of Sunbelt Communications, Inc., as an advertising executive, and in various elected positions in county government.

Elisabeth "Liz" Hair, the first woman to be elected to the Mecklenburg County Commission, recounts her life and involvement in Charlotte-Mecklenburg's government and Democratic Party. Having grown up in a prominent political family involved with the Democratic Party in Missouri, Mrs. Hair explains that getting involved in the League of Women Voters and the local Democratic Party was a priority for her after moving to Charlotte. She describes the internal politics of Charlotte's Democratic Party in the 1950s and the work she did to bring structure to a chaotic organization. This led to a more prominent role for her in local and state politics in the 1960s, when she was the chairman of the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections and a member of the Carlyle Commission, which established North Carolina's community college system and brought a number of colleges into the public university system. Mrs. Hair discusses her role in the formation of the Charlotte Women's Political Caucus, explaining how that led to her election to the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners as its first female commissioner in 1972, where she would go on to become the board's first female chairman in 1974. She describes the sexism she faced from the male commissioners, from their suggestion that she be the board’s 'hostess' at her first county commissioners' meeting to the internal politicking they engaged in to unseat her as chairman in 1977. Mrs. Hair discusses many of the political issues she fought for while on the Board of Commissioners, including education, affirmative action, food stamps, energy, and the arts. She also discusses her political and civic activities at the time of the interview, including her election to the State Community College Board and as a registered lobbyist for Piedmont Gas, and her involvement with North Carolina Dance Theatre (now Charlotte Ballet). Mrs. Hair concludes the interview with a reflection on her family and her political legacy in Charlotte.

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

Consultants
Politicians
Executives

Hair, Elisabeth G. (Elisabeth Green), 1920-2014
Tillett, Gladys Avery, 1891-1984

Democratic Party (U.S.)
League of Women Voters (U.S.)
Mecklenburg County (N.C.). Board of Commissioners
Charlotte Women’s Political Caucus
North Carolina. State Board of Community Colleges
North Carolina Dance Theatre
Democratic Party (N.C.)

Women--Political activity
Women--Politics and government
Community colleges
Local government
Civil service

North Carolina--Charlotte
Missouri--St. Louis

Interviews
Oral histories

1920-2000

Levine Museum of the New South

Professional Women

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

MU-HA0039

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/uncc:210