Justice, Girvaud, 1944-

Wright, Christina

Charlotte, North Carolina

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

2006-08-25

1 audio file (1:20:32) : digital, MP3 + 1 transcript (25 pages)

sound recording-nonmusical

spoken word

eng

Girvaud Justice was a 62-year-old woman at the time of interview, which took place in St. Luke’s United Methodist Church. She was born in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1944. She was educated at UNC Charlotte and Central Piedmont Community College; and was employed with the U.S. Postal Service as a station manager and data technician, and with the Social Security Administration and the Charlotte Water Department in administrative roles.

Girvaud Justice was one of four African American students who attended all-white schools in Charlotte in 1957 as a challenge to the city's slow response to desegregate schools, which had been mandated by the Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. In this third of four interviews, Mrs. Justice discusses changes in the Belmont neighborhood where she had lived for forty years. She describes the recent effects of gentrification in the neighborhood and the hardships experienced by many long-time homeowners. Mrs. Justice expresses her disappointment in local government, especially in regard to the running of the Belmont Community Center, the Belmont Community Development Corporation, and what she describes as misleading guidance from the city planning department. She relates her personal experience as the president of the Belmont Neighborhood Strategy Force and her concerns over the impact of Habitat for Humanity in Optimist Park and Belmont. Mrs. Justice also recalls her late father, Edward Roberts, and his work with Norfolk Southern Railway and the Charlotte Country Club, where he was the green keeper for many years. Continuing her discussion of education from her second interview, she describes her high school education at the integrated Charlotte Catholic School.

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

Municipal officials and employees
Postal service--Employees

Justice, Girvaud, 1944-

Habitat for Humanity Charlotte, Inc.
Belmont Neighborhood Strategy Force

African American neighborhoods
Gentrification
City planning
Community development corporations
Community development, Urban
Citizens' associations

North Carolina--Charlotte
North Carolina--Charlotte--Belmont
North Carolina--Charlotte--Optimist Park

Interviews
Oral histories

1960-2010

Civil rights and desegregation in Charlotte

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

Girvaud Justice oral history interview 1, 2006 August 6, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (https://goldmine.uncc.edu/islandora/object/uncc%3A320); Girvaud Justice oral history interview 2, 2006 August 11, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (https://goldmine.uncc.edu/islandora/object/uncc%3A326); Girvaud Justice oral history interview 4, 2006 September 22, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (https://goldmine.uncc.edu/islandora/object/uncc%3A282)

OH-JU0526