Vaughn, Mary, 1938-

Thompson, Valerie

Charlotte, North Carolina

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

2006-11-18

1 audio file (40:04) : digital, MP3

sound recording-nonmusical

spoken word

eng

Mary Vaughn was a 68-year-old woman at the time of interview, which took place in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was born in Charlotte in 1938. She attended but did not complete high school.

Mary Vaughn describes her experiences growing up in the segregated Charlotte neighborhood of Brooklyn and shares her opinions on social issues at the time of interview. She recalls the poor quality of the homes in her neighborhood and how her family was forced to relocate in the 1960s when the Brooklyn neighborhood was torn down during urban renewal. Ms. Vaughn explains how blacks faced discrimination during the 1950s and 1960s as they were prohibited from entering many public businesses, including restaurants and movie theaters. She also discusses important challenges faced by blacks at the time of the interview. Specifically, she states her opinion that unfair housing policies persisted in the 2000s, since urban revitalization was encouraging the gentrification of neighborhoods and pushing longtime residents out much as it did during urban renewal in the 1960s. Ms. Vaughn also describes how blacks in low wage jobs suffer because they have fewer financial resources and struggle to maintain their self-sufficiency. In addition, she discusses the negative influence of drugs on African American men, and her belief that drugs have led to increased violence and higher unemployment among young black men.

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

Laundry workers

Vaughn, Mary, 1938-

African Americans--Drug use
Gentrification
Race discrimination
Segregation
Urban renewal
Working poor

North Carolina--Charlotte
North Carolina--Charlotte--Brooklyn
North Carolina--Charlotte--Second Ward

Interviews
Oral histories

1930-2010

Student project on the Charlotte African American community

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

OH-VA0474

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/uncc:351