Patton, Connie, 1925-

Howard, Debbie

Charlotte, North Carolina

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

2005-05-02

1 audio file (40:34) : digital, MP3

sound recording-nonmusical

spoken word

eng

Connie Patton was an 80-year-old man at the time of interview, which took place in his home in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was born in Charlotte in 1925. He was educated at Second Ward High School and Carver College, and was employed as a postal worker and as a baggage handler.

Connie Patton shares his memories of his family, school life, and the Brooklyn neighborbood in Charlotte where he grew up during the 1930s and 1940s. Mr. Patton describes the Brooklyn of his youth as a close knit African American community with socioeconomically and occupationally diverse residents. He reminisces about the many jobs he held as a boy and teenager in the local area, including working at the Myers Park golf course, working a paper route, and working in a drug store, and describes how the teachers would accommodate schedules for students who worked at night. He also describes details of daily life during his youth in Brooklyn, including how teachers and neighbors would help each other and keep an eye on children, and how children respected their elders. Mr. Patton talks positively about his experiences attending the segregated Morgan Elementary School and Second Ward High School, and describes his teachers at both schools as being excellent, well educated, and involved. He also describes being drafted into the military during World War II, followed by attending Carver College in 1949, an evening college for returning African American veterans located in Second Ward High School.

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

Postal service--Employees

Patton, Connie, 1925-

Second Ward High School (Charlotte, N.C.)
Morgan Elementary School (Charlotte, N.C.)
Carver College (Charlotte, N.C.)
United States. Navy

World War (1939-1945)

African American neighborhoods
African Americans--Segregation
Segregation in education
Student activities
Social values
Youth--Employment
Soldiers

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

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

Connie Patton oral history interview 2, 2007 April 02, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (https://goldmine.uncc.edu/islandora/object/uncc%3A2580)

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