Sawyer, Vernon Lupton, 1922-

Harpe, Jason

Charlotte, North Carolina

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

2004-04-19

1 audio file (54:50) : digital, MP3 + 1 transcript (35 pages)

sound recording-nonmusical

spoken word

eng

Vernon Sawyer was an 81-year-old man at the time of interview, which took place over the phone. He was born in Hyde County, North Carolina in 1922. He graduated from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in 1952 with a Master of Regional Planning degree and was employed as a city and regional planner and as the executive director of the Charlotte Redevelopment Commission.

Vernon Sawyer recounts his experiences as the executive director of the Charlotte Redevelopment Commission, which was responsible for Charlotte, North Carolina's urban renewal program in the 1960s and 1970s. Mr. Sawyer talks in detail about urban renewal in Charlotte's Brooklyn neighborhood, including selecting Brooklyn first for urban renewal, poor housing conditions, Avery Hood, a social worker responsible for helping to relocate Brooklyn residents, and the advantage of having an African American relocation director, Edward Waddell. He also discusses working as a city and regional planner in Norfolk, Virginia prior to moving to Charlotte, integration in neighborhoods and offices, negative public sentiment towards urban renewal, and facing multiple lawsuits filed by the Legal Aid Society.

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

Interview conducted over telephone. Gap in audio where the tape turns over about 20 seconds long toward the end of the recording.

City planners
Executives

Sawyer, Vernon Lupton, 1922-

Charlotte Redevelopment Commission
Charlotte (N.C.). City Council
Legal Aid Society (New York, N.Y.)

Urban renewal
African American neighborhoods
Discrimination in housing
Eminent domain
City planning
Public housing--Resident satisfaction
Race relations

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

Interviews
Oral histories

1940-2010

Student project on Second Ward

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This material is protected by copyright. Copyright is held by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

audio/mpeg

John Thrower oral history interview, 2004 September 4, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (https://goldmine.uncc.edu/islandora/object/uncc%3A2675); Donald G. Bryant oral history interview, 2004 March 24, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (https://goldmine.uncc.edu/islandora/object/uncc%3A2679); Bill Veeder oral history interview, 2004 April 4, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (https://goldmine.uncc.edu/islandora/object/uncc%3A2678)

Charlotte Redevelopment Commission records, MS0350, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (https://goldmine.uncc.edu/islandora/object/mss%3Acharred)

OH-SA0394

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/uncc:2676