Latimer, Mable, 1934-

Reed, Lynn

Charlotte, North Carolina

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

2005-04-18

1 audio file (50:15) : digital, MP3 + 1 transcript (18 pages)

sound recording-nonmusical

spoken word

eng

Mable Latimer was a 70-year-old woman at the time of interview, which took place in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was born in Charlotte in 1934. She was educated at West Charlotte High School and North Carolina Central University, and was employed as a businesswoman and a private investigator.

Mable Latimer reflects on her experiences at West Charlotte High School, both as a student during the late 1940s and early 1950s, and after coming back to the school as a volunteer in the 2000s. Education was segregated at the time in North Carolina, and only black students attended West Charlotte until 1970. Ms. Latimer believes that when she attended West Charlotte the teachers were highly experienced and the parents were deeply involved in the education of their students. She describes the West Charlotte of the 2000s as having less experienced teachers and less involved parents of students. Ms. Latimer discusses her thoughts on various problems within the Charlotte Mecklenburg school system and proposes what she sees as several possible solutions, including hiring more qualified educators with experience in mentoring at-risk, low income students and encouraging abstinence education. Ms. Latimer also reflects on the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision on school desegregation, which happened while she was attending college, and the integration of Charlotte's schools. Ms. Latimer closes the interview with some words of advice and encouragement to low income and high risk students.

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

Private investigators
Businesspeople

Latimer, Mable, 1934-

West Charlotte High School (Charlotte, N.C.)
Fairview Elementary School (Charlotte, N.C.)
Biddleville Elementary School (Charlotte, N.C.)

African American students
Segregation in education
School integration
African American neighborhoods
Students--Social life and customs
Parent-teacher relationships
Race relations
Segregation in education
Volunteer workers in education

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

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

BB-LA0021