Henry, Sue L.

Burford, Joshua D., 1974-

Charlotte, North Carolina

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

2016-08-16

1 audio file (52:14) : digital, MP3

sound recording-nonmusical

spoken word

eng

Sue Henry was a 64-year-old woman at the time of interview, which took place in the Charlotte Pride offices in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was born in Connellsville, Pennsylvania in 1952. She was educated at the University of Southern Florida and Towson University and she was employed as a librarian at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and ran her own business, Rising Moon Books & Beyond in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was also the first out lesbian to run for Mayor of Charlotte.

In this second interview Sue Henry, the owner of the Rising Moon Books & Beyond bookstore in Charlotte, North Carolina from 1991 to 1997, and the first out lesbian to run for Mayor of Charlotte in 1995, discusses the process of opening and operating her bookstore. She describes how she used the feminist model of community shared space as a model for running Rising Moon Books & Beyond, and the impact the bookstore had on the local community. She details how the bookstore provided space for events, meetings, and organizing as well as offering emotional support for community members. There were three Rising Moon Books & Beyond locations, two in Charlotte, (the first on East Blvd in Dilworth and the second in North Charlotte --NoDa-- where the store shared space with St. Ruby's Java Joint), and one in Wilmington, North Carolina. The interview concludes with a discussion about the political climate of Charlotte in relation to the LGBTQ community since the 1990s, stressing the varying success of political activism.

MP3 access copy created on ingest from WAV preservation master. Interview originally recorded on a Zoom H5 Handy Recorder with XY modular mic.

Librarians
Businesspeople

Henry, Sue L.

Rising Moon Books & Beyond (Charlotte, N.C.)

Feminism
Gay activists
Gay liberation movement
Lesbians
Lesbian community
Women's bookstores
Women in community organization

North Carolina--Charlotte

Interviews
Oral histories

1990-2020

Charlotte LGBTQ+ oral histories

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audio/mpeg

Sue Henry oral history Interview 1, July 30, 2016 J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Sue Henry papers, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte. (https://findingaids.uncc.edu/repositories/4/resources/535)

QH-HE0023