Cone, Bonnie E., 1907-2003

Perzel, Edward Spaulding

Charlotte, North Carolina

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

1987-12-01

1 audio file (1:33:13) : digital, MP3 + 1 transcript (49 pages : PDF)

sound recording-nonmusical

spoken word

eng

Bonnie Ethel Cone was an 80-year-old woman at the time of interview, which took place in J. Murrey Atkins Library at UNC Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was born in Lodge, South Carolina in 1907 and was educated at Coker College and Duke University. She was employed as a teacher, as Director of the Charlotte Center of the University of North Carolina, as President of Charlotte College, and as Acting Chancellor and later Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

In this first of a series of interviews conducted by Dr. Ed Perzel (former Chair of the Department of History and Associate Dean for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at UNC Charlotte), Bonnie Cone discusses the early years of what eventually became the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She describes the origins of the Charlotte College Center in the mid-1940s with its 274 veteran students, one of whom was a woman, and how, later, Charlotte College and Carver College made up the Charlotte Community College System. Ms. Cone relates how she came to be involved with the center as a teacher and subsequently as its director, following the directorship of Charlie Bernard. She recalls particular students and relates what they went on to do after graduation; discusses long-time faculty members Mary Denny, Pierre Macy, Edyth Winningham, and Herbert Hechenbleikner; and explains the contributions of men like Elmer Garinger, Woody Kennedy, Murrey Atkins, and Governor Dan Moore to the development of the college. Ms. Cone describes the process of achieving sufficient funding for the Charlotte Community College System, the process of passing state legislation to make Charlotte College the fourth campus of the University of North Carolina System, and the process of purchasing the land that is now the site of UNC Charlotte. Other topics include the first black students at Charlotte College, the relationship between Charlotte College and Central High School, which initially shared a campus, as well as Ms. Cone's work during World War II and her feelings regarding being a woman in a prominent leadership role.

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

College administrators
College presidents

Cone, Bonnie E., 1907-2003
Perzel, Edward Spaulding
Garinger, Elmer Henry, 1891-
Kennedy, W. A. (Woodford Armstrong), 1895-1958
Moore, Daniel Killian, 1906-1986
Hechenbleikner, Herbert, 1909-2004
Denny, Mary Rebecca, 1896-1979
Macy, Pierre

University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Charlotte College
Carver College (Charlotte, N.C.)
Central High School (Charlotte, N.C.)

Education, Higher
Community colleges
Women college presidents
Women community college presidents
College-student veterans
North Carolina. General Assembly

North Carolina--Charlotte

Interviews
Oral histories

1940-1990

UNC Charlotte Oral History Interviews

Interviews with Bonnie E. Cone

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

audio/mpeg

Multiple interviews were conducted with Bonnie Cone by Ed Perzel and others. These and other interviews about Bonnie Cone can be found by using “Bonnie Cone” as a search term.

Bonnie Ethel Cone papers (MS0112), J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte. (https://findingaids.uncc.edu/repositories/4/resources/406); Charlotte College Center records (UA0033), J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte. (https://findingaids.uncc.edu/repositories/6/resources/75); Charlotte College records (UA0034), J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte. (https://findingaids.uncc.edu/repositories/6/resources/76); Charlotte College photographs (UA0065), J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Available online at (https://goldmine.uncc.edu/index/render/pid/ua:uapcc); Carver College records (MS0063), J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte. (https://findingaids.uncc.edu/repositories/4/resources/266); Charlotte Community College System minutes (UA0092), J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte. (https://findingaids.uncc.edu/repositories/6/resources/837);

UA-CO0016