Leeper, Hattie, 1930-

Wright, Christina

Charlotte, North Carolina

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

2006-12-12

1 audio file (1:21:03) : digital, MP3 + 1 transcript (23 pages : PDF)

sound recording-nonmusical

spoken word

eng

Hattie Leeper was around 76 years old at the time of interview, which took place at her home in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was born in Edgemoor, South Carolina in 1930. She attended Central Piedmont Community College, earned a Master’s in Education Administration, and was employed as a disc jockey at WGIV, WRPL, and WAYS radio stations; the chair of the broadcasting department at Gaston College; and the founder and owner of Chatty School of Communication.

In the second of three interviews, "Chatty" Hattie Leeper discusses her career with AM radio station WGIV in Charlotte, North Carolina as a DJ during the 1940s-1960s. Mrs. Leeper describes the mix of music and talk played at the station, the types of programming throughout the day, and how the station featured both national popular music and local artists. She describes how the station's employees and listeners were diverse, but the station was characterized as predominantly black, particularly in the early days. While advertisers on WGIV in the beginning were all black-owned businesses, Mrs. Leeper describes how white merchants soon began advertising on the station as well. She discusses the service mission of the radio station in the community and memorable guests on her program, ranging from local Charlotte residents to Ike and Tina Turner. Mrs. Leeper also recounts how she got her start as a DJ while a sophomore in high school.

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

Entrepreneurs
Disc jockeys
Radio journalists
College teachers

Leeper, Hattie, 1930-

WGIV (Radio station : Charlotte, N.C.)

Disc jockeys
Popular music radio stations
African American radio stations
Radio broadcasting
Radio broadcasters
Radio audiences
Radio broadcasting--Social aspects
Radio advertising

North Carolina--Charlotte

Interviews
Oral histories

1940-2010

Charlotte regional oral history

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

OH-LE0437

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/uncc:361