House, Nettie S., 1924-

Spencer, Kevin

Charlotte, North Carolina

J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections

2006-10-24

1 audio file (46:18) : digital, MP3

sound recording-nonmusical

spoken word

eng

Nettie House was an 81-year-old woman at the time of interview. She was born in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1924. She had a high school education and was employed as a part time financial counselor and teacher's assistant.

Charlotte native Nettie House describes her life growing up in Charlotte's Belmont neighborhood, her experiences during World War II, and her married life in Charlotte during the postwar period. Her father came to Charlotte from Union County to work in textile mills as a weaver, settling in Belmont in a four-room mill house that the family eventually purchased. Mrs. House discusses the immediate community around her home, locally known as "Mill Hill." She describes the games she played with friends, her walk to the local schools of Villa Heights Elementary School and Charlotte Technical High School, and her trips to uptown Charlotte to see movies, to shop, and for work in Woolworth's when she was a teenager. Despite the deprivations of the Depression, Mrs. House remembers her childhood as rich and recalls the relative freedom that children had during this era in comparison to later generations, as well as the spirit of sharing within the community. Mrs. House married during the war and traveled with her husband to Jacksonville, Florida where he was stationed on a naval base, and where she found work overhauling airplane wing parts. Continuing her life history, Mrs. House recounts her husband's ability in baseball that secured his job with Charlotte's Lance Inc. so that he could play for the company team and her own work with Lance in their credit union. She also relates her personal experiences of integration and the diversifying population of her Merry Oaks neighborhood in Charlotte, stressing her Christian belief that people should live together harmoniously and the importance of building personal relationships across races.

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

Background noise

Credit unions--Employees
Teachers' assistants

House, Nettie S., 1924-

Lance Inc.
Villa Heights Elementary School (Charlotte, N.C.)
Charlotte Technical High School (Charlotte, N.C.)

World War (1939-1945)

Textile workers
Depressions
Race relations
School integration

North Carolina--Charlotte
North Carolina--Charlotte--Belmont
Florida--Jacksonville

Interviews
Oral histories

1930-2010

David Goldfield student project on change in the Charlotte region

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

GF-HO0330