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Title
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Ben E. Douglas oral history interview 2, 1979 May 23
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Interviewee
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Douglas, Ben E. (Ben Elbert), 1894-1981
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Interviewer
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Perzel, Edward Spaulding
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Place of Publication
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Charlotte, North Carolina
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Publisher
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J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections & University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
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Date of Interview
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1979-05-23
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Physical Description
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1 audio file (32:35) : digital, MP3 + 1 transcript (13 pages : PDF)
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Object Type
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Audio
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Genre
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spoken word
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Language
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eng
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Interviewee Biography
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Ben E. Douglas was a 84-year-old man at the time of interview, which took place in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was born in Iredell County, North Carolina in 1894. He was educated at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and was employed as a funeral director. He also owned Douglas Furs and was mayor of Charlotte (1935-1941).
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Abstract
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Ben Douglas discusses his tenure as mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina from 1935 to 1941. He discusses the structure of city government in the 1920s and explains that he was the first Charlotte mayor to be directly elected by voters. He describes the difficulties the city faced during the Great Depression, and the roles the Works Progress Administration and the Public Works Administration played in helping the city, which included the construction of Memorial Hospital, Independence Boulevard, and Douglas Airport (now Charlotte-Douglas International Airport). Other topics discussed include the challenges in building the airport, the importance of building roads, and his personal relationship with the Roosevelts and the administration.
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Digital Object Notes
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MP3 access copy created on ingest from WAV preservation master. Interview originally recorded on reel to reel, duplicate audio analog cassette digitized using a Digidesign 003 rack.
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Subjects--Names
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Douglas, Ben E. (Ben Elbert), 1894-1981
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Subjects--Organizations
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Charlotte-Douglas International Airport
United States. Works Progress Administration
United States. Public Works Administration
Charlotte Memorial Hospital (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Subjects--Topics
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Businesspeople
Mayors
Undertakers and undertaking
Fur workers
Depressions
Municipal government
Urban transportation
Airports--Planning
City planning
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Subjects--Geographic
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North Carolina--Charlotte
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Subjects--Genre
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Interviews
Oral histories
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Coverage--Dates
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1920-1980
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Rights
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The materials included on this web site are freely available for private study, scholarship or non-commercial research under the fair use provisions of the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, United States Code). Any use beyond the provisions of fair use, including but not limited to commercial or scholarly publication, broadcast, redistribution or mounting on another web site always require prior written permission and may also be subject to additional restrictions and fees. UNC Charlotte does not hold literary rights to all materials in its collections and the researcher is responsible for securing those rights when needed. Copyright information for specific collections is available upon request.
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Internet Media Type
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audio/mpeg
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Related Interviews
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Ben E. Douglas oral history interview 1, April 22, 1972. J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
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Related Materials
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Ben E. Douglas papers, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, https://findingaids.uncc.edu/repositories/4/resources/457
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Identifier
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OH-DO0189
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Handle URL
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http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/uncc:1166
