Bonnie Cone Sawyer was a 76-year-old woman at the time of interview, which took place in Faye Reynolds’s home in Fort Mill, South Carolina. She was born in Grants Pass, Oregon, in 1937. She was educated at Coker College in Hartsville, South Carolina, and was employed as a teacher. Faye Reynolds was a 76-year-old woman at the time of interview, which took place in her home in Fort Mill, South Carolina. She was born in Kannapolis, North Carolina, in 1937 and was educated at Coker College in Hartsville, South Carolina, and at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. She was employed as a teacher in Virginia, Florida, Tennessee, and North Carolina and as a guidance counselor in Reidsville, North Carolina.
In this interview, Bonnie Cone Sawyer, niece and namesake of Bonnie Cone, and Faye Reynolds, friend of both the aunt and niece, share their memories of Bonnie Cone and give insight into her personal life. Mrs. Sawyer recalls her childhood memories of Ms. Cone including family get-togethers at her grandparents' home. She explains Ms. Cone's family background, including education, religion, relationship with her parents, and her hometown of Lodge, South Carolina. Describing Ms. Cone as competitive and a perfectionist, Mrs. Sawyer traces Ms. Cone's life from Lodge to Coker College, comments on how these experiences shaped her, and explains how she came to be in Charlotte. She recalls Charlotte College's transition to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, shares the family's reaction to Ms. Cone's not being given the chancellorship, and describes her later years, including the decision for Ms. Cone to be buried on campus. Mrs. Reynolds discusses her connection to Bonnie Cone at Central High School in Charlotte as well as Ms. Cone's influence in getting her to Coker College and introducing her to Bonnie Cone Sawyer, who became her college roommate. Other topics include Ms. Cone's recreational pastimes and love of nature and music, her property in Lodge, her living arrangements in Charlotte and her neighbors including Moutaz Khouja and Loy Witherspoon, her first car, her political and religious persuasion and views on romance; and Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte. Mrs. Sawyer concludes the interview by reading a piece she wrote for her children explaining what her Aunt Bonnie meant to her.
