Babb, Mary Lou, 1948-

Williams, Jill

Babb, James G., 1932-

Charlotte, North Carolina

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

1999-07-14

1 audio file (0:46:23) : digital, MP3

Audio

spoken word

eng

Mary Lou Babb and Jim Babb were interviewed at their home in Charlotte, North Carolina. Mary Lou Babb was a 51-year-old woman at the time of interview and was born in Charlotte in 1948. She was educated at Central High School and the Women’s College at the University of North Carolina; and served as the chair of the board of trustees and interim director of the Mint Museum of Art, and as president of the YWCA Central Carolinas board of directors.James G. “Jim” Babb, Jr. was a 67-year-old man at the time of interview. He was born in New York City, New York in 1932 and was educated at Central High School, Charlotte College, and Belmont Abbey College. He was employed in several positions at WBTV and WBT Radio in Charlotte and served as president and CEO of Jefferson Pilot Communications in Greensboro, North Carolina, president of Outlet Communications in Providence, Rhode Island, executive vice president of Bahakel Communications in Charlotte, and president of Babb Communications.

Mary Lou and James "Jim" Babb recount their family's experiences attending West Charlotte High School during the height of school busing for integration in Charlotte, North Carolina during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Topics discussed include their daughter Julie's experience in the open school program; their son Jimmy's experience on West Charlotte's first soccer team; and how the PTA brought white and black parents together. They also discuss their frustration with the ongoing lawsuit against the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools' busing program, which they see as trying to undo twenty-five years of hard work and will lead to the resegregation of the school system.

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

Babb, Mary Lou, 1948-
Babb, James G., 1932-

West Charlotte High School (Charlotte, N.C.)
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools

Homemakers
Executives
Volunteers
Television broadcasting--Employees
Open plan schools
School integration
Busing for school integration
Race relations
Public schools
Students
Parents' and teachers' associations

North Carolina--Charlotte
North Carolina--Charlotte--Myers Park

Interviews
Oral histories

1970-2000

Levine Museum of the New South

West Charlotte High School during integration

Use of this resource is governed by the terms of the Creative Commons "Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike" license.
This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

audio/mpeg

James G. Babb, Jr. oral history interview, 2013 July 18, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (https://goldmine.uncc.edu/index/render/object/pid/uncc:2563/parentPID/is...)

MU-BA0310

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/uncc:5174