Brenda Steadman oral history interview, 2021 April 5

Description

Brenda Steadman shares her experience as an undergraduate student at UNC Charlotte from August 1970 to May 1974. [All times approximate] Brenda discusses being the first person in her family to attend a four year university [1:42], she shares what factored into her decision to attend UNC Charlotte [7:14], her experience being in Charlotte and walking the campus of UNC Charlotte for the first time as a young woman from a rural town [10:48], she describes the community developed with other African American rural students, and her first interaction with her freshman year roommate who called Brenda to determine whether she was white or black before the start of the semester [16:56]. Brenda talks about the Black Studies department and the guidance provided by Dr. Bertha Maxwell Roddy [18:38], she describes the difficulties that she and other Black students in her cohort experienced at UNC Charlotte and the lessons they learned [26:19], she talks about her participation with the Black Student Union [31:27], she describes meeting her husband while attending UNC Charlotte [40:11]. Brenda also mentions the student reactions to the Charlotte Three and the Wilmington Ten [42:39], skipping class to meet Shirley Chisholm [44:28], and how she hopes current Black students will connect with the past [52:20].