Stanford Brookshire oral history interview 1, 1973 February 16

Description

Stanford "Stan" Brookshire, the former four-term mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina from 1961-1969, talks about his early life and his time as mayor. He describes his hometown, Troutman, North Carolina, and growing up on a farm that employed tenant farmers. He discusses how the Great Depression affected Charlotte and it also forced his father's business to shut down. After that business went under, he and his brother founded the Engineering Sales Company, where Mr. Brookshire was president. Mr. Brookshire talks about how he was the president of the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce but did not consider himself politically active during the 1940s and 1950s. He describes how he was convinced by many people to run for mayor, including J. Murrey Atkins, as a business-minded candidate who could be competitive against the more liberal Martha Evans. He discusses candidates who he ran against during his multiple campaigns for mayor of Charlotte, including Martha Evans, and describes how he did not try to appeal to the Black vote. Mr. Brookshire recounts running for his fourth term as mayor, which was unprecedented at the time, and how he faced opposition from two former mayors and others because of not moving more quickly with urban renewal in Charlotte. Mr. Brookshire discusses in detail his involvement as mayor of Charlotte on the desegregation of public restaurants and other businesses during the 1960s through establishing the Community Relations Committee and working with the business community. He discusses community unrest in response to the bombing of four civil rights leader's homes in Charlotte in 1965. He also talks about his personal views against interracial relationships, but in favor of equal rights and opportunities for African Americans.