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Title
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Tom Gilmore oral history interview, 1996 September 29
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Interviewee
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Gilmore, Thomas Odell, Sr., 1936-
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Interviewer
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Lorick, Timothy J.
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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
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Date of Interview
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1996-09-29
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Physical Description
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1 audio file (47:36) : digital, MP3
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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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Tom Gilmore was a 59-year-old man at the time of interview. He was born in Julian, North Carolina in 1936. He was educated at Liberty High School and North Carolina State University, and was employed as a politician and co-owner of Gilmore Plant and Bulb Co., a landscaping and nursery company.
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Abstract
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Tom Gilmore discusses his career in North Carolina politics and in his family business, Gilmore Plant and Bulb. Born in Julian, North Carolina in 1936, he describes being very close as a young boy to an African American boy of the same age. Mr. Gilmore was excited to begin school with his friend, but upon learning from his mother that segregation prohibited whites and blacks from attending school together, he and his brother attempted to paint his friend's face white. This formative event solidified Mr. Gilmore's lifelong belief that all people should be treated equally. He describes attending North Carolina State University for a degree in horticulture beginning in 1955, and taking an active role in campus politics. Most notably among the sixteen organizations he was involved with, he talks about being president of the Young Democrats of America organization on campus and holding office alongside former governor Jim Hunt, former Charlotte mayor Eddie Knox, and other young men who later went on to have careers in politics. Mr. Gilmore describes helping Jesse Jackson start his career in politics by appointing him as a delegate to the Young Democrats of America convention in 1963. His support of civil rights legislation in the 1960s made him a target of white supremacists and Ku Klux Klan members, who threatened the lives of Mr. Gilmore and his family. Mr. Gilmore discusses being a delegate to the 1964 and 1968 Democratic National Conventions, serving as president of the national Young Democrats association, then running and winning a seat in the N.C. House of Representatives in 1972. He discusses legislation he successfully introduced or fought for as a House representative, including the introduction of public kindergarten and making the Venus flytrap an endangered species. Mr. Gilmore talks about leaving his safe seat in the House in 1978 to become the Deputy Secretary of Human Resources, where he got to implement some of the legislation he had passed. He also recounts his failed campaigns for governor in 1984 and senator in 1988.
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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 analog audio cassette and digitized using a Digidesign 003 rack.
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Subjects--Names
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Gilmore, Thomas Odell, Sr., 1936-
Hunt, James B., 1937-
Knox, Eddie, 1937-
Jackson, Jesse, 1941-
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Subjects--Organizations
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Gilmore Plant and Bulb Co.
North Carolina State University
Young Democratic Clubs of America
Democratic Party (U.S.)
Ku Klux Klan (1915- )
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Subjects--Topics
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Businesspeople
Politicians
Legislators
African Americans--Segregation
Segregation in education
Civil rights movements
Political participation
Legislation
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Subjects--Geographic
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North Carolina--Julian
North Carolina--Randolph County
North Carolina--Guilford County
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Subjects--Genre
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Interviews
Oral histories
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Coverage--Dates
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1940-2000
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Digital Collection Title
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David Goldfield student project on change in the Charlotte region
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Digital Project Title
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Living Charlotte : the postwar development of a New South city
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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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Grant Information
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Digitization made possible by funding from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources.
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Internet Media Type
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audio/mpeg
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Identifier
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GF-GI0110
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Handle URL
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http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/uncc:95