City of Creeks oral history project

Some remember swimming in Charlotte creeks, before city pools were open to black citizens. Some remember finding pollution – raw sewage, industrial chemicals – in city creeks. Others recall baptisms, and using springs near the creeks as a water source.

For more than a year, researchers at KEEPING WATCH on WATER: City of Creeks have collected oral histories focusing on the waterways of Mecklenburg County. Funded by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, UNC Charlotte history graduate student Tenille Todd interviewed and filmed almost two dozen people. The video recordings and transcripts will be deposited at the UNC Charlotte Atkins Library’s Special Collections.

Following are edited selections from the oral histories. The first group, “Creeks in memory,” describes remembrances of the creeks. The second group, “Pollution past and present,” offers information about pollution problems. Scroll below for videos featuring: Wenonah Haire; Grady Walker; Curley Hall; Laura Rankin; Rickey Hall; Les Todd; current and former Cherry residents Doris Dennis, Ruthie Hamlin, Charles Patton, Everett Taylor and Richard Perry; current and former Grier Heights residents Hawthorn Broadway, L.C. Clifton, Marvin Price, George Wallace and Willie Davis; Pat Stith; Jonathan Belton; Ed and Pozy Menhinick; Bill Stokes; Rusty Rozzelle.