Interviews

Interview with Marie Cirillo by David Cline, May 26 2010, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill

Eighty-one year-old Brooklyn, N.Y. native, Marie Cirillo has spent the last forty-two years of her life as a community organizer in Appalachia. There she has worked closely with natives to the area to create independently run nonprofits, land trusts, women’s organizations, and living/learning centers. She spends this interview discussing how her background led her to …

Interview with Marie Cirillo by David Cline, May 26 2010, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill Read More »

Interview with Laura Heise by Elizabeth Cooper, March 31 2012, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill

Overview of work at Rural Advancement Fund; 70s at Oberlin College; overview of history and content of Agricultural Marketing Project in Tennessee; overview on farmers market organizing and environmental organizing in the 70s; background on Health fairs in Tennessee – Center for Health Services, Vanderbilt begun by Bill Dow; experience at Cornell for a Masters …

Interview with Laura Heise by Elizabeth Cooper, March 31 2012, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill Read More »

Interview with Suzanne Kurth by Joey Fink, May 11 2011, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill

Suzanne Kurth is a professor of sociology at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Dr. Kurth was interviewed about her experiences as a professor and feminist at the University since the 1970s. Topics discussed in this interview include: gendered differences in treatment of faculty members in the 1970s; the women’s movement in Knoxville, Tenn. and …

Interview with Suzanne Kurth by Joey Fink, May 11 2011, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill Read More »

Interview with June Rostan by Jessie Wilkerson, July 6 2009, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill

June Rostan is a long time community and labor activist in east Tennessee. She was born on May 8, 1947, in Valdese, North Carolina. Rostan received her B.A. from Maryville College in 1969 and her M.A. in Special Education from Appalachian State University in 1970. In the early 1970s Rostan went to Italy with the …

Interview with June Rostan by Jessie Wilkerson, July 6 2009, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill Read More »

Interview with Mary Herr by Jessie Wilkerson, May 19 2011, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill

Mary Herr was born in Springfield, Ill. in 1940. In 1978 she moved to Cherokee, N.C. where she has worked on many community development projects, primarily in legal aid services. Herr begins the interview by discussing her family history; a history of suicide on her mother’s side of the family; memories of growing up on …

Interview with Mary Herr by Jessie Wilkerson, May 19 2011, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill Read More »

Interview with Neil McBride by Jessie Wilkerson, May 27 2010, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill

Neil McBride was born on December 12, 1945 in Dallas, Texas. He received his J.D. from the University of Virginia in 1970. After graduating, he worked for a year as the Southern Director of the Law Students Civil Rights Research Council in Atlanta, GA. He then worked for a year as a staff attorney on …

Interview with Neil McBride by Jessie Wilkerson, May 27 2010, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill Read More »

Interview with Melody Reeves by Joey Fink, August 9 2010, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill

Melody Reeves grew up in California in the 1960s, with many childhood trips back to the South to visit extended family. She moved to east Tennessee in 1979 to work with Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM), then with the Tennessee Valley Energy Commission, and moved in and out of the artistic community in Knoxville in …

Interview with Melody Reeves by Joey Fink, August 9 2010, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill Read More »

Interview with Susan Williams by Jessie Wilkerson, July 10 2009, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill

Susan Williams grew up in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and she received her degree in Biology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 1979. From 1979-1989, she worked as a community organizer for Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM). She then went to work for the Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, TN where she …

Interview with Susan Williams by Jessie Wilkerson, July 10 2009, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill Read More »

Interview with Linda L. Smotherman by Evangeline Mee, 31 May 2012, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill

Linda Smotherman is from the Piney community in Van Buren County, Tenn.. She became president of Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM) in 1983. She started college at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) in 1968. She finished at the Medical Laboratory School at MTSU in 1972. She worked at River Park Hospital in McMinnville, Tenn., until …

Interview with Linda L. Smotherman by Evangeline Mee, 31 May 2012, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill Read More »

Interview with Connie White by Jessie Wilkerson, August 16 2010, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill

Connie White was born on December 8, 1954 in Loudon, Tenn. She became active in the environmental justice organization Save Our Cumberland Mountains in the 1970s and later served as President. She is currently the Associate Director of the Center for Literacy Studies at the University of Tennessee. Connie White discusses her family’s history in …

Interview with Connie White by Jessie Wilkerson, August 16 2010, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill Read More »