Oral history interview with Laura B. Waddell, August 6, 2002
Subtitle: interview R-0175, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: Taylor, Kieran Walsh, interviewer; Southern Oral History Program; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Documenting the American South (Project); University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library
Edition: Electronic ed.
Publisher: University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill
Published: 2007
Place of publication: [Chapel Hill, N.C.]
Language: eng
Subjects: Interviews; Women tailors; African American businesspeople; African Americans; Segregation; Race relations; Economic conditions
Other titles: Interview R-0175, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with Laura B. Waddell, August 6, 2002; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: Laura Waddell grew up in Savannah, Georgia, and after finishing eleventh grade, found a job as a seamstress in a shop off West Broad Street in the city's downtown district. Waddell earned a reputation, and a good living, as a skilled seamstress, eventually opening her own business. Waddell's enthusiasm for her work helped her build a successful career, and at the time of the interview, in August 2002, she had only recently retired. While she was aware of some of the tensions of the civil rights movement, she did not participate in protests or boycotts; instead, she tried to convince her peers that her work did not benefit the white shopkeeper who leased her space. Waddell become more involved in civic activity later in life, when she helped found the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum and became an active member of her church. This interview provides a portrait of a woman carving out a space for herself in segregated Savannah.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on Nov. 26, 2008).

Interview participants: Laura B. Waddell, interviewee; Kieran Taylor, interviewer.

Duration: 01:17:02.

This electronic edition is part of the UNC-Chapel Hill digital library, Documenting the American South.  It is a part of the collection Oral histories of the American South.

Text encoded by Jennifer Joyner.  Sound recordings digitized by Aaron Smithers.

Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 132 kilobytes, 141 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series R, Special research projects, interview R-0175, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Transcribed by Linda Killen. Original transcript: 25 p.

Funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services supported the electronic publication of this interview.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

System requirements:  Web browser with Javascript enabled and multimedia player.