Oral history interview with Joe Herzenberg, November 18, 1985
Subtitle: Interview K-0008. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: Dexter, Mary (Mary L.), 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: 2004
Place of publication: [Chapel Hill, N.C.]
Language: eng
Subjects: Interviews; Water quality; Water-supply; Politics and government; Orange Water and Sewer Authority (N.C.)
Other titles: Interview K-0008, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with Joe Herzenberg, November 18, 1985; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: Herzenberg, a Chapel Hill politico whose specific role is not identified in this interview, voices his support for the Cane Creek reservoir project. The Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) was squaring off against residents of the Cane Creek area outside of Chapel Hill over plans to construct a reservoir to meet growing water needs in Chapel Hill, needs that OWASA asserted could not be met by other nearby bodies of water. Herzenberg finds the Cane Creek residents' efforts to be disingenuous and ultimately ineffectual: he sees them as elites masquerading as simple farmers to generate support and thinks their legal tactics will only delay the inevitable. This interview presents the perspective of an unpopular plan's supporter. His belief in the necessity of Cane Creek seems to frustrate the interviewer, who focuses more on pressing him over the utility of University Lake than the implications of creating the reservoir.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on Aug. 30, 2007).

Interview participants: Joe Herzenberg, interviewee; Mary Dexter, interviewer.

Duration: 01:35:31

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

Text encoded by Apex Data Services, Inc. and Natalia Smith.

Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3; ca. 174.9MB)

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series K, Southern communities, interview K-0008, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Original transcript: 24 p.

Funding from the University of North Carolina Library supported the electronic publication of this interview.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

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