Oral history interview with Raymond, Eunice, Wayne, and Charles Russell English, December 8, 1999
Subtitle: interview K-0280, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: English, Eunice, interviewee; English, Wayne, interviewee; English, Charles Russell, 1944?- interviewee; Thompson, Charles D., Jr. (Charles Dillard), 1956- interviewer; Amberg, Rob, 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: 2005
Place of publication: [Chapel Hill, N.C.]
Language: eng
Subjects: Interviews; Hurricane Floyd, 1999; Floods; Flood damage; Disaster relief; Volunteers; Crisis management in government; Water; Pollution; Rural development; United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency; United States
Other titles: Interview K-0280, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with Raymond, Eunice, Wayne, and Charles Russell English, December 8, 1999; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: Raymond and Eunice English are an elderly Duplin County couple who weathered Hurricane Floyd. They are joined by their son, Wayne, and their nephew, Charles. Wayne and Charles do most of the talking in this lengthy interview, describing their experiences with the flooding and their frustrations with unregulated pollution from hog houses as well as with inadequate and disorganized relief. Like many flood victims, they are trying to rebuild their homes and lives with very little monetary help from the state and federal governments and are relying on volunteer and religious organizations for help. The English family pays particular attention to the effects of the flood on their community. They believe the aging farming community is in decline and worry that the flood may have grievously damaged its self-sufficiency; yet, by the end of the interview seem quite proud of the pervasive ethic of responsibility and cooperation. To give researchers an idea of the kind of material in the interview, I selectively marked excerpts where Raymond discusses the history of his community and/or his personal history. Researchers looking for local history should read the entire interview for some interesting recollections.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on October 5, 2007).

Interview participants: Raymond English, interviewee; Eunice English, interviewee; Wayne English, interviewee; Charles Russell English, interviewee; Charles Thompson, interviewer; Rob Amberg, interviewer.

Duration: 02:49:38.

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 Natalia Smith.  Sound recordings digitized by Steve Weiss and Seth M. Kotch.

Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 311.7 kilobytes, 310.6 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series K, Southern communities, interview K-0280, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Original transcript: 87 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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