Oral history interview with Isabella Cannon, June 27, 1989
Subtitle: interview C-0062, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: Nasstrom, Kathryn 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: 2007
Place of publication: [Chapel Hill, N.C.]
Language: eng
Subjects: Interviews; Women mayors; Women; Political activity; Politics and government; Cities and towns; Growth; City planning; Discrimination in employment
Other titles: Interview C-0062, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with Isabella Cannon, June 27, 1989; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: Isabella Cannon moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, during the mid-1930s and became an active member of the community through her involvement in the United Church of Christ. Cannon explains how the United Church was particularly involved in matters of the community and served as a collective advocate for civil rights issues. Later in the 1950s and 1960s, she became increasingly involved in the civil rights movement through her activities with the church. In this interview, she describes her participation on the speakers committee, which brought in the likes of Martin Luther King, Jr., Norman Thomas, and Eleanor Roosevelt; her relationship with African Americans in the community; her role in developing Raleigh Integrated Church Housing (RICH); and her thoughts on school desegregation, particularly busing. Cannon also discusses her political involvement at the local precinct level in describing her leadership role on the Citizen's Advisor Council (CAC) and her growing concern with the impact of Raleigh's rapid growth during the 1970s. In 1977, Cannon decided to run for mayor, campaigning on a platform that emphasized a long-range comprehensive plan for developing Raleigh while maintaining some of its historical and natural elements. At the age of 73, Cannon was elected as the first woman mayor of Raleigh. During her two-year term, Cannon worked vigorously to bring her plan to fruition. At the time of the interview in 1989, Cannon was pleased with the continuation of many of her accomplishments. Here, she discusses bringing Raleigh into compliance with North Carolina laws, her revision of the City Code, and community advocacy as the accomplishments she was most proud of. In addition, she describes some of the obstacles she dealt with during her years in office. In particular, she describes the problems she had with the Comprehensive Employment Training Act (CETA) administration--which she describes as a "good old boy" network--and some of the challenges to her efforts to embrace policies of affirmative action in local government. Finally, Cannon briefly reflects on the role of women in positions of leadership.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on July 14, 2008).

Interview participants: Isabella Cannon, interviewee; Kathryn Nasstrom, interviewer.

Duration: 01:32:30.

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 Jennifer Joyner.  Sound recordings digitized by Aaron Smithers.

Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 140 kilobytes, 169 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series C, Notable North Carolinians, interview C-0062, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Transcribed by Kelly Bruce. Original transcript: 45 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.