Oral history interview with Dorothy Royster Burwell, May 29, 1996
Subtitle: interview Q-0011, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: McCoy, James Eddie (James Edward), 1942- 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; African American women; African Americans; Relocation; Land tenure; Social life and customs; Reservoirs
Other titles: Interview Q-0011, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with Dorothy Royster Burwell, May 29, 1996; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: At the time of this interview, Dorothy Royster Burwell was living in what was once Soudan, VA, on the North Carolina-Virginia border. In this interview, she describes her family history and the displacement of area residents by dam projects. Burwell's community was washed away in the early 1950s by a man-made lake which covered African Americans' homes, shops, cemeteries, and farms. Burwell remembers a vibrant community; today, it is hard to find on the map. This interview shows what a powerful force water is, even under controlled conditions, clearing families from their homes and erasing communities; it also reveals the power of a government that can demand its citizens vacate their homes. Burwell's memory of Soudan, VA, helps keep the community alive.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on Nov. 14, 2008).

Interview participants: Dorothy Royster Burwell, interviewee; Eddie McCoy, interviewer.

Duration: 00:46:44.

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. 150 kilobytes, 85.5 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series Q, African American life and culture, interview Q-0011, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Original transcript: 30 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.