Bonnie E. Cone oral history interview 6, 1987 December 1
In this first of a series of interviews conducted by Dr. Ed Perzel (former Chair of the Department of History and Associate Dean for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at UNC Charlotte), Bonnie Cone discusses the early years of what eventually became the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She describes the origins of the Charlotte College Center in the mid-1940s with its 274 veteran students, one of whom was a woman, and how, later, Charlotte College and Carver College made up the Charlotte Community College System. Ms. Cone relates how she came to be involved with the center as a teacher and subsequently as its director, following the directorship of Charlie Bernard. She recalls particular students and relates what they went on to do after graduation; discusses long-time faculty members Mary Denny, Pierre Macy, Edyth Winningham, and Herbert Hechenbleikner; and explains the contributions of men like Elmer Garinger, Woody Kennedy, Murrey Atkins, and Governor Dan Moore to the development of the college. Ms. Cone describes the process of achieving sufficient funding for the Charlotte Community College System, the process of passing state legislation to make Charlotte College the fourth campus of the University of North Carolina System, and the process of purchasing the land that is now the site of UNC Charlotte. Other topics include the first black students at Charlotte College, the relationship between Charlotte College and Central High School, which initially shared a campus, as well as Ms. Cone's work during World War II and her feelings regarding being a woman in a prominent leadership role.