Oral history interview with Jerry Plemmons, November 10, 2000 [electronic resource] : Interview K-0506, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007).
At the time of the interview, Jerry Lee Plemmons, a lifetime Madison County resident, worked for the French Broad Electric Membership Corporation, consulting on energy conservation and working toward community development. In this interview, he reflects on the influence of development, particularly highway construction, on Marshall, NC, a town known as "a mile long, street wide, sky high, and Hell deep" (14). Plemmons sees roads as both constructive and destructive forces -- they bring new money and new people to communities, but they also offer residents the chance to leave, invite environmental damage, and balloon property values, thus driving out longtime residents. Rural North Carolinians, then, must work not only to protect their economic and environmental stability, but also the stability of their community values.
Electronic resources
Record details
- Physical Description: 1 online resource
- Edition: Electronic edition
- Publisher: [Chapel Hill, N.C.] : University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill, 2005.
Content descriptions
- General Note:
- Duration: 01:34:25.Interview participants: Jerry Plemmons, interviewee; Rob Amberg, interviewer.Text encoded by Natalia Smith and Mike Millner. Sound recordings digitized by Steve Weiss and Seth M. Kotch.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.Title from menu page (viewed on Sept. 25, 2007).
- Type of Computer File or Data Note:
- Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files : 109 kilobytes, ca. 172.9 megabytes.
- Original Version Note:
- Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series K, Southern Communities, interview K-0506, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Transcribed by Sarah Schuckman, August 2001. Original transcript: 31 p.
- Funding Information Note:
- Funding from the University of North Carolina Library supported the electronic publication of this interview.
- System Details Note:
- Mode of access: World Wide Web.System requirements: Web browser with Javascript enabled and multimedia player.
Search for related items by subject
- Subject:
- Plemmons, Jerry, 1938- > Interviews.
Community life > North Carolina > Madison County.
Country life > North Carolina > Madison County.
Rural development > North Carolina > Madison County.
Rural roads > North Carolina > Madison County.
Social change > North Carolina > Madison County.
Interstate 26.
Madison County (N.C.) > Social conditions.
Marshall (N.C.) > Social conditions. - Genre:
- Oral histories.
Accessibility Features
Summary:
At the time of the interview, Jerry Lee Plemmons, a lifetime Madison County resident, worked for the French Broad Electric Membership Corporation, consulting on energy conservation and working toward community development. In this interview, he reflects on the influence of development, particularly highway construction, on Marshall, NC, a town known as "a mile long, street wide, sky high, and Hell deep" (14). Plemmons sees roads as both constructive and destructive forces -- they bring new money and new people to communities, but they also offer residents the chance to leave, invite environmental damage, and balloon property values, thus driving out longtime residents. Rural North Carolinians, then, must work not only to protect their economic and environmental stability, but also the stability of their community values.
