Carol Wolhford Mesrobian and Caroline Mesrobian Hickman [2], 2013 August 20

In this second of two interviews Carol Wohlford Mesrobian and her daughter Caroline Mesrobian Hickman continue to share about their husband and father Ralfe Mesrobian's work as an architect in Charlotte, his hobbies, and his collection of architectural records that the family donated to UNC Charlotte. They discuss Mrs. Mesrobian's secretarial contributions to her husband's business and the effect the computer has had on the architectural profession. The majority of the interview, however, traces the history of Mrs. Mesrobian's family from her Thies, Wohlford, and Lambeth ancestral lines, including her immigrant ancestor Carl Adolf Thies, who was a German mining engineer. Carol shares recollections of numerous family members such as her grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Other topics include Carol's Moravian and Methodist roots, her personal and family connections to Old Salem, North Carolina, and to Salem Academy, her family's relationship to Moravian Bishop Herbert Spaugh, and the development of what is now Moravian Lane in Charlotte. Mrs. Mesrobian also recalls growing up in Myers Park among family in the 1930s, including childhood play, shopping, entertainment, and vacationing, and comments on medical care, women's social groups, and servants employed by her extended family. She briefly discusses her family's value of education, her own schooling, and her first job in Washington, D.C.