Bryant McMurray [4], 2017 April 26

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Identifier: OH-MC0596

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Bryant McMurray oral history interview 4, 2017 April 26

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Scope and Contents

In this fourth installment of a series of interviews, Bryant McMurray describes his work in public relations and marketing campaigns for companies heavily involved with the motorsports industry such as STP Corporation, Hardee’s, and R.J. Reynolds. He tells of the highs and lows of the marketing campaign cycle and the strategies he used to maintain his financial and psychological equilibrium as profits peaked and then waned. McMurray also provides more details about his experience serving as North American general manager for the Thunderdome Speedway in Melbourne, Australia, and about his forays into television production and direction work. The interview concludes with a discussion of the courses on NASCAR and the history of the Catawba River he has developed at UNC Charlotte and his recent donation of his vast archive of motorsports photographs to Special Collections and University Archives at UNC Charlotte's J. Murrey Atkins Library.

Dates

Creation: 2017 April 26

Conditions Governing Access

30 of 31 oral history interviews are in the digital repository. Original audiovisual materials closed to patron use.

Biographical Note

Bryant McMurray was a 69-year-old man at the time of the interview, which took place in his office in Fretwell Hall on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He was born in Rock Hill, South Carolina, in 1947. He was educated at the University of South Carolina and Appalachian State University, and was employed as a photojournalist, sports photographer, entrepreneur, and college teacher.