Connie Patton oral history interview 1, 2005 May 2

Connie Patton shares his memories of his family, school life, and the Brooklyn neighborbood in Charlotte where he grew up during the 1930s and 1940s. Mr. Patton describes the Brooklyn of his youth as a close knit African American community with socioeconomically and occupationally diverse residents. He reminisces about the many jobs he held as a boy and teenager in the local area, including working at the Myers Park golf course, working a paper route, and working in a drug store, and describes how the teachers would accommodate schedules for students who worked at night. He also describes details of daily life during his youth in Brooklyn, including how teachers and neighbors would help each other and keep an eye on children, and how children respected their elders. Mr. Patton talks positively about his experiences attending the segregated Morgan Elementary School and Second Ward High School, and describes his teachers at both schools as being excellent, well educated, and involved. He also describes being drafted into the military during World War II, followed by attending Carver College in 1949, an evening college for returning African American veterans located in Second Ward High School.