From Porch Swings to Patios: Oral History Project

Interview of Laura Franklin by Trina Poole and Milton Carpenter on November 5, 1980.

Laura Franklin was born around 1910 and always lived in the Vinegar Hill area. She describes the boundaries of various Vinegar Hill neighborhoods and gives names for many of the stores and the residents of the area, often with their approximate addresses and occupations. She cared for her Aunt Laura who had rheumatism before she married her husband, a hotelworker. Both she and her husband belonged to social organizations and Franklin describes some of the benevolent activities that they engaged in. Having joined the NAACP, Franklin reflects on the priorities of the organization and its effectiveness in dealing with problems such as the urban renewal of Vinegar Hill that displaced so many African Americans. Franklin underscores the historic lack of occupational mobility for African Americans in Charlottesville.

From Porch Swings to Patios: An Oral History of Charlottesville's Neighborhoods Prepared by the Department of Community Planning Advisory Board and students of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 1982 - 1984.