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Interviews and video commemorate April 30

Stones painted with the words Charlotte Strong and UNCC Strong

Nineteen oral history interviews relating to the events of April 30, 2019, are now available as the campus commemorates the first anniversary of the campus shooting. These interviews are part of an ongoing University Archives project to document the events of that day and the response.

The Niner Nation Remembers Oral History Project interviews available today include several with campus administrators as well as students, police officers, and other members of the campus community. A short video, Niner Nation Remembers: Voices from the Archives uses the interviews, along with images of memorial displays and events, to show how the campus community came together in the wake of the shootings.

Preservation of memorial items

The larger project to document the campus response also includes the preservation of the memorial items left at the Kennedy building and the 49er Miner statue. Additionally, members of the campus community are invited to submit digital files  such as photos, text messages, or files in any other format that help to document the events and the response. Anyone who has questions about any of these projects, or would like to be interviewed, should contact us.

University Archivist Katie Howell has coordinated all of the memorial projects and served on the Niner Nation Remembrance Commission, which was charged with leading the efforts to determine how to best memorialize the victims and remember the tragedy. The commission’s final report, sent to Chancellor Dubois in December, endorsed the archival and oral history projects and called for the Library to mount an exhibit of memorial items. Due to the current campus shutdown, the video project took the place of the exhibit.

Project staff

Tina Wright conducts interviews and provides project management assistance on the oral history project as well as essential guidance and support on interviewing and processing. Casey Moore (‘17), an alumna of the master's program in public history, was brought on board to conduct many of the interviews and continues to work on this ongoing project. Other interviews have been conducted by members of Special Collections & University Archives:  Bill Jeffers, Katie Howell, Adreonna Bennett, and Brianna McGruder. Area 49’s Thomas Crocker produced the remembrance video with audio quotes selected by Pamela Mason, Olivia Eanes, Bill Jeffers, and Stacy Rue. Katie Howell and Dawn Schmitz provided photographs.

Members of Special Collections & University Archives who have provided additional support include Tyler Cline (web archiving and digital archives), Rita Johnston (technical support), and Joseph Nicholson (metadata). Andrew Pack provided descriptive work on memorial items.

-Dawn Schmitz