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John Murphy

September 28, 2016 by Alex Chapin
section: Interviews

Dr. John Matthew Murphy Jr. grew up in Brooklyn, graduating from Second Ward High School in 1953. He then left to attend Howard University, Morgan State College and Meharry School of Dentistry.  After time serving in the army and working in Ohio as a dentist, he returned to Charlotte in 1973 to serve in the Mecklenburg Country Health Department and as a visiting clinician at Charlotte’s Memorial Hospital Dental Department. In 1979 he helped originate the Metrolina Health Center now known as CW Williams Community Health Center. When he left Charlotte in the 1950s, Brooklyn knew that urban renewal was coming, by the time he returned in the 1970s the community was gone.

https://brooklyn-oral-history.charlotte.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/1007/2016/12/MurphyO.mp3

Tape Log

Tape Log: Oral History Interview with John Murphy

Time Description of Interview Contents
0:0 Introductions
00:20 Memories of Brooklyn, people, community and churches by Long St.
2:00 Parenting, neighbors and teachers in Brooklyn and impact on children
4:00 Teachers and parents relations and a caring community
5:40 Preparation of teachers and expectations of children
7:00 Teachers and Myers Elementary and Second Ward High School
7:30 His mother as a teacher; he names specific teachers and courses.
11:40 Role models in the community when he was growing up.
13:00 Murphy’s father’s attempt to create a local grown insurance company, and his father’s various jobs—teacher, photographer.
17:30 Life after highschool
18:30 Coming back to Charlotte after 20 year absence
19:00 His investment in East Independence (Walton Plaza) building within the former Brooklyn neighborhood.
19:30 First word of urban renewal
20:00 Grandparents and urban renewal
24:00 The Impact of urban renewal on the community
28:00 The psychological effects of urban renewal
30:00 The Pearl Street playground
31:00 Connections between the Brooklyn and Cherry neighborhoods
32:20 Brooklyn’s relationship with the Cherry neighborhood
33:30 The impact of urban renewal on churches of the former Brooklyn neighborhood
37:00 Clarifying the various communities within Brooklyn
39:00 Mr. Murphy’s sisters
41:00 Reflections on urban renewal on Charlotte as a whole, in reference to crime
44:30 Memories of Charlotte, dentistry and his contributions
46:00 The Martin Luther King commission
47:00 C W Williams Community Health Center
48:00 The AME Zion Church
49:30 Activities in the African American community in Charlotte from 1973 to 1985
51:00 Impact of Brooklyn on his work in Charlotte
52:00 Earl Village, Little Rock Church, and the AME Zion Church
54:00 Scouting
55:00 Kids in Brooklyn back then
56:00 Conclusion of the interview and thanks.

Transcript

John Murphy

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