At the time of this interview, Dorothy Royster Burwell was living in what was once Soudan, Virginia, on the North Carolina-Virginia border. In this interview, she describes her family history and the displacement of area residents by dam projects. Burwell's community was washed away in the early 1950s by a man-made lake which covered African Americans' homes, shops, cemeteries, and farms. Burwell remembers a vibrant community; today, it is hard to find on the map. This interview shows what a powerful force water is, even under controlled conditions, clearing families from their homes and erasing communities; it also reveals the power of a government that can demand its citizens vacate their homes. Burwell's memory of Soudan helps keep the community alive.

The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the aggregation and enhancement of partner metadata.

Title from menu page (viewed on Nov. 14, 2008).

Interview participants: Dorothy Royster Burwell, interviewee; Eddie McCoy, interviewer.

Duration: 00:46:44.

This electronic edition is part of the UNC-Chapel Hill digital library, Documenting the American South. It is a part of the collection Oral histories of the American South.

Text encoded by Jennifer Joyner. Sound recordings digitized by Aaron Smithers.

Forms part of Oral histories of the American South collection.