Title: Ronald Kimber

Identifier: 1299   (https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/50494)

Description: Photographs of Ronald Kimber taken at the Town Common, Greenville, N.C., accompanied by an oral history interview, for the Beyond Bricks and Mortar project. Mr. Kimber is a former resident of the Shore Drive neighborhood, that was destroyed in the 1960's to make room for the Town Common Park. He is holding a photo of a house, possibly the house of his grandmother, Estella R. Goodwin, which stood at 104 W. 1st Street. He has written a book of poetry about his childhood, entitled Diary of a Downtown Cat, and reads one of the poems. In his interview, Mr. Kimber says that his mother and grandfather were members of the Sycamore Hill Missionary Baptist Church, which was the centerpiece of the neighborhood. He reminisces about the neighborhood he describes as warm, friendly, and safe, and all the activity that used to exist downtown, with stores, offices, and juke joints. Shortly after redevelopment, he says, he visited and the houses were all boarded up and the place looked like a ghost town. Interviewer: Heather White.