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THE BOONE FAMILY
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orma Boone, 65, is part of four
pass it
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LIFELONG CHATHAMITES SHARE THEIR STORIES FOR POSTERITY B Y D O L LY R . S I C K L E S
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n ongoing oral history project, “Voices of Chatham,” is still seeking longtime Chatham County residents to help document the community’s cultural heritage. Recent major economic developments are expected to impact our largely rural communities and shift local culture. “Wolfspeed and Vinfast are coming,” says linguist and project manager Brody McCurdy. “Those are the two largest projects in the entire state that are going to bring this rapid change.” Brody explains that linguistics are important identifiers for who is living, working and moving to the area. “Language changes parallel social and demographic changes, and what’s cool about Chatham is that we’re catching that change as it’s happening in this community,” he says. So far, 90 men and women have shared their stories, which will be housed at The Language and Life Project at N.C. State University. Brody says the project’s goal is to capture stories from at least 100 people. Chatham County Historical Association
board member Cindy Schmidt says the association helped identify multigenerational families that have grown up in Chatham. Cindy says renowned linguist Walt Wolfram at NCSU is interested in how the words [people] use and their accents can change over time, even though they’ve lived in relatively the same physical location. Below are two examples of stories collected for “Voices of Chatham.” 50
CHATHAM MAGAZINE
SUMMER 2023
generations born and raised in Chatham. She was named for her grandfather, Norman James Alston, who had his own brickyard and worked as mason in Siler City. Examples of his work still stand, like the town hall and post office. Norma is a decadeslong administrator with Chatham County Schools. She is also an elected Siler City commissioner, serving District 2. Norma still lives in her childhood home. She attended Siler City Elementary School and Chatham High School from sixth through eighth grades. “The last graduating class at Chatham High School was in 1969. That’s when they started integration,” Norma says. According to historical records, Chatham High School merged with Jordan-Matthews High School in 1969, and Chatham County Schools became fully integrated by the fall of 1970. Norma attended Jordan-Matthews High School in 1971 and graduated in 1975. Norma says education was always a big focus in her family. She received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and African American studies from UNC Charlotte in 1979. Norma also holds three different master’s degrees, including one in psychology from