Voices of the Century

In May of 1999,John and Susan  McKay undertook a project to preserve a chapter of Franklin County’s past.

Associated with the Person Place Preservation Society which provided funds for the purchase of recording equipment, the McKays set out to interview individuals
who, in their own words, related their individual histories.

Interviews focused on events which had happened in the County since 1900 remembered by those who had been there.

An offshoot of this work was a dialect study undertaken by Dr. Wolf Wolfram, a William C. Friday Distinguished Professor at North Carolina Star University.

The “Voices of the Century” initiative produced a number of important tapes which, last year, supported by the Person Place, the Tar River Center for History and Culture
at Louisburg College and individual donors, were professionally  converted to CDs and then transcribed.

Now, thanks to the efforts of this local partnership, these  voices can speak to generations to come!