Final Video Project
For my final video project for MEJO 121, I decided to interview my Grandma about the history of Chapel Hill and the changes she has witnessed on Franklin Street in the time that she has lived here. To learn a little bit about Chapel Hill you can watch my video, or find a timeline of notable events in Chapel Hill in the infographic below.
Meet My Grandma
Diane McArthur moved to Chapel Hill in 1966 when she got a nursing job at UNC hospitals. She has lived in Chapel Hill the past 55 years and raised 3 kids here, 2 of whom attended UNC just 10 minutes away. She is an avid UNC fan, and loving grandmother to 9 grandchildren.
The Town of Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill is a small, historic town in North Carolina. Chapel Hill is home to the oldest state school in the country, University of North Carolina, as well as 12 total historic sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Every year the town gets an influx of thousands of college students from all over the country, and even the world. The town has shifted over the years to cater to this young audience, with new student apartment buildings, youth-oriented clothing stores, and trendy bars and restaurants being erected all over downtown. This stream of young, diverse people from all backgrounds has largely influenced the infrastructure of downtown Chapel Hill, with Franklin Street becoming a “food mecca”, as my Grandma puts it. On Franklin street you can find a wide array of diverse and ethnic cuisines, representative of all the people that make the town of Chapel Hill what it is. A large part of what makes Chapel Hill so special is the blended, accepting culture that is fostered through the students that attend the University each year.
The University is what defines this town, we’d be lost without it.
– Diane McArthur, Chapel Hill resident of 55 years
