Helen | Wake County 100

Narrative, Continued:

Some of the libraries Helen visited included UNC Chapel Hill library, The New York Public Library and the Library of Congress. Now Helen is retired and enjoys gardening, reading, quilting, needle point and participating in her church community. She also really likes spending time with her family and friends. Recently she took a rafting trip down the Colorado River with all her children and grandchildren.

Some of the things that concern Helen about Wake County are the rapid growth and how that is making the cost of living go up, which will affect the poorer people of Wake County. She would like to see Wake make better housing for people who cannot afford housing. Even though she cannot change this, she does her part by volunteering at Step Up ministry a center that helps people get their life together.

Written by: Anna

Helen

Gender: Female

Age: >65

Race: White

Nativity: Born in US but not NC

Educational Attainment:

Graduate or Professional Degree

Occupation: Retired

Travel Time to Work: N/A

Internet Access in home: Yes

Religion: Presbyterian Christian

City: Raleigh

Narrative:

Helen is involved citizen of Raleigh and one of the most interesting people in Wake County.She went to Sweet Briar for college, where she majored in religion. In 1958 she moved to Raleigh with her husband Murphy. Back then the population was only around 50,000, but it still felt as big as Richmond. After Helen and her husband Murphy were settled, they raised a family of four in Raleigh. Helen says one of her greatest accomplishments is her family. When Helen was 50 years old she went to Duke to study Southern Women's History. Once she got her masters in the subject, Helen started doing Historic Research for Documentary films. Some of the films she worked on included several movies on the University System, a film for William C. Friday, North Carolina People, and the 75th anniversary of women being allowed to vote. While working on documentaries she learned how people make movies. One of the funniest things Helen learned was how the editors could edit the film. She thought it was funny how editors could put different heads on another person's body. Other things she experienced while doing historic research for documentary films was all the libraries she went to research for the films. Helen learned a lot and enjoyed working in the libraries. She actually got to see original letters and manuscripts!

The Doon School