Early Leadership Influences
Jay Dawkins recalls his childhood in Fayetteville and the leadership influences of his father and grandfather.
Interview on 2014-05-21 00:00:00 -0400
Transcript
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I grew up in Fayetteville, North Carolina. It's an hour south of Raleigh. I was a fourth generation Fayetteville member of my family.
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My great-grandfather came there I guess many years ago and was involved in the lumber business but ended up running for State House [North Carolina House of Representatives], and then my grandfather was involved in the first putt-putt [golf] there in Fayetteville
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with a business partner there and ended up running for public office. In fact when I was born he was on the city council and after age two he was mayor of Fayetteville from then until his death when I was eleven or twelve.
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So I was constantly surrounded by family members involved in leadership roles. Dad even got into the fray after my grandfather's death and ran for mayor and city council and state house.
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So just constantly having been a part of these campaigns and seeing these male figures in my family in the public light maybe just was part of who I am and made it normal for me, in a way.
This video is an excerpt from a longer interview. Contact the Special Collections Research Center to request the transcript of the full interview.
