Oral history interview with Dr. Isabella Walton Cannon on April 4, 2000. Born May 12th, 1904 in Dunfermline, Scotland, Isabella Watson Cannon immigrated with her family to the United States at age twelve. She graduated from Winecoff High School in Concord, North Carolina, before graduating from Elon in 1924. She was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree from Elon in 1978. She married Claude (C.M.) Cannon, Elon’s registrar and business manager, in 1924. His subsequent career in diplomatic service took the couple around the state and world. They lived together in Liberia, West Africa and Iraq, before returning to Raleigh, where Claude Cannon died in 1954.
Cannon held jobs in a variety of fields related to education and community service. She was a teacher at Elon College High School and Burlington Business College, served as an assistant registrar and manager of the bookstore at Elon College, and was a bookkeeper and payroll manager at WRAL radio station in Raleigh. She also worked in Washington, D.C., as a supervisor with the French Supply Council and as an interviewer with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. Cannon was also active in many community organizations and a member of the Community United Church of Christ in Raleigh.
Involved in public service most of her life, Cannon made history in 1977 when, at age 73, she became the first woman elected mayor of Raleigh and to a large metropolitan city in the United States. Known as the “little old lady in tennis shoes,” she had never run for office before her election in 1977. Working 16-hour days and using a no-nonsense style, she developed a comprehensive plan that still guides the growth of the city.
Cannon’s commitment to service earned her recognition and accolades around the state, nation, and world. In 1999 she was awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine by Governor Jim Hunt for her dedicated service to North Carolina. She was elected into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1998.
She was devoted to her alma mater and served Elon in many ways. In 1999 her $1 million gift endowed the Isabella Cannon Centre for International Studies at Elon, which offers extensive study abroad opportunities for students and recruits international students to campus. She also endowed two scholarships; the Isabella Cannon Room, as well as the Isabella Cannon Leadership Program, which identifies and prepares students to share their leadership skills with others. She received Elon’s distinguished Alumni Award in 1983, and was awarded the Elon Medallion by President J. Fred Young in 1991. Cannon was a frequent visitor of Elon and urged students to think globally and act locally.
Cannon passed away in 2002 at the age of 97. After her death Elon University received a sum of $1.4 million from her estate in order to continue to support the scholarships she had previously begun.
Interviewer: Dr. George Troxler who, over the course of his career at Elon, served as professor of history, dean of cultural programs, and university historian.
In this interview Dr. Cannon talks about immigrating to the US, memories of Scotland, memories of Kannapolis NC, Coming to Elon, her time at Elon, debating society, dating, dorm life, getting married, the "Old Main" fire of 1923, dining halls, memorable professors, attending athletic events, science and labs at Elon, the response to the fire, life outside of Elon during that time, rebuilding after the fire, Elon College High School, the drama department at Elon, the town of Elon College, the bank robbery, Elon during the Great Depression, and leaving Elon.
