Eugene Farrar - Uncle James Blacknell (clip)
Interviewed by Kathy Atwater and George Barrett on March 11, 2023
Eugene Farrar (EF): Yes, the family member in the photo is my uncle, who is my grandfather’s son, and what I know from growing up, he was a rock layer – he laid rocks – which was a really tough job. You had to break rocks and small rocks and things like that to fit – like a puzzle really. It was a tough job, and that was his profession. He laid rocks at the University of North Carolina here in Chapel Hill, and of course, back in those days, they weren’t really paying you much, so I’m pretty sure that he made a living out of it. And also, when he was – builders were called to do things for the church or things like that – they would get together and help the church lay rocks or build a little podium out front where you put the kiosk, I think – where you put the name of the church and things like that. He laid rock probably up until he got sick and wasn’t able to lift rocks and things like that. But he lived to get 93 years old, again –
Kathy Atwater (KA): Can I interrupt you there and ask you to give us your uncle’s name? So I can just have it for the recording?
EF: Oh, yeah, he was named after my grandfather, James. We call him Jim, but his name was James Blacknell. And it was just – that’s what I know about his work.
