Carley Gantt Boyer Oral History, Part 1/3

Descriptive

Part OfCarley Gantt Boyer Oral HistoryIntervieweeBoyer, Carley GanttInterviewerMcBride, JoyceBrowse TopicBusiness and IndustryCommunity GroupsEducationRace and EthnicityReligion and PhilosophySubjectGlobe High SchoolGlobe, ArizonaUpton's CafeDescriptionZelpha Morrison Carter, (aka Shorty), was 25 years old when she arrived in Globe, Arizona from Gainesville, MO on January 19, 1937 with a husband and her 10 year-old daughter, Doretta. She came to work for her mother’s cousin. C.A. Upton had established 2 restaurants and an ice cream and candy factory in Globe and 1 restaurant in Miami in 1912. In spite of the Great Depression, business was booming at Upton’s with WPA and CCC workers lining the streets to enter and eat, and the rooms above the restaurant were filled with railway workers. Not long after Shorty arrived, she divorced her husband and he left town, but she stayed and worked for C.A. Upton for 15 years. Mr. Upton eventually decided to sell out and move his business to Phoenix in 1952. Shorty bought him out, sold the Miami restaurant to a relative and Globe’s Upper Upton’s to someone else (became Larry’s) and then moved the ice cream and candy factory to Lower Upton’s. She completely renovated the lean-to that was situated between Upton’s and the Holy Angels Catholic Church converting it into a 3 bedroom residence for her family. The rooms upstairs were also converted to 8 apartments. Loy Gantt was a pipefitter working for the mines. Shorty approached him on the street one day and they hit it off. They married in Lordsburg, New Mexico on April 4, 1943 and lived together 60 years, until she died. Carley describes her father as the weak-willed parent, her mother clearly the boss of not only her business but her family. She describes growing up an only child (Duretta being 16 years older) in a busy restaurant on Broad Street with no neighborhood children to play with. She recalls how she entertained the customers and played with the candles in Holy Angels Catholic Church. Audio Length00:14:10Date Original2015-09-01Date Range1930s (1930-1939)1940s (1940-1949)1950s (1950-1959)1960s (1960-1969)TypeSound- NonmusicalOriginal FormatOral historiesLanguageEnglishContributing InstitutionGila County Historical MuseumCollectionOral Histories of Globe High SchoolRights StatementThe opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewee and interviewer only. They do not represent the views of the Gila County Historical Society of Globe High School. Please contact the Gila County Historical Society Museum, located at 1330 North Broad Street, Globe, AZ 85501; call 928-425-7385 or email [email protected] with questions concerning content or the use and reproduction of this resource.

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City or TownGlobeCountyGila CountyStateArizonaCountryUnited StatesGeoNames URIhttps://sws.geonames.org/5296013

Oral HistoryCarley Gantt Boyer

Administrative

IdentifierCarley Gantt Boyer Part 1.mp3Date Digitized2015-09-01Digital FormatMP3

25.mp3

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Carley Gantt Boyer Oral History, Part 1/3