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Shirley Davis

"My mother worked for one of the richest men in Chapel Hill, Milton Julian, he owned a clothing store. She raised all of his kids, 7 kids, and we all grew up together." - Shirley Davis

Stephanie Soulama

Terry Carver

"We all gathered on Sundays; you couldn't do anything but visit family. There was no such thing as stores and stuff open you know, so pretty much you visited family on those days. You'd have the cousins and everybody around you, grandparents and you just kind of listened and heard what they talked…

Thomas Bell

Thomas Bell is a longtime Northside community member, who grew up walking to high school football games in Carrboro and playing at Hargraves. He attended Lincoln High School before Chapel Hill public schools were desegregated. These days, he volunteers at Heavenly Groceries and is an active member…

Tommy Owens

Tommy Owens and Jason Owens are brothers who moved to Chapel Hill around 2008. Tommy is described to be someone who is “always looking out for others” and the brothers share a vision of the Chapel Hill community as a place that is safe, full of good neighbors, but changing with time. Their shared…

Velma Perry

"About a hundred and thirty years there: the same house. People live in it [laughter] right now!" - Velma Perry

Virginia Medean

Virginia Medean is a resident in the Northside community. Virginia enjoys making efforts to change her surroundings and the neighborhood. Virginia was raised in the Chapel Hill / Carrboro area and has experienced many effects of the civil rights movement and is working to restore her community.

William Carter

"And so, we started to talk—singing, organizing a little bit, marching a little bit, and then that’s when we started forming this executive committee." - William Carter

Willie Mae Patterson

"My granddad and my grandma they always had a garden. We grew up with a garden and they canned our food. We had a lot and they would can the vegetables, had a lot of tomatoes so they canned the tomatoes, and string beans, so you didn’t have to go back to the store in the wintertime to buy them.…

Willistine McClain

 Carlton Eversley - On his family, church, and participation in civil service organizations

"When we have these race conversations there’s this sort of false view, you know, that it’s 'tit for tat,' it’s even steven, that if a Black man says, 'I want Black power,' and a white man says, 'I want white power,' that it’s the same thing. It is not." - Carlton Eversley This interview highlights…

 Katherine Council - On her children and growing up outside of Carrboro

In this impromptu interview done at Heavenly Groceries Food Ministry, Katherine “Mama Kat” Council tells us what it was like growing up right outside of Carrboro back in the 1930’s. She recalls how for a while her family had to use a wagon to get to Hamlet’s Chapel CME on Sundays. She also discusses…

 Katherine Council - On her pound cake recipe

In this interview, Mama Kat gives us her coveted pound cake recipe, which she knows from memory because she makes it so often.

 Marian Cheek Jackson (clip)

 Deloris Bynum - On school integration, church, and work

In this interview Deloris Bynum recounts being in the 8th grade when black students were integrated into Chapel Hill High School. Bynum says that she loved to teach children. She worked as a Nurse’s Aide in Assisted Living homes and loved older people. Bynum was an usher for the St. Joseph’s CME…

 Marian Cheek Jackson - On her occupational history, family history, and parents

This interview starts with the occupational history for Marian Cheek Jackson. She worked in policy service, data processing, and underwriting for North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company for 22 years. North Carolina Mutual is the largest and oldest black insurance company in the country. In…

 Patricia "Pat" Jackson - On St. Joseph's CME and women in church

Ms. Pat Jackson gives an overview of her involvement in the organizations within St.Joseph’s CME, starting from when she was a child. This is followed by a discussion of thevarious power dynamic that occur between women in the church, and how to overcome anychallenges that can arise from these…

 Jarrett Dawson - On work, family, and church

In this interview, Jarrett Dawson, a Chapel Hill local discusses his experiences with work, family, and church. Although originally from North Carolina, Dawson talks briefly about how his family moved to Patterson New Jersey for a time, and the experience of taking trips between North Carolina and…

 Patricia "Pat" Jackson - On her faith and activism

This interview is part of the Marian Cheek Jackson Center’s Life History Series. Pat Jackson was born and raised in Chapel Hill North Carolina. She is a current member of St. Joseph Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Chapel Hill. She serves as a stewardess and motherly figure within the site…

 Makla Thompson - On growing up in Carrboro and her family

This interview touches on childhood stories from Makla Thompson. Makla talks about her mother, grandmother, and the importance of family. She reflects on growing up in Carrboro, where her grandmother was active in the community as a kind woman, caring for those who could not care for themselves. She…

 Marian Cheek Jackson - On St. Joseph's Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and the effects of urban renewal

In this interview, Marian Cheek Jackson describes the origins of St. Joseph's Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and her start as church historian. Jackson discusses the role of her father, Kennon Cheek, and Russell Edwards in establishing the church, the impact of the Quaker church school and St.…

 Marian Cheek Jackson - On community history, family history. and the University of North Carolina

"You have to keep going." - Marian Cheek Jackson Mrs. Marian Cheek Jackson begins with a description of prominent Black businesses that used to exist in the African American community, (including Mason's grocery store); St. Joseph's Christian Methodist Episcopal Church's role in civil rights…

 Marian Cheek Jackson - On the Jackson Center and her vision for Northside

Marian Cheek Jackson has resided in Chapel Hill for her entire life. Much of the life she knows has involved her staying in, participating in, and protecting Northside. The Marian Cheek Jackson Center was named after her because of the vision she had to document the history that lies in the…

 Katherine Council - On education, changes in the community, and racial discrimination

“I really think with children, it didn’t matter. It was the adults that were having problems.” (In reference to integration) - Katherine "Mama Kat" Council Ms. Council, fondly known as Mama Kat, grew up on a farm in Chapel Hill down Jones Ferry Road and has lived in various places in the area her…