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 Community members gather in song at a candlelight vigil after the “reunion dinner” of over 300 activists, neighbors, and friends that concluded the “Civil Rights in Chapel Hill” weekend celebration.

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Colonial Drugstore

"...we had Colonial Drugstore, the Rock Quarry, a number of other restaurants around here that we were able to desegregate. And what it caused, students, with the leadership of some adults like Hilliard Caldwell and some others, we began to demonstrate and ask the peoples for service at the lunch…

 Collene Rogers - On working together (clip)

 Collene Rogers - On working together (clip)

 Collene Rogers - On weekend work (clip)

 Collene Rogers - On the importance of working together as a community and her involvement with civil rights organizations

In this interview, Collene Rogers begins by explaining the importance of working together as a community, standing up for oneself, and always working to improve one's own life. She then tells her experiences working for New York City banks, in which every branch had its own environment and diverse…

 Collene Rogers - On service (clip)

 Collene Rogers - On plumbing (clip)

 Collene Rogers - On offices (clip)

 Collene Rogers - On log cabins (clip)

 Collene Rogers - On her father's career in the trades

“At his (Walter Riggsbee) funeral, Reverend Manley said, “How many people had to call him at 1 o’clock in the morning, 2 o’clock in the morning, and he came?” I think every hand in the church went up.” - Collene Rigsbee This interview is part of the Marian Cheek Jackson Center’s Builders Series.…

 Collene Rogers - On family history (clip)

 Collene Rogers - On family history (clip)

 Collene Rogers - On Citibank (clip)

 Collene Rogers - 6 to 7 (clip)

Collene Rogers

Collene was born and grew up in her family’s home on Merritt Mill Road. Her mother, Mary Neville Riggsbee, grew up on the Neville Farm in Orange County and her father, Walter Riggsbee, grew up on the Riggsbee Farm in Chatham County. In the mid-1930s, they each left home to work for the University…

 Collene Riggsbee Rogers - Why he liked the work (clip)

Kathryn Wall: Your said plumbing was his passion. Do you know why he liked that better than the other….? Collene Riggsbee Rogers: I really don’t. I don’t. Because I didn’t. I don’t. I don’t know. I guess maybe it was just something that he knew that people needed more and that’s what he focused on…

 Collene Riggsbee Rogers - What people should know (clip)

Collene Riggsbee Rogers: That they were dependable. That when you call them, they did show up. And they learned, but they learned from others you know and that’s the only thing that I didn’t understand when I did move back. Music was something that we always did. We were always competing, all of it,…

 Collene Riggsbee Rogers - Resistance to plumbing (clip)

Collene Riggsbee Rogers: But nobody wanted to work with Daddy because Daddy did plumbing. [Laughter] But it was so funny because Bobby’s friends were always at our house. If Bobby was working and wasn’t there they always stopped by because they always liked sitting down and talking to Mama. So if…

 Collene Riggsbee Rogers - Plumber (clip)

Collene Rogers: Well, I never considered, I always considered my father to be a plumber, you know? That was his passion. But he did build all three of the houses that he owned, he built, and the building. And for, he worked with other builders, Mr. Charles Brooks and Tate, and he would do the…

 Collene Riggsbee Rogers - Other trades (clip)

Collene Riggsbee Rogers: It was his passion. He did everything. He was a licensed electrician and he was a carpenter. Upstairs in the building is where he had his workshop where he made his cabinets and stuff. And I guess he did whatever needed to be done because he was actually doing all of the…

 Collene Riggsbee Rogers - On Manley Estates (clip)

 Collene Riggsbee Rogers - Losing sight (clip)

Collene Riggsbee Rogers: Yeah, he lost his sight. I think after he hit the judge, he was driving down Franklin Street and I guess the light changed and he moved and he didn’t see the judge, and he hit the judge. After that, they didn’t renew his license, I don’t think, because he had glaucoma. But…