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Oral History

David Caldwell, Jr. - Introductions (clip)

Interviewed by Blanche Brown on April 24, 2012

Blanche Brown (BB): I just want to test the sound levels real quick, so if you wouldn’t mind just saying something, anything.

David Caldwell Jr. (DC): Five four three two one, one two three four five.

BB: [laughter] Alright.

DC: [laughter]

BB: Okay. That should be good. Okay. So my name is Blanche Brown and I am sitting with Mr. David Caldwell. We are at the Rogers Road and Eubanks Community Center, officially termed RENA. It is April the twenty-fourth and it is about one in the afternoon. And would you mind introducing yourself?

DC: Sure, my name is David Caldwell Jr., I am the project director and community organizer for RENA, as you said, the Rogers-Eubanks Neighborhood Association. We are at our community center which serves as a hub for the many activities going on in the community and around the county

.

BB: Alright, thank you.

David Caldwell, Jr. - Introductions (clip)

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Oral history interview of Caldwell Jr., David conducted by Brown, Blanche on April 24, 2012 at Eubanks Community Center, Chapel Hill, NC.

Citation: Marian Cheek Jackson Center, “David Caldwell, Jr. - Introductions (clip),” From the Rock Wall, accessed September 13, 2026, https://fromtherockwall.org/oral-histories/david-caldwell-jr-introductions-clip.

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Blanche Brown (BB): So, did you have any brothers and sisters? David Caldwell, Jr. (DC): Three brothers. BB: Three brothers, all boys? DC: All boys, yes. BB: Okay, and I really–I know that your father was a police officer, right? DC: Yes, he was a police officer in Chapel Hill. We’ve all retired out…

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Blanche Brown (BB): Now, you were going to school where, for the majority of the time? Like did you go to Lincoln, or did you-? David Caldwell Jr. (DC): No, I went to Chapel Hill High School. BB: Chapel Hill High School, okay. Because you were about, like thirteen when integration was fully phased…

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Blanche Brown (BB): So you only spent about a year in Phillips? David Caldwell, Jr. (DC): Last three years. BB: Three years, so that was all of middle school, basically? DC: Mhm. BB: Okay, where was that? Is it still– is it still a school? DC: It’s still up Estes drive. BB: Okay, up Estes, okay,…

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David Caldwell, Jr. (DC): So finished that, went on through the eighth grade, ninth grade, student council vice president my senior year. Blanche Brown (BB): Oh wow. DC: Finished up, I think my senior yearm I had no intentions of college. My senior year I got called to the office after the…

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David Caldwell: The Army, our father was in the military, did about 26 years, first sergeant, field artillery. What else did he do… so anyway after that, I went in. My brother already had gone in, he graduated high school early, went into the Marine Corps. It was some unique stuff, we were playing…

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David Caldwell, Jr (DC).: …so that’s the difference in the fight. Blanche Brown (BB): And it’s interesting, because you were talking about how your family has given so many years of service, but it’s almost like you’re still doing it. Because this is very much…very important type of service. DC: So…

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