Earl Bynum - On movies and dancing (clip)

Interviewed on April 16, 2026

Earl Bynum: We had some good times. I have one more thing. I want to say just one more thing. You were talking about activities over there. People forget that we had movies. We had movies on the inside and we also had movies on the outside and we had dances. We had the best dancer on the planet right there [pointing at Mr. William Gattis]. The best dancer on the planet and I was a little boy and I used to watch. I’d sit over in the corner and just watch him do the James Brown and the… but he was an awesome dancer. So that’s just my take. Hargraves bar none.

Oral history interview of Bynum, Earl on April 16, 2026 at St. Joseph CME Church Fellowship Hall, Chapel Hill, NC.

Citation: Marian Cheek Jackson Center, “Earl Bynum - On movies and dancing (clip),” From the Rock Wall, accessed September 13, 2026, https://fromtherockwall.org/oral-histories/earl-bynum-on-movies-and-dancing-clip.

"We’re writing our own history, thank you!"

Ms. Esphur Foster

Want to add in? Have a different view? What do you think? Want to upload your own photos or documents?

History is not the past. It’s the sense we make of the past now. Click below to RESPOND—and be part of making history today.

Respond

Back to all oral histories