Oral History

Frances Hargraves - On childhood, family, education, and teaching

Interviewed by Bob Gilgor on January 22, 2001

"I remember my mother always told me, 'Whatever job you must do, be sure you give it your best.' She said if it’s sweeping the floor, washing dishes, anything, do it your best. And as I grew, that was her philosophy - always give it your best. And I still carry that philosophy."

- Frances Hargraves

In this interview, Frances Hargraves discusses growing up in Chapel Hill, her family, and her community. Mrs. Hargraves attended and taught at multiple schools, and she comments on Orange County Training School, Chapel Hill High School, Lincoln High School, and North Carolina Central University. She described how she grew up and the experiences she had at her schools and town. She also talks about her life during her marriage and after having kids. At this time, she was taking special education courses and continued talking about teaching and training in special education. The interview ended with a discussion about the integration of schools and Lincoln High School.

This interview is part of an oral history project called Southern Communities: Listening for a Change: Mighty Tigers--Oral Histories of Chapel Hill's Lincoln High School. The interviewes were conducted from 2000-2001, by Bob Gilgor, with former teachers, staff, and students from Chapel Hill, N.C.'s Lincoln High School, the historically black secondary school that closed in 1962 when a school desegregation plan was implemented. Interviewees discuss African American life and race relations in Chapel Hill, as well as education, discipline, extracurricular activities, and high school social life before and after integration.

Frances Hargraves - On childhood, family, education, and teaching

Frances Hargraves - On childhood, family, education, and teaching

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Oral history interview of Hargraves, Frances conducted by Gilgor, Bob on January 22, 2001 at Chapel Hill, NC. Processed by Brady, Caroline.

Citation: Southern Oral History Program, “Frances Hargraves - On childhood, family, education, and teaching,” From the Rock Wall, accessed December 14, 2024, https://fromtherockwall.org/oral-histories/frances-hargraves-january-2001.

Rights: Open for research. The Southern Oral History Program (SOHP) welcomes non-commercial use and access that qualifies as fair use to all unrestricted interview materials in the collection. The researcher must cite and give proper credit to the SOHP. The SOHP requests that the researcher informs the SOHP as to how and where they are using the material.

View this interview on the Southern Oral History Program website

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