Patricia "Pat" Jackson - On Lincoln High football games (clip)
Interviewed by Kathryn Wall on March 23, 2022
Kathryn Wall (KW): And when you were growing up, you know 7th grade and earlier, did lots of people in the community come out for those football games?
Pat Jackson (PJ): Oh yes, that was the big event of your week, there were, during the early parts of celebrations on the UNC campus, especially during this time of the year, our March Madness, things closed down for those celebrations, and the same thing when I was growing up younger for Lincoln High, when championships were won, proms and dances, the early part of the day would shut down early in preparation for big celebrations. Parades, you know, down Merritt Mill [Road], and you know in the area, so just like it was happening on the campus, it was happening in our small neck of the woods, you know so to speak on this side.
KW: I was gonna say, what day of the week did they play the games?
PJ: They were Friday.
KW: Was it nighttime?
PJ: Yes, Friday evening. Yep, so celebrations went on early Friday afternoon, you know it started, and pretty much carried on ‘til the beginning of the game, and then the ending, usually I think 7 to 9. I remember being out at 10:30 one time, after some festive activity was going on and you know as a young person that was pretty late.
KW: After the game, where did people go?
PJ: People usually went, came up on Graham St. on the corner, Bill’s BBQ, that area that was there, that was the gathering point. Down at Hargraves of course, and right on Lincoln Center's ground, and then for the older people, young people at that time you know, there were always their secret spots. That's a very interesting question, as we continue to record the history of Chapel Hill, and lots of our neighbors, anybody earlier than, you know in the 50s, that were Lincoln High School high schoolers, that would be a question for them; where were the hangouts of the night or the event? Because certainly there were special hangouts for special kinds of activities, you know. Some of them were in Durham, some of them were in Hillsborough. Lots of them were in this Chapel Hill area as well, so that would be a good question for those teenagers, I’ll have to remember to ask them myself as well.
