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Oral History

Thomas Mason - On the African American freedom struggle and Civil Rights Movement in Chapel Hill

Interviewed by John Kenyon "Yonni" Chapman on April 17, 1991

"“It felt good. It was almost like ‘wow, this really happened.’ And when the majority of the Black community became involved is probably when it was the most rewarding.”

- Thomas Mason

This interview is a part of an oral history project in which Yonni Chapman interviews a series of African Americans from the Chapel Hill area about the local freedom struggle and civil rights movement. In this interview, Thomas Mason, an African American mn who grew up in Chapel Hill, delves into his childhood and teenage years. Mason talks about what it was like growing up beside white people during segregation. Additionally, Mason was a strong activist within the Chapel Hill’s civil rights movement as a teen. Mason reflects on his experiences participating in sit-ins and marches, and details the community’s reaction to his efforts.

Oral history interview of Mason, Thomas conducted by Chapman, John Kenyon "Yonni" on April 17, 1991 at Chapel Hill, NC. Processed by McCarthy, Rachel.

Citation: The Southern Historical Collection at the Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library, “Thomas Mason - On the African American freedom struggle and Civil Rights Movement in Chapel Hill,” From the Rock Wall, accessed November 23, 2024, https://fromtherockwall.org/oral-histories/thomas-mason-on-the-african-american-freedom-struggle-and-civil-rights-movement-in-chapel-hill-part-one.

Rights: Open for research. The Southern Historical Collection (SHC) 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 SHC. The SHC requests that the researcher informs the SHC as to how and where they are using the material.