Oral Histories

She remembers Hargraves as her “second home” and a safe place to be. She describes staying at the pool all day until her fingers and toes were like raisins.

Audio recordings of interviews conducted by Yonni Chapman with participants in the African American freedom struggle and the civil rights movement in and around Chapel Hill, N.C.

Edwards discusses her life in Carrboro and how she felt safe within the Black community but unsafe within the city of Carrboro as a whole. She recounts incidents of violence, Ku Klux Klan activity and police intimidation in the 1930s and 1950s. She moved to Chapel Hill to be provided a different,…

Keith Edwards discusses the impact the Jackson Center and student organizations on the Northside community as well as the challenges posed by ongoing gentrification of the neighborhood brought about by the conversion of single family homes into high occupancy student accommodation. Edwards expresses…

“Sundays were always a special day. That whole day was made into just like a holiday. - Keith Edwards This interview includes Keith Edwards’s viewpoint on the importance of food in the home and in the community.  She recalls specific recipes in the interview. Edwards was born and raised in Carrboro…

Keith Edwards has lived at the same address on McDade St. in Northside since she was born but now resides in a different house, built with support from a development grant that Chapel Hill received in the early 1970s. She became the first black female police officer at UNC in 1974 and later won a…

“The thing I remember the most coming up in the Black community, the Black community supported the schools, not only financially, but they also supported the schools by parents having involvement in the children’s schooling.” - Keith Edwards Keith Edwards was born in 1950 and grew up in Carrboro and…

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…

This interview is part of a group of interviews conducted by Susan Simone exploring the lives and struggle of various members of the Northside community: a historically black and primarily residential neighborhood located immediately northwest of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and…

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…

Lillie recounts on her first experiences with cooking bread as a young girl. She was the designated cook of the family. She also talks about her mother’s cooking style since her mother does not use standard recipes to cook. Juanita speaks about Mama Dip (her aunt) being the head cook in her family.…

Russell Edwards grew up in Chapel Hill and has watched, as well as experienced, many situations that African-Americans dealt with both before, during, and after the civil rights movement took place. He resides in one of the historic African American communities of Chapel Hill and shares his opinions…

Russell Edwards grew up in Chapel Hill and has watched, as well as experienced, many situations that African-Americans dealt with both before, during, and after the Civil Rights Movement took place. He resides in one of the historic African American communities of Chapel Hill and shares his opinions…

"It was a chance for the students to say “look mom what I can do” and it gave them so much pride to be in a marching band, and everybody was just delightful. We all stepped together, we played music together, and it’s just a wonderful feeling. I just get goosebumps thinking about it right now. -…

RG: So you graduated North Carolina College in - CE: '55. '56. RG: '55. '56. And then you were at John R. Hawkins High School? CE: Warrenton - it was John R. Hawkins High School, it was called John R. Hawkins, in Warrenton, North Carolina. And that year was my first year doing band. So I had the…

CE: And there again, even with the band that I was working with, again I had the safety patrol, and I had a homeroom, and then they had the Maydays, which you are responsible for. And I was also the junior class advisor, which means that I had to be responsible for getting the junior prom together.…

RG: You know I hear so many people comment to me about how wonderful the marching band was. And you've touched a little bit on moving the instruments, maybe high stepping. Can you describe a little bit more what a parade was like for the Lincoln High School marching band? CE: Oh that was the top…