Oral Histories

Braxton Foushee: There were a lot of people who couldn’t do certain things in the movement so we had them do other things to be involved in the movement. There were a lot of people who couldn’t [] right back, and we knew it, and we asked them, you know, to be real truthful with us. And they were,…

Foushee speaks on growing up in Northside which includes his educational experiences, and his family overview. He goes into the dynamics of his relationship with his aunt. Furthermore, he talks about his relationship with his neighbor. He takes the listener through the beginning and organization of…

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…

Valerie Foushee (VF): When I started elementary school I started at Northside, which has just been deconstructed. First grade at Northside, and when I went to Northside the district was preparing to close that facility and when I was there there was no cafeteria. And so for one whole year—now I…

TB: So when you went to Frank Porter Graham then, at that point was your decision to go there that at that point that it was the closest, and so it was this sort of idea of a neighborhood school— VF: It wasn’t a decision. TB: Ok, so they districted— VF: We were still segregated— TB: --still that…

Tracey Barrett (TB) : Right. So you, I mean, you sound like you changed schools a lot, in terms of school buildings and I’m assuming also the students you were in school with changed a lot too, how did that affect the way you viewed school, or do you think that it affected your education as a…

Valerie Foushee (VF): by the time we got through Phillips, my whole class, black and white, it was just a big friendship. We had come through a lot of those things that we went through when I was in seventh grade with boycotts at the high school that kind of like trickled down to the middle school,…

This interview is part of a project of biographical interviews, 1979-2012, with men and women in North Carolina who have made significant contributions to business, the arts, education, and politics. Topics discussed in Valerie P. Foushee's interview include : growing up in Chapel Hill, N.C.;…

This interview is in association with the Marian Cheek Jackson Center’s Life History Series. Senator Valerie Foushee, born May 7th 1956 is a lifelong member of the First Baptist Church. She began attending First Baptist at the age of two when her grandmother would bring her and her siblings to…

Valerie Foushee: ...or I would just kind of like stay in my room, watch TV and study, but I was at Carolina, and that was important. Tracey Barrett: So did you, you lived on campus all four years? VF: I lived on campus for two years, and my roommate the first year was a sophomore from the Henderson…

TB: So after you left you mentioned that you were working full time, what job were you working at? Valerie Foushee: I started out working part time while I was at Carolina for the Chapel Hill School system driving a school bus and being a bus monitor, and then I got a job at Blue Cross and Blue…

Tracey Barrett (TB): How did you decide to sort of get into politics? I mean, you described a long career in the Police Department, and obviously you were working your way up in many ways, from where you started to where you ended up as an administrator, but what led to your decision to -– am I…

Tracey Barrett (TB): What is something that you are most proud of? That, sort of, you feel like was an accomplishment during your time on the School Board, that you look back on and say, like “I’m glad that I was there for that” or “I know I made a difference in that way?” Valerie Foushee (VF): My…

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 provides into Fowler's life growing up in Chapel Hill, her church attendance, and her education at Northside Elementary School. She goes into the neighborhood and family dynamics as well. She shares that her father worked for UNC. She spends her leisure time playing music and learning…

And that’s my life, it's all about Ms. Kay, and I’m still going to help until the day I die. If they need help, I’m going to do it. - Kay Gattis Ms. Kay Gattis describes her upbringing in Chapel Hill, with her parents and eight siblings. She described how she took on the role of the caregiver after…