Hilliard Caldwell

“As R.D. Smith would tell you, I had a chip on my shoulder. I thought everybody was against me because… I didn’t have the finer things in life. But R.D. saw that chip and he told me, 'One day I’m going to knock that chip off,' and he did. And as a result, I ended up in 1955 getting elected president of my student body at an all-Black high school.”

- Hilliard Caldwell

Hilliard Caldwell discusses the process of Chapel Hill High School’s (CHHS) integration and the attitudes of both Black and white communities at the time. Caldwell speaks on how he remembers the demographics of the School Board, mentioning an old role model, Mr. R.D. Smith, who took special care of Caldwell. Additionally, Caldwell lists the problems which arose during this period of integration and how steps could have been taken to ensure a smoother integration of CHHS. He speaks about his hiring process at CHHS and how his career unfolded, as well as his experience as the PTA President at his son’s school in Carrboro.

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.

I was president of my student body at Lincoln High from 1955-56. That was the first time that I'd ever ran for an office where people voted for you based on what you stood for. Having experienced that in an all Black high school was the driving point in getting me to want to run for public office for citizens out in the community.

- Hilliard Caldwell

Hilliard Caldwell talks about his time as a youth living in Chapel Hill during segregation. He discusses the impact his family had on him while growing up and the valuable life lessons they taught him about race and navigating the times they all were living in. He also mentions how valuable R.D. Smith was in his development throughout high school and in convincing him to run for public office in 1980 in Carrboro. Mr. Caldwell also describes the times leading up to the integration of schools and how it evolved when they integrated. He reflects on growing up as an African-American and how times have changed with the African-American population today in Chapel Hill.

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.

"I was about 23, and I was married, and even my mom said, 'you ought not to be doing that,' and I said, 'Well, I’m sorry mom, but we have to.'"

- Hilliard Caldwell

Hilliard Caldwell, a Black activist in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area during the Civil Rights movement, explains his role in the movement. Through the interview, Caldwell discusses the relation he had to younger and older generations of Black residents who had some opposing views on how race relations should be handled. While older generations believed prayer was the best solution, some young people believed in rebellion and active protest to address concerns.

Hilliard Caldwell acted as a mediator to those generations. While he believed in prayer and viewed the church as a place of grounding, for prayer and “renewed hope,” Caldwell also encouraged protestors to march and conduct sit-ins. These more active forms of protest were ultimately the turning point of the movement and encouraged much of the changes which are evident today. Without leaders like Caldwell, ministers, and other Black activists/protestors, it may have been much longer before the public accommodation law of Chapel Hill was passed.

There is also discussion of the segregation and discrimination practices Caldwell remembered from his travels through Chapel Hill and Durham. He also credits some white scholars and residents in the area who worked with Black residents to get the needs of the Black community met. However, Caldwell is careful not to suggest that white people were the face of the movement, nor were they the leaders. Caldwell wanted the movement to continue to be led by Black people and aid the Black community.

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.

“It was hard times, but it was good times. It was hard times, but it was fair times. It was hard times, but we appreciated what was there. We appreciated our parents, we appreciated the school structure, the community structure, the church structure. All of these were important components of growing up.”

- Hilliard Caldwell

Hilliard Caldwell grew up in the 1950s and 1960s in Chapel Hill during segregation and had a leadership role in the civil rights movement in Chapel Hill. Caldwell discusses his childhood and his experience in segregated schools, including the cognitive dissonance that came from learning “All men are created equal” when himself and everyone around him knew that they weren’t being treated as such. He then goes on to describe being the PTA president in a Carrboro school, the impact church has had on him over the years, and his involvement leading Chapel Hill’s civil rights movement.