Joanne McClelland

"We were a very bold group of African-American students, it was just something about the African-American kids in my class; we were not going to allow certain things to happen. And so, when we got together. . .and talked about how unfair it was and how it was not right to have some of our friends, who were great black athletes, playing basketball and football, and then they've got all these white girls cheering for them, we decided we had to do something about it."

- Joanne McClelland

Joanne McClelland - On the relationship between UNC and Chapel Hill's Black community

This interview is part of a project conducted by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduate and undergraduate students in a 2001 oral history course. Topics include Chapel Hill's efforts to end racial segregation in the public schools; the process of creating integrated institutions; and the ways in which the memory of those experiences shapes schools to this day. Interviewees include former teachers, students, and administrators from Lincoln High School, the historically black school that closed when the desegregation plan was implemented, and Chapel Hill High School, which was integrated in 1962.
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Joanne McClelland - On race in schools after the desegregation of Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools

This interview is part of a project conducted by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduate and undergraduate students in a 2001 oral history course. Topics include Chapel Hill's efforts to end racial segregation in the public schools; the process of creating integrated institutions; and the ways in which the memory of those experiences shapes schools to this day. Interviewees include former teachers, students, and administrators from Lincoln High School, the historically black school that closed when the desegregation plan was implemented, and Chapel Hill High School, which was integrated in 1962.
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"We’re writing our own history, thank you!"

Ms. Esphur Foster

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