John Mason

"At the time I was born, Blacks could’nt be born at the hospital. So, you know, I’m 51 years old if you want to count back and see how many years ago--strange enough my brother, my youngest brother was the first Black born at UNC hospital!"

- John Mason

John Mason - On his childhood, family, education, and discrimination

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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