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"It takes a strong neighborhood to build a town. You’ve got to take it one neighborhood at a time. And I see that happening around here."
- Antonio Vinson

Explore the history of Black communities in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, NC. Meet our neighbors through oral history interviews, images, and more. Share your own story.
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A.D. Clark Pool

A.D. Clark Pool opened at the Roberson Street Center (now Hargraves Center) in June 1961. Prior to the opening of the pool, young people in the Black community swam in local creeks (including one by the railroad trestle near the public works building) and swimming holes like the 88 and the Catfish…

Abundant Life Faith Ministry

Abundant Life Faith Ministry is located on Farrington Point Road in Chapel Hill, NC.

Barbee's Chapel Harvest Word Church

Barbee's Chapel Harvest Word Church is located at 5916 Barbee's Chapel Road.

Ben Baldwin's

"And then when I was in high school, Ben Baldwin had a place...And they had dancing in there. People would go in and play the juke box. They used to have those snow cones. They were so good. Just snow cones, but it seemed like it was just top of the line." - Delaine Norwood Originally located where…

Berman's Clothing Store

"I remember here in Chapel Hill, way back. There was a store called Berman's Clothing Store. They sold some of everything...but they catered to Blacks. If you're prejudiced, you better put it in your pocket and not let anybody know you are." - Doug Clark, Sr. Sam and Mary Berman, Lithuanian…

Bill's Bar-B-Que

"He had a wood yard; he sold wood. And so he asked and said, “Mary, why don’t you open a restaurant?” Because she could cook too, because she was cooking in the home and was taking care of the two children, you know...so that’s what they done. He did away with the wood yard and then we built this…

Campus Y

Charlie Jones was the first person to bring a group of us high school students together and we met at the YMCA on campus...Charlie Jones had a daughter that was a junior at the same time, and he pulled together a group of black high school students and students from the white high school. We met on…

Carlton's Rock Pile

"That was a very bad experience, because about four or five of us walked in, and Buddy Teagert was the leader, and he said 'sit on the floor..." And then the owner came over and said 'There’s dirt on the floor, I’m going to mop it'” and then he started to pour ammonia on people, hold their nose. So…

Carolina Theater

"Let's reflect back to Chapel Hill...that's where you had the Varsity Theater, Carolina Theater, in Chapel Hill. Then we had a Rialto Theater in Carrboro, on the main street. That was a Black theater. But here again, if it left scars on me, the scars are there for me, it's the fact that I would have…

Carrboro Community Health Center

"What we believe is kind of the foundation of this work is relationships, so you go meet your neighbors, you talk to them, you talk to them again, you talk to them again..." - Brian Toomey Carrboro Community Health Center, part of Piedmont Health, was first known as Orange-Chatham Comprehensive…

Carrboro Elementary School

"I was in a Black school at Northside Elementary. [My mother] wanted me to go to the school which was the nearest to our home which was the white school...Carrboro Elementary....I can only guess that it was because, I mean, I don't think she set out to be a history maker or a trendsetter. I don't…

Cathedral of Hope Mission Church

Cathedral of Hope Mission Church is located at 100-A Hillview Street in Carrboro, NC.

Chapel Hill High School

"McDougle had been the principal since1949 through 1966 at Lincoln. All of a sudden, he goes to Chapel Hill High, and they take and make him an assistant. W.D. Peerman who had been one of the winningest football coaches of North Carolina, he was regulated to the JV team." - David Mason,…

Chapel Hill Junior High School

I think one thing that helped me survive up on Franklin Street at Chapel Hill Junior High School was some of the white friends we had, male and female. You know, I remember I used to be sitting there in class...crying and...there were these two white girls that used to just kind of...talk to me, and…

Colonial Drugstore

"...we had Colonial Drugstore, the Rock Quarry, a number of other restaurants around here that we were able to desegregate. And what it caused, students, with the leadership of some adults like Hilliard Caldwell and some others, we began to demonstrate and ask the peoples for service at the lunch…

Culbreth Middle School

I knew who he was -- I knew Grey Culbreth. What did I think about the naming of the school? I didn't think anything about it. But I did think something about when they - I mean, I was very instrumental in the naming of MacDougal." - Betty King Grey Culbreth Middle School opened as Grey Culbreth…

Dairy Bar

"Big John, who was known as the most racist drugstore guy, you know, you couldn't, he didn't allow blacks to come in there and do anything in his store. He had made it known that he was a racist, so when you walked down his street you had to look for him, when you walked past the drugstore you had…

Durham Technical Community College (aka Durham Tech)

"I got two brothers that went to college. I went to Durham Tech. I took a few classes at Central. But I got one brother that he's an engineer now. He started off as an X-ray technician and then he went on and became an engineer." - Raney Norwood Durham Industrial Education Center opened in 1961 and…

Durham, NC

"I just remember that being a big treat, to drive to Durham and to shop at some of the stores there." -Francesina Jackson There have always been ties between the Black community in southern Orange County and the Black community in nearby Durham, North Carolina. Neighbors from Chapel Hill and…

Elmer Pendergraft's Esso Service Station

"Used to be a service station right there called Elmer Pendergraft. Service station right here at the corner, right across from Carolina Carwash...[Dad] worked up until...he got sick. And then Mr. Elmer had to sell the service station because he had gotten sick too...So they just sold it, sold the…

EMPOWERment, Inc.

EMPOWERment, Inc. is a Community Development Corporation with the mission of empowering individuals and communities to achieve their destiny through community organizing, affordable housing, and grassroots economic development.

Faith Tabernacle Oasis of Love International Church

Faith Tabernacle Oasis of Love International Church is located on Rogers Road in Chapel Hill, NC.

First Baptist Church

First Baptist Church was organized in 1865 out of what is now University Baptist Church. It started in the Quaker school building on Franklin Street and eventually grew and expanded to its current site on Roberson Street in 1946. First Baptist has had six pastors in its long history, and its motto…

First Church of God Christian Fellowship

First Church of God Christian Fellowship is located at 102 Boyd Street in Carrboro, NC.