Faith

Rev. Albert Williams is the minister at Staunton Memorial CME Church in Pittsboro. He is a lifetime resident of the area and was the first African American firefighter in Chapel Hill. This interview was conducted as part of the Jackson Center’s local life history series. Topics include: childhood…

"Satan himself destroys communication. In the military, one of the first things you want to do is destroy communication lines." - Rev. Albert Williams Reverend Albert Williams has been a pillar in the Chapel Hill community. In this interview, Albert Williams reflects on his faith as a child, the…

"He [Jacob James] was just very well respected here in Chapel Hill. I remember when he passed in Chapel Hill, I was living in Washington DC. It was probably one of the largest funeral servicec I’ve attended at St. Paul [AME Church]. They had to bring in chairs, they put chairs in the aisle and over…

"Thirteen years old and I gave my hand over to God. I've been in church ever since. Of course when you go off to college, you kind of drift away, but you always come back. I loved it. It was a good experience for me. It has always been a good experience for me." - Betty Baldwin Geer This interview…

"See, all you got to do is wait for the change. You have the faith that that change is gonna happen. I can’t see it, I can’t feel it, I can’t taste it, but I know it’s there and it’s coming possible for me." - David Lyles This interview is a part of the Marian Cheek Jackson Center’s faith series. In…

"They were devout Christians...and so, we survived. We survived by faith. They had a lot of faith." - Dolores Clark This interview is part of a series on Black builders in Orange County. Dolores Clark, a long-term resident of Chapel Hill, explains how her family has a history of building several…

Doris Wilson was born in 1936 in Robeson County, North Carolina and moved to Chapel Hill in the mid 1950s. She has lived in her same home on Church St. in Chapel Hill ever since. In the interview, she discusses the transition to Chapel Hill when she was college-aged and the first times she…

Faith has always been a critical part of the life of Chapel Hill/Carrboro’s Black community. Prior to emancipation, enslaved people people worshiped in segregated sections of Chapel of the Cross, University Baptist Church, and other churches run by white residents. But Black church-goers quickly…

“I just have to say it was two proud families that basically loved the land and raised their families and contributed to the economy. There were lots of talents on both sides of the family- there was nothing her brothers couldn’t do.” - Judy Nunn Snipes This interview is part of an SOHP project…

"…People in this community knew the importance of faith especially during the times that they had to do for themselves, maintain their own, work for a little of nothing, but yet still be able to have their own home, be able to send their children to college. Those things. It was their faith." -…

“I was a member of the Black Student Movement. It was like a year old when I got there so I was very active in that. I was the off-campus minister. We would go to the football games and not stand for the national anthem…as a form of protest.” - Mae McLendon In this interview, Mae McLendon sits down…

"I believe in seeking joy. I think joy is sacred. I think it probably has saved me thousands of times." - Molly McConnell Molly McConnell has been a part of various Christian faith communities in Chapel Hill. She grew up in North Carolina during the Civil Rights movement and her parents were…

"Well, it was always a place [the church] you could come to gain and find out the needs of the community." - Patricia "Pat" Jackson This interview is a part of the Marian Cheek Jackson Center’s faith series. In this interview, Pat Jackson discusses the life and legacy of Reverend Charles L. Hilton,…

"And that was another way that the church related to the community. Providing a place, a home to affirm, and to the degree we could, assist people who were members of the community whatever their particular situation might be, economically or educationally." - Dr. Reginald Hildebrand Dr. Reginald…

Min. Robert Campbell is a well-known local activist who was raised by his grandparents in the Northside neighborhood. He attended Northside and Lincoln and was in the first desegregated graduating class at Chapel Hill High School (Class of ’67). He moved to Rogers Road in the 1970s where he has been…

“All God's people coming together and then you hear the voice that said, "I went to the mountain top and what did I see?" I saw all God's people coming together, black, white, red, holding hands and chanting "peace and unity. What do you want? Justice!" And just to hear that echo and look around and…

This interview is part of the Marian Cheek Jackson Center’s Life History Series. Ms. Virginia has grown up in Chapel Hill and lived here her entire life. She was born on Mitchell Lane. She is the 10th of 10 children. Her mother worked at UNC at Chase Hall and her father worked within landscaping.…

“If you have good football teams, it permeates throughout the entire school and it helps the other things that you’re going to do come up to par, come up to snuff or whatever you want to call it. It cuts down on a lot of discipline problems. Kids want to do more in school, because they see the…

"Out of nowhere I’m minding my own business and he [God] just speaks to me and says, 'You’re responsible for their knowing.'" - Yvonne Cleveland In this interview, Yvonne Cleveland talks about her move from New York to North Carolina and how God has guided her. Yvonne grew up in Brooklyn and…