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 Alicia Gomez - On her education, being a Jackson Scholar, and musical goals

At the time of the interview, Alicia Gomez was a Jackson Scholar who attended city council and town meetings and worked on a video project. Gomez is originally from New York and moved to Chapel Hill in 2009. Gomez attended Pace charter school after getting off-track academically. She speaks about…

 Allen Buansi - On addressing the NC teacher shortage (clip)

 Allen Buansi - On Education

"I really want my kids to first off, be good people, kind people, to be respectful of others, and to be advocates for themselves. I’m of course going to be their best advocate, along with their mother, my wife. But giving them the tools to be able to recognize when they themselves or others are…

 Allen Buansi - On getting into college (clip)

 Allen Buansi - Why elections matter for schools (clip)

 Betty Baldwin Geer - On her family, work experiences, and gentrification

"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…

 Brentton Harrison - On his time at the Jackson Center

“It doesn’t feel like work, it feels like a calling, a mission, or a purpose." - Brentton Harrison Mr. Harrison is bidding farewell to the Jackson Center after 10 years of service to join the Hargreeves Community Center. With the whole staff bidding him farewell and asking questions, it leads to…

 David Caldwell Jr. - Discrimination in Integrated Schools (clip)

Blanche Brown (BB): Now, you were going to school where, for the majority of the time? Like did you go to Lincoln, or did you-? David Caldwell Jr. (DC): No, I went to Chapel Hill High School. BB: Chapel Hill High School, okay. Because you were about, like thirteen when integration was fully phased…

 David Caldwell Jr. - On HBCUs (clip)

David Caldwell, Jr. (DC): That’s why I think that these young people that we have now is – how old is children are our future? Forever, [laughs] you know, it’s been around for a long time. And we got to start listening to it, you know, we got to save them. We got to bring them out, let them know…

 David Caldwell Jr. - Truancy (clip)

 David Mason, Jr. - On Lincoln High School, school desegregation, and Northside

David Mason, Jr. a lifetime resident of Chapel Hill, is one of the leaders of the Lincoln High Alumni Association, an active member of St. Joseph CME, and a community historian. This interview, conducted as part of the Marian Cheek Jackson Center for Saving and Making History’s local Life Histories…

 Diane Pledger - On her education and school experiences

“Education is the key to having more and representing your people and making it to the next level. So, in the whole realm of education, we had to make sure that within the school system, we were getting ours. That we were afforded the opportunity to get ours.” - Diane Pledger Diane Pledger recalls…

 Doris Wilson - On racial inequality, education, and faith

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…

 Edna Lyde - On the African American freedom struggle and Civil Rights Movement in Chapel Hill

"People have got to stand up for themselves. Black or white. If you don’t stand up for yourself, ain’t nobody going to do it for you." - Edna Lyde Edna Lyde, born in 1928 in Darlington, SC, recounts how being Black impacted her experience within her family, at the workplace, and in her community in…

 Edwin Caldwell, Jr. - On his family history, activism, and career

"So Chapel Hill, whatever you want to believe, wasn’t as progressive as some people may think." - Edwin Caldwell, Jr. This interview is part of a group of interviews conducted by Susan Simone exploring the lives of various members of the Northside community. In this 2-part interview, Edwin Caldwell,…

 Emily Banks - On her family, immigration, and faith

This interview is part of the Marian Cheek Jackson Center’s Life History Series.  Emily Banks, a current member and leader of St. Joseph CME Church, was born in 1946 in New York and migrated south to North Carolina in 1970.  She has spent the last few decades in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  She…

 Eugene Farrar - On Black builders

"The only way our history can get told right, is that we have to tell it." - Eugene Farrar In this oral history, Eugene Farrar gives an account of growing up in Chapel Hill as well as his lineage of Black builders. Farrar discusses his uncle, James Blacknell, who was a rock mason at the University…

 Euzelle and R.D. Smith - On food and cooking

R.D. and Euzelle Smith have lived in Pottersfield in Chapel Hill since the 1940s. Both worked as educators in Chapel Hill for decades, and R.D. served as a member of the Town Council. They then became the namesakes for Smith Middle School when it was constructed. This interview was done as part of…

 Frances Hargraves - On childhood, family, education, and teaching

"I remember my mother always told me, 'Whatever job you must do, be sure you give it your best.' She said if it’s sweeping the floor, washing dishes, anything, do it your best. And as I grew, that was her philosophy - always give it your best. And I still carry that philosophy." - Frances…

 Francesina Jackson - On integrating Chapel Hill High School and challenges faced by Black students

“I think today, nationwide, particularly when you look at the education system, there is a growing interest in separate but equal, with an emphasis on equal.” - Francesina Jackson Francesina Jackson, Chapel Hill resident and retired teacher, discusses her experience integrating to Chapel Hill High…

 Fred Battle - On the African American freedom struggle and Civil Rights Movement in Chapel Hill

"I would always look as I would walk down the corridors of the hall in Lincoln, and I could still hear some of the teachers speaking now. Giving guidance, giving direction, giving praise, and all the motivation we would need to excel as students, excel as athletes." - Fred Battle Fred Battle was…

 Freda Andrews - on early experiences teaching and cultural differences (clip)

Freda Andrews (FA): It wasn’t Durham Public Schools, it was Durham City Schools. I had my first teaching job at Fayetteville Street School in Durham. The ironic thing is, about that, as a Black teacher, I had to learn the culture of my own people because of the difference. When I was in Person…

 Freda Andrews - on her work as a remediation specialist (clip)

Freda Andrews (FA): Folk like me, they don’t have to pay us full salary. They hire us to come in and do remediation for a grade level to help them because many of the students don’t do well on the End of Grade tests. We are like a faux tutor in the public schools. We remediate them. I work four days…

 Isabel Atwater - On growing up during World War II, Black businesses, and Civil Rights

Ms. Atwater speaks about life growing up in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area during World War II. She shares her experiences with her husband, Roy Atwater and her education at the rural Merritt School and Orange County Training School. She was familiar with food rations throughout the time and had…

 Katherine Council - On education, changes in the community, and racial discrimination

“I really think with children, it didn’t matter. It was the adults that were having problems.” (In reference to integration) - Katherine "Mama Kat" Council Ms. Council, fondly known as Mama Kat, grew up on a farm in Chapel Hill down Jones Ferry Road and has lived in various places in the area her…

 Kathy Atwater and Mae McLendon - On their school experiences

"...informed me to take this letter home to your mama ‘Cause you are going to Chapel High School next year.’ And I said, ‘No, I’m not’. And they said, ‘Yes you are.’ Cause they hand-picked the Blacks that they would send to Chapel Hill High School." - Mae McLendon In this oral history, Ms. Mae and…

 Keith Edwards - On growing up in Carrboro and the role of teachers

“The thing I remember the most coming up in the Black community, the Black community supported the schools, not only financially, but they also supported the schools by parents having involvement in the children’s schooling.” - Keith Edwards Keith Edwards was born in 1950 and grew up in Carrboro and…

 Keith Edwards - On teachers' role in the Northside community (clip)

 Mae McLendon - On motherhood and attending UNC

“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…

 Mark Royster - On his family, education, and school integration

This interview begins with the background of Mark Royster. Royster grew up on his father’s farm in Granville County which is north of Durham County. His father’s farm was government subsidized. He was the youngest of twelve children. His sister is the eldest and would be 100 years old at the time of…

 Paul Caldwell - On school memories, family achievements, and the importance of education

"‘Cause I can go fishing and I can sit back and get my hook in the water and if I don’t catch nothing, I’m just as happy as I can be. But you’ve got me, my fishing hook, and the sky, and that great big old pond of water, and it’s so quiet." - Paul Caldwell Paul Caldwell, a lifelong resident of the…

 Rani Dasi - On being homeschooled (clip)

Rani Dasi: So, I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and I’m one of ten children and we were homeschooled, so I got to see how, again, that support really makes a difference in education but also the range of ways in which people can learn and, again, that pace of like everybody doesn’t have to be reading…

 Rani Dasi - On going from homeschool to public school (clip)

Kathryn Wall (KW): …so, and when you first went to like a school building, what was that experience like? Rani Dasi (RD): It was shocking initially in that somehow the excitement of learning wasn’t as present in a lot of the students, and so they did what they had to do to get the grades but they…

 Rani Dasi - On her college experience (clip)

 Rani Dasi - On her involvement in her children's education (clip)

 Rani Dasi - On her primary focus(es) as a CHCCS board member (clip)

 Rani Dasi - On language immersion programs (clip)

 Rani Dasi - On learning to read (clip)

Kathryn Wall: I was wondering if you could start off by telling a little bit about where you grew up and what your early memories of your own education were. Rani Dasi: Thank you for the question. I’ve talked a lot about one of my earliest memories was sitting on my Mom’s lap and learning how to…

 Rani Dasi - On trusting and investing in teachers (clip)

Kathryn Wall (KW): It seems like there’s an increasing amount of political pressure around what gets taught in the classroom and what you can and can’t say and…?. Rani Dasi (RD): Yeah, and I go back to trusting the people who train to do this work, who study best practices about how children learn…

 Rani Dasi - What her mother taught her about education (clip)

Rani Dasi (RD): And I went to college in Northwestern University in Chicago, actually Evanston, Illinois and I studied engineering. I was always interested in numbers and how they tell the story of the world really, and then during that time I continued to mentor and tutor other students. So, I…

 Rani Dasi - Why education should be accessible (clip)

Rani Dasi (RD): So, it left me with a wish to make education, public education, accessible to people in a way that continues that passion and helps them. I think everybody wants to learn but if you make learning a chore, you take the fun out of it. And so, yeah…Did I answer your question? Kathryn…

 Reginald D. Smith, II - On his parents career in education

"Are you learning something today that’s going to help you tomorrow?" - Reginald D. Smith, II In this interview, Reginald D. Smith, II reflects on his upbringing in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, as the son of two educators. He discusses his family’s emphasis on education, the influence of teachers…

 Reginald Hildebrand - Racism and Quaker School (clip)

Reginald Hildebrand (RH): In the 4th grade, go to my parents, there was a Quaker school in Atlantic City. They had a good experience, thought it was worth the investment sending me to a Quaker School in Philadelphia, they wanted to do the same there. I went there, took exams, and the head mistress…

 Robert Revels - On influential people in his life

Throughout this interview, Mr. Revels discusses the most influential people in his life as being the Danziggers, his mother and father, and his grandmother. He touches on a lot of lessons he’s learned from each of these individuals throughout the interview, such as the importance of work and…

 Sandi Abbo - On education

“I am a believer that education is essential, just like air. Just like oxygen. We have to feed our minds, and I also believe we have to feed our souls.” - Sandi Abbo This interview was a part of the Marian Cheek Jackson Center Education series. Ms. Abbo grew up living in Pine Knolls and Tin Top…

 Sandi Abbo - On expectations for students in school (clip)

 Sandi Abbo - On her Black teachers in high school (clip)

 Sandi Abbo - On her high school history teacher (clip)

 Sandi Abbo - On living "parallel lives" from her classmates (clip)

Sandi Abbo: “I remember being in high school. I went to high school in 1970…well, ‘69 I guess, ‘cause then after the new year it was ‘70. I was in 10th grade. When I was in high school, it was 10th, 11th, 12th. We were just excluded. We weren’t wanted, we were very clearly told ‘you don’t belong…

 Sandi Abbo - On participating in school clubs (clip)

 Sarita Allen - On her teaching career

"That buzz, that hum that’s going on where they’re talking to one another and exploring things, that is crucial. There are times for quiet, you know, like when you’re doing testing or things like that, but all the other times, no. You want chatter, you want buzz, I know I did." - Sarita Allen Sarita…

 Terrence M. Foushee - On education

“Servant leadership is, to me, learning who you are to find out what you can contribute to make your community better.” - Terrence M. Foushee Terrence Foushee is the Blue Ribbon Specialist for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. During the interview, he reflects on his experiences navigating Chapel…

 Virginia Jones - Speaking about her education, career, and family

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.…

 Walter Durham - On school integration, his childhood, and race

“[Lincoln] was a school that you could go in and… no paper on the school campus. Hallway shines like new money all the time. You could drink out of the commode in the bathroom. And it was kept just that clean.” - Walter Durham Walter Durham discusses growing up as part of a large family on his…

 William Carter - On school integration and the Civil Rights Movement

"We’re the Southern part of heaven, but that’s only for white folk. That’s not for the blacks." - William Carter William Carter discusses the movement and his background. He was born in the Bronx, New York in 1949 and discusses his heritage with a grandma being a Lumbee Native American and father…

 William E. "Smitty" Smith - On his career as a rock mason

"I’ve learned on every project I’ve done. And I’m still learning." - William E. Smith William E. “Smitty” Smith is a rockmason and builder who has lived in Chapel Hill for his entire life. First brought into building through a class at Chapel Hill High School, he reflects on what brought him into…