Home > Tags > sit-ins

sit-ins

 Albert Simms Williams - On his life, family, community, and 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…

 Before each sit-in, demonstrators had to agree to practice nonviolent resistance by going limp to neither assist nor resist arrest.

Before each sit-in, demonstrators had to agree to practice nonviolent resistance by going limp to neither assist nor resist arrest.   Here, they lie on Franklin Street, awaiting transportation to jail.

 Chapel Hill police officers round up demonstrators for arrest at the Chapel Hill/Carrboro Merchants Association sit-in

Chapel Hill police officers David Caldwell, Coy Durham, Charles Allison, and Herman Stone round up demonstrators for arrest at the Chapel Hill/Carrboro Merchants Association sit-in.

David Caldwell is the Black officer standing on the left. Judy Booth can be seen sitting in the front. Raeford…

 Clyde Perry - On his childhood, family, education, and integration

This interview is part of an oral history project called Southern Communities: Listening for a Change: Mighty Tigers--Oral HIstories of Chapel Hill's Lincoln High School. The interviewes were conducted from 2000-2001, by Bob Gilgor, with former teachers, staff, and students from Chapel Hill, N.C.'s…

 David Mason, Jr. - On Black communities in Chapel Hill

This interview provides an overview of Black communities in Chapel Hill during Mason's life. He notes the consequences of having segregated communities and outdated infrastructures. His employment was at UNC Chapel Hill and he was employed at an early age at several local restaurants. He talks about…

 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…

 David Mason, Jr. - On planning Chapel Hill's first sit-in (clip)

David Mason: And, ‘til when I guess it must have been February or March of 1960. 1960. Shortly after the demonstrations in the city, as I shall say, in Greensboro. I was the president of my class, and then there was another fellow that was a year older than me. His sister goes to our church now.…

 David Mason, Jr. - On the sit-in at Colonial Drugstore (clip)

David Mason, Jr.: And I remember when we went in, we sat down and Big John said, “Mason, you, you know y’all are not supposed to be sitting down here.” And I said, “Why? We just want a soda.” And he said, “well y’all can get your sodas, and y’all have to leave.” And Harold said “No, we aren’t going…

 David Mason, Jr. - On what happened after the sit-in (clip)

Matthew Miller: Were you arrested, were you taken away? Or did they just take your name? David Mason, Jr.: They just took our names, okay. But he said, if you— MM: If you do— DM: Well, we weren’t arrested at that time, I should say. MM: Okay. DM: What happened—I didn’t tell my father, and, the next…

 David Mason, Jr. - On why the sit-in happened (clip)

Matthew Miller: So you were allowed to go there, but you weren’t allowed to sit at the counter? David Mason, Jr.: Absolutely! Absolutely. MM: Okay. DM: Yeah, yeah. That’s exactly right. So that was the most logical place. MM: Yeah. DM: ‘Cause that’s where we all put our money, and, so that was…

 Demonstrator arrested at Merchants Association sit-in

A demonstrator arrested at the Merchants Association sit-in is carried through the garage in the Chapel Hill jail building.

 Demonstrators arrested at Colonial Drug Sit-in

Demonstrators, including Walter Mitchell (center), are arrested during a night sit-in blocking the door to Colonial Drug.   Members of owner John Carswell’s family and a friend watch from the inside.

 Emily Banks - Malcolm X and the Civil Rights Movement (clip)

 James Foushee - On perceptions of Chapel Hill vs. reality (clip)

 James Foushee - On the Civil Rights Movement, family, and Northside

Foushee speaks on growing up in Northside which includes his educational experiences, and his family overview. He goes into the dynamics of his relationship with his aunt. Furthermore, he talks about his relationship with his neighbor. He takes the listener through the beginning and organization of…

 R. D. Smith - About his childhood, career in education, and school integration

This interview is part of an oral history project called Southern Communities: Listening for a Change: Mighty Tigers--Oral HIstories of Chapel Hill's Lincoln High School. The interviewes were conducted from 2000-2001, by Bob Gilgor, with former teachers, staff, and students from Chapel Hill, N.C.'s…

 Ruby Farrington (right) and Arthur B. Simons (left) lead a sit-in that paralyzes Franklin Street on February 8, 1964.

Ruby Farrington (right) and Arthur B. Simons (left) lead a sit-in that paralyzes Franklin Street on February 8, 1964.   Ruby and Arthur moved together to Boston, where they were married in 1965; (marriage was still illegal in NC at the time).

 Shirley Pendergraph Davis - On the African American freedom struggle and Civil Rights Movement in Chapel Hill (Interview Two)

“Well I would say that [Black women] stood by the men and we also stood up for our rights. We knew a change had to come.” - Shirley Pendergraph Davis Civil rights activist, Shirley Pendergraph Davis, comments on the role of Black women in the Civil Rights Movement in the early 1960s. Ms. Davis…

 Sit-in at Carlton's Rock Pile

Protesters sit-in Carlton’s Rock Pile, a whites-only convenience store.   At another sit-in there on December 1, 1963, the owner doused a protester with ammonia.