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Fred Battle recalls growing up and attending school in segregated Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and taking his experiences to college in Greensboro, where he participated in civil rights protests. Battle describes the pre-integration African American community as one in orbit around the all-black Lincoln High School and the church. Battle fears that these two institutions lack the character they once had: schools are losing their moral character, and churches are the most racially segregated sites in any community. Battle believes that racial progress has faltered since the 1960s and 1970s. This interview offers a useful gauge of the character of the African American community.

Ethos of Lincoln High School

Teachers at Lincoln High School nurture students

McDougle involves himself at Lincoln High School

Racial harmony before integration

Lincoln High School's PTA contributes much to resource-poor school

Significance of church and school for African Americans in Chapel Hill

Greensboro sit-ins and segregated public facilities in North Carolina

Little progress on race since 1960s

Absence of religion weakens schools

Fear of retaliation prevents participation in civil rights movement

Interview K-0525, in the Southern Oral History Program Collection #4007, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Finding aid to the Southern Oral History Program Collection

Database of all Southern Oral History Program Collection interviews

African Americans--North Carolina--Chapel Hill

Lincoln High School (Chapel Hill, N.C.)

Segregation in education--North Carolina--Chapel Hill

Civil rights demonstrations--North Carolina

Battle, Fred