Former student remembers West Charlotte High as a place where diversity created both opportunity and conflict.
Former West Charlotte student muses about the school and the uncertain legacies of integration.
A white student's experience with racial division at West Charlotte convinces her of the importance of integrated education.
A white teacher recalls a harmonious racial atmosphere at West Charlotte High School during his short stint there in the 1970s.
Charlene Regester assesses the costs to blacks of school integration in Chapel Hill.
Kenneth Norton remembers being a student at the segregated Ada Jenkins School in Davidson, North Carolina, in the 1930s.
Jeff Black reflects on the legacies of desegregation at West Charlotte High School, a school hailed as an exemplar of successful desegregation.
Longtime North Carolina high school principal Bennie Higgins describes the details of the position and reflects on race in the post-desegregation classroom.
Longtime principal Johnny A. Freeman reflects on the mixed legacy of desegregation.
Stella Nickerson describes a harmonious segregated past replaced by a less desirable integrated present.
A white student reflects on race and racism at West Charlotte High School.
Joanne Peerman describes the efforts of black students to thoroughly integrate Chapel Hill High School and discusses her relationship with her father, a beloved coach at Lincoln High School and a powerful figure in the black high school community.
John Jessup discusses his employment as the principal of a North Carolina public school and as an administrator in the Winston-Salem public schools. He describes the challenges he faced as an African American as well as the changes brought about by desegregation.
Enthusiasm for West Charlotte High School clashes with uncertainty about the efficacy of integration.
Harriet Love shares memories of and fondness for West Charlotte, a truly unique school.
Thurman Couch describes social, cultural, and economic splintering in African American networks in Chapel Hill following integration.
Alma Enloe remembers West Charlotte High School as an extension of the pre-integration African American community in Charlotte.
Clyde Smith recalls the tensions that integration introduced to athletics at North Carolina's Lincolnton High School.
Fran Jackson discusses her reaction to the integration of Chapel Hill High School.
An African American man reflects on race and protest in segregated Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
J. W. Mask describes his stewardship of a segregated black high school and his struggle to provide his students with adequate resources.
A black sharecropper's daughter discusses her difficult upbringing on the farm and the many stories of slavery on which she was raised.
In 1962, Gwendolyn Matthews was one of five African American students to integrate Cary High School in North Carolina. In this interview, she describes her experiences in the integration process, emphasizing the hostility of white students and teachers. In addition, she speaks more broadly about segregation and integration in Cary and Raleigh.
Diane English recalls her job experiences and quest for homeownership in Charlotte, North Carolina, beginning in the late 1960s. She also discusses her role as an activist for neighborhood safety and her fight to save her neighborhood from gentrification.
Maggie Ray, teacher at West Charlotte High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, reflects on the legacies of desegregation.
Latrelle McAllister remembers a nurturing, vibrant environment at West Charlotte High School and worries that this ethos may be at risk.
A former student at Lincoln and Chapel Hill High School recalls the frustrations of integration.
James Atwater discusses life in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, from the 1930s to the 1950s. He describes the black community, the impact of segregation on schools and neighborhoods, and experiences of African American staff at the university.
Integration was incomplete and did little to rid schools of racism, maintains Gloria Register Jeter in this interview. The close ties between school and community that existed in segregated black Chapel Hill evaporated when black schools were absorbed into a system that Jeter believed had little interest in black students' success.
Carolyn Farrar Rogers discusses how growing up in rural North Carolina sheltered her from racism and taught her the values of hard work and racial self-worth. These values served her well as a teacher during the early desegregation period.
Henry Frye grew up in a segregated farming community in North Carolina during the 1930s and 1940s before becoming a lawyer. He went on to become the first African American elected to the North Carolina General Assembly and to serve on the state supreme court. In this interview, he describes race relations, his career as a lawyer, and his experiences in politics.
Ran Kong, who immigrated to the United States from Cambodia at a young age, reflects on her life as a Cambodian-American and on her immigrant identity.
Richard Bowman reflects on growing up in segregated Asheville, North Carolina, and facing racism during his employment with the army and the Los Angeles Department of Motor Vehicles. He also discusses his work to improve the current Asheville school district and rebuild his old high school. He lived in Los Angeles for four decades and experienced two major riots.