Oral History Interview with Fred Battle, January 3, 2001. Interview K-0525. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007).
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Abstract
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.
Excerpts
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
Citation
Interview K-0525, in the Southern Oral History Program Collection #4007, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Finding aid to the Southern Oral History Program Collection
Database of all Southern Oral History Program Collection interviews
Subjects
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
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