Oral History Interview with Walter Durham, January 19 and 26, 2001. Interview K-0540. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007).
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Abstract
Walter Durham, an African American community member of Orange County, North Carolina, recalls his experiences growing up in Carrboro and Chapel Hill. Born in the late 1940s into a land-owning family, Durham attended all-black schools in Carrboro until 1966, when the African American high school, Lincoln, merged with the newly integrated Chapel Hill High School. For Durham, school integration was largely a negative experience. He fondly recalls Lincoln High School as an extremely well-ordered and disciplined school with strong ties to the community and pride in students' accomplishments, particularly in football. According to Durham, black students' traditions were lost when the Chapel Hill schools integrated. This, along with tensions between white and black students, led Durham to participate in the 1968 "riot" at Chapel Hill High School.
Excerpts
Sketch of youth on multigenerational black-owned farm
Fond memories of Lincoln High School
School integration done at the expense of black school traditions and accomplishments
Latent anger over childhood experiences with racism and segregation resurfaces with school integration
African American students' desire to stay at Lincoln High overlooked in 1966
Lincoln High was more disciplined than the integrated Chapel Hill High
Proud memories of Lincoln High School football games
Building tensions between black and white students at Chapel Hill High
The 1968 "riot" at Chapel Hill High School
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Finding aid to the Southern Oral History Program Collection
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Subjects
Chapel Hill (N.C.)--Race relations
School integration--North Carolina--Chapel Hill
African Americans--North Carolina--Chapel Hill
Lincoln High School (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Durham, Walter
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