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Oral History Interview with Stella Nickerson, January 20, 2001. Interview K-0554. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007).
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  • Abstract
    Stella Nickerson provides a relatively complete picture of her young life during the integration process. She describes a closely knit, harmonious black community in which she grew up without fear—a community that wove together elements of work, school, and religion. Integration transformed tightly disciplined black schools into more unruly places without ties to their communities. This interview is more useful as a source of information on the small goings-on of everyday life than it is as a source of broad evaluative statements about the integration of public education.
    Excerpts
  • Black girl has no white friends
  • Black students move through town without fear
  • Close ties between teachers and community
  • Maintaining discipline at Lincoln
  • Teachers support students at Lincoln
  • Remembering McDougle
  • Lack of investment in public schools
  • Integration's lack of obvious progress
  • Learn More
  • Finding aid to the Southern Oral History Program Collection
  • Database of all Southern Oral History Program Collection interviews
  • Subjects
  • School integration--North Carolina--Chapel Hill
  • African Americans--North Carolina--Chapel Hill
  • Lincoln High School (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
  • Segregation in education--North Carolina--Chapel Hill
  • Nickerson, Stella
  • The Southern Oral History Program transcripts presented here on Documenting the American South undergo an editorial process to remove transcription errors. Texts may differ from the original transcripts held by the Southern Historical Collection.

    Funding from the Institute for Museum and Library Services supported the electronic publication of this title.