Oral History Collection [Brock Museum, Greensboro College]
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Oral History interview with Anne Bisher Cook by Justin Payne
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This oral history interview was conducted with Anne Bisher Cook on October 24, 2008 by Greensboro College senior, Justin Payne. While a student at Greensboro College, Cook was known by her maiden name, Bisher. In this interview, Cook relays her experiences participating in the Greensboro Woolworth's lunch counter sit-ins in 1960 while she was a student at Greensboro College. The interview begins with background information about Cook's immediate family. She shares personal experiences of when she saw injustices in the world as a child and as a student of Greensboro College. She describes her actions and reactions to these injustices, such as sitting in the back of a bus while she gave her seat to an older black woman, buying food from a restaurant with a black girl, and socializing with students from Bennett College and North Carolina A&:T College. She describes supporting and participating in the Woolworth sit-ins in February 1960. Although unable to pinpoint the exact dates that she was there, she stated that after the first day she went, she went back every afternoon until it was over. Cook also provides first hand experiences involving the Ku Klux Klan in her home town of Denton, North Carolina. Cook closes the interview by stating that she is proud of her actions during this time period and proud that the city of Greensboro was one of the leading cities in the civil rights movement.
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Oral History interview with Edward H. Bryant Jr. by Justin Payne
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This oral history interview was conducted with Edward H. Bryant, Jr. on October 4, 2008 by Greensboro College senior, Justin Payne. The interview was conducted via telephone. The interview focuses on Bryant's involvement with the 1960 Greensboro Woolworth's lunch counter sit-ins. According to Bryant, he went into Woolworth's with Richard O'Neal, and Lowell Lott. All three were Greensboro College students. Bryant tells of speaking with the black protesters and giving them his support and giving a statement to a nearby journalist which confirmed his group's involvement in the event. Upon returning to campus, Bryant feels he was treated favorably by the students, but that some of the college's administration attempted to force him to leave the school. He would not agree to do so, and the president of the school ultimately put a stop to the administration's actions against Mr. Bryant. Bryant explains how after his initial participation, he was contacted by the leaders of the student civil rights movement from the nearby black colleges, and attended meetings with them. Declining to officially join their legal actions against the local and state government, Bryant expressed his continued support in all matters other than legal as he had just recently been accepted by the University of Richmond's law program.
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Oral History interview with Lewis A. Brandon III by Justin Payne
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This oral history interview was conducted with Lewis A. Brandon, III on February, 26, 2009 by Greensboro College senior, Justin Payne. The interview covers Brandon's background and his time as a teacher at the J.C. Price School, an historically African American elementary school in Greensboro, N.C. Brandon's recollections regard desegregation and its impact on both J.C. Price School and the historically black Warnersville community. Overall, he feels the change had many positive aspects, but Warnersville community as a whole lost the cohesiveness and sense of unity that it had while segregation was in effect. Brandon also took part in numerous protests and helped college students to become involved in the civil rights movement. In this interview, he shares memories about time spent aiding, organizing, and participating in various civil rights events in the Greensboro area. Lewis A. Brandon III was born in Asheville, North Carolina, in 1939. As a youth, he was involved with civil rights activities and interracial groups in Asheville, including the Red Cross and the Interracial Youth Council. In 1957, he graduated from Stevens Lee High School and moved to Greensboro to attend North Carolina A&T State University. Following the sit-in of the F. W. Woolworth lunch counter on February 1, 1960, Brandon joined demonstrations against segregated businesses downtown. That same year, he became a member of Greensboro chapters of CORE and NAACP, as well as the Student Executive Committee for Justice, a group formed on the campus of A&T.
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Oral History interview with Melvin Swann by Michael Sistrom
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This oral history interview was conducted with Melvin Swann on October 30, 2007 by Greensboro College Associate Professor of History, Dr. Michael P. Sistrom. The interview largely covers Swann's experiences as a teacher at the J.C. Price School, an historically African American elementary school in Greensboro, N.C. Swann describes how J.C. Price School Principal Peeler recruited him to come to Price and discusses the process and effects of desegregation on Price in 1971 and his post-Price career. Swann speaks about his teaching career at Price School and describing his preference for engaged learning in his science classes. He also discusses athletics and extracurricular activities at Price. He reflects on Principal Peeler's qualities as a mentor to faculty and as a creative scheduler and educational innovator. Swann discusses Mr. Peeler's (and his own) approach to student discipline, including creating ways to coerce students into behaving. Swann describes the connections between Price teachers and the community, especially noting his own participation and that of other teachers in the civil rights protests of the early 1960s. Finally, Swann discusses the early meetings and negotiations between the Peeler-Swann Price Family Association and Greensboro College over the fate of the Price School property after 2003. Swann contrasts the actions and interests of the alumni group with other protests against Greensboro College's plans for the property organized by other community activists.
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Oral History interview with Richard O'Neal by Justin Payne
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This oral history interview was conducted with Richard O'Neal on September 26, 2008 by Greensboro College senior, Justin Payne. The interview focuses on O'Neal's involvement with the 1960 Greensboro Woolworth's lunch counter sit-ins. Mr. O'Neal begins the interview with information on his life while growing up. He explains his opinions about the social environment during the 1950's and 1960's. The overall sentiment according to him was a mood of uncaring. No one was interested in civil rights where he grew up. He tells about his decision to attend Greensboro College, and why he participated in the Greensboro Woolworth sit-ins. He tells how he and several other male students walked to the Woolworth in downtown Greensboro because they had heard on the radio what was happening. O'Neal describes four A&T students seated at the counter with an empty seat between each of them, and they were waiting to be served. O'Neal, Ed Bryant, and Lowell Lott sat down with those students for an hour or so. O'Neal describes how he received some backlash for his involvement in the following weeks. A few students, and even some administrators on campus, gave him problems. O'Neal explains that upon graduation he began work as a social worker, before becoming a teacher. Richard O'Neal graduated from Greensboro College in 1960 with a BA. He went on to earn an MA from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. While a student at Greensboro College, he participated in the February 1960 Woolworth store sit-ins. Richard O'Neal graduated from Greensboro College in 1960 with a BA. He went on to earn an MA from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. While a student at Greensboro College, he participated in the February 1960 Woolworth store sit-ins.
