African American Institutional Memory Oral History Project
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Oral history interview with Joyce Bass, 2015
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Joyce Kaye Sanders Bass (1950-) was born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina. Bass attended UNCG from 1969-1973 and afterwards taught high school English in Virginia and North Carolina. This interview describes Bass' biographical information, decision to attend UNCG and transition into the university, dorm life at UNCG, social activities and extracurricular activities at UNCG, campus traditions including class jackets and rings, academics at UNCG, and overall reflection of the UNCG experience.
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Oral history interview with Karen Lynn Parker, 2012
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Karen Lynn Parker (1943- ) attended Woman's College of the University of North Carolina, now The University of North Carolina, from 1961 to 1963. She transferred to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1963 where she majored in journalism. After graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1965, she worked as a copy editor and journalist for several local and national newspapers.<BR><BR>Parker talks about growing up in segregated Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the importance of education in her family, and her decision to attend Woman's College. She recalls being a summer intern at the Winston-Salem Journal and meeting reporter Luix Overbea who encouraged her to go into journalism. Parker remembers other black students at Woman's College, campus life, picketing on Tate Street and downtown Greensboro to desegregate the stores and restaurants, and her family's reaction to her involvement in the protests. She discusses her decision to transfer to UNC-Chapel Hill where she was the first black female student, and being arrested for participating in protests to integrate local restaurants.XXXX7101
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Oral history interview with Katherine Whittington Dubose, 2015
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Katherine Whittington Dubose (1947-) was born in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and attend UNCG from 1965-1968. Dubose graduated from Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina, and had a career as a teacher and school administrator. This interview includes Dubose's biographical information, academic experience at UNCG, social life at UNCG, the dining hall at UNCG, interactions with students from other universities and downtown Greensboro, Dubose's experience at Livingstone College, and reflections about UNCG.
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Oral history interview with Kathryn Jordan-Pierce, 2013
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Kathryn Jordan-Pierce (1948- ) graduated from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) in 1970, majoring in psychology. She has a Master of Arts and Master of Education from Columbia University Teachers College in New York City. After teaching reading for many years, Jordan-Pierce is now a literacy coach in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Jordan-Pierce talks about growing up in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and moving to Durham, North Carolina, when she was thirteen. She discusses attending Hillside High School in Durham, choosing to attend UNCG as her college, and riding on chartered buses to social mixers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to meet male students. She remembers her fellow black classmates, being a reader for sociology professor Dr. Joseph S. Himes, her reaction when she learned of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Black Power Conference held on campus in 1967, the cafeteria workers' strike of 1968, and the founding of the Neo-Black Society. Jordan-Pierce recalls working at the New York Public Library after graduating from UNCG, attending Columbia University, teaching reading and literacy, and how attending UNCG made it possible for her to negotiate the real world.
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Oral history interview with Linda Scales Dark, 2012
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Linda Scales Dark (1946- ) graduated in 1968 from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) with a degree in biology. She received her nursing degree from Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island is retired from Novant Health Community Wellness Department.<BR><BR>Dark recalls growing up in segregated Winston-Salem, North Carolina where she attended all-black elementary and high schools. She remembers protesting in front of the segregated K&W Cafeteria in Winston-Salem while in high school. Dark discusses attending Central State College in Wilberforce, Ohio, pledging Delta Sigma Theta sorority, and deciding to transfer to UNCG because her boyfriend was attending North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University in Greensboro. She talks about going to summer school after transferring to UNCG, having a white student for a roommate that summer, learning about white culture from her roommate, studying to be a medical technologist, and having her high school friend, Martha Jo Hightower, Class of 1969, for her roommate the entire time she was at UNCG. Dark describes getting married right after graduation, moving to Canada for her husband's work, relocating to Newport, Rhode Island where she received a nursing degree, and then living in the Washington, DC area for over thirty years. She remembers the effect the murders of Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King, Jr., Viola Liuzzo, and Emmett Till has on her. Dark concludes the interview by describing how attending UNCG changed her life.XXXX7072
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Oral history interview with Linda Wilson McDougle, 2013
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Linda Wilson McDougle (1944- ) graduated in1966 from North Carolina College (NCC), now North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina. She received a Master of Education from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) in 1970. McDougle also has an education specialist degree from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, and certification in administration from North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina. McDougle talks about growing up on a farm in Alamance County, North Carolina and her family being of mixed heritage: African American, Caucasian, and Native American. She remembers driving a school bus for the segregated high school she attended in Graham, North Carolina; her mentor, Dr. Perry Mack, who encouraged her to attend college; working in the NCC library and local grocery store to earn money for college; and being Miss Homecoming and Miss Law School at NCC. McDougle discusses teaching earth science, being the first black teacher, first female assistant principal, and then principal at Jackson Junior High School in Greensboro, North Carolina. She also talks about the integration of the Greensboro school system, race relations, busing, and private church related academies.
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Oral history interview with Linner Ward Griffin, 2014
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Linner Ward Griffin (1942-2015 ) attended Woman's College of the University of North Carolina, now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and graduated in 1964 with a major in history. Griffin has a Master's in Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a doctorate from the University of Houston in Houston, Texas. In July 2013, she retired from East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina as associate provost for academic affairs. Griffin remembers being raised by her maternal grandparents in segregated Charlotte, North Carolina; the social changes that occurred in Charlotte during the 1950s; and the influence her high school teacher, Julian Pyles, had on her life by preparing her for college. She recalls her friends from Charlotte and fellow college students: Clara Withers (Class of 1962), Elizabeth Withers (Class of 1963), and Diane Oliver (Class of 1964); being housed with other black students in Coit Residence Hall; and being disappointed by the lack of integration on campus. Griffin discusses her adjustment to academic life, the influence of faculty members: Professors Laura Anderton, Richard Bardolph, and Jordan Kurland as well as administrators: Chancellors James Ferguson and Otis Singletary, and Deans Mereb Mossman and Katherine Taylor. She gives her thoughts about dining hall food, dorm rules and regulations, the campus tradition of Rat Day, and her social life revolving around events at nearby North Carolina A&T State University. Griffin concludes the interview by talking about how attending the all-female Woman's College influenced her life and made her feel comfortable with herself.
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Oral history interview with Margaret Patterson Horton, 2012
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Margaret Patterson Horton (1939- ) graduated in 1961 from Woman's College of the University of North Carolina, now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. After graduating, she was a teacher, master teacher supervisor, and workshop presenter and coordinator. Horton also served as the regional director of the Ohio Interscholastic Writing League, assistant principal at a private school, and taught at a community college.<BR><BR>Horton recalls growing up in segregated Lenoir, North Carolina; the importance of education in her family; being proud of her parents for supporting her decision to attend Woman's College; and being the third African American accepted at the previously all-white college. She talks about missing out on the 'college freshman experience' because she was housed with a sophomore in one of the upper class dormitories, the lack of social life on campus, and seeking a social life at the historical black North Carolina A&T State College (A&T) in Greensboro. Horton mentions hearing about the 1960 Greensboro Sit-ins from her boyfriend who attended A&T; playing the saxophone in the Junior Show; and her professors Amy Charles, Leonard Hurley, and Randall Jarrell.XXXX7122
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Oral history interview with Marie Darr Scott, 2011
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Marie Darr Scott (1948- ) graduated in 1970 with a history degree from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). After college, she taught at the UNCG Residential College, worked at Cone Mills, and then worked for the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU) in Greensboro, North Carolina. Scott and her husband currently own Scott Tree Service.<BR><BR>Scott talks about growing up in segregated Thomasville, North Carolina, her early family life, and applying to UNCG. She recalls dorm life, roommates, academics, social life, and faculty members such as Richard Bardolph and Warren Ashby. Scott discusses the Black Power Forum of 1967, the founding of the Neo-Black Society in 1968, the establishment of a black history class at UNCG, and her involvement in the Greensboro United Tutorial Service (GUTS). She recalls the excitement when she met Dionne Warwick on campus and her reaction to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Scott concludes the interview by talking about her children and her involvement in the UNCG Black Alumni Council.XXXX7102
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Oral history interview with Marilyn Moorer Raines, 2011
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Marilyn Moorer Raines (1947- ) graduated in 1969 from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) with a degree in psychology. She received a master degree in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania. Raines is a licensed clinical social worker who has provided medical and psychiatric care to children, teens, adults, and seniors in mental health, substance abuse, and trauma.<BR><BR>Raines talks about growing up in segregated Union, South Carolina, the importance of education in her family, and attending high school at the Palmer Memorial Institute in Sedalia, North Carolina. She also recalls attending Thiel College in Pennsylvania, adjusting to life in the cold North, and deciding to transfer to UNCG to be near her boyfriend who attended North Carolina Agricultural & Technical University (A&T). Raines discusses the founding of the Neo-Black Society at UNCG in 1968, the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the riot at A&T in 1969 and the effect it had on the UNCG campus, and the ARA Slater food service strike in 1969.XXXX7070
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Oral history interview with Martha Jo Hightower Campbell, 2012
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Martha Jo Hightower Campbell (1947- ) graduated in 1969 from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) with a degree in sociology. She retired as director of the Winston-Salem Workforce Development Department.<BR><BR>Campbell recalls growing up in segregated Winston-Salem, North Carolina; attending St. Ann's Academy for eleven years; transferring to Atkins High School for her senior year; becoming interested in sociology; and participating in civil rights marches while in high school. She talks about the upper-class African American students at UNCG who informed the new black students about which professors were prejudiced and should be avoided. Campbell discusses the Neo-Black Society and the events it sponsored, dances on campus that brought the white and black students together, general campus social life, her involvement in a campus play, and her student employment in the dining hall. She remembers meeting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Winston-Salem and the impact his assassination had on her as well as on the UNCG and North Carolina A&T State University campuses. Campbell concludes the interview by talking about how attending UNCG influenced her life and prepared her for working in the social services and government areas.XXXX7125
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Oral history interview with Mary Wright, 2015
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Mary Wright (1952- ) was born in Duplin County, North Carolina. Wright attended UNCG from 1970-1973, graduating in three years. She majored in political science. Afterwards she attended George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C., graduating in 1976. She also attended and taught classes at Antioch School of Law in Washington, D.C. After practicing law in North Carolina at Georgia, she returned to the classroom, and has served as a Professor of Law at North Carolina Central University School of Law in Durham, N.C., since 1985. This interview contains Wright's biographical information, details about her experience with mandated busing to a previously all-white high school during her senior year, her experiences as a member of UNCG's Residential College, and her observations on student life and interactions with students at North Carolina A&T University.
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Oral history interview with Melinda Dean Pennix, 2015
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Melinda Dean Pennix (1951-) is a native of Greensboro, North Carolina, and attended Bluford Elementary, Lincoln Junior High, and Dudley Senior High School. Pennix attended UNCG from 1968-1973 and afterwards had a career in the Postal Service. This interview includes Pennix's biographical information, comparisons of attending public schools in Greensboro versus UNCG, academics at UNCG, the administration at UNCG, social activities on campus, men at UNCG, campus traditions, the dining hall, protests at UNCG, and Pennix's personal reflections about her student experience at UNCG and on different aspects of life.
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Oral history interview with Mtume Imani, 2012
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Mtume Imani (1941 - ) graduated in 1962 with a degree in music education from Woman's College of the University of North Carolina, now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. After graduation, she taught school for a few years and then worked in the business world. Currently she works part time at the Tyler Youth Group in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, and is a volunteer at a daycare center.<BR><BR>Imani discusses changing her name legally from Brenda Roberts to Mtume Imani in the 1980s, attending St. Anne's Academy in Winston-Salem, North Carolina; receiving a scholarship to Springfield Junior College in Springfield, Illinois; and the importance of education in the African American home while she was growing up. She talks about transferring to Woman's College; the academic standards at the School of Music; the influence of music professors Richard Cox and George Thompson had on her education; and her fencing and billiard classes. Imani recalls her roommate Edith Mayfield, the small number of black students on campus in the early 1960s, and her limited social life due to her music commitments. She concludes the interview by comparing the involvement of the community in the raising of black children in the 1940s and 1950s to today's practices.XXXX7078
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Oral history interview with Myrna Colley-Lee, 2011
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Myrna Colley-Lee (1941- ) graduated in 1962 from the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina, now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She taught art education for a few years before moving to New York, New York, where she studied at Brooklyn College. In 1980, Colley-Lee received her Master of Fine Arts degree from Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Colley-Lee talks about growing up in North Carolina, Florida, and Texas as well as living in Liberia, West Africa, where she contracted malaria. She discusses attending Bennett College and then transferring to Woman's College. Colley-Lee describes the different rules and regulations found at Bennett College and Woman's College; being a commuting student; participating in the 1960 Greensboro Sit-ins; teaching art education in Charlotte, North Carolina; moving to New York and becoming a social worker; being married to a jazz musician; and becoming interested in theater work. She talks about learning scene design at Brooklyn College and getting her Master of Fine Arts at Temple University. Colley-Lee also discusses being a costume designer, art director, and set designer for theater, film, and television. She concludes the interview by talking about her company, Glad Rags; her involvement in the SonEdna Foundation; being a commissioner for the Mississippi Arts Commission; and serving on several boards.
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Oral history interview with Patricia J. Trice, 2013
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Patricia J. Trice (1939- ) graduated from Oberlin College in 1959, received a master's in music education from Illinois in 1960, a master's in piano performance from The University of North Carolina (UNCG) in 1968, and a PhD from Florida State. She is founder and director of the Spiritual Renaissance Singers of Greensboro. For nine years, Trice was a member of the music faculty of North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina and a member of the music faculty of Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, Florida, for twenty-seven years. Trice remembers the importance of education in her family; attending Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, to study music; and receiving funds from the Pearsall Plan, which was used by North Carolina during the segregated 1950s to send African American students to study out of state. She discusses her music degrees and attending various colleges and universities. Trice recalls being a graduate student at UNCG in the 1960s but not being very involved with campus life except to attend classes. She talks about publishing her book Choral Arrangements of the African-American Spirituals and founding the Spiritual Renaissance Singers of Greensboro.
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Oral history interview with Poinsettia Galloway Peterson, 2013
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Poinsettia Galloway Peterson (1946- ) graduated in 1966 from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) with a degree in sociology. She retired from teaching and school administration in 1998 and currently works with the Maryland State Department of Education.<br><br> Peterson talks about growing up in Brunswick County, North Carolina and the importance of education in her family as both of her parents were educators. She recalls coming to UNCG without having visited the campus, bonding with the other freshman African American students, the transition of the institution from being an all-female college to a co-educational university, campus rules and regulations, and her social activities. She vividly remembers two incidents of discrimination'her health teacher telling the class that venereal diseases are carried by 'nigras' and being refused service at the Apple House restaurant on Tate Street. Peterson discusses student teaching at Dudley High School in Greensboro; the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968; graduating at age nineteen; starting her teaching career at Nakina High School in Columbus, North Carolina; and the close bond she and the other black alumni who live in the Washington, DC area have maintained.
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Oral history interview with Raynette Greene Covington, 2015
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Raynette Greene Covington (1949-) was born in Goldboro, North Carolina. She attended UNCG from 1967-1971 and majored in English. This interview includes Covington's biographical information, academic experience at UNCG, social life at UNCG, the dining hall at UNCG, and interactions with students from other universities in Greensboro. She also discusses the Neo-Black Society and their involvement with the cafeteria worker's strike. She provides addition comments about the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the impact that it had on her and other students.
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Oral history interview with Sheila Cunningham Sims, 2012
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Sheila Cunningham Sims (1941- ) graduated in 1962 with a degree in primary education from Woman's College of the University of North Carolina, now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. After graduation, she taught for two years in Greensboro and then moved to Oakland, California, where she taught school. After many years as a curriculum teacher, she retired and is currently an education consultant.<BR><BR>Sims discusses the importance of education in her family; growing up in segregated Greensboro, North Carolina; her feelings about having to sit in the segregated balcony at the Carolina Theater; and the 1960 Greensboro Sit-ins. She also recalls attending Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, for two years; being apprehensive about transferring to a large all-white college; living at home and taking the bus to classes each day; campus traditions; being the only black student in all her classes at Woman's College; and the contrast between Woman's College and North Carolina A&T State College students in the area of political activism. Sims talks about the 1960s Civil Rights Movement and its national leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Julian Bond as well as local leader George Simkins, Jr. She concludes the interview by recalling her teaching experience in Sokoto, Nigeria, during the 1980s.XXXX7077
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Oral history interview with Terry Ward Cockerham, 2011
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Terry Ward Cockerham (1947- ) graduated from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) in 1969 with a Bachelor's in Economics and Business Administration.<br><br>Cockerham recalls growing up in Lake Waccamaw, North Carolina, where she attended segregated schools. Her mother worked part-time for Winston Mutual Insurance and her father taught math. She talks about her reasons for attending UNCG, adjusting to dorm life, college academics, and the lack of social life on campus for black students. Cockerham also discusses her roommate Martha Jo Hightower (Class of 1969), being a member of the Neo-Black Society, dating a North Carolina A&T State University student who is now her husband, getting married the week after graduating, and moving all over the country due to her husband's career. She concludes the interview by giving her thoughts about attending an all-white school versus attending a historical black school.
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