Civil Rights

by . An excerpt from an oral history interview conducted in 1991 between Bob Gilgor and Joanne Peerman, an African American women who grew up in Chapel Hill and experienced integration during the 1960s [...] (from NCpedia.)

by Pollitt, Phoebe Ann. Originally published in "North Carolina Nursing History." Republished with permission. For personal educational use and not for further distribution. Please submit permission requests for other uses [...] (from Appalachian State University.)

by . Adkin High School Walkout 1951 Kinston, NC by the North Carolina Arts Council. Originally published in African American Music Trails of Eastern North Carolina, copyright 2013. Republished [...] (from North Carolina Arts Council.)

by Alexander, Roberta Sue, Barfield, Rodney D., Nash, Steven E. Part i: Introduction; Part ii: Life under slavery and the achievements of free Black people; Part iii: Emancipation and the Freedmen's Fight for Civil Rights; Part iv: Segregation and the struggle [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Alexander, Roberta Sue, Barfield, Rodney D., Nash, Steven E. Part i: Introduction; Part ii: Life under slavery and the achievements of free Black people; Part iii: Emancipation and the Freedmen's Fight for Civil Rights; Part iv: Segregation and the struggle [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hill, Steven. Alford, Arthur Stafford “Ott” (December 30, 1929-April 23, 1982) by Steven A. Hill, 2019 Published with permission. For personal educational use and not for further [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Horton, Emily S. Maya Angelou was best known as a poet and the best-selling author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970). Angelou was also a singer, dancer, Grammy-winning composer, director, and actress. She was [...] (from NCpedia.)

by Alston, Christine. Clicking on this image will link you to assorted newspaper clippings about school segregation from North Carolina Digital Collections. These articles are from a variety of [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Carrier, Sarah. Ann George Atwater was a lifelong grassroots civil rights activist in Durham, North Carolina. She was born in Hallsboro, Columbus County on July 1, 1935. As a child, she attended the Farmers’ Union [...] (from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries.)

by Townes, Mitzi. Ella Baker was born on December 13, 1903 in Norfolk , Va. When Ella was eight years old her family moved to Littleton, North Carolina. In 1918, Ella Baker entered Shaw University, a Baptist boarding [...] (from NCpedia.)

by Agan, Kelly, Davis, Sarajanee. Baker, Ella Josephine Giving light so people can find the way By Sarajanee Davis, N.C. Government & Heritage Library, 2019; Kelly Agan, N.C. Government & Heritage Library, 2020. From [...] (from NCpedia K-8 Collection.)

by Simpson-Vos, Mark. Men's college basketball in the state underwent another dramatic transformation beginning in the late 1960s, when previously all-white college teams began recruiting black players. Prior to and after [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hill, Steven. Best, Andrew Arthur (November 26, 1916-December 7, 2005) by Steven A. Hill, 2019 Published with permission. For personal educational use and not for further distribution.  Andrew [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Cecelski, David S. On the day she passed her bar exam in 1974, Karen Galloway, now Karen Bethea-Shields, was named co-counsel in the first-degree murder trial of Joan Little. It became one of the most controversial [...] (from Listening to History, News and Observer.)

by Hill, Michael. The name of Rose Butler Browne is venerated on the campus of North Carolina Central University (NCCU). Born in Boston in 1897, Browne was an influential educator, civil rights activist, and community [...] (from Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History.)

by Cecelski, David S. Mary Cannady was 50 years old in 1965 when three civil rights activists were killed in Alabama. The deaths of Jimmie Lee Jackson, the Rev. James Reeb and Viola Liuzzo shocked the nation, including [...] (from Listening to History, News and Observer.)

by Caldwell, John T. William Claudius Chance, Sr., educator and humanitarian, was born in Parmele. His parents were W. V. and Alice Chance; his grandparents, who reared him, were Bryant and Penethia Chance; all were [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by . John Kenyon Chapman, known as Yonni, was a life-long social justice activist, organizer, and historian who focused his academic and social career on workers' rights and African American empowerment [...] (from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries.)

by Andrews, William L. Chesnutt, Charles Waddell by William L. Andrews, 1979; Revised November 2022; Revised by SLNC Government and Heritage Library, June 2023 20 June 1858–15 Nov. 1932 Charles Waddell Chesnutt, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Brown, Flora Bryant. African American Civil Rights in North Carolina by Dr. Flora Bryant Brown Reprinted with permission from the Tar Heel Junior Historian. Fall 2004; Revised by NC Government and Heritage Library, [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Price, William S., Jr., Criner, Allyson C. Part i: Introduction; Part ii: Roots of Civil Rights Activism in North Carolina; Part iii: Brown v. Board of Education and White Resistance to School Desegregation; Part iv: Integration Efforts in [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S., Criner, Allyson C. Part i: Introduction; Part ii: Roots of Civil Rights Activism in North Carolina; Part iii: Brown v. Board of Education and White Resistance to School Desegregation; Part iv: Integration Efforts in [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S., Criner, Allyson C. Part i: Introduction; Part ii: Roots of Civil Rights Activism in North Carolina; Part iii: Brown v. Board of Education and White Resistance to School Desegregation; Part iv: Integration Efforts in [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S., Criner, Allyson C. Part i: Introduction; Part ii: Roots of Civil Rights Activism in North Carolina; Part iii: Brown v. Board of Education and White Resistance to School Desegregation; Part iv: Integration Efforts in [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S., Criner, Allyson C. Part i: Introduction; Part ii: Roots of Civil Rights Activism in North Carolina; Part iii: Brown v. Board of Education and White Resistance to School Desegregation; Part iv: Integration Efforts in [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by McDermott, Nancie. A hot dog got it all started—the hot dog that Joe McNeil did not get to eat one day in January 1960. Nineteen years old and a graduate of Williston High School in Wilmington, McNeil was a student at [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Williams, Wiley J. The Commission on Interracial Cooperation (CIC), founded in 1919 with support from the Julius Rosenwald Fund and based in Atlanta, was dedicated to the improvement of race relations in the South. In [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J. The Committee for Economic and Racial Justice was established in February 1934 by a group of like-minded social activists following their resignation from the Fellowship of Reconciliation, a pacifist [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Gavins, Raymond. The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), founded in Chicago in 1942, crusaded for equality through nonviolence and integration. It came to North Carolina on a 1947 southern bus during a "Journey of [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Ijames, Earl. During the antebellum era—the years leading up to the Civil War—North Carolina’s population of free people of color blossomed. This group included American Indians, African Americans, and multiracial [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Wegner, Ansley Herring. Cooper, Anna Julia 10 Aug. 1858-27 Feb. 1964 by Ansley Wegner, Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History, 2010; Revised by SLNC Government and Heritage Library, May [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Hill, Steven. Creecy, William Spencer By Steven A. Hill. Copyright 2019. Published with permission. For personal educational use and not for further distribution. 4 April 1875-11 March 1940 William [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by . Daisy Bates was a civil rights activist and the head of the state chapter of the NAACP. She served as advisor to the Little Rock Nine, nine black students who enrolled at the all-white Central High [...] (from NCpedia.)

by Hill, Steven. Willis Haynie Davenport, an African American educational leader, was born on August 18, 1900 in Burgess, Virginia to parents Addie Haynie and Warner Davenport. He worked for the Greenville, North [...] (from North Carolina's First Ladies: 1891-2001, North Carolina Historical Publications.)

by Cecelski, David S. I met Kenny Davis during the recent commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Wilmington race riot of 1898. A century ago, on Nov. 10, 1898, a white mob massacred many blacks and seized the city [...] (from Listening to History, News and Observer.)

by Schutz, J. Christopher, Stoesen, Alexander R. The "Death to the Klan" March, which took place in Greensboro in late 1979, involved a violent showdown between members of the Communist Workers Party (CWP), the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), and a neo-Nazi [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Holden, Charles J. Dixiecrats, officially members of the States' Rights Democratic Party, formed after the 1947 publication of President Harry S Truman's Committee on Civil Rights report, To Secure These Rights. This [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Inscoe, John C. Dred, published in 1856, was Harriet Beecher Stowe's much-anticipated sequel to Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) in which she sought to further fan the flames of antislavery sentiment. The book was a [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Criner, Allyson C., Heiser, Will M., Smith, David C. Election Law in North Carolina has seen significant changes over the years. During early statehood, the governor and two U.S. senators were appointed by the General Assembly, while the other major [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Clary, Zachary. Claiborne Paul “C.P.” Ellis was a segregationist and Ku Klux Klan (KKK) leader turned civil rights activist and labor union leader. Ellis served as the co-chair of the 1971 Durham charrette on school [...] (from ANCHOR: A North Carolina History Online Resource.)

by Towles, Louis P. Emancipation Day by Louis P. Towles, 2006; Revised October 2022. Emancipation Day in North Carolina was initiated on 1 Jan. 1865 at Union-occupied New Bern. It [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hill, Steven. Eppes, Henry By Steven A. Hill. Copyright 2017. Published with permission. For personal educational use and not for further distribution. 16 Sept 1830 - 29 Jan 1903 See also: Eppes, Charles [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Justesen, Benjamin R. The North Carolina State Equal Rights League, founded in 1865, grew out of the state's first freedmen's convention, held in Raleigh on 29 Sept. 1865. Although the state was ruled by Presidential [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Ducey, Mitchell F. Ervin, Samuel James, Jr. by Mitchell F. Ducey, 1986; Revised by SLNC Government and Heritage Library, July 2023   See also: Senator Sam Ervin: Interpreting Historical Figures, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Belton, Tom. The North Carolina Eugenics Board, operating under the theories of the science of eugenics, or racial improvement through selective breeding, began its work in 1933 after the General Assembly passed [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by . This photograph of Farmville High was taken around 1951. The school was for only White students. Note the difference between Farmville and Moton High, on [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Cecelski, David S. Two months earlier, on Feb. 1, 1960, four black students at North Carolina A&T sat down at a "whites only" lunch counter at a Woolworth's Department Store in Greensboro. They politely requested [...] (from Listening to History, News and Observer.)

by . [...] (from NCpedia.)

by Alexander, Roberta Sue. The Freedmen's Bureau, officially the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, was created by Congress in 1865 after months of debate. The Freedmen's Bureau controlled abandoned and [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Jones, H. G. Freedmen's conventions in 1865 and 1866 voiced the aspirations of Black North Carolinians, both those previously classified as free and formerly enslaved. The Civil War had been over only five months [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hill, Michael. Freedom Rallies: Williamston, N.C., 1963 By Michael Hill Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History, [...] (from Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History.)

by Spicer, Shirl. With fists raised, members of the audience paid homage to “The Great Agitator” on July 24, 2004, as North Carolina laid to rest one of its greatest unsung heroes of the Civil Rights movement—Golden [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Hill, Steven. Garrett, Denison Dover By Steven A. Hill. Copyright 2017. Published with permission. For personal educational use and not for further distribution. 6 May 1915 - 28 May 2011 Denison Dover [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by . [...] (from NCpedia.)

by Cecelski, David S. I visited with Gary Grant in Tillery, a rural, African-American community in Halifax County, 100 miles northeast of Raleigh. Raised in an experimental resettlement community in Tillery in which FDR's [...] (from Listening to History, News and Observer.)

by Huaman, Jaime. Greensboro Four: David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr. (Jibreel Khazan), Joe McNeil Civil Rights Sit-Ins at Woolworth by Jaime Huaman, Government & Heritage Library, [...] (from NCpedia.)

by Stoesen, Alexander R. Greensboro Sit-Ins by Alexander R. Stoesen, 2006 See also: Greensboro Four, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. The [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Agan, Kelly. Hammocks Beach State Park By North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation, 2015; Kelly Agan, N.C. Government & Heritage Library, 2015 https://www.ncparks.gov/ Established: 1961 GPS [...] (from NC Division of Parks and Recreation, NC Dept. of Natural and Cultural Resources.)

by Alexander, Roberta Sue. James Henry Harris, North Carolina politician, was born in Granville County. Described as "a base born boy of color," he was apprenticed on 3 Aug. 1840 to Charles Allen to learn the carpenter trade; [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Carrier, Sarah. Dr. Reginald Armistice Hawkins, nicknamed “Hawk,” was a lifelong civil rights activist who played a central role in integrating Charlotte schools, hospitals, and public spaces, and in 1968 became the [...] (from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries.)

by Mitchell, Memory F. Tabitha Anne Holton, first woman licensed to practice law in North Carolina, was born in Guilford County, the daughter of the Reverend Quinton (5 Feb. 1818–5 May 1890) and Harriet Jacobina Holland [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Cecelski, David S. Recently, Dr. Henry Vanderbilt Johnson Jr. shared a story with me about an unsung little moment in our state's civil rights history: a cafe brawl in Engelhard, a fishing village in Hyde County. The [...] (from Listening to History, News and Observer.)

by . Jones Lake State Park By North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation, 2015 https://ncparks.gov/ Established: 1939 GPS Coordinates: 34.682743, -78.595423 Size: 1,669 acres See also: [...] (from NC Division of Parks and Recreation, NC Dept. of Natural and Cultural Resources.)

by Beck, Raymond L. Jones, James Henry by Raymond L. Beck, 1988; Revised by NC Government & Heritage Library, May 2022 (March 27) 1831–April 8, 1921 James Henry Jones, coachman and [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Leder, Eric. Thomas H. Jones was a self-educated abolitionist, minister, and author who spent much of his early life in Wilmington, North Carolina. Most information about Jones is from his popular autobiography [...] (from NCpedia.)

by . In 1947 the Congress of Racial Equality & local citizens, black & white, protested bus segregation. Setting out from Washington, D.C., "freedom riders" tested compliance with a U.S. Supreme [...] (from Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History.)

by Bell-Kite, Diana, Agan, Kelly. KAY, WILLIE VIRGINIA OTEY 17 Mar. 1894 – 25 Sept. 1992 By Diana Bell-Kite, NC Museum of History and Kelly Agan, NC Government & Heritage Library, 2016 “You have to like what you do, [...] (from North Carolina Museum of History.)

by Martin, Robert F. Howard Anderson ("Buck") Kester, clergyman, educator, and social reformer, was born near Martinsville in Henry County, Va. He was the youngest of three children of Nannie Holt, of Lynchburg, Va., and [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hill, Michael. The lynching of Wyatt Outlaw on the courthouse square in Graham in 1870 continues to reverberate across the generations. The consequences for North Carolina were profound, leading to the first [...] (from Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History.)

by Eagles, Charles W. Larkins, John Rodman by Charles W. Eagles, 1991; Revised by SLNC Government and Heritage Library, May 2023 24 Dec. 1913–21 Mar. 1980 John Rodman Larkins, state government [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Cecelski, David S. I met Joe Lewis in Louisburg, the county seat of Franklin County, 25 miles northeast of Raleigh. A vigorous 81-year-old who still breaks and trains horses, Lewis has never considered himself a civil [...] (from Listening to History, News and Observer.)

by . Little Rock, 1959. Mob Marching from Capitol to Central High A young African American boy watching a group of people, some carrying American flags, march past to protest the admission of the [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Cecelski, David S. On April 9, 1968, 16-year-old Fred Lockamy and four of his longtime friends decided to strike back at the Ku Klux Klan by burning down its local meeting hall. They lived in a black neighborhood in [...] (from Listening to History, News and Observer.)

by Cecelski, David S. On the night of Jan. 18, 1958, Welton Lowry and hundreds of other Lumbee Indians surrounded a Ku Klux Klan rally near Maxton, 90 miles south of Raleigh in Robeson County. The Lumbee launched barrages [...] (from Listening to History, News and Observer.)

by Baker, Bruce E. Lynching, the unlawful killing of a person by a mob and one of the most extreme forms of community sanction, occurred in North Carolina on numerous occasions. The term originally referred to [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Gillespie, James D. Mabley, Jackie (Moms) by James D. Gillespie 1898–23 May 1975 (1898–23 May 1975), comedienne and actress, was born Loretta Mary Aiken in Brevard, the daughter of "Uncle" Jim and Mary Aiken. [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by . Madge Hopkins attended segregated schools in Charlotte, North Carolina. She remembers hearing abut Dorothy Counts, a young woman she knew through church, becoming one of the first four students to [...] (from NCpedia.)

by Toosi, Nahal. Malcolm X Liberation University (MXLU), an experimental institution of higher education focusing on African American history and life, opened in Durham in October 1969. Named for slain black leader [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Miller, Daniel R. Manly, Alex by Daniel R. Miller, 1991; Revised by SLNC Government and Heritage Library, January 2023 fl. 1895–98 See also: Manly, Alex (from NC Office of Archives and History); The [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by . A speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. in Rocky Mount on November 27, 1962, has drawn much attention. In that address, before 1,800 in the gymnasium at Booker T. Washington High School (that building [...] (from Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History.)

by Cecelski, David S. Eddie McCoy stands at the heart of historian Tim Tyson's stirring new memoir, "Blood Done Sign My Name." The book tells the heart-rending story of the 1970 racial murder of a black man named Henry [...] (from Listening to History, News and Observer.)

by Cecelski, David S. They called it "Operation Dixie." From 1946 to 1953, a labor union movement swept through the state's tobacco fields, lumber mills and textile factories. It was part of the largest labor organizing [...] (from Listening to History, News and Observer.)

by Cecelski, David S. Athenia Moses will soon be honored by the Goldsboro-Wayne County branch of the NAACP for something that she did more than half a century ago. At a banquet on Feb. 11, the NAACP will recognize her and [...] (from Listening to History, News and Observer.)

by Wegner, Ansley Herring. Murray, Anna Pauline (Pauli) 20 Nov.1910 - 1 Jul. 1985 By Ansley Wegner, Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History, 2010; Revised by SLNC Government and Heritage Library, January [...] (from NCpedia.)

by Gavins, Raymond, Vocci, Robert Blair. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People by Raymond Gavins, 2006 Additional research provided by Robert Blair Vocci. The National Association for the Advancement of [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Richardson, Gregory A. In the mid-1900s, American Indian communities in North Carolina were struggling for survival, facing many adversities, and without a voice in local or state government. These communities were, for [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Davis, Sarajanee. Is Nina Simone one of them? The singer was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina. She learned to play the piano at only three years old. Although her family had limited financial [...] (from NCpedia K-8 Collection.)

by Dease, Jared. The Lavender Scare was a moral panic that spread throughout the United States after World War II. The Lavender Scare was a subset of the national Red Scare, but its subject was gay and lesbian [...] (from NCpedia.)

by Bond, Mattison. The North Carolina Freedom Park is located in downtown Raleigh on the corner of Wilmington and Lane Streets, behind the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources’ Archives and History/State [...] (from ANCHOR: A North Carolina History Online Resource.)

by Carrier, Sarah. Lenoir County native Kellis Earl Parker, an accomplished lawyer, activist, scholar, and musician, was born January 13, 1942 in Kinston, North Carolina. In addition to his distinguished career, Parker [...] (from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries.)

by . In this black and white photograph, a stream of black and white people are walking down a street in what appears to be a mostly residential neighborhood. Some are carrying American flags while a few [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Agan, Kelly, Davis, Sarajanee. Murray, Pauli Individual perseverance and community power By Sarajanee Davis and Kelly Agan, N.C.Government & Heritage Library, 2020; Revised by SLNC Government and Heritage Library, [...] (from NCpedia K-8 Collection.)

by Wegner, Ansley Herring. In the summer of 1978, Ward Transformer Company paid a trucking company to drive along rural North Carolina roads at night to discharge liquid contaminated with PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) onto [...] (from Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History.)

by Thuesen, Sarah C. On 17 May 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court declared in Brown v. Board of Education that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. In the years that followed, the southern states [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Uzzell, Odell. Perry, Samuel L. by Odell Uzzell, 1994; Revised October 2022. Related Entries: African American; Civil Rights; Transportation; Exodusters b. 1849 Samuel L. Perry, teacher and civil rights [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Roundtree, Lynn. Plessy v. Ferguson by Lynn Roundtree, 2006 In 1896 the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the so-called separate-but-equal segregation of whites and blacks in public facilities in its decision on [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by London, Lawrence F. John Henry Mingo Pollard, Episcopal clergyman, was born in Lunenburg County, Va. He read for orders in Petersburg, Va., under the direction of the Reverend Giles B. Cooke, John D. Keiley, and the [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Cecelski, David S. I visited Sallie Powell in Elizabethtown, in Bladen County, in the state's southeast corner. In the era of segregated schooling, she was one of a remarkable generation of African-American teachers [...] (from Listening to History, News and Observer.)

by Inscoe, John C. Price, Joseph Charles by John Inscoe, 1994; Revised October 2022. Related Entries: Civil Rights; Civil War; African American; Historically Black Colleges and Universities 10 Feb. 1854–25 [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Campbell, Karl E. The Pupil Assignment Act was North Carolina's first and most effective legislative response to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. On 17 May 1954 the Court declared that [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by McFee, Philip. Part i: North Carolina's First Radio Stations, Part ii: Radio Enters Its "Golden Age" in North Carolina, Part iii: National Networks and Popular Local Shows and Personalities, Part iv: Radio [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J. Radio Free Dixie was an African American, English-language radio program broadcast from Havana, Cuba from 1962 to 1965 that called upon "oppressed Negroes to rise and free themselves." Narrated by [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Summey, Virginia L. Elreta Melton Alexander was a pioneering African-American attorney from Greensboro, North Carolina. Born in Smithfield, North Carolina, she was the daughter of a Baptist minister and a teacher, and [...] (from NCpedia.)

by Alston, Christine. Born in Crescent City, Florida in 1889, Randolph was the son of a Reverend James William Randolph and seamstress, Elizabeth Robinson Randolph. A major inspiration for Randolph's activism in civil [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by McIntyre, Pattie B. Willis Richardson, playwright, was born in Wilmington, the son of Willis Wilder and Agnes Ann Harper Richardson. After the riot of 1898, he moved with his parents from Wilmington to Washington, D.C. [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Durrill, Wayne K. Elsie Garnett Riddick, politician, suffragist, and advocate of woman's rights, was born on her father's farm six miles from Gatesville, the daughter of David Elbert and Cornelia Ann Speight Riddick. [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by . Below is the exterior view of Robert Russa Moton High School around 1951. Moton High School was a school for Colored students. As was the case for many colored schools during the Jim Crow era, they [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Cecelski, David S. I visited Tibbie Roberts at her home in the coastal town of Morehead City. Born 92 years ago across the river in Beaufort, she has been a women's rights activist all her life. She was a pioneer for [...] (from Listening to History, News and Observer.)

by . Rosa Parks Being Fingerprinted Rosa Parks is fingerprinted by a white police officer after her arrest for refusing to give up her bus seat, December 1, [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Hill, Steven. Bennie Robert Rountree, a Pitt County Civil Rights leader and 2018 state president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), was born on April 27, 1935. Both his parents, Leana and [...] (from Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History.)

by Daniels, Dennis F. The 1960 Greensboro sit-ins sparked a national movement but were not the first such action. Individual and group protest actions prior to 1960, generally isolated and often without wider impact, took [...] (from Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History.)

by Agan, Kelly. Royal Ice Cream Sit-In, Durham, North Carolina By Kelly Agan, N.C. Government & Heritage Library, 2019 Have you ever heard about the 1957 ice cream shop protest in Durham, North [...] (from NCpedia K-8 Collection.)

by Cecelski, David S. Elmer Vanray "E.V." Wilkins was a legendary educator and black political leader in Roper, in Washington County. I recently visited with his daughter, Bunny Sanders, to learn more about his life and [...] (from Listening to History, News and Observer.)

by Agan, Kelly. Take a minute to imagine that you couldn’t sit where you wanted to on a bus because of the color of your skin or where you came from. How would that make you feel? What would you do? This article is [...] (from NCpedia K-8 Collection.)

by Currie, Jefferson. School Desegregation "With Deliberate Speed: North Carolina and School Desegregation" by Jefferson Currie II Reprinted with permission from the Tar Heel Junior Historian. Fall 2004. Tar Heel [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Burns, Augustus M., III. Seabrook, James Ward by A. M. Burns III, 1994Revised by SLNC Government and Heritage Library, February 2023 Related Entries: Historically Black Colleges; Civil Rights 6 Nov. 1886–26 Mar. [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by . Sheila Florence Oral History ExcerptSheila Florence was one of the first students to desegregate schools in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. When she began attending Chapel Hill Junior High School in [...] (from NCpedia.)

by . Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, and Charlton Heston at the 1963 March on Washington Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, and Charlton Heston stand at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., at the [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Thomas, Karen Kruse. In 1962 dentist George Simkins, physician Alvin Blount, and other African American physicians and their patients sued Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital and Wesley Long Community Hospital in Greensboro, [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S. James Frederick Simmons, poet, newspaperman, and judge, was born in Halifax, the son of James (1800–1891) and Susan Gary Simmons. His mother died when he was an infant and he was raised by an aunt, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Cecelski, David S. Dr. James Slade is the sort of impossibly old-fashioned doctor who still makes house calls and has never thought about joining an HMO. For 35 years he has been practicing pediatrics and general [...] (from Listening to History, News and Observer.)

by Gavins, Raymond. Southern Christian Leadership Conference by Raymond Gavins, 2006 The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), established in 1957 in Atlanta and headed by Martin Luther King Jr. [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Weare, Walter B. Charles Clinton Spaulding, black businessman and community leader, was born in Columbus County to parents descended from a long-standing community of free Blacklandholders in the area. A family oral [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stoesen, Alexander R. State v. Manuel by Alexander R. Stoesen, 2006; Revised November 2022. State v. Manuel, argued before the North Carolina Supreme Court in 1838, was the first case to decide that a free black [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hill, Michael. Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee by Michael Hill, 2006 See also: Civil Rights Movement; Civil Rights in North Carolina; Civil Rights Sit-Ins; Ella Baker, NCpedia Biography; Ella [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hill, Steven. H.B. Sugg’s parents, Bryant Sugg and Penny Briggs Sugg, were both born enslaved. Bryant Sugg told of his life as a slave and how he had fled his master’s plantation in Greene County to connect with [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Agan, Kelly, Scott, Jordan. The Green Book, also known as The Negro Motorist Green Book, later known as The Negro Traveler’s Green Book in 1952, and finally the Travelers’ Green Book in 1960, was a guide for black travelers [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Alexander, Roberta Sue. Thirteenth Amendment by Roberta Sue Alexander, 2006 The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, sent to the states for ratification in February 1865 with the unanimous support of [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Cecelski, David S. In 1963, when the Rev. Vernon Tyson was pastor of Jonesboro Methodist Church in Sanford, he invited Dr. Samuel Proctor to preach for what was called Race Relations Sunday. Proctor, an [...] (from Listening to History, News and Observer.)

by Eagles, Charles W. Robert Lee Vann, newspaper editor, was born in Ahoskie to Lucy Peoples, who named him for his great-grandfather, Robert Lee, and for her first employer, Albert Vann. His father is unknown. At age six [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by . This leaflet was used in March 1960 to recruit picketers to support the cause of desegregation. The leaflet explains why one should picket as well as the "dos and don'ts" of picketing. It stresses [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Carroll, Grady L. E., Sr. Vincent Stanislaus Waters, Roman Catholic prelate, was born in Roanoke, Va., the son of Michael Bernard, a railroad machinist, and Mary Francis Crowley Waters. He attended St. Andrews School [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bodman, Ellen-Fairbanks Diggs. Weil, Gertrude by Ellen-Fairbanks Diggs Bodman, 1996 See also: Weil, Gertrude (State Library of NC) 11 Dec. 1879–30 May 1971 Gertrude Weil, social reformer, humanitarian, and [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Huaman, Jaime. Gertrude Weil 1879 - 1971 by Jaime Huaman Government & Heritage Library, 2010 See also: Weil, Gertrude (UNC Press) Gertrude Weil was a humanitarian and reformer who played a [...] (from NCpedia.)

by Weare, Walter B. Wheeler, John Hervey by Walter B. Weare, 1994; Revised by SLNC Government and Heritage Library, May 2023 Related Entries: African Americans; Civil Rights 1 Jan. 1908–6 Jul. 1978 John [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Schutz, J. Christopher, McRae, Elizabeth Gillespie. White Citizens' Councils were established during the 1950s in reaction to federal initiatives to end racial segregation in the South. Historically, they were similar to the various white supremacy [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by McRae, Elizabeth Gillespie. On 22 Aug. 1955, following the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, 356 men and women formed the White Patriots of North Carolina to circumvent the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Cecelski, David S. I interviewed Mabel Williams two years after her legendary husband's death. They both grew up in Monroe at a time when lynchings were common and many things that we take for granted were marked [...] (from Listening to History, News and Observer.)

by Agan, Kelly, Scott, Jordan. Williams, Robert Franklin by Jordan Scott and Kelly Agan, Government & Heritage Library, 2019; Revised September 2022 26 Feb. 1925-15 Oct. 1996 Robert F. Williams was an American [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Cecelski, David S. In September of 1957, a Martin County teenager named Willis Williams had the courage to tell the truth about the death of an African-American college student named Joe Cross. His story shocked North [...] (from Listening to History, News and Observer.)

by Stinson, Craig M. The Wilmington Ten were civil rights activists who were wrongfully convicted of conspiracy to assault emergency personnel and conspiracy to burn property with incendiary devices in 1971. Eight [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Graham, Nicholas. In early February, 1971, downtown Wilmington, N.C. was a war zone. Shots rang through the streets, traffic was blocked, and citizens were barricaded in a church. Although it took only a couple of [...] (from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries.)

by Pruden, Caroline. Women Suffrage by Caroline Pruden, 2006; Revised by SLNC Government and Heritage Library, November 2024 See also: League of Women Voters; North Carolina Equal Suffrage Association; 1920s [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Crow, Terrell A. Part i: Introduction; Part ii: Women's Roles in Precolonial and Colonial North Carolina; Part iii: Women in the Revolutionary Era and Early Statehood; Part iv: Life in Antebellum North Carolina; Part [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Copeland, J. Isaac. Wright, Marion Allen by J. Isaac Copeland, 1996; Additional research provided by Kelly Agan; Revised December 2021 18 Jan. 1894–14 Feb. 1983 Marion Allen Wright, attorney, citizen of the two [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Murray, Elizabeth D. R. Allen Lawrence Young, community leader, educator, and founder of the Wake Forest Normal and Industrial School for Negroes (1905–57), was born in northern Wake County, the eldest of ten children of [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)