Oral Histories

RG: Are there any other memories of your childhood that stand out in your mind? CS: No, I think you just kind of accept things as they are, and you don't question them or really see the value until you move on to another stage. Then you can see the importance of what you did have, and what we had,…

RG: Well, let's graduate from Northside - not Orange County Training School - and go on to Lincoln. I may repeat some of the same kinds of questions, but I want to understand what you remember about the characteristics of the teachers at Lincoln. CS: The characteristics that I remember of - the…

RG: Was it difficult for you at the high school, with your dad as principal? CS: Probably, yeah, (laughter) Eyes always on me. RG: Eyes always on you. CS: Yeah. RG: Did you think you got special treatment, or tougher treatment, or the same as everybody else? CS: I didn't get special treatment. And I…

RG: What is it that, what are the contributions that your mother made that allowed a school to be named after her? CS: Just the longevity of teaching in this community as long she did. RG: 1932 till — CS: What was it, I know they had taught over 60-some years in this particular community together,…

This interview was done as part of the “Histories of Homes” initiative of the Marian Cheek Jackson Center for Saving and Making History. The interview includes R.D.’s experience in WWII and his role in constructing their current home after the war. R.D. also held educator roles at Lincoln High…

The interviewees share their experiences with living in Northside, the1940s until today, and the lack of interactivity between Northside and the university. There is a lack of progress in preventing harmful change to Northside. R.D. Smith talks about his own experience on town council. They talk…

Euzelle Smith (ES): My mother-in-law didn't particularly want to put them in daycare. She said she would rather keep them. But I wanted them to start getting used to being with other children. And learning how to mingle and associate. And when the twins went to nursery… to daycare at two, the first…

R.D. and Euzelle Smith have lived in Pottersfield in Chapel Hill since the 1940s. Both worked as educators in Chapel Hill for decades, and R.D. served as a member of the Town Council. They then became the namesakes for Smith Middle School when it was constructed. This interview was done as part of…

Audio recordings of interviews conducted by Yonni Chapman with participants in the African American freedom struggle and the civil rights movement in and around Chapel Hill, N.C.

This interview is part of a group of interviews conducted by Susan Simone exploring the lives and struggle of various members of the Northside community: a historically black and primarily residential neighborhood located immediately northwest of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and…