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Hargraves Community Center

You may think of a community center as something like your local YMCA.  Hargraves is that and so much more.  Community-built and community-led, Hargraves is the heart of Northside.  In 1939, with fiscal support from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), resident brick masons and carpenters began construction on the “Negro Community Center.” In the midst of World War II, UNC would host the Navy’s preflight training program but not the members of its first Black band—the B1 Navy band.   In order to maintain segregation on UNC’s campus and to create barracks for the band members, the Town of Chapel Hill funded completion of what would become called the Roberson Community Center, and eventually, Hargraves.  

Listen to former Hargraves Center Director, Nate Davis recount the long legacy of Hargraves mentorship he inherited from the previous director and icon of the local freedom movement, Fred Battle.   

Hargraves Community Center

To learn more...

 Albert Washington - On games at Hargraves Community Center (clip)

 Albert Washington - On his business, church, and growing up in Northside

This interview is part of the Marian Cheek Jackson Center’s Oral History Trust. Albert (Bruce) Washington, III grew up in Chatham County with his mother and in Northside with his father and extended family. He was an only child, but grew up in the context of many cousins, aunts, and uncles who cared…

 Brentton Harrison - On Hargraves Center

"Come to Hargraves. Come build community either with myself or someone else. Build community because at the end of the day, community is kind of the only answer. - Brentton Harrison Brentton Harrison has been in Chapel Hill since he was nine and lived in the parsonage of St. Joseph CME Church, which…

 Brentton Harrison - On his time at the Jackson Center

“It doesn’t feel like work, it feels like a calling, a mission, or a purpose." - Brentton Harrison Mr. Harrison is bidding farewell to the Jackson Center after 10 years of service to join the Hargreeves Community Center. With the whole staff bidding him farewell and asking questions, it leads to…

 Burnice Hackney - On family, school integration, and inequality in Chapel Hill

This interview is part of an oral history project called Southern Communities: Listening for a Change: Mighty Tigers--Oral HIstories of Chapel Hill's Lincoln High School. The interviewes were conducted from 2000-2001, by Bob Gilgor, with former teachers, staff, and students from Chapel Hill, N.C.'s…

 Carolyn Briggs - On funding for the A.D. Clark Pool (clip)

 Clayton Weaver - On his parents, education, and Northside

“I tell you young people, stay up with your peers. Never lose track of them.” - Clayton Weaver Weaver was born and raised in Chapel Hill, NC on Cameron Avenue. His great-uncle bought their family home in 1929 for $3000. He went to school at Northside Elementary. Weaver provides background on who…

 Clementine Self - On her childhood, civil rights, education, and school integration

“I was going for my education, I was really going to make a statement that I’ve integrated this school–or desegregated, it was never integrated–desegregated the school. That was my goal.” - Clementine Self Clementine Self is a former student of Lincoln High School in Chapel Hill, NC. She discusses…

 Clyde Perry - On his childhood, family, education, and integration

This interview is part of an oral history project called Southern Communities: Listening for a Change: Mighty Tigers--Oral HIstories of Chapel Hill's Lincoln High School. The interviewes were conducted from 2000-2001, by Bob Gilgor, with former teachers, staff, and students from Chapel Hill, N.C.'s…

 Delaine Norwood - On her childhood, family, and education

This interview is part of an oral history project called Southern Communities: Listening for a Change: Mighty Tigers--Oral HIstories of Chapel Hill's Lincoln High School. The interviewes were conducted from 2000-2001, by Bob Gilgor, with former teachers, staff, and students from Chapel Hill, N.C.'s…

 Diane Pledger - On her education and school experiences

“Education is the key to having more and representing your people and making it to the next level. So, in the whole realm of education, we had to make sure that within the school system, we were getting ours. That we were afforded the opportunity to get ours.” - Diane Pledger Diane Pledger recalls…

 Dolores Clark - On the history of Black builders in her family

"They were devout Christians...and so, we survived. We survived by faith. They had a lot of faith." - Dolores Clark This interview is part of a series on Black builders in Orange County. Dolores Clark, a long-term resident of Chapel Hill, explains how her family has a history of building several…

 Doris Wilson - On racial inequality, education, and faith

Doris Wilson was born in 1936 in Robeson County, North Carolina and moved to Chapel Hill in the mid 1950s. She has lived in her same home on Church St. in Chapel Hill ever since. In the interview, she discusses the transition to Chapel Hill when she was college-aged and the first times she…

 Dorothy Alston - On her memories of A.D. Clark Pool (clip)

Patricia “Pat” Jackson (PJ): We have coming to the mic at this time, Ms. Dorothy Alston. Dorothy Alston (DA): Good afternoon. I wasn’t gonna come up here but I can’t– PJ: What’s your name? DA: Dorothy Alston. I wasn’t going to come up but Hargraves pool has been a big help for my kids. I had six…

 Doug Clark, Sr. - On growing up in Chapel Hill and high school

"But I'm like this: I don't forget people. Anybody who's a friend of mine that helped me, I don't forget him. I cherish friends; I cherish friendships." - Doug Clark, Sr. Doug Clark, Sr., a musician, was born in Chapel Hill in 1936, where he lived in a close-knit Black neighborhood and attended…

 Edwin Caldwell, Jr. - On swimming (clip)

Edwin Caldwell, Jr.: One of the things that I remember when I was about twelve years old was Frank Robinson- whose father worked for Frank Graham, my grandmother worked for Frank Graham- we used to go and watch the white kids swim in the swimming pool- the one right behind Carmichael Hall.…

 Eugene Hines - On his memories of A.D. Clark Pool (clip)

Eugene Hines (EH): I am Eugene Hines and my family moved here to Chapel Hill in 1948. I was one year old. So I wasn’t born here but I moved here when I was one. So, I can remember when we didn’t have a pool. We didn’t have most of the buildings that you see behind me. But before I continue with that…

 Eugene Hines - Sharing more about A.D. Clark Pool (clip)

Eugene Hines: Just very briefly, one other person that I would like for you to remember was the lifeguard who worked with me in the pool. And he is a physician now in Durham, Dr. Wilson, but he was my co-lifeguard at the time, Dr. Ken Wilson. He’s not been able to join us, although he and his wife…

 Frances Hargraves - On childhood, family, education, and teaching

"I remember my mother always told me, 'Whatever job you must do, be sure you give it your best.' She said if it’s sweeping the floor, washing dishes, anything, do it your best. And as I grew, that was her philosophy - always give it your best. And I still carry that philosophy." - Frances…

 Fred Battle - On his childhood, education, sit-ins, and school integration

This interview is part of an oral history project called Southern Communities: Listening for a Change: Mighty Tigers--Oral HIstories of Chapel Hill's Lincoln High School. The interviewes were conducted from 2000-2001, by Bob Gilgor, with former teachers, staff, and students from Chapel Hill, N.C.'s…

 Gloria Warren - On growing up in Carrboro and Chapel Hill, family, and education

This interview is part of an oral history project called Southern Communities: Listening for a Change: Mighty Tigers--Oral HIstories of Chapel Hill's Lincoln High School. The interviewes were conducted from 2000-2001, by Bob Gilgor, with former teachers, staff, and students from Chapel Hill, N.C.'s…

 Hargraves Center circa 1940s

 Hargraves Center circa 1940s

 Hargraves Center circa 1942

Hargraves Community Center

Community-built and community-led, Hargraves is the heart of Northside. In 1939, with fiscal support from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), resident brick masons and carpenters began construction on the “Negro Community Center.” In the midst of World War II, UNC would host the Navy’s…

 Janie Alston - On her memories of A.D. Clark Pool (clip)

Patricia “Pat” Jackson: Now, get your hands together for that fabulous Ms. Janie Alston! Janie Alston: Thank you Ms. Pat. Hello, everybody. That house behind you, I grew up in. That was my grandmother’s house. I am a Hargraves and a Weaver from Chapel Hill. I was born in New York City in the Harlem…

 John French - On Hargraves Community Center

"“It all goes back to the original concept of why Hargraves was built; for community, for providing services, and to make sure we take care of people." - John French John French, a born and raised local of the Chapel Hill area, is the current supervisor of the Hargraves Community Center found in the…

 Judy Hines - Her memories of the A.D. Clark Pool (clip)

Patricia “Pat” Jackson: Coming to the mic, we have Mrs. Judy Booth Hines! Judy Booth Hines: Hello, I’m not the speaker my husband is but I’ll just share one little tidbit. When this pool was built and it was done and everybody was rushing over here that day to swim, I was coming up that hill right…

 Kathy Atwater - On Hargraves Center and the A.D. Clark Pool

"You can’t have Hargraves without A.D. Clark Pool. And you can’t have A.D. Clark Pool without Hargraves. They’re just meshed together because it’s just a perfect match. - Kathy Atwater Kathy Atwater recounts her childhood visiting the Hargraves Community Center and the Adolphus D. Clark pool.…

 Keith Edwards - On growing up in Carrboro and the role of teachers

“The thing I remember the most coming up in the Black community, the Black community supported the schools, not only financially, but they also supported the schools by parents having involvement in the children’s schooling.” - Keith Edwards Keith Edwards was born in 1950 and grew up in Carrboro and…

 Larry Clark - On his memories of the A.D. Clark Pool (clip)

Larry Clark (LC): Hello, everyone. My name is Larry Clark. Adolphus Clark was my great uncle. My grandfather’s brother, so this place brings back a lot of memories for me. He was, I think, the first NAACP President in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area. His mindset was for bringing the youth and the…

 Mary Norwood Jones - On growing up in Carrboro and her experiences at North Carolina Central University

Mary Norwood Jones is a Chapel Hill Native that attended Lincoln High School while it was still Orange County Training School. She discusses her childhood in the Chapel Hill area around the time of World War II and how the community was close knit. She then goes on to talk about the school and how…

 Nate Davis - Aspirations (clip)

Alexander Stephens (AS): Sorry, could you say that again? Nate Davis (ND): I said I probably would be here for another 2 or 3 years working. My oldest son lives in Durham and he has a 2 year old grandson, but that grandson has started coming to our house on weekends. Now, the first place that he…

 Nate Davis - Communal Development of the Center (clip)

Nate Davis (ND): A lot of people look at a recreation center as just a location for people to go to do recreation programs. But again, it was used as a daycare center, which was located in the bottom of Hargraves. It was used for recreation programs, for meetings for the community, for special…

 Nate Davis - Construction of the Center (clip)

Alexander Stephens (AS): This starts the sound. You can’t hear what people are saying. So I guess we can go ahead and start if that’s okay. Again, just imagine this (the recorder) is an extension of my body, don’t worry about it. AS: So, could you talk a little bit about the history of the Center…

 Nate Davis - Hargraves Childhood Memories (clip)

Nate Davis (ND): Again it was a safe and fun place to come, again, we didn’t have the indoor gym, but we had the outdoor basketball court over here. Before the outdoor court was over here, it was over in that parking lot. And [it] was just one loose ball, basketball goal on a light pole, horse…

 Nate Davis - Navy B-1 Band (clip)

Nate Davis: The construction was delayed when the B-1 Navy Band, which was a band that came to Chapel Hill to perform on campus and throughout the state, for the governor and for the Navy ROTC. It was an all-Black navy band that were put together to come here to perform. When they came they didn’t…

 Nate Davis - On Basketball (clip)

Nate Davis (ND): …a parking lot. You know, we lost that outdoor court that we had. But we did get a gym. And we still have an outdoor court. But everybody came and played on the outdoor court at Hargraves. And we had, you know, our outdoor basketball league that everybody played in. We had people…

 Nate Davis - On Basketball Trips (clip)

Nate Davis: And at Hargraves, when Fred, we called him “Toro,” Fred Battle was working here. You know sometimes he would just come into work and say, “Davis let’s go.” And I said, “Where are we going Mr. Battle.” And he would say, “Today, we’re just going to get a bus.” We used to have a bus in…

 Nate Davis - On Center Accessibility (clip)

 Nate Davis - On Community Construction (clip)

Alexander Stephens: Well, thank you so much for taking time – again if you think of anything before we walk out of here I’m gonna leave the recorder on and if you start talking I’ll just move it towards you. This is, Again, this is Alexander Stephens, I’m here with Mr. Nate Davis, the director of…

 Nate Davis - on Community Fracture (clip)

Alexander Stephens: What do you think needs to be done for youth now? What do you think is missing in this community for youth? Nate Davis: I think the community needs to come together. I think the community needs to come together. You have different organizations of people in the community that…

 Nate Davis - on Community Members (clip)

Nate Davis (ND): You know, Fred Battle, and Hank Ellison, Ms. Lucille Caldwell, we had another lady and I'm sorry if I'm forgetting her name–. [Interrupted] Alexander Stephens: Not Frances Caldwell, she–. ND: No, it was a white lady, she was the director here for a while. Ms Lindolph. Mhm, yes. Ms.…

 Nate Davis - On Community Members 2 (clip)

 Nate Davis - On Costs to Maintain the Hargraves Center (clip)

 Nate Davis - On Hanging Out at Hargraves (clip)

Alexander Stephens: Do you have any favorite stories or memories of being here as a youth? Anything that you want on the record, I know there might be some things you don’t want recorded, [Laughter] but any stories you got from when you were young here? We can go in the shade if you want. Nate…

 Nate Davis - on Hargraves Center Activities (clip)

Nate Davis: So yeah, there was always something to do, always something for the young people to do, whether it was at Hargraves, or one of the churches or, you know, going on a picnic. Mr. Battle used to get a group together and we’d go to Camp New Hope and spend the night. We’d go to Lake Michie in…

 Nate Davis - On Hargraves Center Daycare (clip)

Nate Davis (ND): And this is part of the Holmes Daycare Center and Holmes Daycare Center has been here for as long as Hargraves has been here. [Recorder is turned off then back on] ND: And you know I could say the same thing about all these streets. You have families that live there. So, you…

 Nate Davis - On his childhood, education, and school integration

This interview is part of an oral history project called Southern Communities: Listening for a Change: Mighty Tigers--Oral HIstories of Chapel Hill's Lincoln High School. The interviewes were conducted from 2000-2001, by Bob Gilgor, with former teachers, staff, and students from Chapel Hill, N.C.'s…

 Nate Davis - On Hopes for the Community (clip)

 Nate Davis - On Local Families (clip)

Alexander Stephens: It seems like you do hope, though, that it will be used more by people more from this specific community, these neighborhoods around here. I mean, it seems like that’s important to you in some… Nate Davis: Well, let’s look at Roberson Street. The people that used to live here are…

 Nate Davis - On Local Police Relations (clip)

Nate Davis: And, South Estes, which is off 15-501, the Estes Drive public housing used to be called Ridgefield. That’s one of the public housing areas, and when some of our friends had moved down that way we would go down there and–but, when we got ready to come home, as we were walking the police…

 Nate Davis - On Municipal Support (clip)

Alexander Stephens: How do you feel about some – about the way it’s changed, I mean what is your feeling about that? Nate Davis: Well, you know I was talking with a lady the other day, and she called and she wanted to rent Hargraves for a family reunion, and I told her, you know, how much it costs…

 Nate Davis - on Population Growth (clip)

Nate Davis: The town has got a lot bigger now, so you got your police officers, they’re spread out throughout the town. They’re not stationed in one central location where they can sit and talk and have fun with the kids in the community. And I don’t think it’s that they don’t want to do it, but…

 Nate Davis - On the A.D. Clark Pool (clip)

 Nate Davis - On the B1 Navy Band (clip)

 Nate Davis - On the construction of Hargraves Community Center (clip)

 Nate Davis - On The Courts (clip)

Alexander Stephens: So, you were saying this was the… Nate Davis: Basketball court used to be out here. Just one light pole, like that and just a wooden backboard. This was where we played basketball at, horse shoes…you know they built the tennis courts. I don’t remember the exact date the tennis…

 Nate Davis - On the Hargraves Community Center

"...people in the community got together and said we need this facility. - Nate Davis Nate Davis remembers that during his childhood, the Hargraves Community Center as a safe space to hang out and play sports with friends, and now, after years of working first part time and then full-time for the…

 Nate Davis - On the Hargraves Pool (clip)

Nate Davis (ND): And then this is the pool. The money was donated by a lady named Ms. Cornelia Love. She donated the money to build the pool. It was named after Mr. A.D. Clark, and in the early 60s they built a pool so we had a safe place to swim. All we had [as a] place to swim – there was a little…

 Nate Davis - On the uses of Hargraves Community Center (clip)

 Nate Davis - Personal Connection with to the Hargraves Center (clip)

Alexander Stephens: What has it meant to you to be the director of this place that you grew up going to, and that was so important to you, in your youth? Nate Davis: It means a lot, you know. I grew up here — I’ve seen a lot of things, good and bad, in the community. So it means a lot for me to be…

 Nate Davis - Racialized Stigma (clip)

Nate Davis: They would come into town. They would come to Hargraves, and talk about how nice the place is. And that’s because, once they found out it’s – this is Hargraves Recreation Center, it’s in a Black neighborhood, there should be something wrong with it. There should be broken windows. There…

 Nate Davis - the Importance of Youth Mentorship (clip)

Alexander Stephens: What do you think is the significance of just being there to listen to what young people have to say and share ideas with them? Nate Davis: Well, it kept us out of trouble. It kept us out of trouble, you know not just with the police but with other people in the community. They…

 Patricia "Pat" Jackson - On her family, faith, community, and civil rights

Patricia Jackson grew up in Chapel Hill, NC and has been a member of St. Joseph CME Church for over forty years.  She now works with Wake County Schools and is also a church secretary, a stewardess, and a community activist.  This interview was done as part of the Marian Cheek Jackson Center…

 Patricia "Pat" Jackson - On her memories of A.D. Clark Pool (clip)

Patricia “Pat” Jackson (PJ): Alright, we’re up again for our time here at the pool party. All the way in the back, turn yourself…there you go, there you go. Let me just tell you a couple of things about this Hargraves Pool. Back in the day, this area for us was “the place”. Let me just tell you,…

 Patricia "Pat" Jackson - Sharing more about A.D. Clark Pool (clip)

Pat Jackson: Here, what had happened was every week that we were not in school, any time of the day, we could come to A.D. Clark Pool. We could come to Hargraves Center, and it would be something that would be going on that would fill our summers, fill our winters, with so much joy.

 Patricia Jackson - On the H.W. Baldwin Fellowship Hall (clip)

 Polly McCauley - On growing up in Chapel Hill and her educational experiences

This interview is part of an oral history project called Southern Communities: Listening for a Change: Mighty Tigers--Oral HIstories of Chapel Hill's Lincoln High School. The interviewes were conducted from 2000-2001, by Bob Gilgor, with former teachers, staff, and students from Chapel Hill, N.C.'s…

 Raney Norwood - On childhood, education, and school integration

This interview is part of an oral history project called Southern Communities: Listening for a Change: Mighty Tigers--Oral HIstories of Chapel Hill's Lincoln High School. The interviewes were conducted from 2000-2001, by Bob Gilgor, with former teachers, staff, and students from Chapel Hill, N.C.'s…

 Rebecca Clark - On her childhood, education, and school integration

This interview is part of an oral history project called Southern Communities: Listening for a Change: Mighty Tigers--Oral HIstories of Chapel Hill's Lincoln High School. The interviewes were conducted from 2000-2001, by Bob Gilgor, with former teachers, staff, and students from Chapel Hill, N.C.'s…

 Ronnie Bynum - On community creating change (clip)

 Ronnie Bynum - On Martin Luther King, Jr. (clip)

Ronnie Bynum: Yeah, I remember the marches, and everything- the meeting areas out in front of St. Joseph’s. I remember when Reverend Manley and First Baptist, for example, saying Martin Luther King can’t speak here because during that time they had moved from Franklin Street, near McDonald’s, and…

 Ronnie Bynum - On the construction of AD Clark Pool (clip)

 Ronnie Bynum - On the need for a pool (clip)

 Shareka Abbo - On her memories of the A.D. Clark Pool (clip)

Patricia “Pat” Jackson: We have a young lady coming up. Come right up young lady. Shareka Abbo: Good evening, everyone. My name is Shareka Abbo. I will just say we were very blessed to be able to grow up in this neighborhood. I think we moved here when I was 13 over on Starlight Drive. Just to be…

 Shirley Davis - On her childhood, education, and school integration

This interview is part of an oral history project called Southern Communities: Listening for a Change: Mighty Tigers--Oral HIstories of Chapel Hill's Lincoln High School. The interviewes were conducted from 2000-2001, by Bob Gilgor, with former teachers, staff, and students from Chapel Hill, N.C.'s…

 Shirley Davis - On her family history and the Civil Rights Movement

In this interview, Shirley Davis speaks about her family history. She grew up in Chapel Hill on Merritt Mill Road. Her father worked thirty years for the Sigma Chi Sorority and her mother worked for Milton Julian. Her grandmother worked at University laundry, and her grandfather worked with the Town…

 Thomas Bell - On growing up in Northside, involvement with the community, and the Civil Rights Movement

Thomas Bell, a long time Northside community member and employee at Hillsborough Prison, attended Lincoln High School immediately before the desegregation of Chapel Hill public schools. He reflects on growing up in the Northside (walking to high school football games in Carborro, playing at…

 Thurman Couch - On his childhood, family, and school integration

This interview with Thurman Couch covers growing up in Chapel Hill during high school in the 1950-60s. He attended Lincoln High School before it was shut down in 1962, and then he attended Chapel Hill High School. Couch reflects on his lifestyle, neighborhood, family, religion, school, football…

 US Navy B-1 Band

A member of the US Navy B-1 Band helps a child play the trumpet.

 US Navy B-1 Band

A member of the US Navy B-1 Band at an event.

 US Navy B-1 Band

A member of the US Navy B-1 Band with a projector.

 US Navy B-1 Band

The US Navy B-1 Band posed for a photo.

 US Navy B-1 Band in a parade

Members of the US Navy B-1 Band march in a parade.

 William Gattis - On his memories of the A.D. Clark pool (clip)

Patricia “Pat” Jackson: Alright, alright, alright, coming to the mic at this time, Mr. William Gattis! Alright! William Gattis: Now, I hope I’ve got some nice things to say to you all because when we got the pool, unlike Eugene, I came to look in the pool. Now, there were those kids back when I was…

 Willis Farrington - On events at Hargraves Community Center (clip)

 Willis Farrington - On growing up in Northside, his ministry, and changes in Chapel Hill

This interview is part of the Marian Cheek Jackson Center’s Life History Series. Reverend Willis Farrington, a leader of St. Joseph CME Church, was born in Chapel Hill and spent the entirety of his childhood running the streets of Northside and the Roberson Street Community Center. Reverend…

 Willis Farrington - On growing up in Northside, local businesses, and Northside neighbors

"Hargraves used to be my home away from home." - Minister Willis Farrington This interview is part of the Marian Cheek Jackson Center’s Life History Series. Minister Willis Farrington, an associate pastor at S. Joseph CME Church, grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He grew up going to St. Joseph…

 Willis Farrington - On Hargraves being a home away from home (clip)

 Willis Farrington - On Mr. White Bynum building A.D. Clark Pool (clip)

 Willis Farrington - On renaming Hargraves Community Center (clip)

 Willis Farrington - On the changes at Hargraves Community Center (clip)
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