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Oral History

Nate Davis - On the Hargraves Community Center

Interviewed by Alexander Stephens on April 17, 2012

"...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 Center, he is the director. Davis tells the story of Hargraves starting in the 1940s. It was a place for recreation and site of important community functions. After World War II, the Center housed the B1 Navy Band when they came to Chapel Hill. Hargraves has meant a tremendous amount to the Northside, Chapel Hill, and Orange County communities, as well as Davis himself and his family. Other topics include the Neighborhood Youth Corps program, marriage, fatherhood, and police relations.

Nate Davis - On the Hargraves Community Center

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Oral history interview of Davis, Nate conducted by Stephens, Alexander on April 17, 2012 at Hargraves Community Center, Chapel Hill, NC. Processed by Stephens, Alexander.

Citation: Marian Cheek Jackson Center, “Nate Davis - On the Hargraves Community Center,” From the Rock Wall, accessed September 29, 2026, https://www.fromtherockwall.org/oral-histories/nate-davis-2.

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In this Oral History

Nate Davis

Nate Davis was born and raised in Northside and graduated from Chapel Hill High School. He stayed in the area and was drawn into working with youth by his mentor, Fred Battle. He went on to become the director of the Hargraves Community Center, dedicating his life to supporting young people in…

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 Nate Davis - On the B1 Navy Band (clip)

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

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

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

 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 - 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 - 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 - On His Northside Upbringing (clip)

Alexander Stephens: And where did you grow up exactly? Nate Davis: I grew up…it was called Lincoln Lane, it was not called Lincoln Lane, School Lane. School Lane and School Lane was off Church Street. As I matter of fact, I could sit on my front porch and look directly at Northside School. That…

 Nate Davis - On Finding Direction (clip)

Nate Davis: No, I had graduated from high school. I was living on Merritt Mill Road when I graduated high school. And after that, I really couldn’t decide what I wanted to do. [I] played sports in high school, was planning on playing sports in college, and I hurt my leg. I pulled my hamstring my…

 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 - 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 - 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 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 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 - 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…

 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 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 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 - 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 - 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 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 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 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 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 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 Costs to Maintain the Hargraves Center (clip)

 Nate Davis - On Center Accessibility (clip)

 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 - On Community Commercialization (clip)

Nate Davis (ND): But next what’s gonna happen – all this gonna be commercial. Alexander Stephens (AS): Yeah, I know they’re trying to rezone it. ND: Yeah, and the gentlemen, the family that used to own that house. They were trying to get all this rezoned commercial. AS: Was that the Manns? Where did…

 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 - 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 - On Community Members 2 (clip)

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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…

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