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,…

"...there was a movement in the town among the parents to change the name of the school because they didn't like their school children going to a training school. Training school has a negative connotation. And even when I would go back that first year or so and my friends would say, 'Where are you…

"When I came out of service, the first thing I said to her [Euzelle Smith] was I want a car. I want to buy a new car. She said to me, 'I want a house.' I said, 'Ok, I’m going to build you a house, and I’m going to buy me a car.'" - R.D. Smith The interviewees share their experiences with living in…

Euzelle Smith (ES): The children went to school from 8:00 until 1:00. Got out at 1:00 everyday, because it was a farming community and the older ones had to work on the farm. Alexander Stephens (AS): Oh wow. ES: And it was an eight-month school year. I made sixty-five dollars a month so that whole…

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…

"Are you learning something today that’s going to help you tomorrow?" - Reginald D. Smith, II In this interview, Reginald D. Smith, II reflects on his upbringing in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, as the son of two educators. He discusses his family’s emphasis on education, the influence of teachers…

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…