Geraldine T. Powe, 2005 March 20

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Identifier: BB-PO0018

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Geraldine T. Powe oral history interview, 2005 March 20

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Scope and Contents

Geraldine Powe discusses her education in segregated schools in Charlotte, North Carolina. She talks about positive relationships between parents and teachers; living briefly in New York City as a student; school discipline, including paddling in schools; limited opportunities for African American students; and influential teachers in her life. She also discusses her college experiences at Johnson C. Smith University and Bank Street College in New York. Ms. Powe explains differences between living in the South and New York in regard to racism and the educational system, and talks about teaching in New York as an adult. She expresses her opinions on how Brown v. Board of Education and school integration did not make schools equal or really help the African American community, on why housing projects are not good for the people they try to serve, and on giving back to the community through volunteering.

Dates

Creation: 2005 March 20

Conditions Governing Access

16 of the 23 interviews that comprise the Era Before Brown v. Board of Education oral history project have been digitized and are available in the digital repository. Original audiovisual materials are closed to patron use.

Biographical Note

Geraldine T. Powe was an 83-year-old woman at the time of the interview, which took place in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was born in Charlotte in 1922. She was educated at Johnson C. Smith University, Bank Street College, and Hofstra University, and was employed as an elementary school teacher and a school administrator in New York, and as a teacher in early childhood centers in Charlotte.