Harold Pulley oral history interview 3, 2012 July 18

In this third of four interviews, Mr. Harold Pulley discusses his student experience at UNC Charlotte during the late 1960s and his connection to the civil rights movement in North Carolina. He describes Bonnie Cone’s manner of speaking and interacting with students, and comments on how she handled race issues on campus. He also describes the faculty as a whole, recalling both acceptance and latent racism or anti-semitism among various members of the faculty. Specific faculty he describes are Dr. Herbert Hechenbleikner, Dr. Loy Witherspoon, Dr. Nish Jamgotch, and Dr. Pierre Macy, from whom he recalls taking French. He remembers Henry Kissinger’s visit to UNC Charlotte and discusses the feelings on campus regarding the Vietnam War as well as the black student movement’s beginnings in 1967, including connections between civil rights activism and Vietnam War protests. He briefly revisits his time in Vietnam and explains his involvement in the civil rights movement, particularly with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He shares about the Lincolnton community’s response to the Ku Klux Klan’s burning of a cross on a black veteran’s grave and reflects on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and on his seminary at Boston University. Other topics include Mr. Pulley’s process of becoming ordained as a Baptist minister, his time in seminary, his interactions with Ben Chavis during his time at UNC Charlotte, and various jobs he held, such as at the High Shoals textile mill. Mr. Pulley concludes by commenting on current political issues such as healthcare and by reflecting on the influence of UNC Charlotte, Bonnie Cone, Loy Witherspoon, and Robert Rieke on his life.