Era before Brown vs. Board of Education oral history collection

Collection

Identifier: OH-BB

Staff Only

Era Before Brown v. Board of Education Oral History Interviews

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Scope and Contents

These interviews were conducted by Special Collections staff to complement a Levine Museum of the New South award winning exhibit titled “Courage: The Carolina Story That Changed America,” which was mounted in 2004 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the landmark United States Supreme Court ruling in the Brown v. Board of Education case. The interviews focus on the educational experiences of members of the African American community of Charlotte during the era of segregation. Many interviewees also discuss how things changed once segregation ended and their children’s school experiences.

Dates

Creation: 2004 - 2005

Language of Materials

The material is in English

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.

Conditions Governing Use

The materials included on this web site are freely available for private study, scholarship or non-commercial research under the fair use provisions of the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, United States Code). Any use beyond the provisions of fair use, including but not limited to commercial or scholarly publication, broadcast, redistribution or mounting on another web site always require prior written permission and may also be subject to additional restrictions and fees. UNC Charlotte does not hold literary rights to all materials in its collections and the researcher is responsible for securing those rights when needed. Copyright information for specific collections is available upon request.]

Brown v. Board of Education historical note

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896, which allowed state-sponsored segregation, insofar as it applied to public education.

Levine Museum of the New South historical note

Levine Museum's mission is to engage a broad-based audience in the exploration and appreciation of the diverse history of the South since the Civil War, with a focus on Charlotte and the surrounding Carolina Piedmont.

The exhibit, COURAGE: The Carolina Story That Changed America, tells the powerful grassroots story of the Rev. J.A. De Laine and the other citizens of Clarendon County, S.C., who brought the first lawsuit in America challenging racial segregation in public schools. Combined with four other national lawsuits, the result was the 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education, which ruled that racial segregation of schools was unconstitutional.

Extent

23 Interviews

Additional Description

Abstract

The interviews focus on the educational experiences of members of the African American community of Charlotte during the era of segregation. Many interviewees also discuss how things changed once segregation ended and their children’s school experiences.