Civil Rights in Greensboro
The civil rights movement in Guilford County, North Carolina, can trace its roots back to the 19th century, when it is said that the county's large Quaker population provided a stop on the Underground Railroad for slaves escaping to freedom in the north. However, it was the actions of four North Carolina A&T State University students on February 1, 1960, that set off a chain of events which served as a catalyst for radical social reform in this country. The events of the week of February 1 were the beginning of a new strategy and direction in the fight for racial equality in Greensboro, the state of North Carolina, and the nation.
While this singular event is documented in these oral histories, the narrators also discuss other history-making events in the struggle for equality from the early 1950s to the early 1980s. These includes attempts in the 1950s to bring local whites and African Americans together; the marches led by Jesse Jackson in 1963; the violent confrontation in 1969 which ended in the death of a NC A&T student; the integration of the Greensboro school system in 1971; and the deadly Nazi/Klan and CWP confrontation on November 3, 1979. These voices offer first-person accounts of a wide variety of experiences during a tumultuous time in American history.
