Oral history interview with Ray Spain, January 26, 1990
Subtitle: interview M-0029, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: Wells, Goldie F. (Goldie Frinks), interviewer; Southern Oral History Program; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Documenting the American South (Project); University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library
Edition: Electronic ed.
Publisher: University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill
Published: 2007
Place of publication: [Chapel Hill, N.C.]
Language: eng
Subjects: Interviews; African American school principals; High schools; Administration; Secondary Education
Other titles: Interview M-0029, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with Ray Spain, January 26, 1990; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: At the time of this interview, Ray Spain was the principal of Bertie High School, the only high school in Bertie County, NC. Here, he describes his management style and the challenges of his job. Spain, who took his position well after school desegregation, does not believe the process affected him, but he does think that by placing black and white candidates in competition for jobs, desegregation made it more difficult for black principals to find positions. Spain's limited commentary on race in education means that this interview may not be useful for scholars of desegregation and its legacy. Those interested in learning about a principal's job will find plenty of useful material.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on Dec. 16, 2008).

Interview participants: Ray Spain, interviewee; Goldie F. Wells, interviewer.

Duration: 00:56:37.

This electronic edition is part of the UNC-Chapel Hill digital library, Documenting the American South.  It is a part of the collection Oral histories of the American South.

Text encoded by Jennifer Joyner.  Sound recordings digitized by Aaron Smithers.

Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 92 kilobytes, 103 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series M, Black high school principals, interview M-0029, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Original transcript: 17 p.

Funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services supported the electronic publication of this interview.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

System requirements:  Web browser with Javascript enabled and multimedia player.