Oral history interview with John Jessup, January 11, 1991
Subtitle: interview M-0024, 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; African Americans; Education (Secondary); Race relations in school management; Teacher-principal relationships; Student-administrator relationships
Other titles: Interview M-0024, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with John Jessup, January 11, 1991; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: John Jessup recalls his experiences as a black principal and public school administrator. He entered the teaching profession in 1964 as a high school English teacher in Virginia, became a principal of a North Carolina high school in the late 1970s, and moved into the Winston-Salem public schools personnel department by 1991. Diversity within courses became a major goal in the mid-1980s public school system. As a black administrator, Jessup discovered that discipline played a large role in his relationship to students and teachers. He had to demand the students' obedience to school policy, and likewise he had to make sure teachers applied school policy fairly. Some teachers resented Jessup's encroachment on their previous authority over students. Black students, on the other hand, appreciated Jessup's attempts to establish trust between students and the administration. Jessup also describes the advancements that occurred during his academic tenure as principal. He discusses his role in introducing walkie-talkies to the administrative staff as well as hiring an athletic director. Jessup explains that school desegregation posed problems for black teachers and students. The students felt ostracized from extracurricular activities in integrated settings, while the teachers lost prestige (and some lost their jobs) during the desegregation process. Jessup contends that black students require more attention because of their minority status within the school.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on November 20, 2008).

Interview participants: John Jessup, interviewee; Goldie F. Wells, interviewer.

Duration: 01:18:48.

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. 100 kilobytes, 144 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series M, Black high school principals, interview M-0024, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Original transcript: 18 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.