Oral history interview with Robert Giles, September 10, 1987
Subtitle: interview C-0063, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: Jenkins, James Lineberry, 1919-2003, 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: 2008
Place of publication: [Chapel Hill, N.C.]
Language: eng
Subjects: Interviews; Officials and employees; School integration; Education and state; Politics and government
Other titles: Interview C-0063, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with Robert Giles, September 10, 1987; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: Robert Giles discusses the public and political reaction to the Supreme Court's Brown ruling, explaining the heavy pressure the Brown order placed on North Carolina politicians, who hoped to prevent alienating the white population. Giles asserts that state politicians adopted a moderate stance and moderate policies which yielded minimal racial desegregation. The Pupil Assignment Act of 1955 and the Pearsall Plan, he says, assuaged whites fears by keeping the public schools open and projecting the perception that the public controlled school assignments. He lauds the effectiveness of the gubernatorial leadership of William Umstead and Luther Hodges in the early to mid-1950s. Giles also touches on segregationist I. Beverly Lake, who attempted to stoke racial tensions and drum up support for his personal political ambitions.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on December 16, 2008).

Interview participants: Robert Giles, interviewee; Jay Jenkins, interviewer.

Duration: 01:11:37.

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 Kristin Shaffer.  Sound recordings digitized by Aaron Smithers.

Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 88 kilobytes, 131 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series C, Notable North Carolinians, interview C-0063, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Transcribed by Jovita Flynn. Original transcript: 26 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.