Oral history interview with Gwendolyn Matthews, December 9, 1999
Subtitle: interview K-0654, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: Van Scoyoc, Peggy, 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 women teachers; High schools; Alumni and alumnae; School integration; African American high school students; Social conditions; Social isolation; Race relations
Other titles: Interview K-0654, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with Gwendolyn Matthews, December 9, 1999; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: Gwendolyn Matthews grew up in Cary, North Carolina, during the 1950s. She was a student at the African American high school Berry O'Kelly until 1962, when she was selected to be one of the first five students (all of which were female) to integrate Cary High School. Matthews was selected, in part, because of her father's active role with the NAACP and their effort to integrate Wake County Schools. Matthews describes in detail what the experience of integration was like, recalling in particular the great degree of hostility with which she and the other African American students were met. As Matthews recalls it, hostility did not come just from white students, but from a number of the white teachers as well. Whereas she had been actively involved in athletics and various school clubs at Berry O'Kelly, Matthews did not become involved in similar activities at Cary High School, largely because she never felt accepted. Overall, Matthews describes the integration process as overwhelming. Nevertheless, because of the support of her family, she emerged with few negative feelings. Instead, she suggests that the experience made her more compassionate towards others. In addition to describing her experiences with school integration, Matthews offers a brief overview of her college education, and her career trajectory. She eventually became an English teacher. Matthews also speaks more broadly of racial discrimination in Cary while she was growing up, as well as her participation in various civil rights activities. Matthews recalls that most of the demonstrations in Cary and Raleigh were non-violent. She concludes the interview by offering her thoughts on the positive and negative consequences of integration. While she believes that integration was generally beneficial for African Americans in that it opened opportunities in education and employment and raised standards of living, she also laments the loss of community and the emphasis on extended family among African Americans that integration engendered.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on Nov. 18, 2008).

Interview participants: Gwendolyn Matthews, interviewee; Peggy Van Scoyoc, interviewer.

Duration: 01:10:02.

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. 132 kilobytes, 128 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series K, Southern communities, interview K-0654, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Transcribed by Peggy Van Scoyoc. Original transcript: 34 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.