Oral history interview with William Culp, February 19, 1999
Subtitle: interview K-0277, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: Grundy, Pamela, 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: 2006
Place of publication: [Chapel Hill, N.C.]
Language: eng
Subjects: Interviews; Teachers; School integration; Race relations; Public schools; Race relations in school management; West Charlotte High School (Charlotte, N.C.)
Other titles: Interview K-0277, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with William Culp, February 19, 1999; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: William B. A. Culp, Jr., describes his experiences as a white teacher in post-desegregation Charlotte, N.C. Culp spent only one semester at West Charlotte High School, but the school left an impression on him. Culp describes a relatively harmonious school where students and teachers were committed to maintaining an aura of respect and cooperation between black and white students, teachers, and administrators. Their efforts appear to have been successful. His experience at West Charlotte, in combination with his upbringing and a stint in the Army, left Culp a strong believer in racial diversity and an advocate for interracial cooperation. While optimistic, Culp thinks that progress toward a "colorblind" society is slow.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on June 15, 2007).

Interview participants: William Culp, interviewee; Pamela Grundy, interviewer.

Duration: 00:49:44.

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

Text encoded by Natalia Smith.  Sound recordings digitized by Aaron Smithers.

Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 61.7 kilobytes, 91 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series K, Southern communities, interview K-0277, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Transcribed by L. Altizer. Original transcript: 24 p.

Funding from the Institute for 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.