Oral history interview with Burnis Hackney, February 5, 2001
Subtitle: interview K-0547, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: Gilgor, Bob, 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; Race relations; School integration; African Americans; Attitudes; African American students; Education (Secondary); Lincoln High School (Chapel Hill, N.C.); Chapel Hill High School (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Other titles: Interview K-0547, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with Burnis Hackney, February 5, 2001; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: In 1966, Burnis Hackney was among the first African Americans to enroll in the new, integrated Chapel Hill High School (CHHS). In this interview, Hackney attempts to resolve his belief in the essential value of integration with his regret for the traditions jettisoned during the process. The process itself went relatively smoothly for Hackney, who did not experience direct racism from white students or teachers. The most difficult element of the transition was leaving the nurturing atmosphere at Lincoln High School for the academically demanding, individualistic ethos of CHHS. A sense of inevitability flows through this interview: Hackney remembers that he and other black students were resigned to the integration process, which seemed determined to move forward despite how African Americans felt about it.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on July 2, 2007).

Interview participants: Burnis Hackney, interviewee; Bob Gilgor, interviewer.

Duration: 01:34:32.

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 Mike Millner.  Sound recordings digitized by Aaron Smithers.

Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 81.5 kilobytes, 173 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series K, Southern communities, interview K-0547, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Original transcript: 45 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.