Oral history interview with Sam Holton, March 28, 2001
Subtitle: interview K-0206, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: Matthews, Jenny Lynn, 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; School board members; School integration; Race relations; Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (N.C.). Board of Education; Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (N.C.).
Other titles: Interview K-0206, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with Sam Holton, March 28, 2001; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: Sam Holton discusses the Chapel Hill school board's efforts to desegregate its public schools. In 1968, after serving as PTA president, he was elected to the school board. There he was immediately faced with escalating racial tensions following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.--tensions that were also felt in the newly constructed and integrated Chapel Hill High School. The school failed to incorporate the former all-black Lincoln High School traditions, which increased blacks' feelings of marginality. The inclusion of blacks into the Chapel Hill High student culture and the high numbers of disciplinary infractions for black students eventually fueled altercations between whites and blacks, say Holton. He explains how school board members sought ways to accommodate low-income students and blacks, including curricular and extracurricular offerings. A professor of education at the University of North Carolina, Holton also provides a socioeconomic analysis of achievement gaps. He contends that students' low test achievement scores can be directly correlated to the educational level and economic class of their parents. Although a large divide exists between upper-class and low-income Chapel Hill residents, Holton is careful to argue that Chapel Hill is not racist. He insists that the local school board remains committed to the education of all students. He stresses that racial and economic balance in Chapel Hill schools is necessary to prevent middle-class whites from abandoning public schools. Without middle-class white support, Holton implies, a quality education for blacks would not exist.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on November 13, 2008).

Interview participants: Sam Holton, interviewee; Jenny Matthews, interviewer.

Duration: 01:22:28.

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. 81.2 kilobytes, 151 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series K, Southern communities, interview K-0206, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Original transcript: 27 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.