Oral history interview with Bob Scott, April 4, 1990
Subtitle: interview L-0193, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: Link, William A., 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; Governors; Universities and colleges; Mergers; College integration; Strikes and lockouts; Food industry and trade; Race relations; University of North Carolina (System); University of North Carolina (1793-1962); North Carolina State College; University of North Carolina (System). Board of Trustees
Other titles: Interview L-0193, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with Bob Scott, April 4, 1990; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: The son of former governor Kerr Scott (1949-1953), Robert W. Scott served as governor of North Carolina from 1969 to 1973. He begins the interview with a brief discussion of his education at North Carolina State University during the early 1950s, and follows with an assessment of his early interactions with William Friday, former President of the University of North Carolina System, when he was the Lt. Governor. The bulk of the interview is devoted to a discussion of Scott's role in and perception of the consolidation of the University system during his tenure. Scott describes how he served as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees in his capacity as Governor and how he lobbied the General Assembly to also appoint him as the Chairman of the Board of Higher Education. Scott worked closely with William Friday and Cameron West, then the Director of the Board of Higher Education, during the formation of the Consolidated University system. In addition to emphasizing the leadership of Friday and West in that process, Scott describes the complex political maneuvering and compromising that was required as a result of changing power dynamics in the state legislature and other factors, including the growing prominence of historically African American universities and colleges. In addition, Scott devotes attention to his decision to intervene in episodes of campus unrest, including his decision to send state troops to the University of North Carolina during the Food Workers' Strike of 1969, and to send in the National Guard to North Carolina A&T in Greensboro after direct conflict between the students and local police broke out. Scott concludes the interview with an overall assessment of his gubernatorial term, arguing that his most significant accomplishment was his ability to reduce racial unrest significantly.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on March 5, 2008).

Interview participants: Bob Scott, interviewee; William Link, interviewer.

Duration: 01:36:49.

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 Jennifer Joyner.  Sound recordings digitized by Aaron Smithers.

Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 129.2 kilobytes, 177 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series L, University of North Carolina, interview L-0193, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Transcribed by Karen Hill. Original transcript: 16 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.