The U.S. Supreme Court delivered their landmark ruling in Brown v. Board in 1954.

Two years later, in 1956, North Carolina voted overwhelmingly to enact something called the Pearsall Plan. The Pearsall Plan to Save our Schools, as it was called, was a way to allow students to be excused from attending integrated public schools. In other words, to stall desegregation in North Carolina. It passed with 80% support.

Here in Chapel Hill, 56.9% voted against the Pearsall Plan, boosted by high Black voter turnout, despite endorsement of the plan by the Chapel Hill Weekly.

The publisher of the Chapel Hill Weekly, Orville Campbell, hosted Gov. Luther Hodges in Chapel Hill to advocate for the plan. His involvement was not mentioned by the Chapel Hill Weekly.

But, as Mike Ogle notes in his blog Stonewalls: “Chapel Hill did not fully integrate its schools until 1966, a dozen years after Brown…Despite the narrow margins on Pearsall locally, Chapel Hill incrementally integrated its schools with much reluctance and resistance.”

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More than reluctance and resistance 

Four years after Pearsall passed, in November 1960, the Chapel Hill Board of Education held a meeting to discuss plans for two new elementary schools. The first site, a 10-acre tract east of Smith Level Road, was to be the site of a “new Negro school.” 

In January 1961, Lucy Craig, the widow of Charles Craig deeded 11.5 acres along the south side of NC Highway 54 to the Chapel Hill City Board of Education for a new elementary school. 

The Chapel Hill Weekly noted that “when it is completed, the new facility will give Chapel Hill two Negro elementary schools” – Northside was the other – and also that the school board had plans to build a “white elementary school” about a mile away, on the bypass at Morgan Creek and Pittsboro Road.

Keep in mind that this was now six years after Brown v. Board; Chapel Hill was not just resisting desegregation, the School Board was actively building new segregated schools. 

The Chapel Hill Fellowship for School Integration, the Northside PTA, and the Lincoln School PTA immediately pushed back against the plan to build two new segregated elementary schools. They wanted the school district to build one school for all of the kids in the Southwest parts of Chapel Hill and Carrboro. So did the Rev. J.R. Manly, the only Black member of the school board, and the only school board member who voted against the plan, because “the school board refused to say specifically that the new elementary school will be built and operated on a non-racial basis.”

Manly was the first Black member of the school board (1959-1965) and also served as President of the Chapel Hill NAACP. He was the Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church for 65 years.
The Rev. Mr Jones also noted that the cost factor of building two schools was pretty high and not a great plan for future planning, given the overcrowding of certain elementary schools at the time.

In a letter to the School Board, the Rev. Mr. Charles Jones noted that it was also illegal: “Also we are in the process, slow to be sure, of complying with the law of the land in eliminating a dual system of education for Negro and white children. These two new schools within such a short distance  builds further into the physical structure of our school system the very thing we are trying to Outgrow. One school may probably is, needed in the area, but not two.”

The Board pushed back, saying that schools were being built where schools were needed, and that the schools would have integrated classrooms. (Spoiler alert: That didn’t happen.)

Also in the same conversation, the Board said that the new school on Smith Level Road would largely not be integrated, based on where students lived and how they were districted. At a meeting in January 1961, the School Board Chair acknowledged that the school district was still operating a “segregated system” after the NAACP requested that the new school being built on Smith Level Road be “designated and operated as a non-racial facility.”

1960s in Chapel Hill

I should note that this is all taking place against the backdrop of other events in Chapel Hill and Orange County: the first sit-in took place in 1960, students were picketing the segregated Carolina Theater, 11 Black families in White Cross – some of whom were taking ‘excessively long bus rides’ – asked Orange County Board of Education to desegregate their schools, a request that was denied. The school in White Cross closed rather than comply. Threats of violence (and actual violence) took place. Someone dragged a picketer by the legs on Franklin Street; the police later dropped charges. A graduate student picketing outside of the Carolina Theater was assaulted; another picketer was assaulted down the street in front of the Bank of Chapel Hill. Sit-in participants had ammonia and Clorox poured down their throats.

And all of this was also taking place against the backdrop of a forthcoming school bond for $1.5 million. There were four priority projects in Chapel Hill: building the segregated elementary school on Smith Level Road, building a new junior high for white students, creating an addition at Lincoln (which was then the segregated high school for Black students) and making improvements to Northside (which was the elementary school for Black students and in very poor condition.)

On the topic of integration, the Board said that they wanted to wait until more members of the community accepted the plna.

The bond election was held in March, after a series of informational meetings. It passed by a 2-1 margin, despite Carrboro and all rural precincts voting against it. A month later, the School Board received a petition from three dozen white residents on Smith Level Road, asking that the new segregated school on Smith Level Road not be named after Smith Level Road. The News of Hillsborough reported that “race-conscious white residents of Smith Level community are up in arms over the idea of giving the predominantly Negro school the name of their predominantly white nearby neighborhood.” 

Grey Culbreth, a member of the school board, said “The reasons for asking the change aren’t impressive. The only issue is of a white community being associated with a Negro school, and that is not a valid reason for change.”

Other school board members pressed back against Culbreth, stating that the reason for the name change request wasn’t clear. (Ed note: 🙄) One suggested that the school should be named Southside instead of Northside. The school became nameless for the time being, and also became somewhat of a joke in the local news.

In May 1961, school board elections were held. Three newcomers joined the board, and all of them said they supported integration but resisted immediate full integration. Instead, they planned a policy to integrate first grade, while allowing parents who wanted to be reassigned the opportunity to do so. (Ed note: 🙄) Residents from Carrboro “vigorous[ly] protested the decision” to integrate Carrboro Elementary School and the Board unanimously passed a motion that “the Carrboro [Elementary] School get the smallest possible number of Negro students..”  This was due to the number of parents from Carrboro [Elementary] School that showed up to protest at the school board meeting.

Parents at Carrboro Elementary School heavily protested against integration.

In July, the school board slashed the budget for upgrades to Northside by half, earmarked money for a middle school, and adopted new district lines for each elementary school. The district lines were now based on geography, not racial lines. Under the plan, the first grades would be integrated.

There were immediate protests. Carrboro residents protested against any integration whatsoever. Glenwood parents started a petition and wanted to make clear that they did not “oppose” integration but that they didn’t want Glenwood to receive “more than its share of Negro pupils.” (Ed note: 🙄) They threatened legal action, saying that the plan was “not fair to us or to our property values.” (Ed note: 🙄) 

The School Board scheduled a new meeting to consider reassignments. Reasons parents could request a reassignment were: “general racial objections,” “live closer to another school,” and “other members of the family attend another school.” The school board said they would look “favorably” upon any requests made for these reasons.

Within two weeks, 59 parents requested reassignments, including 13 white parents who requested that their children “be reassigned ‘to a public school not attended by a child of another race.’” These were deferred. 12 of the 14 white children assigned to Northside asked to be reassigned to predominantly white schools; these were all granted. The reassignments made the front page of the Chapel Hill Weekly.

When schools opened in September 1961, they were less integrated than expected, due to the reassignment requests. One parent, Reece Birmingham, sent his two children to a private school in Durham because there was no “all-white” school available in the Chapel Hill system. The school board recommended that he receive a “state tuition grant” so that his children could attend the private school — this, as the Chapel Hill Weekly noted, was the Pearsall Plan’s first test in the entire state from a white student. (The Weekly failed to note that Preston Weaver, a Black parent in Chapel Hill, had requested a transfer in 1957 for his son from Northside Elementary to Carrboro Elementary School due to the latter having better facilities. The request was denied by the school board. They called the reason “inadequate.”) Birmingham’s request was also denied, but only because the private school’s hours weren’t considered long enough. 

Months later, another issue. The school system announced it was in a dire financial state. Chapel Hill’s teachers received a supplement and Chapel Hill provided enrichment like librarians and vocational teachers that other school districts didn’t have. The board held several meetings to determine the best source of action: either letting employees go or reducing their supplements, requesting additional money from the county, or increase the special district school tax.

They decided to reduce teacher supplements. In the same meeting, they again struggled to name the new elementary school on Smith Level Road, and started referring to it as the Etcetera School.

Within a week, the PTA organized a fund drive to pay for teacher supplements, while the funds from the bond for the addition to the segregated all-Black Lincoln School were slashed in favor of a new junior high next to Estes Hills. 

In March, the elementary school on Smith Level Road was named for Frank Porter Graham, the former President of UNC. The naming discussion was held in closed session, in case Graham objected to having his name on a Black elementary school. He didn’t.

That July, the school board began their assignment discussions. Black students previously assigned to Glenwood were shifted to Frank Porter Graham. 70 white children in total were assigned to attend either Northside or Frank Porter Graham.  

All 70 of the white students assigned to Northside and Frank Porter Graham requested transfers. A petition circulated asking that students in parts of Carrboro not be assigned to FPG; the originator of the petition said that “petition signers who had no children in school signed because they were concerned about property values.” 

Parents gave reasons why they didn’t want their children in an integrated classroom.

All requests to transfer by white students were granted by the school board. Seven requests for Black children to attend white schools closer to their homes were denied. The Chapel Hill Weekly noted “reassignments were granted by the School [Board] to those students who would be attending a school in which they were members of the minority race.” 

In September 1962, FPG opened as Chapel Hill’s second segregated elementary school. 

Both this caption and an oral history with resident John Mason allude to a former dump at or next to the school site. I am still trying to figure out where the dump was located. There’s some evidence it was across the street, where public works now is, and some that it was located where the school is (or adjacent to it.) If you have any information about this, please let us know.
We are trying to learn more about where precisely this dump was. If you know something, let me know! I’ve checked phone books, aerial images, newspaper archives….this would have been 1962 and before.

The Weekly reported that the number of Black students in predominantly white schools “considerably decreased” from the previous year. 

Both FPG and Northside opened in 1962 with 0 white students.

The Chapel Hill weekly. [Chapel Hill, N.C.], June 9, 1963

Addendum:

In 2009, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools produced a timeline and series of videos about the history of the district. The video on desegregation is entitled “CHCCS Desegregation 1954-1961.” Chapel Hill High School (all-white) and Lincoln High School (all-Black) combined in 1966. A excellent dissertation on this topic is entitled “FROM FORGOTTEN TO REMEMBERED: THE LONG PROCESS OF SCHOOL DESEGREGATION IN CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA AND PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY, VIRGINIA” and was written by Dwana Leah Waugh in 2012.

Sources and Credit:

Interview: John Mason. Southern Communities: Listening for a Change: Desegregation and Inner Life of Chapel Hill Schools https://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/sohp/searchterm/K.2.8.%20Southern%20Communities:%20Listening%20for%20a%20Change:%20Desegregation%20and%20Inner%20Life%20of%20Chapel%20Hill%20Schools/mode/exact

The Chapel Hill weekly. [Chapel Hill, N.C.], Sept. 7, 1956. North Carolina Newspapers, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073229/1956-09-07/ed-1/seq-1/

The Chapel Hill weekly. [Chapel Hill, N.C.], Nov. 10, 1960. North Carolina Newspapers, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073229/1960-11-10/ed-1/seq-1/

The Chapel Hill weekly. [Chapel Hill, N.C.], Dec. 5, 1960. North Carolina Newspapers, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073229/1960-12-05/ed-1/seq-1/

The Chapel Hill weekly. [Chapel Hill, N.C.], Dec. 1, 1960. North Carolina Newspapers, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073229/1960-12-01/ed-1/seq-1/

The Chapel Hill weekly. [Chapel Hill, N.C.], Dec. 1, 1960. North Carolina Newspapers, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073229/1960-12-01/ed-1/seq-5/


The news of Orange County. [Hillsboro, N.C.], March 12, 1964. North Carolina Newspapers, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn93007672/1964-03-12/ed-1/seq-5/

The Chapel Hill weekly. [Chapel Hill, N.C.], Jan. 12, 1961. North Carolina Newspapers, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073229/1961-01-12/ed-1/seq-1/

The Chapel Hill weekly. [Chapel Hill, N.C.], Feb. 4, 1960. North Carolina Newspapers, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073229/1960-02-04/ed-1/seq-7/

The Chapel Hill weekly. [Chapel Hill, N.C.], March 16, 1961. North Carolina Newspapers, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073229/1961-03-16/ed-1/seq-1/

The news of Orange County. [Hillsboro, N.C.], Feb. 22, 1962. North Carolina Newspapers, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn93007672/1962-02-22/ed-1/seq-13/

The Chapel Hill weekly. [Chapel Hill, N.C.], April 24, 1961. North Carolina Newspapers, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073229/1961-04-24/ed-1/seq-1/

The Chapel Hill weekly. [Chapel Hill, N.C.], May 1, 1961. North Carolina Newspapers, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073229/1961-05-01/ed-1/seq-5/

The Chapel Hill weekly. [Chapel Hill, N.C.], May 4, 1961. North Carolina Newspapers, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073229/1961-05-04/ed-1/seq-1/

The Chapel Hill weekly. [Chapel Hill, N.C.], June 1, 1961. North Carolina Newspapers, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073229/1961-06-01/ed-1/seq-1/

The Chapel Hill weekly. [Chapel Hill, N.C.], July 6, 1961. North Carolina Newspapers, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073229/1961-07-06/ed-1/seq-1/

The Chapel Hill weekly. [Chapel Hill, N.C.], July 6, 1961. North Carolina Newspapers, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073229/1961-07-06/ed-1/seq-1/

The Chapel Hill weekly. [Chapel Hill, N.C.], July 27, 1961. North Carolina Newspapers, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073229/1961-07-27/ed-1/seq-1/


The Chapel Hill weekly. [Chapel Hill, N.C.], Sept. 4, 1961. North Carolina Newspapers, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073229/1961-09-04/ed-1/seq-8/

The Chapel Hill weekly. [Chapel Hill, N.C.], Sept. 4, 1961. North Carolina Newspapers, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073229/1961-09-04/ed-1/seq-8/

The Chapel Hill weekly. [Chapel Hill, N.C.], Sept. 25, 1961. North Carolina Newspapers, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073229/1961-09-25/ed-1/seq-1/

The Chapel Hill weekly. [Chapel Hill, N.C.], Sept. 28, 1961. North Carolina Newspapers, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073229/1961-09-28/ed-1/seq-1/

The Chapel Hill weekly. [Chapel Hill, N.C.], Jan. 4, 1962. North Carolina Newspapers, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073229/1962-01-04/ed-1/seq-1/

The Chapel Hill weekly. [Chapel Hill, N.C.], Feb. 8, 1962. North Carolina Newspapers, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073229/1962-02-08/ed-1/seq-1/

The Chapel Hill weekly. [Chapel Hill, N.C.], June 9, 1963. North Carolina Newspapers, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073229/1963-06-09/ed-1/seq-12/

The Chapel Hill weekly. [Chapel Hill, N.C.], Feb. 19, 1962. North Carolina Newspapers, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073229/1962-02-19/ed-1/seq-1/

Deed. Book 179 page 583 Orange County. January 1961.

Mel is a journalist and librarian. Outside of work, she volunteers as a reading tutor at Carrboro Elementary School, writes about journalism for a variety of publications, and serves as chair of the OWASA...