Chapel Hill Historical Society

The Chapel Hill Historical Society was formed in 1966 in Chapel Hill, N.C. In 1974, the oral history committee was established to conduct interviews with local Chapel Hill and Carrboro, N.C., residents in an effort to preserve first-hand recollections about the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, local African American communities, and local mill-worker communities. One of the first major projects conducted was a series of interviews with men and women who had worked in the Carrboro textile mills in the early and mid-20th century.

The Chapel Hill Historical Society was formed in 1966 in Chapel Hill, N.C. In 1974, the oral history committee was established to conduct interviews with local Chapel Hill and Carrboro, N.C., residents in an effort to preserve first hand-recollections about the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, local African American communities, and local mill-worker communities. One of the first major projects conducted was a series of interviews with men and women who had worked in the Carrboro textile mills in the early and mid-20th century. The purpose of the project was to gather biographical, social, and cultural information about the first generation of mill workers in the town and to compare their lives to those of their sons and daughters. The interviews were supplemented by documentary research into government, business, and census records.

Co-directors and principal investigators for the project were High P. Brinton, Brent D. Glass, and Valerie Quinney. The Chapel Hill Historical Society obtained a grant of $2,500 from the North Carolina Bicentennial Commission to provide support for the transcription of 70 interviews. The Southern Oral History Program provided technical and administrative assistance throughout the project.