Interview with Girvaud Justice [electronic resource], 2006 August 3 / interviewer: Christina Wright ; transcriber: Allison Sinclair.

ArchivalResource

Justice, Girvaud (Girvaud Lillie Roberts), 1944-. Interview with Girvaud Justice [electronic resource], 2006 August 3 / interviewer: Christina Wright ; transcriber: Allison Sinclair.

Interview with Girvaud Justice [electronic resource], 2006 August 3 / interviewer: Christina Wright ; transcriber: Allison Sinclair.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/650084515

Girvaud Justice spent some of her early childhood in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Charlotte, N.C., with her grandmother living nearby in Blue Heaven. She describes both as closely knit African American neighborhoods. She attended Myers Street School, where, she declares, the teachers were excellent, and nurtured a sense of family among the students. She describes small businesses and nothing worse happening in the neighborhood than the occasional intoxicated person. She enjoyed skating and biking with her friends. A church offered vacation Bible school and Mrs. Justice remembers spending many hours in the local library. The Phillis Wheatley YWCA offered many activities for young children. Mrs. Justice felt comfortable and at home here, although Charlotte city officials considered Brooklyn a slum. Urban renewal came to the neighborhood and it was torn down for redevelopment. Mrs. Justice and her family moved back to First Ward. Her memories of segregation around this time mostly concerned separate drinking fountains and eating counters. Mrs. Justice had her own ways of fighting this as a young girl. When desegregation first came to the Charlotte schools, both Mrs. Justice, and her brother, Gus decided that they wanted to be part of it. Their mother took great steps to support them. Mrs. Justice attended Piedmont Junior High and her brother attended Central High. She gives a vivid description of the first day at an integrated school, and of her brother's full year.

University of North Carolina, Charlotte, J. Murrey Atkins Library