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Local figure

Joe Straley

Joseph W. Straley (1914–2005) joined UNC's physics faculty in 1945 and retired in 1980. With the Rev. Charles Jones he helped start the racially integrated Community Church of Chapel Hill in 1953, chaired the Committee of Concerned Citizens, a Chapel Hill civil rights group, in 1964–1965, and was elected to the Chapel Hill Town Council.

Source: UNC Libraries, Southern Historical Collection: Joseph W. Straley Papers, 1936-2002

Also found in catalogs as Joseph W. Straley.

2 works about Joe Straley are indexed here.

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Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each has its own page.

StorylineThe Horace Williams Airport, 1940–20181940–2018 · 52 events · In 1940 the University bought the Chapel Hill airport that Charlie Martindale had opened in 1928 and planned a field named for Professor Horace Williams, who gave more than 200 acres. University students began Civil Aeronautics Authority flight training there that February. WPA workers began grading in January 1941 on a project costing about $200,000, and that month fire destroyed the hangar and seven training planes. By mid-October crews had finished rough grading for the runways, and that fall University and Duke students began joint pilot training. In 1942 the federal government paid for a new road to the field because of its military value, and in March 1943 paratroopers from Fort Bragg dropped on the airport. From 1968 townspeople and faculty opposed paving the field, and the Faculty Council asked that it be kept to University use; the runway was paved chiefly for medical flights, and in 1974 the Chapel Hill aldermen set up a study of the airport. In 1980 neighbors petitioned to close the airport, and in 1981, a year of three crashes near the field, Chancellor Christopher Fordham offered to close it once a replacement was built near Chapel Hill. The county commissioners approved a private Midway Airport in Bingham Township in 1982 and 1983. In 1988 and 1989 the county studied and then dropped a plan for a new county airport, and after a fatal crash in August 1989 about 350 people debated the University's runway extension at a council hearing. In 1990 UNC decided to keep the airport open to public use, and from 1991 county and town managers planned for moving it; mediators led a dialogue group on its future from October 1992. UNC closed Horace Williams Airport in 2018. StorylineFrom campus buses to Chapel Hill Transit, 1968–19901968–1990 · 162 events · Student-run buses began crossing the UNC campus in 1968, and a bus system for the University and the two towns was planned from 1970. Town buses ran for five weeks in 1971 before their money ran out, and voters then turned down a bus tax. Carrboro refused to join a later plan, but in February 1973 Chapel Hill voters approved bonds and a tax. With a federal grant, a University contract for bus passes and used buses from Atlanta, Chapel Hill Transit began running on August 1, 1974 and carried about 259,000 riders in its first eight weeks. The drivers formed a union in 1975, the town leased University airport land for a bus garage, and the buses carried more than two million riders in their first year. Service was cut in 1976 and night buses gave way to shared-ride taxis in 1977, and in 1979 federal aid lowered the bus tax and paid for 17 new buses. From 1980 the town replaced its aging buses with new General Motors buses that knelt at the curb and carried wheelchair lifts, finished a maintenance and operations facility and reshaped its routes, running nine from the fall of 1982. Ridership slipped in 1981, fares rose, and the drivers petitioned against the town's purchase of uniforms until they began wearing them in 1983. Ridership, down to 1.81 million in 1984-85, rose again from 1985 to more than 10,000 riders a day as the system added routes and buses. In 1988 a Blue Line began running to Duke, and in 1989 the council approved a park-and-ride lot on N.C. 54, the University opened one on Estes Drive, and the state funded 14 more buses and more park-and-ride lots. In 1990, after carrying more than 2.1 million riders the year before, the buses began running from a new park-and-ride lot on N.C. 54 East, 14 new buses arrived, and drivers complained that tight schedules forced them to speed. StorylineHonoring Martin Luther King Jr. in Chapel Hill, 1970–19931970–1993 · 46 events · Mayor Howard Lee proclaimed a Martin Luther King Day in Chapel Hill in January 1970, though UNC declined to close, and the aldermen named the day again in 1973. UNC's Faculty Council struck King's name from a proposed yearly observance in 1977, but a King Memorial Lecture began in 1978 and a campus-wide celebration in 1982. In 1984 Chapel Hill made King's birthday a town holiday. Andrew Young, Max Robinson and Randall Robinson were among the King Memorial Lecture speakers of the 1980s, Carrboro's mayor proclaimed a King Day in 1981, and King's daughters Yolanda and Bernice spoke at UNC's celebrations in 1984 and 1989. UNC held classes on the first federal King holiday in 1986 but, after students petitioned, closed for it in 1988 under new state legislation. Rallies and marches on Franklin Street marked the holiday in 1987 and 1988, and Maya Angelou and June Jordan spoke at UNC in 1988 and 1989. In 1991 a King holiday gathering at the post office opposed the Persian Gulf war and UNC's tenth annual celebration brought C.T. Vivian, and in 1992 an NAACP march and a service at First Baptist Church marked the day. In 1993 UNC housekeepers held a Unity Day dinner in King's honor. StorylineCondominium conversions in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, 1973–19841973–1984 · 19 events · Chapel Hill's aldermen approved condominium projects in 1973, with Mayor Howard Lee breaking ties, and turned one down in 1974. From 1980, with rental housing short, the Town Council refused conversions of Graham Court and The Oaks, then approved The Oaks in 1981, and a judge ruled that the town could not stop a realty firm's conversions. Conversions spread in Carrboro and Chapel Hill through 1983. StorylineTown elections and bond votes, 1979–19891979–1989 · 73 events · In November 1979 Chapel Hill elected Joe Nassif mayor over council members Robert Epting and Gerry Cohen and Harold Foster, returned outgoing Mayor James Wallace and two incumbents to the Town Council and added Joe Straley. Its voters approved a fire station bond but rejected a downtown parking deck and the Ridgefield open space purchase. Carrboro re-elected Mayor Robert Drakeford, Hillsborough brought back Fred Cates as mayor, and county voters defeated a $20.4 million bond package, schools included. In 1981 the new Association for a Better Carrboro took three aldermen's seats from the Carrboro Community Coalition while Mayor Drakeford won a third term, and Chapel Hill voters unseated council members Bill Thorpe and Joe Herzenberg. In 1983 Jim Porto was elected Carrboro's mayor as ABC candidates won every aldermen's seat, Chapel Hill re-elected Mayor Nassif and returned Thorpe to the council, and Hillsborough Mayor Lucius Cheshire, beaten by Frank Sheffield, resigned early. In 1985 former mayor Jim Wallace won the office back in a race he called a quasi-referendum on Rosemary Square, and in 1986 Chapel Hill voters approved $11.8 million in bonds, a new library among them. In 1987 Jonathan Howes was elected mayor, Joe Herzenberg won a council seat and Eleanor Kinnaird unseated Carrboro Mayor Jim Porto. In 1989 Howes and Kinnaird were re-elected, and Hillsborough elected Horace Johnson, by the Daily Tar Heel's account its first Black mayor. StorylineGraham Street neighbors and the Elliot’s Nest disco, 19801980 · 5 events · In January 1980 residents of South Graham Street, a predominantly Black neighborhood in Chapel Hill, petitioned the town and the state over noise, litter and parking from patrons of the Elliot's Nest disco. The state refused the club a beer and wine permit and it closed, and the council banned night parking on the street. In March the state ABC Board denied the permit, a ruling expected to close the club for good.
Show all 8 storylines
StorylineChapel Hill protests over U.S. policy in Central America, 1981–19891981–1989 · 20 events · From 1981 Chapel Hill groups protested U.S. military aid to El Salvador with leafleting, vigils at the Franklin Street post office and a march across campus, and marked the anniversaries of Archbishop Oscar Romero's killing. In 1983 a sanctuary group sought a church for refugees and a statewide coalition met in Murphey Hall; a 1984 teach-in debated the Kissinger report, and a vigil opposed intervention in Nicaragua. From 1985 the protests turned to aid for the Contras, with a march on Rep. Bill Cobey's office, an unofficial referendum outside the polls, a silent protest at a Contra leader's speech and roadside crosses; in 1988 about 200 people marched against troops sent to Honduras. StorylineThe South Africa divestment campaign at UNC and Chapel Hill's sanctions, 1982–19941982–1994 · 59 events · From 1982 students pressed UNC to sell its holdings in companies doing business in South Africa. Students voted two to one for divestment in 1983, but the endowment board refused, citing its duty to maximize returns. The BSM renewed the campaign in 1984, the endowment board sold four holdings in 1986, and the University agreed to divest in 1987. Students voted for divestment again in 1986 and built shanties at South Building, where some were arrested; UNC had sold more than $4 million in holdings by October 1987. Chapel Hill adopted sanctions against South Africa in 1986 and repealed them in January 1994, and that March the endowment board lifted its ban on such investments.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 32 dated events in the chronology →

During their lifetime

  1. Community Church of Chapel Hill forms An interracial congregation organized with Charles M. Jones as minister. People: Charles M. Jones, Joe Straley Place: Chapel HillCommunity Church — history by charlie kast · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, January 18, 1991, p. 1
  2. Joe Straley chairs the Committee of Concerned Citizens The UNC physics professor Joe Straley chaired the Committee of Concerned Citizens, a group of Chapel Hill residents dedicated to civil rights, in 1964 and 1965. The committee was newly formed early in 1964; in a letter to Mayor Sandy McClamroch printed on February 27, 1964 Straley described it as a group hoping to help resolve the racial crisis in Chapel Hill by peaceful desegregation, and on March 9 he read the aldermen a statement urging a local public accommodations ordinance whatever Congress did. Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Sandy McClamrochSearch the index · UNC Libraries, Southern Historical Collection: Joseph W. Straley Papers, 1936-2002 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 27, 1964, p. 14; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 12, 1964, p. 3
  3. The Committee of Concerned Citizens raises about $400 for injured demonstrators and the hospitalized faster Committee members served bread and cheese for donations twice a day in the basement of the First Baptist Church, raising about $400 to cover the hospital bills of demonstrators hurt in sit-ins and of the Rev. LaVert Taylor after the fast. People: Joe Straley Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: LaVert TaylorThe Daily Tar Heel, April 4, 1964, p. 1
  4. Gary Waller joins a student panel on the Speaker Ban in Memorial Hall The Daily Tar Heel reported that student body president Paul Dickson presided over a noon meeting of students and faculty in Memorial Hall, with a panel of four that included Waller, Carolina Conservative Club president Wilson Clark and the SDS faculty advisers Joseph Straley and Lewis Lipsitz. The meeting adopted a resolution about four and a half hours before the trustees' executive committee voted 8 to 3 to bar Herbert Aptheker from speaking. People: Gary Waller, Paul Dickson III, Joe Straley, Herbert Aptheker Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Wilson Clark, Joseph Straley, Lewis Lipsitz · Also mentions: Memorial HallSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, February 8, 1966, p. 1
  5. The general faculty votes to let striking students take their grades as they stand or finish coursework later With more than 4,000 students rallying outside, the general faculty meeting in Hill Hall overwhelmingly approved a substitute motion by Marvin Silver and Gerhard Lenski calling the strike 'a reasonable, peaceful and responsible course of action' and allowing final grades on work completed so far or delayed completion of course requirements, with a right of appeal. Faculty chairman Daniel Okun's letter the next day explained the policy as no penalties for strike absences and make-up exams for those who could not in conscience sit the scheduled exam. People: Joe Straley, Daniel A. Okun, Oscar Knefler Rice Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Marvin Silver, Gerhard Lenski, Daniel Okun · Also mentions: Hill HallThe Daily Tar Heel, May 8, 1970, p. 1 (OCR text)
  6. Joe Straley is elected to the Chapel Hill Town Council In the municipal election, newcomer Joe Straley won one of four council seats with 2,796 votes, joining James C. Wallace, R. D. Smith and Jonathan Howes and edging out Joe Herzenberg. He was sworn in for a four-year term in December. People: Jonathan Howes, R. D. Smith, Joseph A. Herzenberg Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: James C. Wallace, Joe HerzenbergSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 7, 1979, p. 1
  7. Mayor James Wallace leads the voting for the Chapel Hill Town Council Outgoing Mayor James Wallace topped the Town Council race with 3,385 votes, followed by 14-year council member R.D. Smith with 3,315 and incumbent Jonathan Howes with 3,039; physics professor Joe Straley took the fourth seat. Historic District Commission chairman Joe Herzenberg (2,692) and transportation board member Bruce Tindall (2,442) lost. People: Jonathan Howes, Joe Straley, R. D. Smith Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: James Wallace, Joe Herzenberg, Bruce TindallSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 7, 1979, p. 1
  8. Joe Nassif is sworn in as mayor of Chapel Hill Joe Nassif took the oath of office as mayor from James Wallace, who moved from the mayor's chair to a council seat, and then swore in council members Joe Straley, the only newcomer, Wallace, Jonathan Howes and R.D. Smith. The new council chose Howes as mayor pro tem, and the departing members Gerry Cohen, Robert Epting and Ed Vickery each received a key to the town. People: Jonathan Howes, Joe Straley, R. D. Smith Place: Chapel Hill Town Council, Chapel Hill · Also named: Joe Nassif, James Wallace, Gerry Cohen, Robert Epting, Ed VickerySearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, December 5, 1979, p. 1
  9. The Town Council bans night parking on South Graham Street On January 28, 1980, the Chapel Hill Town Council voted 6-0 to prohibit parking from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. on South Graham Street, South Roberson Street and Cameron Avenue between them, as the Graham Street residents had petitioned and the town manager recommended. Jonathan Howes questioned the need now that Elliot's Nest had closed, and Joe Straley asked how it could be enforced near the Second Baptist Church. People: Jonathan Howes, Joe Straley Place: South Graham Street, South Roberson Street and Cameron Avenue, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Elliot's Nest, Cameron AvenueThe Daily Tar Heel, January 30, 1980, p. 3
  10. Town Council refuses to let Graham Court Apartments become condominiums The Chapel Hill Town Council voted 7 to 1 on February 11, 1980, to deny a special use permit to convert the 24 units of Graham Court Apartments on McCauley Street into condominiums, citing the town's tight rental market and the Comprehensive Plan's call for a mix of housing; many tenants were UNC students and Student Government had opposed the change. Only Jonathan Howes voted for the conversion. People: Joe Straley, Jonathan Howes Place: Graham Court Apartments, McCauley Street, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: McCauley StreetSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, February 13, 1980, p. 3 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, April 4, 1980, p. 2; The Daily Tar Heel, September 9, 1982, p. 4
  11. Chapel Hill backs Carrboro's bid to link the two towns' bike paths The Chapel Hill Town Council voted on February 25, 1980, to support Carrboro's application for federal money to extend Chapel Hill's Cameron Avenue bike route from South Graham Street to Merritt Mill Road and join it to Carrboro's paths. People: Joe Straley Place: Cameron Avenue, Chapel Hill and Carrboro · Also mentions: Merritt Mill Road, South Graham StreetSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, February 27, 1980, p. 3
  12. The Chapel Hill Town Council raises bus pass prices and fares by 62.5 percent The council voted 8 to 1 to raise Chapel Hill Transit's pass prices and fares by 62.5 percent from July 1, setting a 12-month pass at $79, a nine-month pass at $65 and the adult fare at 35 cents to meet rising fuel and operating costs. Joe Straley, who had proposed smaller increases, cast the only vote against; Student Government protested that a bus pass would now cost more than a campus parking permit. People: Joe Straley, Jonathan Howes, R. D. Smith Place: Municipal Building, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, May 29, 1980, p. 6
Show all 29 dated events
  1. Coker Hills residents petition the Town Council to close Horace Williams Airport At a Town Council public hearing on a University zoning amendment that would let it build a hangar at Horace Williams Airport for Area Health Education Centers aircraft and end flight training there, Coker Hills West residents presented a petition with 466 signatures asking that the airport be closed. School board chairman Phyllis Sockwell asked the council to phase the airport out by 1990 because of the schools under its approach path; the council took no action and sent the proposal to the Planning Board. People: Joe Straley Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Phyllis Sockwell · Also mentions: Horace Williams AirportSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, October 1, 1980, p. 1
  2. The Chapel Hill Town Council lets UNC build a hangar at Horace Williams Airport Before about 100 onlookers, many of them airport neighbors, the Chapel Hill Town Council voted 5-4 on November 10, 1980, to amend the zoning ordinance so the University could build a hangar for the five planes of its Area Health Education Center at Horace Williams Airport, after defeating a stricter amendment, agreed by the Planning Board and the University, that would have ended flight training. The council also pledged to work with the University, the state and private parties for a replacement airport within 15 miles of town. People: Joe Straley Place: Horace Williams Airport, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 11, 1980, p. 1
  3. Chapel Hill Town Council approves converting The Oaks Apartments to condominiums After months of hearings, the Town Council voted 5 to 4 to grant the special-use permit letting Brant Homes of Greensboro sell the 124 units of The Oaks Apartments as condominiums. Mayor Joe Nassif and council members R.D. Smith, Joe Straley and Joe Herzenberg voted no, Herzenberg saying conversion violated the comprehensive plan in so transient a town; Bev Kawalec said the town needed a conversion policy but should approve this request. People: Joe Straley, R. D. Smith Place: The Oaks Apartments, Burning Tree Drive and N.C. 54 East, Chapel Hill · Also named: Joe Nassif, Joe Herzenberg, Bev KawalecSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, January 14, 1981, p. 3
  4. Town Council approves Coker Hills West, a subdivision near the Horace Williams runway The Town Council voted 6-2 to approve a preliminary sketch for Coker Hills West, a subdivision lying partly inside the flight hazard zone of Horace Williams Airport, after Town Manager Gene Shipman reported that it met town standards except for that location. Council members Joe Straley and R.D. Smith voted no, Smith saying approval did not protect people's health and safety. People: Joe Straley, R. D. Smith Place: Near Horace Williams Airport, Chapel Hill · Also named: Gene Shipman · Also mentions: Horace Williams AirportSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, February 25, 1981, p. 3
  5. Chapel Hill Town Council votes to take a realty company to court over condominium conversions On October 12, 1981, the Chapel Hill Town Council voted 7-1, on Joe Herzenberg's motion, to have the town attorney go to court to stop sales of units at Brookside Apartments and University Gardens Apartments until Chapel Hill Realty Company obtained the special use permit changes the council said a conversion required. The same night it approved converting Castillian Villa Apartments over the votes of Herzenberg, Mayor Joe Nassif and Joe Straley, then voted 7-1 to hear no more conversion requests until it had a policy, with Jim Wallace dissenting that zoning governs use, not ownership. People: Joe Straley Place: Brookside and University Gardens apartments, Chapel Hill · Also named: Joe Herzenberg, Joe Nassif, Jim WallaceThe Daily Tar Heel, October 14, 1981, p. 1
  6. The Chapel Hill Town Council orders uniforms for bus drivers over a driver-led petition The Chapel Hill Town Council voted 6 to 3 on November 4, 1981, to go ahead with buying uniforms for Chapel Hill Transit drivers, using $11,000 already budgeted, after drivers gathered 1,200 passenger signatures calling the purchase frivolous and the Transportation Board had recommended against it. Joe Straley, Bill Thorpe and Joe Herzenberg voted no. People: Joe Straley, Bill Thorpe Place: Town Hall, Chapel Hill · Also named: Joe Herzenberg · Also mentions: Chapel Hill TransitSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 6, 1981, p. 3
  7. Village Cable begins carrying the Escapades movie channel Village Cable, Chapel Hill's cable company, began carrying "Escapades," a channel of R-rated movies, in January 1982. By mid-February residents had complained to Town Council members that nonsubscribers, children among them, could pick it up through insecure converter boxes, which the company was replacing, while Village Cable asked the council to release it from keeping channels for University and town government use. People: Jim Heavner, Jonathan Howes, Joe Straley Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, February 16, 1982, p. 1
  8. John Dunne, a leader of the Chapel Hill civil-rights movement, dies at 39 John Dunne, the former Morehead scholar who helped lead the 1963 and 1964 sit-ins, pickets and the fast at the Chapel Hill post office against segregated restaurants, died at 39 in Norwich, Vermont. Council member Joe Straley and law professor Daniel Pollitt, who recalled 600 to 700 students marching most evenings and Dunne's jailing and banishment from the state, were to speak at a memorial service at the Community Church on January 21, 1983. People: John Dunne, Joe Straley Place: Norwich, Vermont · Also named: Daniel Pollitt · Also mentions: Chapel Hill post officeThe Daily Tar Heel, January 21, 1983, p. 3
  9. A management audit finds serious problems in Chapel Hill's police and fire departments On February 2, 1983, McManis Associates of Washington released its $31,000 management audit of the Chapel Hill town government and housing authority, which found serious management and operating problems in the police and fire departments. It proposed cutting the police department's top eight management posts to five officers and one civilian, abolishing the assistant fire chief's job and giving street naming and house numbering to the planning department, and placing the town clerk and attorney under the town manager; at a council work session on February 7 Mayor Joe Nassif called the report very positive. People: Joe Straley Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Joe NassifSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, February 3, 1983, p. 1
  10. Carrboro aldermen amend the land use ordinance to protect University Lake After a public hearing attended by about 80 people on September 13, 1983, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen voted unanimously to amend the town's Land Use Ordinance to protect the water of University Lake, the main water source for Chapel Hill and Carrboro, about 70 percent of whose shoreline lay in Carrboro's jurisdiction. The amendments, the result of a two-and-a-half-year study by the Carrboro Water Quality Task Force chaired by Alderman Steve Rose, graduated residential density, rezoned the watershed district, kept natural buffers, limited paved surfaces, defined hazardous substances and required sediment and erosion control. People: Joe Straley Place: Carrboro Town Hall, Carrboro · Also named: Steve RoseThe Daily Tar Heel, September 15, 1983, p. 6
  11. The Carolina Coalition for Justice in Central America holds a conference in Murphey Hall On November 5, 1983, the Carolina Coalition for Justice in Central America, made up of eight student and citizen groups from across the state, held an all-day Conference for Peace and Justice in the Americas in Murphey Hall, attended by almost 100 people, with speeches, eight workshops and a play by a new student theater company. Chapel Hill Town Council member Joe Straley showed slides from his October trip to Nicaragua and Honduras, and participants discussed an emergency response network to oppose U.S. intervention. People: Joe Straley Place: Murphey Hall, UNC campus, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 7, 1983, p. 1
  12. Chapel Hill re-elects Mayor Joe Nassif and puts Preston, Howes, Smith and Thorpe on the Town Council In the Chapel Hill municipal election of November 8, 1983, Mayor Joe Nassif was re-elected without opposition, and newcomer Nancy Preston (3,500 votes), incumbents Jonathan Howes (3,049) and R. D. Smith (2,665) and former council member Bill Thorpe (2,336) won the four Town Council seats; Katherine Wright finished fifth and incumbent Joe Straley last, 73 votes behind Thorpe. Turnout was 27.8 percent, and the Daily Tar Heel reported that it was the first time two Black candidates, Smith and Thorpe, had been elected to the council in the same election. People: Jonathan Howes, Bill Thorpe, Joe Straley, R. D. Smith Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Joe Nassif, Nancy Preston, Katherine WrightSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 9, 1983, p. 1
  13. About 120 people hold a candlelight vigil against apartheid at the Chapel Hill post office About 120 people gathered in front of the Franklin Street post office for a candlelight vigil against apartheid sponsored by the Orange County Rainbow Coalition of Conscience, closing a postcard campaign that urged Sen. Jesse Helms not to filibuster sanctions against South Africa. Speakers included Council member Bill Thorpe, former council member Joe Straley, council candidate Joe Herzenberg and congressional candidate Kirsten Nyrop, and the group said it would ask the Town Council for a resolution discouraging local business with South Africa. People: Yonni Chapman, Bill Thorpe, Joe Straley Place: Post office, Franklin Street, Chapel Hill · Also named: Joe Herzenberg, Kirsten Nyrop, Jesse HelmsSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, September 10, 1985, p. 1
  14. College Republicans picket a talk by Salvadoran opposition spokesman Arnoldo Ramos About 20 members of the UNC College Republicans met Arnoldo Ramos, a representative of El Salvador's FMLN and FDR opposition fronts, with signs outside his Institute of Latin American Studies talk in the Student Union; chairwoman Sharon Sentelle said they voiced disapproval of what she called a terrorist party, while audience members and Institute staff said the signs called him a communist pig. People: Joe Straley Place: Student Union, University, Chapel Hill · Also named: Sharon Sentelle, Arnoldo RamosSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, October 6, 1989, p. 1
  15. The N.C. Civil Liberties Union marks its 25th anniversary with a Mapplethorpe and Serrano exhibit at the Community Church The North Carolina Civil Liberties Union celebrated its 25th anniversary by showing works by Robert Mapplethorpe and Andres Serrano, including Serrano's crucifix photograph, for about two hours at the Community Church, drawing larger crowds than expected. About 15 protesters picketed outside against federal arts money for such work; church board member Joe Straley said the church rented its space without a loyalty test. People: Joe Straley Place: Community Church, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, September 17, 1990, p. 2
  16. About 50 people march from Chapel Hill to Carrboro on King Day About 50 Black and white residents gathered at the Franklin Street post office on January 20, 1992, for the 10th annual March for Peace and Justice in memory of Martin Luther King Jr., then marched behind Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP president James Brittian to St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church for an NAACP service. Speakers included Fred Battle, the Rev. George Allison of the Northern Orange NAACP, Joe Straley and Gwen Jones of the Orange County Human Relations Committee, and Michelle Thomas of the Black Student Movement renewed the call for a free-standing Black cultural center. People: James Brittian, Fred Battle, Joe Straley Place: Franklin Street post office to St. Paul AME Zion Church · Also named: George Allison, Gwen Jones, Michelle Thomas · Also mentions: Franklin Street post officeSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, January 21, 1992, p. 1
  17. Joe and Lucy Straley receive the first Charles M. Jones award of the local ACLU The Chapel Hill-Carrboro chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union gave Joe and Lucy Straley, both 79, its Charles M. Jones award for their work for peace, social justice and racial integration. The award, begun that year, recognizes contributions to civil liberties and civil rights in Orange and Chatham counties. People: Lucy Straley, Joe Straley, Charles M. Jones Place: Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Orange and Chatham countiesSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 22, 1993, p. 2

After their death in 2005

Later events: estates and burials, and the buildings, honors and histories that remember them.

  1. Bill Thorpe petitions the council to name the post office plaza for local activists Council member Bill Thorpe presented a petition to rename the Franklin Street post office plaza for Charlotte Adams and Joe and Lucy Straley, an idea born at Joe Straley's memorial service. The council chose to hold a public hearing, and its naming committee proposed naming the plaza for an ideal with plaques for local peace and justice activists. People: Bill Thorpe, Joe Straley, Lucy Straley, Charlotte Adams, Diana McDuffee, Joseph A. Herzenberg Place: Peace and Justice Plaza, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, March 29, 2006, p. 3
  2. Chapel Hill names the post office plaza Peace and Justice Plaza The Town Council named the space in front of the Franklin Street post office Peace and Justice Plaza, after a petition to honor Charlotte Adams and Joe and Lucy Straley. Lucy Straley, then 92, told the Daily Tar Heel the plaza had long been the couple's main backdrop for protest. People: Lucy Straley, Joe Straley, Bill Thorpe, Charlotte Adams Place: Peace and Justice Plaza, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, September 13, 2007, p. 3
  3. Chapel Hill dedicates the Peace and Justice Plaza marker The town unveiled a granite marker at Peace and Justice Plaza, in front of the old post office on Franklin Street, naming nine local activists: Charlotte Adams, Hank Anderson, James Brittian, Joe Herzenberg, Mildred Ringwalt, Hubert Robinson, Joe Straley, Lucy Straley and Gloria Williams. The Town Council had named the plaza in 2006 and set criteria for later honorees. People: Hank Anderson, James Brittian, Mildred Ringwalt, Hubert Robinson, Joe Straley, Lucy Straley, Gloria Williams, Charlotte Adams, Joseph A. Herzenberg, Sally Greene Place: Peace and Justice Plaza, Chapel Hill · Also named: Joe Herzenberg · Also mentions: Franklin StreetSearch the index · OrangePolitics: Sally Greene, Peace and protest, justice and injustice: marking Chapel Hill's sacred space (September 19, 2009) · Also: Town of Chapel Hill

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as Joe Straley, those sharing the most entries first. Each line links one of the shared entries in the chronology, where its source is cited. A shared entry shows these people in the same event, not how well they knew each other.

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Indexed works

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Norman Gustaveson papers, 1948-2010

Gustaveson, Norman · 1948

Norman Gustaveson's papers cover 1948 to 2010 and belong to the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 5500. The papers document his work as a university employee and Chapel Hill activist, including the Speaker Ban Law and academic freedom in North Carolina, the Campus Y, student political activity, the Orange County Board of Commissioners, and the Triangle Land Conservancy.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Straley, Joseph W., 1914-.

UNC

Joseph W. Straley papers, 1936-2002.

Straley, Joseph W., 1914- · 1936

Joseph W. Straley, born 1914, taught at the University of North Carolina, and his papers, about 600 items in a linear foot and a half spanning 1936 to 2002, are in the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 5252. Diaries and other primary material cover academic freedom and the Speaker Ban Law, civil rights work and segregation, the Community Church of Chapel Hill, Charles Miles Jones and Howard Lee.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Straley, Joseph W., 1914-.

UNC

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