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Binkley Baptist and the Community Church of Chapel Hill

Two Chapel Hill congregations of the 1950s: the interracial Community Church, and Binkley Baptist, refused by the local Baptist association in 1966 over its open membership and cut off by the state and Southern conventions in 1992.

In briefThe Community Church of Chapel Hill formed in 1953 as an interracial congregation and started an integrated preschool in 1955; Binkley Baptist organized in 1958 under Robert Seymour. The Baptist association refused Binkley membership in 1966 over its open membership, the state and Southern conventions disassociated from it in 1992, and the Community Church joined the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1993.

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3 works about Binkley Baptist and the Community Church of Chapel Hill are indexed here.

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Events in this storyline, in date order. See these 55 dated events in the chronology →

  1. O. T. Binkley accepts the pastorate of the Chapel Hill Baptist church The Rev. O. T. Binkley, who had been preaching at the Baptist church in Chapel Hill as supply pastor since June, accepted its call to the pastorate. A North Carolina native and graduate of Wake Forest College and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, he had just received his doctorate from Yale and had been associate pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in New Haven.The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 14, 1933, p. 1
  2. Ronald J. Tamblyn leaves Chapel Hill after Orange Presbytery refuses to receive him The Rev. Ronald J. Tamblyn, who had led the Chapel Hill Presbyterian church and drawn a large student following, left for the First Congregational Church of Holyoke, Massachusetts, a few months after Orange Presbytery examined him and voted 41 to 8 against receiving him. In a Christian Century article reprinted in the Weekly, Lee M. Brooks wrote that the examiners rejected his answers on doctrine and suggested his economic liberalism also counted against him.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 1, 1933, p. 1
  3. Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church's officers say its doors are open to worshippers of every race The church's officers, backing their pastor Charles M. Jones, stated that a pastor must be free to act on conscience, that the church should take a vocal part in justice between the races, especially in its own community, and that while it did not encourage Black Christians to leave their own churches, it would not close its doors to or discriminate against any sincere worshipper. Frank Porter Graham wrote in 1953 that the congregation upheld this position despite the loss of a considerable number of members. People: Charles M. Jones, Frank Porter GrahamSearch the index · Internet Archive: Frank P. Graham, Summary of His Written and Spoken Statements on the Case of the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church (1953), p. 16
  4. Orange Presbytery appoints a judicial commission to investigate the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church Orange Presbytery appointed a Judicial Commission to investigate the total situation in the Chapel Hill church and report back. By Charles M. Jones's account, the chairman of the presbytery's council had already met with him in April, unofficially, to suggest that he quietly leave the Chapel Hill pastorate for another church. People: Charles M. JonesSearch the index · Internet Archive: Charles M. Jones, A Statement on the Occasion of His Withdrawing from the Presbyterian Ministry (1953), p. 3
  5. Orange Presbytery refuses to let Irving Birdseye move to the Chapel Hill church while it is under investigation Meeting at Burlington on July 29, 1952, Orange Presbytery voted 20 to 13 to put off indefinitely the request of the Rev. Irving E. Birdseye of the Hillsboro Presbyterian Church to become associate pastor at Chapel Hill, holding that no permanent pastor should be called there until its judicial commission finished its inquiry. Two days earlier the Hillsboro congregation had voted, with regrets, to release him, and the Chapel Hill church was left to use supply preachers while its pastor, Charles M. Jones, was on leave. People: Charles M. Jones, Irving E. BirdseyeThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 31, 1952, p. 1
  6. Robert J. McMullen becomes acting pastor of the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church Robert Johnston McMullen, a retired missionary educator who had worked in China from 1911 to 1943 and had been president of Centre College, began his duties as acting pastor of the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church in October 1952, after Orange Presbytery's Commission on the Minister and His Work approved the congregation's call. Thomas Schaeffer of the Duke Divinity School was to preach most Sundays, and the pastor, Charles M. Jones, on a year's leave, was to return once a month. People: Charles M. JonesThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 23, 1952, p. 1
  7. The presbytery's judicial commission asks Charles M. Jones to resign The Judicial Commission of Orange Presbytery, chaired by Z. T. Piephoff, wrote Jones that a clean break should be made between him and the Chapel Hill church as quickly as possible. Its report found him deeply loved by most of the congregation and a champion of human brotherhood, but held that he and the church followed a philosophy that put religious experience before doctrine and had not always been true to the denomination's standards. With the officers unanimous and the congregation nearly so behind him, Jones declined to resign.Search the index · Internet Archive: Charles M. Jones, A Statement on the Occasion of His Withdrawing from the Presbyterian Ministry (1953), p. 3
  8. Chapel Hill Presbyterians vote 156 to 14 to keep the Rev. Charles M. Jones Meeting on December 14, 1952, the congregation of the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church voted by secret ballot, 156 to 14, not to dismiss its pastor, Charles M. Jones, or its officers as Orange Presbytery's judicial commission had urged, and rejected the commission's reading of church doctrine. The vote sent the dispute to the presbytery. People: Charles M. JonesThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 18, 1952, p. 8
  9. Community Church of Chapel Hill forms An interracial congregation organized with Charles M. Jones as minister. People: Charles M. Jones, Joe StraleyCommunity Church — history by charlie kast
  10. Orange Presbytery gives its judicial commission final authority over Charles M. Jones After seven hours of debate on January 20, 1953, Orange Presbytery voted 54 to 21 to leave the final say over the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church and its pastor, Charles M. Jones, to its judicial commission, which could dissolve his pastorate or bring charges. Elder Frank Porter Graham spoke for Jones, and motions to suspend him for a trial period or to dissolve the commission failed. People: Charles M. Jones, Frank Porter GrahamThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 22, 1953, p. 1
  11. Covenant Presbyterian Church is organized in Chapel Hill A second Presbyterian congregation, Covenant, was organized in Chapel Hill. It had 33 members and no building in 1953. People: C. Hugh HolmanSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 296
  12. Orange Presbytery's commission removes Charles M. Jones as pastor of the Chapel Hill church After a called meeting of the presbytery on January 20 gave it authority to conclude the matter, and after Jones wrote on February 14 that he could not resign, the commission ordered the pastoral relationship dissolved as of March 1 because "the interests of religion imperatively demand it," and removed the church's officers. Its chairman said there were no charges or censures against Jones, who stopped all pastoral work on March 1. Robert J. McMullen, a former missionary in China, served as acting pastor.Search the index · Internet Archive: Charles M. Jones, A Statement on the Occasion of His Withdrawing from the Presbyterian Ministry (1953), p. 4
Show all 55 dated events
  1. The Synod orders a new hearing in the Jones case, and the General Assembly lets the removal stand Members of the Chapel Hill church appealed the removal. A commission of the Synod of North Carolina met on May 22 and on June 2 ordered Orange Presbytery to hold a new hearing, leaving the dissolution in effect meanwhile. The presbytery appealed to the General Assembly, whose commission on June 9 upheld its right to dissolve the pastorate on the ground that the interests of religion demanded it and told it to give Jones a trial if he wanted one.Search the index · Internet Archive: Charles M. Jones, A Statement on the Occasion of His Withdrawing from the Presbyterian Ministry (1953), p. 5 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 4, 1953, p. 1; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 11, 1953, p. 1
  2. Charles M. Jones asks Orange Presbytery to release him from the Presbyterian ministry At the presbytery's summer meeting at New Hope Presbyterian Church, Jones declined the trial the General Assembly had offered, saying a fair hearing in that presbytery was unlikely and would only prolong the strain on the Chapel Hill congregation, and asked to be divested of office without censure. He answered the commission's report point by point and said he would go on serving in some capacity, lay or ministerial.Search the index · Internet Archive: Charles M. Jones, A Statement on the Occasion of His Withdrawing from the Presbyterian Ministry (1953), p. 6
  3. Orange Presbytery dissolves Covenant Presbyterian Church in Chapel Hill At the request of its congregation and its pastor, the Rev. William R. Thurman, Orange Presbytery dissolved Covenant Presbyterian Church, which members of the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church had formed during the dispute over the Rev. Charles M. Jones. The moderator reported that its members saw little to gain from two Presbyterian churches in Chapel Hill now that the dispute had calmed.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 29, 1954, p. 1
  4. Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church calls the Rev. Vance Barron as minister A congregational meeting after morning worship called Vance Barron, pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of Charleston, South Carolina, on the pulpit committee's recommendation. The pulpit had had no regular minister since Charles M. Jones went on leave two years before and then left the Presbyterian ministry; the Rev. Harry E. Smith had filled the pulpit since early spring, after the acting pastor retired in February. People: Charles M. JonesThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 19, 1954, p. 3
  5. Community Church starts an integrated preschool The congregation’s preschool admitted children across racial lines.Community Church — history by charlie kast
  6. The Yates Baptist Association picks the Glen Lennox area for a new Baptist church The Yates Baptist Association's church extension committee chose the Glen Lennox side of Chapel Hill for a new congregation and asked Dr. Fred W. Ellis to join the committee. The church that grew from it, Binkley Memorial, began as an association extension project backed by University Baptist Church, not as a split.Courtland Smith and John L. Humber, Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church: A Twenty Year View, 1958-1978 (1978), scan p. 3
  7. The Yates Association approves buying three acres on the 15-501 Bypass for the new church Fred W. Ellis secured an option on two acres on the 15-501 Bypass east of Chapel Hill and proposed adding a third, for $7,000 in all with $1,000 down, half of it pledged by the Baptist State Convention. The extension committee approved on August 30 and the association board on September 29, 1957.Courtland Smith and John L. Humber, Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church: A Twenty Year View, 1958-1978 (1978), scan p. 3
  8. Four families hold the first study meeting toward a new Baptist church in Chapel Hill The Ellis, Berkut, Moffitt and Wagoner families met at Fred Ellis's home to begin a long series of studies on what the new church should be, agreeing to stay active at University Baptist until it launched. The book credits these studies with setting the church's open-membership and interracial course.Courtland Smith and John L. Humber, Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church: A Twenty Year View, 1958-1978 (1978), scan p. 3
  9. Binkley Church joins the North Carolina Council of Churches Right after it organized in September 1958, the new Binkley congregation asked to be received as an individual member of the North Carolina Council of Churches and was accepted.Courtland Smith and John L. Humber, Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church: A Twenty Year View, 1958-1978 (1978), scan p. 4
  10. Binkley Baptist Church organizes Fifty-six charter members established the congregation, initially worshiping on campus.Binkley Baptist Church — Our History
  11. Binkley Church holds its Sunday services in Gerrard Hall For about six years after its founding the Binkley congregation worshipped in Gerrard Hall on the UNC campus, held church school in other university buildings and used a large house at 508 East Franklin Street as its church house.Courtland Smith and John L. Humber, Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church: A Twenty Year View, 1958-1978 (1978), scan p. 4 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 1, 1959, p. 4; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 14, 1961, p. 3; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 14, 1962, p. 17; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 1, 1964, p. 12
  12. Community Church dedicates its first building The building housed worship, classes, and offices.Community Church — history by charlie kast
  13. Robert Seymour becomes the first pastor of Binkley Memorial Baptist Church Robert Seymour came to Chapel Hill in 1959 as the first minister of the Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church, organized the year before. He led it until 1988.Search the index · Chapelboro: Robert Seymour, Civil Rights Activist and Chapel Hill Pastor, Dies at 95
  14. The Yates Association declines to receive Binkley and deeds it the bypass lot After a year of watchcare and a further year's delay, the Yates Baptist Association voted at its 1960 session not to receive Binkley as a member because it admitted members not baptized by immersion. At the same session it deeded the 15-501 Bypass lot to the church on condition the church pay the $350 still owed.Courtland Smith and John L. Humber, Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church: A Twenty Year View, 1958-1978 (1978), scan p. 4
  15. The Community Church of Chapel Hill votes to sponsor a cooperative preschool open to all races The church's board voted to sponsor a cooperative preschool for four- and five-year-olds open to children of all races and nationalities, saying it would help the town's move to desegregated public schools. By early June the new cooperative nursery school had elected officers and was choosing a director and teacher.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 12, 1960, p. 22
  16. Binkley Baptist Church takes James Forbes as a student intern Under Robert Seymour, Binkley Memorial Baptist Church accepted James A. Forbes Jr., a Black divinity student, as its intern in 1962.Search the index · Carolina Arts & Sciences Magazine: Pillar of Chapel Hill community leaves gift to College's diversity, equity and inclusion efforts
  17. Binkley Church breaks ground for its fellowship hall and education wing Having traded its bypass lot for a larger one just to the north, the congregation broke ground for a fellowship hall and education wing designed by F. Carter Williams. A $25,000 gift from Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte made it possible to award the building contracts. The deeds recorded between August 27 and September 3, 1963 included 4.93 acres on U.S. 15-501 deeded to the church's trustees, and lots at Conner Ridge deeded by the trustees in exchange.Courtland Smith and John L. Humber, Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church: A Twenty Year View, 1958-1978 (1978), scan p. 5 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 12, 1963, p. 21; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 8, 1962, p. 4; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 9, 1963, p. 4
  18. Binkley Church asks to join the American Baptist Convention After long study Binkley applied to the American Baptist Convention, in part because that body belonged to the National and World Councils of Churches and the Southern Baptist Convention did not. It became one of a small number of churches affiliated with both conventions.Courtland Smith and John L. Humber, Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church: A Twenty Year View, 1958-1978 (1978), scan p. 4
  19. Binkley moves to Willow Drive The congregation, which had met in Gerrard Hall, occupied its first permanent building, a $160,000 church on Willow Drive near Eastgate designed by the Raleigh firm of Carter Williams, and dedicated it on Sunday, September 27, 1964. It was planned as the first of three stages and was to become the fellowship hall later.Binkley Baptist Church — Our History · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 24, 1964, p. 4; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 1, 1964, p. 12
  20. The Binkley Kindergarten opens in the new church building Binkley's first community project was a state-approved kindergarten run as a separate nonprofit, with the church giving space and utilities in return for scholarships for poor children. It ran until 1977, when public kindergartens came in and it became a preschool for younger children.Courtland Smith and John L. Humber, Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church: A Twenty Year View, 1958-1978 (1978), scan p. 6
  21. Baptist Association rejects Binkley membership The local association denied admission over Binkley’s open membership policy.Binkley Baptist Church — Our History
  22. Herbert Aptheker gives his evening talk at the Community Church Kept off campus, Aptheker gave his evening talk to about 350 people at the interdenominational Community Church on Purefoy Road. Paul Dickson then announced a Free Speech Defense Fund to pay for a lawsuit. People: Paul Dickson III, Herbert ApthekerThe Daily Tar Heel, March 11, 1966, p. 1
  23. Binkley rewrites its constitution to open full membership to all Christians After a self-examination the church revised its constitution, offering membership to people from any Christian church rather than only the evangelical tradition. It also dropped the bar that had kept members not baptized by immersion from serving as deacons, officers or convention messengers.Courtland Smith and John L. Humber, Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church: A Twenty Year View, 1958-1978 (1978), scan p. 5
  24. Binkley Church adds a classroom wing A growing congregation needed more church school space, and in 1968 Binkley built a wing addition, with David Basile leading the building committee. The church paired the project with an outreach effort in Carr Court.Courtland Smith and John L. Humber, Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church: A Twenty Year View, 1958-1978 (1978), scan p. 9
  25. Binkley members move a small house to Carr Court for a community center To help Carr Court, a poor Black neighborhood in Carrboro, start a youth program, Binkley members tore down an old house that blocked the way and moved in a small building given by University Baptist Church. By February 1969 it had a director, and Binkley paid the center's budget for eight years in cooperation with the Multi-Purpose Center.Courtland Smith and John L. Humber, Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church: A Twenty Year View, 1958-1978 (1978), scan p. 6
  26. A daycare center for Ridgefield's working mothers opens, with infants at Binkley When the Chapel Hill Housing Authority opened the Ridgefield Apartments for low-income families at the end of Estes Drive, Binkley joined the Authority and the Community Church to start a daycare center. Older children met at the Ridgefield community center and infants and toddlers in Binkley's nursery, which the church gave rent-free.Courtland Smith and John L. Humber, Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church: A Twenty Year View, 1958-1978 (1978), scan p. 7
  27. Cogswell/Hausler design a new sanctuary for the Community Church on Purefoy Road In 1970 the firm added a two-story International Style sanctuary with stained siding and large south windows to the Community Church at 106 Purefoy Road, tied to the congregation's plain brick building of 1957 by George Matsumoto through a glass link. The integrated, nondenominational church had been founded in 1953 by the Rev. Charlie Jones and members who left Chapel Hill Presbyterian with him. People: Arthur Cogswell, Werner Hausler, George Matsumoto, Charles M. JonesNC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 94
  28. Binkley votes to join the new American Baptist Churches of the South Binkley took part in forming the American Baptist Churches of the South and approved membership on July 18, 1970. Robert Seymour, Sam Hill, Henry Hellmers and Bob DesJardins helped organize the body, most of whose churches were Black congregations. People: Robert E. SeymourCourtland Smith and John L. Humber, Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church: A Twenty Year View, 1958-1978 (1978), scan p. 6
  29. Binkley gives a room for a daycare center for developmentally disabled children In July 1971 Binkley lent a room to the Orange County Association of Retarded Children for a daycare program. Starting with five children it grew into a five-day school with 18 pupils and seven teachers, sponsored by the Orange Mental Health Association and the church, before moving in June 1978 to county space at the Northside Center.Courtland Smith and John L. Humber, Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church: A Twenty Year View, 1958-1978 (1978), scan p. 7
  30. Carr Court residents form their own committee to run the community center By 1972 the people of Carr Court had formed the Carr Court Administrative Committee, which wrote the job description for the center's director and hired one. The book counts this growth in local leadership among the measures of the project's success.Search the index · Courtland Smith and John L. Humber, Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church: A Twenty Year View, 1958-1978 (1978), scan p. 6
  31. Binkley defends its open membership to the state convention's Committee of Eleven When the Baptist State Convention named a Committee of Eleven to study churches that took members not baptized by immersion, Binkley replied that refusing other baptisms would treat the church as divided and that expelling such churches would violate local autonomy. The convention did not pass expulsion that fall and defeated a voting-rights amendment in 1974.Courtland Smith and John L. Humber, Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church: A Twenty Year View, 1958-1978 (1978), scan p. 5
  32. Binkley takes over the Ridgefield daycare and renames it the Binkley Child Care Center When the Community Church and the Housing Authority withdrew in 1976, Binkley took on the whole daycare operation and renamed it the Binkley Child Care Center, serving the same families. The church history says Binkley housed it at the church; Black Ink, visiting in December 1977, found the Binkley Child Care Center at the Hargraves Recreation Center. The summer day camp the church had hosted moved to the Ridgefield center that year.Courtland Smith and John L. Humber, Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church: A Twenty Year View, 1958-1978 (1978), scan p. 7 · Also: Black Ink (Black Student Movement, UNC), December 1, 1977, p. 4
  33. Meals-on-Wheels begins serving from the Binkley Church lounge Binkley gave its church lounge to the community-sponsored Meals-on-Wheels program, which delivered hot meals at low cost five days a week to people living alone who could not cook for themselves. By 1978 Memorial Hospital was catering it.Courtland Smith and John L. Humber, Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church: A Twenty Year View, 1958-1978 (1978), scan p. 7
  34. Carrboro moves to take over the Carr Court program from Binkley In June 1976 the Town of Carrboro, through its Recreation Commission, planned to take full charge of the Carr Court program and condemned the old center building, ending Binkley's eight years of support.Courtland Smith and John L. Humber, Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church: A Twenty Year View, 1958-1978 (1978), scan p. 6
  35. Binkley votes to build its sanctuary after years of debate After about eight years of argument over whether to build at all, the congregation voted in the early 1980s to build its present sanctuary. Members absent on the night of the vote could cast a written ballot at the church office during the following week.John L. Humber, The Ordeal and Tragedy of Binkley Baptist Church (1992), scan p. 75
  36. Robert Seymour preaches a sermon on the church and homosexuality Binkley's pastor Robert E. Seymour preached a sermon questioning the readings of scripture used to keep gay people at arm's length and citing new scientific work. Humber calls it the one time before 1991 that the church took up the subject. People: Robert E. SeymourJohn L. Humber, The Ordeal and Tragedy of Binkley Baptist Church (1992), scan p. 25
  37. Habitat for Humanity of Orange County is incorporated An ecumenical housing effort that began at Binkley Baptist Church in late 1982 became Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, incorporated in April 1984. Its first house was a donated building moved to what became the Chestnut Oaks neighborhood in Chapel Hill.Search the index · Habitat for Humanity of Orange County: History
  38. Gordon R. Dragt preaches a sermon on homosexuality at the Community Church of Chapel Hill The sermon, The Same Sex, asked the congregation to publicly affirm gay women and men in Chapel Hill and Carrboro as neighbors, criticized anti-gay remarks in a local paper and in the Helms-Hunt Senate race, and rejected readings of the Sodom story used to condemn gay people. Lambda reprinted it with permission in November 1984.Lambda (Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association, UNC), November 1984, p. 11
  39. Binkley calls Linda E. Jordan as senior minister After a two-year pulpit search, Binkley voted at a church conference on March 25, 1990 to call Dr. Linda E. Jordan as senior minister, with about 16 votes against. She moved to Chapel Hill about a month later.John L. Humber, The Ordeal and Tragedy of Binkley Baptist Church (1992), scan p. 10
  40. Baptist conventions disassociate from Binkley State and Southern conventions acted after the church licensed an openly gay ministerial candidate.Binkley Baptist Church — Our History
  41. Binkley's church conference votes to license John Blevins to preach At a quarterly church conference with 266 members present, Binkley voted by written ballot, 145 to 107, to license John Blevins, an openly gay Duke Divinity student. It first adopted, 142 to 87, a preface saying the church would disregard sexual orientation in calling pastors and in licensing or ordaining. The vote split the congregation and led the state and Southern Baptist conventions to cut ties.John L. Humber, The Ordeal and Tragedy of Binkley Baptist Church (1992), scan p. 57
  42. Binkley rescinds the preface on sexuality adopted with the licensure vote On the joint advice of its council and diaconate, a Binkley church conference voted 151 to 24 to rescind the April 5 preface, saying it acted over notice and fairness and not on the preface's content. The licensure itself stood. The same meeting let the church fill deacon seats between elections after seven deacons resigned.John L. Humber, The Ordeal and Tragedy of Binkley Baptist Church (1992), scan p. 65
  43. Community Church joins the Unitarian Universalist Association Members approved affiliation after years of discussion.Community Church — history by charlie kast

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Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.

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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: The record names this subject alongside a heading for the county or its towns.

UNC

Robert E. Seymour papers, 1941-2017

Seymour, Robert E. (Robert Edward), 1925-2020 · 1941

Thirty seven linear feet of papers from Robert E. Seymour (1925-2020), approximately 14,700 items dated 1941 to 2017, part of the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 04554. Seymour was a Baptist clergyman in North Carolina. The papers concern Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church in Chapel Hill along with congregations in Mars Hill and Warrenton. Race relations and community life in the state are also subjects.

Included because: The record names this subject alongside a heading for the county or its towns.

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: Its title names this subject.

UNC

Start at OCPL

Books in OCPL’s Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection whose titles, catalog subjects, or descriptions match this storyline. The Friends’ recommended starting points are labelled. Books marked Wider context cover the broader subject rather than this storyline itself.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 286.06 MOU Mount Adar Baptist Church, 1889-1989 1989

    The centennial history of Mount Adar Baptist Church at Cedar Grove in northern Orange County, marking 1889 to 1989 under the motto a century of remembrance, a future of vision. Prepared by a centennial committee co-chaired by Nancy Rogers and Jackie Oakley and published by the church in 1989, 36 unnumbered pages with illustrations. Topics include Baptists in North Carolina and church history for Cedar Grove.

  • Wider context · NC 286.175 CROOK Our Heritage and Our Hope: A History of Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, 1884-1984 Crook, Roger H. · 1985

    Roger H. Crook's history of Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh through its first hundred years, 1884 to 1984, published by the church's history committee in 1985. The congregation began in 1884 as a First Baptist Church mission, was organized as Fayetteville Street Baptist Church, and took the name of its lay leader John T. Pullen after his death in 1913.

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