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Storyline

Consolidation and desegregation in the Orange County Schools

The county system’s closing of small community schools and its desegregation in the 1960s, from Caldwell School and the Aycock consolidation to the Central High walkout that ended the dual system.

In briefIn 1917 Orange County ran 42 one-teacher schools. From 1919 its board closed small schools and merged them into larger ones such as Aycock and Efland, ordering its first buses in 1924 and selling the closed schoolhouses, while keeping separate schools for Black and white pupils. Sixty-six Black parents petitioned against segregated schools in 1964; the county answered with freedom of choice until 1968, when Central High students marched and the county schools integrated.

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Orange High School, Hillsborough
Orange High School, Hillsborough

In the chronology

Episodes in this history, in date order. Each has its own page.

The Pearsall Plan in Orange County, 1956–19611956–1961 · 6 events · In 1956 Chapel Hill's five precincts voted down the Pearsall Plan, apparently the only small community in the state to do so, while Orange County as a whole approved it 3,359 to 1,784. The amendment allowed local votes to close schools and tuition grants for private schools to avoid integration. Former state senator Irving Carlyle attacked it at a University forum, and school board member Clarence D. Jones called the tuition grants unfair, while Representative John W. Umstead backed it, saying it kept the question away from extremists on both sides. In 1961 the Chapel Hill school board recommended a tuition grant for a Carrboro parent's two daughters, which the News called the state's first formal application. White Cross School: merger votes, Black families’ transfers and the closing, 1958–19611958–1961 · 18 events · After White Cross voters rejected joining the Chapel Hill school unit, the area's Black pupils rode to Hillsboro, and after Black parents applied to the all-white White Cross School the county board closed it. The merger lost in a May 1958 election with Carrboro, 916 to 565, and White Cross rejected it again, 116 to 110, in August 1959; 70 of its Black pupils began riding to Central School in Hillsboro, 15 miles or more from home. A third vote failed in 1960. In January 1961 parents of 23 Black children applied to White Cross School. The county board refused, and on May 1 voted to close the school and move its 75 white pupils to Cameron Park School.

Other events in this storyline, in date order. See these 178 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Claytor's first report counts 42 one-teacher schools in Orange County Claytor's 1917 report to the state listed 42 one-teacher schools, 19 white and 23 Black, with 2,569 white and 1,259 Black pupils. Nineteen Black schools had only benches and no desks. People: R. H. ClaytorSearch the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 124
  2. The county board of education elects R. H. Claytor superintendent of the Orange County schools Meeting in called session at Hillsborough on Monday, September 10, 1917, the county Board of Education elected R. H. Claytor county school superintendent; Mr. Foust, chosen earlier to succeed Mr. Lockhart, had not accepted. Claytor, an Orange County man and a graduate of the university, had been principal of the high school at Stem in Granville County for two years. He served until July 1947, and merging the small rural schools was one of his first goals. People: R. H. ClaytorLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), pp. 141-142 · Also: The News (Chapel Hill), September 13, 1917, p. 5
  3. Forty-one of the county's 78 public schools have a single teacher Sixteen of the 50 white schools and 25 of the 28 Black schools had one teacher; only one Black school, with four teachers, tried any high school work. The survey named these small, scattered schools as a root problem of the county system.Search the index · L. A. Williams, A Study of the Public Schools in Orange County, North Carolina (1919), scan p. 23
  4. The county board decides to turn every one-teacher school into a two-teacher school In January 1919 the board resolved to convert all of its one-teacher schools to two teachers, the same meeting at which it bought water coolers and erasers for the classrooms and raised the superintendent's pay.Search the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 67
  5. The county board sets out to close small weak schools and merge them with nearby ones After visiting Orange Grove, which it kept as a three-teacher school, the board stated its aim of shutting small and inefficient schools and consolidating them with neighbors. The policy guided its building and busing decisions through the 1920s and 1930s.Search the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 67
  6. The school survey proposes merging small schools around a central high school in each township The study urged a full reorganization of districts before any new building: small primary schools feeding larger ones, and a well-equipped high school in each township. It named schools that should be merged, among them Oak Grove and White Cross in southern Bingham Township, Breeze and Union Grove at Caldwell, and Chestnut Ridge and Gravelly Hill at Gravelly Hill.L. A. Williams, A Study of the Public Schools in Orange County, North Carolina (1919), scan p. 26
  7. The county board agrees to build a new school at Cedar Grove On August 11, 1922, under superintendent Claytor, the county board agreed to build a modern school at Cedar Grove once state building-fund money came. The building was accepted in January 1924 and named Aycock School. Carrboro's new school, planned under the same program, was already going up in 1921. People: R. H. ClaytorSearch the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 125
  8. Hillsboro finishes its new $100,000 school building The town's new brick school on West Tryon Street was reported ready within a week in September 1922, though a shortage of desks held up the opening. By early 1923 it housed grades one through eleven for the consolidated Hillsboro schools under principal J. A. Abernethy.Search the index · DigitalNC: Charlotte Observer, September 22, 1922, p. 7 · Also: Durham Morning Herald, February 4, 1923, p. 21
  9. Piney Mountain parents get the commissioners to repair their school truck road A delegation of parents from the Piney Mountain school community, whose children rode a motor bus to the Chapel Hill School, went before the county commissioners in November 1922 and persuaded them to repair the road the school truck used and keep it passable. The board ordered the work begun at once. People: W. S. Roberson, Fred W. MorrisonThe News (Chapel Hill), November 30, 1922, p. 1
  10. Murphey School is built in brick on the Durham-Hillsboro road Murphey School, a hip-roofed brick consolidated school for white children named for Archibald D. Murphey, was built in 1923 on the Durham-Hillsboro road (Old NC 10). H. C. Linthicum drew the plans and W. H. Woods of Durham built it for $8,995. The school closed in 1959; the road nearby is spelled Murphy School Road.Search the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Murphey School National Register nomination (2009), sec. 7 p. 1 and sec. 8 pp. 12-13 · Also: NC Historic Preservation Office: Richard L. Mattson, History and Architecture of Orange County; Chapel Hill Weekly, April 16, 1926, p. 1
  11. Orange County begins merging its one- and two-teacher schools into larger ones Claytor started the county's first round of consolidation in 1923, folding small schools into larger ones and seeking local tax elections, with a budget request of $92,100. Efland, Aycock and Hillsborough were to carry grades one through eleven and the rest grades one through seven. People: R. H. ClaytorSearch the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 125
  12. The county school board builds a teachers' home at Murphey School from the unfinished Mount Hope School Instead of finishing a new Mount Hope School that was to be merged into Murphey, the county board had the partly built schoolhouse taken apart and its materials carried to the Murphey site for a seven-room teachers' home. W. H. Woods built it for $800 in labor, paid with money from the sale of the old University School; the frame bungalow is the only teacherage left standing in Orange County.Search the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Murphey School, National Register nomination (OR0467), p. 17
Show all 178 dated events
  1. Aycock School is built at Cedar Grove The county board of education built a new school at Cedar Grove on land bought from Carl C. McDade, because state law barred board member Charles A. McDade from selling his own land to the county. Sam Johnson won the contract in August 1923 with a bid of $19,570. On January 7, 1924 the board voted to name the school Aycock instead of Cedar Grove, and on January 21 it inspected and accepted the building.Search the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 70 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, March 6, 1924, p. 1; Open Orange: 6116 Efland Cedar Grove Rd. / Aycock High School; Chapel Hill Weekly, April 16, 1926, p. 1
  2. The county board moves $30,000 in building money to Efland and sets the order of its new schools The board shifted $15,000 each from the White Cross and Caldwell building funds to Efland, reasoning that Efland had the greater need, a local tax with an eight-month term, and a paved road for school trucks. It then fixed the building order as Efland, White Cross, Orange County Training School, Orange Grove and Caldwell.Search the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 70
  3. A new consolidated school for white children is built at Efland The board let the Efland contract to A. R. Davis for $21,388, with steam heat by Dermott of Durham, placed the school east of the highway and made the contractor replace inferior brick. The board inspected and accepted the building in March 1925, and John Efland paid $1,135 for the old white schoolhouse.Search the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 71 · Also: The News (Chapel Hill), June 5, 1924, p. 5; Chapel Hill Weekly, April 16, 1926, p. 1
  4. A new consolidated school is built at Orange Grove The board let the Orange Grove contract to A. R. Davis for $13,600 and set the school about half a mile from the old one on the road to Hillsboro. It inspected and accepted the building in March 1925.Search the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 71 · Also: The News (Chapel Hill), June 5, 1924, p. 5; Chapel Hill Weekly, April 16, 1926, p. 1
  5. A new consolidated school is built at White Cross on the Saxapahaw road After neighbors rejected a site at the crossroads near Leuco Lloyd's, the board placed the new White Cross school on the north side of the Chapel Hill and Saxapahaw road and let the contract to A. R. Davis for $14,436. It accepted the building in March 1925 and sold the old White Cross schoolhouse to F. J. Eubanks for $250.Search the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 71 · Also: The News (Chapel Hill), June 5, 1924, p. 5; Chapel Hill Weekly, April 16, 1926, p. 1
  6. The county board orders its first school buses The board ordered ten trucks, six GMC, two Reo and two Chevrolet, with bus bodies from the Carolina Body Company of Greensboro, to carry children to the new consolidated schools. At an August hearing in the courthouse some residents urged the commissioners not to sign the notes for the buses, but no action was taken against them. People: R. H. ClaytorSearch the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 71
  7. The county board sells four rural schools closed by consolidation Consolidation had emptied the Fairfield, Fairview, South View and Sunnyside schoolhouses, and the superintendent was ordered to sell them. Fairfield went to the trustees of Fairfield Presbyterian Church for $200 and Sunnyside to Ivan Lloyd for $115.Search the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 73
  8. A UNC study counts forty-seven rural schools and ninety teachers in Orange County Nita Andrews's 1925 master's study of the county schools found forty-seven rural schools with ninety teachers, about half of them holding only elementary certificates, and five school trucks that cost $1,680.70 a year to run plus $783 for drivers.Search the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Murphey School, National Register nomination (OR0467), p. 15
  9. Orange County still runs twenty-one one-teacher white schools Although buses and cars were making consolidation possible, Orange County still had twenty-one one-teacher schools for white children in 1925, and several for Black children.Search the index · NC Digital Collections: Historic Resources of Orange County, National Register multiple property documentation form (1993), p. 43
  10. Harmony School patrons protest a merger with Aycock School A delegation from Harmony School went before the board to object to consolidating their school with the new Aycock School at Cedar Grove. The board told them no such step was planned, though Harmony was merged into Aycock six years later.DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 73
  11. The old Caldwell schoolhouse is sold as a new consolidated school is built When the county built a new consolidated Caldwell School in 1925, the board sold the old one-teacher schoolhouse and its site to R. E. Clements for $160 on May 4, 1925.Search the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), pp. 74-75 · Also: NC Digital Collections: Historic Resources of Orange County, National Register multiple property documentation form
  12. The county board merges Little River Township's schools into a new Caldwell School Little River patrons voted in March 1925 for a new school at Caldwell, the board let the building contract to B. F. Blanchard for $12,956.20, and C. S. Miller gave seven acres just beyond Caldwell for the site. In June the board consolidated every school in the township except Schley into Caldwell, which opened with 124 pupils.Search the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 75 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, April 16, 1926, p. 1
  13. A Superior Court judge rules against the county school board in the Efland School site dispute The county board of education had gone to court against Thomas Forrest and James O. Webb over the acre-and-a-fraction Efland School site. At a hearing in Graham the judge ruled against the board, which told its lawyers to appeal to the state Supreme Court.Search the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 74
  14. The county board auctions seven more schoolhouses closed by consolidation Early in 1927 the board sold the Pleasant Green, Orange Chapel, Oaks, Union Grove and Meredith schools, most for between $60 and $150, and turned down the bids for New Bethel and Poplar Grove.Search the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 75
  15. Orange County consolidates most of its small white schools After a county survey by the Board of Education and Superintendent Claytor, most small white schools were merged by 1930, with buses provided. As late as 1925 the county still had 21 one-teacher white schools and several one-teacher Black schools. People: R. H. ClaytorLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 142
  16. The Martin School is consolidated into Pleasant Grove Union School The Martin School, attended almost entirely by Indian children, was merged in 1930 with several other small schools to form Pleasant Grove Union School. The change was unpopular in the community because the school would no longer be exclusively Indian, though it brought better facilities and was in time accepted.Excavating Occaneechi Town (UNC Press): Twentieth Century
  17. The county board merges Chestnut Ridge, Jordan's Grove, Smith Level and Grover into larger schools Over objections from families who wanted to keep neighborhood schools, the board sent the pupils of Chestnut Ridge to Gravelly Hill, those of Grover and Jordan's Grove to Aycock, and those of Smith Level to Carrboro. It then adopted a school budget of $180,849.25 for 1930-31.Search the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 76
  18. Breeze School is merged into Aycock and later becomes a tobacco pack house On June 15, 1931 the county Board of Education merged Harmony and Breeze schools near Caldwell into Aycock School. By 1938 the Breeze building was being used to store tobacco.Search the index · NC Historic Preservation Office: Richard L. Mattson, History and Architecture of Orange County (1996), p. 61 · Also: Pender, A History of Orange County Schools
  19. The county board merges nine more rural schools into larger ones At a special meeting on reorganizing the schools, the board sent Merritts to Chapel Hill, Damascus to Carrboro, Tom's Creek and Rock Hill to Orange Grove, Union and Rehobeth to Efland, and Harmony with others to Aycock, leaving few one-teacher schools for white children.Search the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 77 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, September 18, 1931, p. 3
  20. Orange County cuts the schools' coal and janitor money in half County school supervisor Mary Hyman wrote that the appropriations for coal and janitor service in the Orange County schools had been cut exactly in half for 1931-32, that there was no money for school supplies, and that about half the children in every grade would be without textbooks. She added that 24 per cent of the county's children were still in six-month schools.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 11, 1931, p. 3
  21. Orange County teachers meet in Hillsboro as the county opens the year with 15 schools At the annual conference of Orange County teachers in Hillsboro, Superintendent R. H. Claytor reported that consolidation had brought the county down to 15 schools, only four of them one-teacher schools, and that the teaching force was twelve smaller. Supervisor Mary Hyman said the schools had risen in four years from 15 months below the national standard to 2 months below. People: R. H. ClaytorThe Chapel Hill Weekly, September 18, 1931, p. 3
  22. The Chapel Hill school enrolls a record 610 pupils The Chapel Hill school counted 610 pupils, 67 more than the year before, with an average attendance of 575 for the first month against 515 in 1930. The school had expected crowding because the new state school law sent it pupils from surrounding schools.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 23, 1931, p. 5
  23. Black children attend 27 schools while white children are gathered into 12 By 1933 consolidation had brought Orange County's white children into twelve schools, while Black children still attended twenty-seven, most of them one- and two-room buildings.NC State Historic Preservation Office: Ridge Road School, National Register nomination (OR1104), p. 15
  24. White Cross School burns and the board orders a new building The board learned in April 1933 that the White Cross school building had been destroyed by fire and authorized a new one for $10,859. At the same meeting it set aside $3,325 for two new rooms at Efland.Search the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 78 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, December 9, 1932, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, July 14, 1933, p. 5
  25. White Cross School is built as a consolidated brick school White Cross School, built in 1933 to replace a school building that had burned, is a brick school with four large classrooms split by an auditorium in the middle. The contract went to the Home Construction Company of Durham by July 1933, and by late September the four classrooms were in use. The form names it one of the county's two best examples of the larger central schools that replaced one- and two-room schools during consolidation.Search the index · NC Digital Collections: Historic Resources of Orange County, National Register multiple property documentation form (1993), p. 79 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, July 14, 1933, p. 5; Chapel Hill Weekly, September 29, 1933, p. 3
  26. Parents turn back a plan to merge the Aycock, Efland and Hillsboro schools A large crowd of parents appeared before the board to fight a plan that would have folded the Aycock, Efland and Hillsboro schools into one. The opposition was strong enough that the board dropped the plan, which returned in 1963 as Orange High School.Search the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 79
  27. Black families from five northern Orange schools ask for a brick consolidated school Parents from five schools for Black children, Cedar Grove, Carr, Harmony, Sartins and White Oak, asked the board for a new brick building to replace them. The board promised to look into it; a site near Vincent's Store for a Cedar Grove school for Black children was bought in 1946.DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 79
  28. A state survey finds only one brick building among Orange County's 28 schools for Black children The state's administrative survey of Orange County school units, compiled from 1934-35 figures, counted 28 schools for Black pupils, all but one of them frame, and rated 19 in bad condition. White pupils by then attended ten consolidated schools, and all but one of their twelve buildings were brick.NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 29
  29. Ernest L. Lockhart buys and tears down the closed St. Mary's school for Black pupils The county board of education sold the former school property northeast of St. Mary's Chapel to Lockhart, who razed the 1904 frame building and took the lumber to his farm on St. Mary's Road.Search the index · Hugh Conway Browning, Information Related to St. Mary's Chapel (1996), scan p. 61
  30. Fire destroys Orange Grove School Fire destroyed Orange Grove School in December 1942. On December 6, 1943 the county board sought a $16,000 insurance settlement, and at the Orange Grove committee's request classes went on in the old Orange Grove building rather than moving to Hillsboro.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 7, 1944, p. 2 · Also: DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983
  31. St. Mary's School closes as its pupils are merged into the Hillsborough schools Consolidation with the Hillsborough schools closed St. Mary's School in 1943.NC State Historic Preservation Office: Murphey School, National Register nomination (OR0467), p. 22
  32. The county school board lets Orange Grove pupils stay in their old school building On Monday, May 1, 1944, the Orange County Board of Education granted the request of Orange Grove school patrons, who had met on April 28, that their children keep attending school in the old Orange Grove building, built in 1900, rather than be sent to schools elsewhere in the county. The board also told Superintendent R. H. Claytor to prepare the next year's school budget. People: R. H. Claytor, John W. Umstead Jr.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 11, 1944, p. 1
  33. The county school board sells the closed Harvey's Chapel schoolhouse The Orange County Board of Education approved the sale of the Harvey's Chapel schoolhouse, a school for Black children about three miles from Hillsboro. It had closed several years before, its pupils sent to the Hillsboro school, and Mary E. Breeze bought the building.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 7, 1944, p. 2 · Also: DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983)
  34. The county buys land from Mary Vincent for a Cedar Grove school for Black children In May 1945 board members Charlie Stanford and James Compton were asked to find a site near Vincent's Store crossroads for a Cedar Grove school for Black children. The board bought the land from Mary Vincent for $1,000 in 1946.DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 81
  35. County schools add Saturday classes and a longer term after winter closings The county board of education kept Saturday classes for the rest of the year and lengthened the term by a week to 10 days to make up days lost when snow, ice and mud closed roads in December and January. Schools were to close between June 1 and June 5.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 7, 1946, p. 1
  36. The grand jury finds most Orange County school buildings in poor repair Reporting to Judge Paul Frizzelle at the March term, the grand jury rated only four of the county's 22 schools passable and only one of the eight Black schools. It condemned the Hillsboro high school gymnasium as unsafe, asked for a road to the Merritt school, and listed leaking roofs, bad plumbing and fire hazards across the county.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 28, 1946, p. 1
  37. The county board closes Orange Grove School and sends its pupils to Hillsboro The board discontinued Orange Grove School and first planned to split its children between Hillsboro and White Cross. Parents objected strongly to White Cross, so the board voted to send them all to Hillsboro; the school site went to Cane Creek Baptist Church for $50 in 1947.Search the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 81
  38. The county board ends high school classes at Efland The board voted to discontinue Efland High School and send its students to Aycock and Hillsboro, leaving Efland an elementary school.Search the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 81
  39. Caldwell loses its high school when the state allots it no teachers After the State Board of Education left the three-teacher high schools at Caldwell and Efland out of its teacher allotment, the county board of education took no action to keep them, and their high school pupils were to be bused to other schools while the elementary grades stayed. People: R. H. ClaytorSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 6, 1946, p. 1
  40. The county board closes the Caldwell high school and sends its pupils to Hillsboro During the 1946 summer recess the county board of education, on the state board's suggestion, closed the high school at Caldwell for low attendance and sent its pupils to Hillsboro High School. That fall the Caldwell school also struggled to keep a teacher for its seventh and eighth grades until a former Hillsboro teacher took the post in November.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 17, 1946, p. 1
  41. The county school board sells the closed Orange Grove and Flat Rock school properties The Orange County board of education approved the sale of the Orange Grove school site to the trustees of Cane Creek Baptist Church and of the Flat Rock school building and grounds to a private buyer, and rejected the bid on the former Wardsville school for Black children. The board also adopted a resolution honoring R. H. Claytor's thirty years as superintendent. People: R. H. ClaytorSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 10, 1947, p. 1
  42. The county board moves Murphey School's seventh grade to Hillsboro Many Murphey-district families had been sending children to Hillsboro, some riding the bus against the rules, and in 1947 the board agreed to keep the seventh grade at Murphey only until numbers justified a move. In 1948, with about seventy pupils left, it sent the seventh grade to the Hillsboro school.NC State Historic Preservation Office: Murphey School, National Register nomination (OR0467), p. 20
  43. The county board sells the former Wardsville and Cool Spring school sites On January 5, 1948 the county board confirmed the sale of the Wardsville school site to D. D. Jones of Durham for $100, and on March 1 it confirmed the sale of the unused two-room Cool Springs school to C. C. McClees of Durham for $400. Both had been schools for Black children in the Murphy district.Search the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 81 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 4, 1948, p. 1
  44. Architect H. Raymond Weeks presents plans for a school for Black children in Cedar Grove Township H. Raymond Weeks showed the Orange County Board of Education his design for a consolidated school for Black pupils in Cedar Grove Township. The board sent the plans to the Federal Works Agency, which lent school systems money for architects' fees. People: Howard Raymond WeeksNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 16
  45. Piney Mountain School closes and its pupils go to Morris Grove School The county consolidated Piney Mountain School, one of its Black schools, with Morris Grove School. A new gravel road into the area let a bus carry the children out; the school had been kept open only because no bus could reach it. People: Glenn T. ProffitSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 1, 1948, p. 1
  46. Sunny Side School is consolidated with the Orange County Training School By July 1, 1948, the county had consolidated Sunny Side School, one of its schools for Black children, with the Orange County Training School in Chapel Hill, while Piney Mountain School went into Morris Grove. The two consolidations cost the county's Black schools two elementary teachers for 1948-49. People: Glenn T. ProffitThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 1, 1948, p. 1
  47. Superintendent Proffit's $1 million school bond pays for a new Efland school for Black children and county lunchrooms The $1,000,000 school bond passed under Superintendent Glenn T. Proffit paid for grounds and a building for the Efland school for Black children, an addition to Hillsboro High School, and lunchrooms at Aycock, Efland, West Hillsborough and White Cross. It also bought a cannery and gymnasium at Aycock and a remodeling and auditorium at Caldwell. People: Glenn T. ProffitSearch the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 129
  48. The county school board advertises the Piney Mountain School site for auction The Board of Education advertised the two-acre Piney Mountain School site for public auction at the Hillsboro courthouse door on February 19, 1949, with its two one-room frame buildings to be sold apart from the land.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, February 18, 1949, p. 7 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 27, 1949, p. 7
  49. A Cedar Grove delegation asks the school board how to keep Aycock High School With the state education commission urging 300 pupils as the minimum for a senior high school, a Cedar Grove delegation asked the county Board of Education how to save the Aycock high school, which had 86 pupils and five teachers. The board, which reappointed Glenn T. Proffit superintendent for two years at the same meeting, advised enlarging the attendance area and building good will but took no action. People: Glenn T. ProffitThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 7, 1949, p. 1
  50. Orange County drops the Fairfield school for Black children The state's teacher allotment for 1949-50 eliminated the school for Black children at Fairfield, which had only 13 pupils the year before, while the Black high school at Hillsboro gained an elementary teacher, a high school teacher and an agriculture teacher. The county was allotted 71 teachers for its white schools and 45 for its Black schools.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 16, 1949, p. 1
  51. The state's new school building fund allots Orange County's rural schools $292,618 From the 1949 State School Plant Construction, Improvement, and Repair Fund, built from a voter-approved state bond issue and a matching legislative appropriation, the State Board of Education allotted $292,618.06 to Orange County's rural schools. The money let the county begin replacing small one- and two-teacher schools for Black children with central consolidated buildings.NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 26
  52. Governor Scott calls Orange County's schools for Black children deplorable Speaking to state officials in Raleigh about regional education, Governor W. Kerr Scott singled out Orange County, home of the University, as a place where schools for Black children were in deplorable condition and said parents could sue school officials. Bond campaign chairman Robert O. Forrest answered that the county meant to fix the problem through the November bond vote, while other residents recalled that the governor's forces had opposed a state-built practice high school at Chapel Hill. People: W. Kerr Scott, Robert O. ForrestThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 13, 1949, p. 1
  53. Survey finds most of Orange County's small schools for Black children without water or indoor toilets Five days before the bond vote, a report on the county's 16 one-, two- and three-teacher schools for about 2,500 Black children found many in poor repair and run against state law: six had one teacher and nine had two, most drew water from neighbors' wells, all had outdoor toilets and stove heat, and only seven had electric wiring. At Grover parents sometimes carried pupils across a stream on a mule.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 17, 1949, p. 1
  54. Orange County voters approve $1.25 million in bonds for schools and a courthouse Following a county-wide school study begun in October 1948, voters approved bonds of up to $1,250,000 for new and enlarged schools and a new courthouse. Voters had turned down similar bonds in 1947.Search the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 142
  55. Orange County completes consolidation of its white schools After a countywide program of new public buildings, the shift from small neighborhood schools to larger consolidated schools for white children was finished by the early 1950s. Schools for Black children lagged under Jim Crow funding.Search the index · NC Historic Preservation Office: Richard L. Mattson, History and Architecture of Orange County (1996), p. 44
  56. Cedar Grove parents ask that Black educators help plan their new school A delegation from the Cedar Grove Parent-Teacher Association asked the county board to let Central High principal A. L. Stanback and M. C. Burt, the county's agricultural agent for Black farmers, take part in planning the new Cedar Grove school. People: A. L. Stanback, Moses Cimuel BurtNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 17
  57. Archie Royal Davis replaces H. Raymond Weeks as architect of the Cedar Grove school When state school planners faulted H. Raymond Weeks's design in April 1950, the board sent him to W. F. Credle and Edward Waugh of the Division of Schoolhouse Planning, but Weeks would not rework it on short notice. By May the job had gone to Archie Royal Davis, who was also designing Lincoln High School in Chapel Hill; the board approved his preliminary plans in June. People: Archie Royal Davis, Edward W. Waugh, Howard Raymond WeeksNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 17
  58. Principal E. M. Stanfield reports on the one-room school for Black children at Cedar Grove In her report for 1949-50, E. M. Stanfield told the state she was the only teacher for 36 pupils in seven grades in a single room with no library, gymnasium, fire protection or indoor toilet. The two-room Carr School nearby, under principal Anne May Morrow, had 73 pupils and lacked a drinking fountain and state health approval.NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 16
  59. Efland's Black school patrons refuse a plan to drop their promised school and send pupils to Hillsboro School officials met committees from the Efland area to ask Black patrons to give up the $74,000 Efland school promised in the 1949 bond campaign and send children from the Efland, Gravelly Hill and High Rock schools to an enlarged Central School at Hillsboro. Board of education chairman Kemp Cate reported that the officials 'didn't get to first base': the patrons wanted the $74,000 spent at Efland, and the commissioners kept the school in the program. People: Kemp S. CateThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 12, 1950, p. 1
  60. The county board accepts Archie Royal Davis's plans for Cedar Grove School The Orange County Board of Education approved Davis's final design for the Cedar Grove school for Black children: a low, flat-roofed brick building with long bands of classroom windows. People: Archie Royal DavisNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 18 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 9, 1950, p. 1
  61. Bids for Cedar Grove School run over budget and the board asks the state for $147,000 None of the construction bids opened on December 6, 1950, came within the budget, so the board rejected them all. On December 28 it voted to ask the state School Plant Construction, Improvement, and Repair Fund for a $147,000 grant to build the school.NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 18
  62. Jordan's Grove School for Black children closes as the Cedar Grove Negro School opens Jordan's Grove School for Black children closed in the fall of 1951, when it and six other small Black schools were combined in the new Cedar Grove Negro School, accepted by the county board that November. It is the only surviving rural field school building the 1993 survey could tie to African American pupils, abandoned in a farm field when recorded. A separate white Jordan's Grove school had merged into Aycock in 1930.Search the index · NC Digital Collections: Historic Resources of Orange County, National Register multiple property documentation form (1993), p. 79 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 8, 1951, p. 1
  63. Orange County closes thirteen small schools for Black children and consolidates their pupils At the start of the 1951-52 school year the county shut thirteen one- and two-teacher schools for Black children, put eleven new buses on the roads and consolidated every Black school except three near Efland. New buildings opened that year at the Cedar Grove school.DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 139
  64. Construction of Cedar Grove School begins Work on the new school for Black children on NC 86 north of Hillsborough started in January 1951. By early February a well had been drilled and the footings poured.NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 19
  65. The board cuts the north wing and kitchen from the Cedar Grove School plans To lower costs, the county board struck the six-classroom north wing, the kitchen, floor tile, clocks, bells, sidewalks and other items from Davis's design. The gymnasium was to serve as a multipurpose room partitioned into four classrooms until money for more space could be found. People: Archie Royal DavisNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 19
  66. The county board elects G. Paul Carr superintendent of the Orange County schools Gabriel Paul Carr, principal of Angier High School, became the county's tenth school superintendent in 1951, succeeding Glenn T. Proffit, who left for the Harnett County superintendency. Carr served eighteen years, through the consolidation of schools and the desegregation of the system, and resigned effective June 30, 1969. People: Glenn T. Proffit, G. Paul CarrSearch the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 131 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 5, 1951, p. 1; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 12, 1951, p. 1
  67. The county board buys the Morrow land for Efland-Cheeks, a new school for Black children A committee chose the Morrow land for a new school for Black children in the Efland district in December 1950, and on May 7, 1951 the Board of Education approved the deeds and ordered $150 an acre paid to the Morrow heirs. The school was named Efland-Cheeks.Search the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 82 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 21, 1950, p. 1; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 10, 1951, p. 1
  68. School board lets contracts for the new Efland school for Black children On June 4 the Board of Education awarded contracts totaling $72,725.10 with the architect's fee for the Efland Negro School, the first bids in the bond building program to come within the money set aside, $74,000. Cole and Crumpacker of Durham got the general contract at $55,735; the board also let contracts for a cafeteria at the Efland school for white children. People: Archie Royal DavisThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 7, 1951, p. 1
  69. Cedar Grove parents ask for a say in hiring teachers and get a Black building committee Seven Cedar Grove PTA members asked for a local committee with power to hire and dismiss the new school's teachers, and for paint and tile floors. The board named a building committee of Dallas Sheppherd Burnett, Wayne Compton, D. W. Torain, Elijah Poole and Oscar Carver Beasley but gave it no say over staff; it did approve the paint and the floor tile. People: Oscar Carver BeasleyNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 19
  70. School board accepts the new Cedar Grove school for Black children The county board of education accepted three new buildings, subject to approval by the architect and the state: the new Cedar Grove Negro School, the Efland School lunchroom and a classroom addition at Central School in Hillsboro. It also named a five-man advisory committee from patrons of the small schools consolidated into Cedar Grove: Elijah Poole, Shepherd Burnett, Wayne Compton, D. W. Torian and Oscar Beasley.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 8, 1951, p. 1
  71. The last three schools for Black children near Efland are consolidated at Efland-Cheeks In the 1952-53 school year the three remaining small schools for Black children in the Efland area were merged into Efland-Cheeks School, completing the consolidation of the county's Black schools begun the year before.DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 139
  72. The county board sells off its remaining small schoolhouses In March 1952 the board sold the last small school buildings, among them the Fairfield school for Black children, Sartin, Poplar Grove, Morris Grove and Hickory Grove, for prices from $300 to $2,010. Around the same time Carr School went to Jim Wade for $800.Search the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 82 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 8, 1952, p. 1
  73. The county board votes to borrow for a six-classroom wing at Cedar Grove School On a motion by board member Kemp S. Cate, the board voted to borrow $30,000 from the state literary fund and add $25,000 from its capital budget to build the north classroom wing cut from the 1951 plans. The county commissioners approved the loan. People: Kemp S. CateNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 20
  74. Orange County dedicates a new elementary school for Black children A new county elementary school for Black children was dedicated on Sunday, November 30, 1952, with Dr. Rose Butler Brown of North Carolina College in Durham giving the address. The News's columnist noted that the recent consolidation of Black schools had left a number of small one- and two-teacher buildings out of use.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 11, 1952, p. 6
  75. The county school board advertises the White Oak Grove school lot for sale The Orange County Board of Education gave notice that it would sell at the courthouse on January 10, 1953, a lot on the Cedar Grove-Carr road beside White Oak Grove Church, with its frame, tin-roofed building. The sale followed the opening of the new Cedar Grove school for Black children, which replaced the small rural schools.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 18, 1952, p. 7
  76. Black parents from Efland ask the school board to keep an eighth grade at their school A delegation of Black parents with Walter McDade as spokesman asked the county Board of Education to let an eighth grade stay at the Efland school for Black children rather than send those pupils to Central High in Hillsborough. The board put off a decision, and when the delegation came back on April 7 it asked for figures on Efland's teacher allotment before acting.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 5, 1953, p. 1
  77. The county board gives up the High Rock School land The county board waived its rights to the two acres of the abandoned High Rock School near Efland in favor of the landowner, John A. Thompson. High Rock had been merged into the Efland-Cheeks school in 1952. People: John W. ThompsonSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 5, 1953, p. 1
  78. The News of Orange prints the first picture of the Cedar Grove Negro School A front-page photograph presented the new school as a major piece of the county's three-year building program. The story listed seven classrooms, a library, an office, a heating plant, two toilets and a multipurpose room used from the start as four classrooms.NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 20
  79. A Cedar Grove delegation asks the school board for an eighth grade and more classrooms at its Black school Shepherd Burnett, Oscar Beasley and D. W. Torian of the Cedar Grove school for Black pupils asked the county Board of Education for a telephone, window shades, playground work, 500 folding chairs, an eighth grade and two new classrooms. The board said shades would come shortly, there was no budget for chairs, and the eighth grade and classrooms would wait for a county policy in March.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 5, 1953, p. 1
  80. The name Cedar Grove Negro School gives way to Cedar Grove School The county board and local papers had called the school the Cedar Grove Negro School from the 1946 land purchase on. After 1954 they used Cedar Grove School or Cedar Grove Elementary School.NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 15
  81. Cedar Grove School's six-classroom north wing is finished The north wing Archie Royal Davis had drawn in 1951, a $60,000 addition of six classrooms closely matching the original classroom wing, was accepted from the builder by the county board on January 4, 1954 and occupied that week, bringing the school to 14 classrooms and moving six classes out of the auditorium and halls. With the new rooms the multipurpose room became the gymnasium and auditorium. Davis and board members Harry Breeze and C. W. Stanford inspected the wing that January. People: Archie Royal Davis, Charles W. StanfordNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 20 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 7, 1954, p. 1
  82. The county school board decides to carry on as before after the Brown decision Two days after Brown v. Board of Education, the Orange County Board of Education put on record that since the Court had not said when or how segregation would end, it would go on hiring teachers, preparing the budget and running the schools as in the past. Like other North Carolina boards, it took no step to comply.NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 26
  83. The state accredits the Aycock and Efland elementary schools The State Department of Public Instruction placed the Aycock and Efland elementary schools on its accredited list, making them the third and fourth county elementary schools to qualify, after West Hillsboro in 1950 and Carrboro in 1952. Both had first been accredited in 1927 and had lost and regained it, and no county elementary school had been accredited in 1949-50. People: G. Paul CarrThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 19, 1954, p. 1
  84. The county school board receives an NAACP letter asking for an end to school segregation Superintendent G. Paul Carr passed to board members a form letter from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People calling for an end to school segregation, of the kind other North Carolina counties had received. The board, whose policy set earlier in the summer was to keep separate schools for the coming year, did not discuss it in open session; Carr asked members for written comments and declined to talk to a reporter, saying the board wanted no publicity. People: G. Paul CarrThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 9, 1954, p. 1
  85. Harold H. Webb becomes principal of Cedar Grove School Harold Hudson Webb, a Greensboro-born veteran of the Tuskegee Airmen with two degrees from North Carolina A&T who had taught at Central High, was hired as Cedar Grove's principal. He led the school until 1962, when he joined the state education department; in 1977 he became North Carolina's first Black state personnel director.NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 20
  86. W. C. George calls in his petition for continued school segregation UNC histology professor W. C. George said he was calling in copies of his petition to the governor urging continued segregation in the public schools, which had drawn more signers than he expected. He planned to present it to the governor and the 1955 General Assembly; by his account the copies had circulated mainly in Chapel Hill. People: W. C. George (Wesley Critz George)The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 13, 1955, p. 6
  87. Commissioners chairman R. J. M. Hobbs urges moderation on school desegregation Speaking to the Hillsborough Lions Club, R. J. M. Hobbs, chairman of the county commissioners and a UNC business professor, traced the legal background of the Supreme Court's May 1954 decision. He called the ruling the highest law of the land but said the time was not right for full desegregation in the South, and he favored proceeding slowly without agitation. People: Richard Junius Mendenhall HobbsThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 13, 1955, p. 1
  88. The county school board puts off naming school committees while the legislature acts on segregation Reorganizing for a new two-year term, the Orange County Board of Education re-elected Charles W. Stanford chairman and G. Paul Carr superintendent. At the suggestion of State Superintendent Charles F. Carroll it delayed reappointing the committeemen for the county's schools because of segregation bills pending in the General Assembly. The board also took up a $2,123.99 bill for rock excavation at the new Cameron Park School then going up in Hillsboro. People: G. Paul Carr, Charles W. StanfordThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 7, 1955, p. 1
  89. Rep. John W. Umstead tells the Chapel Hill Rotary Club the race issue ran through the whole legislative session Reviewing the 1955 General Assembly for the Chapel Hill Rotary Club, Orange County's Rep. John W. Umstead said the Supreme Court's school decision had entered into every matter the legislature took up and that, as he then saw it, there would be no integration of the races in North Carolina schools because the people were not of a mind for it. He announced he would run again in 1956, he said, so the Assembly would keep members who were not fanatics on the race issue, and he said he would not introduce an ABC stores bill for Chapel Hill.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 26, 1955, p. 7
  90. The county board keeps every pupil in last year's school for 1955-56 The Orange County board ruled that students would attend the same schools in 1955-56 as in 1954-55. Pupils new to the county were to apply to a principal, who would admit them under board policies that kept the races apart.NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 27
  91. The county board names a committee to study school segregation after Brown Answering a letter from the Governor's Advisory Commission on Education, chaired by Thomas Pearsall, the Orange County board appointed a local committee to study the problems the Supreme Court's segregation ruling raised for its schools. Ira Ward and Delmar Brown soon replaced two of the first members, Bonner D. Sawyer and W. T. (Buck) Murray. People: Ira Ward, Roosevelt Warner, Carter White, Bonner D. Sawyer, Lloyd M. SenterNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 21
  92. Orange County schools open on a segregated basis without incident The county schools opened with crowded rolls and record numbers of visiting parents, and every pupil attended the school to which he or she had been assigned, with no incident over segregation. The board had already ruled that the county schools would run on a segregated basis for 1955-56. People: G. Paul CarrThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 8, 1955, p. 1
  93. The county board deeds the old Gravelly Hill School ground to Mrs. George McAdams While disposing of closed schools in September 1955, the county board deeded the old Gravelly Hill School ground to Mrs. George McAdams. Gravelly Hill had taught Black children until the Efland-area schools were merged into Efland-Cheeks in 1952-53.Search the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 83 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 31, 1952, p. 5
  94. County school board completes its advisory committee on segregation The Orange County Board of Education filled the last two seats on the Advisory Committee on Education it had set up to study the school segregation problem, naming a McDade of Cedar Grove and Ashwell B. Harward of Carrboro. The state advisory committee had told local committees to suspend work while it drafted plans under the pupil assignment law.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 12, 1956, p. 1
  95. Commissioners urge passage of the school bonds as two objectors cite the segregation ruling At a hearing on the $2,000,000 school bond order, the county commissioners passed the order and a resolution urging voters to approve the bonds. Two Hillsboro men objected, citing the unsettled situation caused by the Supreme Court's school decision and the empty St. Mary's school; bond co-chairman Remus J. Smith Sr. answered that the county would need the classrooms even if segregation ended. People: Edwin Sidney Lanier, Dwight Ray, Remus J. Smith Sr.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 23, 1956, p. 1
  96. Patriots of North Carolina hold a mass meeting in Hillsborough and form an Orange County unit An overflow crowd of about 300, observers said all white, filled the courtroom in Hillsborough for a Patriots of North Carolina meeting where I. Beverly Lake urged abandoning the public schools for a private system rather than integrate. W. C. George, the Patriots' state president, presided as members named an Orange County executive committee. People: I. Beverly (Isaac Beverly) LakeSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough): Executive body named by Patriots, March 22, 1956, pp. 1 and 8
  97. A Cedar Grove committee asks for classrooms, a lunchroom and playground land Wayne Compton, Arthur Wells, Lonnie Thompson, Carter White and Oscar Beasley asked the county board for four more classrooms at Cedar Grove School, a lunchroom large enough to grow, and two more acres for a playground. The board did not act. People: Arthur Wells, Oscar Carver Beasley, Carter WhiteNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 21
  98. The county school board adopts assignment of pupils one by one The Orange County Board of Education unanimously resolved that every child in its schools would be assigned for 1956-57 to the school named on a 'Certificate of Promotion and Assignment' attached to the report card, and that all other children would be assigned individually when they asked for admission. The same meeting heard a Chapel Hill board request about Carrboro and White Cross high school pupils and Murphey district parents who wanted their children sent to Hillsboro.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 10, 1956, p. 1
  99. Irving Carlyle attacks the Pearsall school plan at a Chapel Hill forum Speaking at the university in a 'School Crisis' series sponsored by the YMCA and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Ministerial Association, the former state senator opposed the Pearsall Committee's 'safety valve' proposals to let communities close schools and to spend public money on private schooling. According to reports of the meeting, Orange County's assistant clerk of court, Lucius M. Cheshire, a member of the anti-integration Patriots of North Carolina, taped the talk, applauded loudly and asked whether Carlyle favored intermarriage; Carlyle said no and called the question an effort to confuse the issue.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 5, 1956, p. 1
  100. Representative John W. Umstead Jr. backs Governor Hodges's school plan As the special session opened, Orange County's veteran legislator said he would support the Pearsall Committee's program of education expense grants and local option to close schools because it took school decisions away from 'extremists on both sides,' though he was not sure it was the answer and opposed dropping compulsory attendance. A week earlier Superintendent G. Paul Carr had endorsed the plan, while school board member Clarence D. Jones called the tuition grants unfair. People: G. Paul Carr, John W. Umstead Jr.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 26, 1956, p. 1
  101. Rep. John W. Umstead urges the Hillsboro Lions Club to back the Pearsall Plan Representative John W. Umstead told the Hillsboro Lions Club he would vote for the school amendment because it kept the integration question away from "extremists of both sides," and he asked Orange voters to approve it overwhelmingly on September 8. By his estimate at least 70 counties would refuse to pay for mixed schools.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 30, 1956, p. 1
  102. Orange County voters approve the Pearsall Plan school amendment while Chapel Hill votes it down In the statewide vote on the Pearsall Plan amendment, which allowed local votes to close schools and tuition grants for private schools to avoid integration, Orange County voted 3,359 to 1,784 in favor. Chapel Hill's five precincts rejected it 1,234 to 936, and the News reported that Chapel Hill was apparently the only small community in the state to vote against it.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 13, 1956, p. 1
  103. Rep. John W. Umstead proposes a biracial advisory committee for every school unit After the Pearsall Plan passed, Representative John W. Umstead said he would introduce a bill requiring a biracial advisory committee in each school administrative unit to advise its school board on any question of integration. He argued that such committees would make it rare for the plan's school-closing provisions to be used.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 20, 1956, p. 4
  104. W. C. George steps down as president of the Patriots of North Carolina Prof. W. Critz George of the UNC medical school gave up the presidency of the pro-segregation Patriots of North Carolina when its 60-member board met to choose officers, though he stayed on the executive committee. He credited the year-old group with turning state opinion against the Supreme Court's school ruling and, by his account, its local units helped defeat Reps. Thurmond Chatham and C. B. Deane in the May primary. People: W. C. George (Wesley Critz George)The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 8, 1956, p. 8
  105. The county board approves a cafeteria for Cedar Grove School After voting in September to study the need, the board approved a cafeteria for 150 pupils at Cedar Grove at no more than $40,000, while again putting off new classrooms. Archie Royal Davis's plans for it were approved and sent to the state in October 1957. People: Archie Royal DavisNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 21
  106. A kitchen and cafeteria are added to Cedar Grove School A one-story brick kitchen and cafeteria, 78 by 49 feet, was finished behind the gymnasium late in 1958 to Archie Royal Davis's plans. One open dining room filled two-thirds of it, with the kitchen, dishwashing and storage along the north side. People: Archie Royal DavisNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 21
  107. The White Cross school committee asks for a vote on joining the Chapel Hill unit Meeting with the county Board of Education in Hillsborough, the White Cross district school committee voted unanimously to ask for an election on whether the White Cross district should join the Chapel Hill city administrative unit and its special tax district. Committee members did not predict that a majority of White Cross voters would favor the change.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 13, 1958, p. 1
  108. The county school board asks for a vote on joining Carrboro and White Cross to the Chapel Hill district Without dissent the Orange County Board of Education asked the county commissioners to call an election in the Carrboro and White Cross school attendance areas on joining the Chapel Hill special school tax district. The Chapel Hill school board had already endorsed the vote by polling its members, and a delegation from Carrboro's Citizens Committee for Schools pressed for an early date. People: G. Paul Carr, Charles W. StanfordThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 6, 1958, p. 1
  109. County commissioners call the May 20 Carrboro-White Cross school merger election On their third try at a legal description of the area, the commissioners adopted the resolution calling a May 20 election on enlarging the Chapel Hill city school unit to take in the Carrboro and White Cross school districts at the Chapel Hill school tax rate. They ordered a new registration of voters and set polling places in Carrboro and White Cross. People: Richard Junius Mendenhall Hobbs, Dwight RayThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 10, 1958, p. 1
  110. A Cedar Grove delegation asks for a classroom and playground to win accreditation Seeking state accreditation, a delegation from the school asked the board for one more classroom so the library could be used as a library again, land for a playground, paint for the north wing and outdoor floodlights. The board took no action.NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 22
  111. Carrboro and White Cross voters reject joining the Chapel Hill school district In a special election that drew 1,494 of the 1,634 newly registered voters, the Carrboro and White Cross school areas voted 916 to 565 against enlarging the Chapel Hill city school unit to take them in at the Chapel Hill school tax rate. Carrboro voted 723 to 490 against; the News pointed to fear of losing Carrboro's identity, old ill will toward Chapel Hill and, in White Cross, the tax.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 22, 1958, p. 1
  112. The state declines to accredit Cedar Grove School for lack of space Ruth Lawrence Woodson, state supervisor of the Black elementary schools, refused accreditation because the school had too few classrooms and was using its library as a fourth-grade room. Her report counted the parents' involvement, a staff study program, the office, auditorium and clinic room in its favor.NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 22
  113. White Cross residents petition for a new vote on joining the Chapel Hill school district At a meeting called by the White Cross School PTA, residents gave county school board chairman Charles W. Stanford petitions signed by at least 220 people asking for a new election on merging the White Cross area into the Chapel Hill school district and for tuition-free places in Chapel Hill schools meanwhile. Voters had rejected the merger by more than two to one on May 20. People: Charles W. StanfordThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 28, 1958, p. 1
  114. The Chapel Hill school board lets White Cross pupils attend without tuition The Chapel Hill school board voted to waive tuition for the coming year for about 75 white and Black pupils from the White Cross attendance area, on condition that White Cross hold another referendum and vote to join the Chapel Hill special tax district as soon as one could be called. People: Charles W. StanfordThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 4, 1958, p. 1
  115. The county school board orders Black pupils from Person and Caswell out of Cedar Grove School In a border fight over pupil assignments, the Orange County Board of Education voted to send some 19 or 20 Black children from Person and Caswell counties who were enrolled at the Cedar Grove school for Black pupils back to their home counties. The board acted after Person County barred 13 white border children from attending Aycock School and Caswell kept Orange children enrolled at Prospect Hill. People: Charles W. StanfordThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 11, 1958, p. 1
  116. Mount Herman Baptist Church leases the closed Murphey School Once the school closed, the county board leased the empty building to Mt. Herman Baptist Church for one year at $25 a month.Search the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Murphey School, National Register nomination (OR0467), p. 20
  117. Cedar Grove's advisory committee asks for two more classrooms Lonnie Thompson, Arthur Wells, Carter White, Wayne Compton and Oscar Beasley of the school's advisory committee asked the board for a two-classroom addition. The board agreed to consider it and in August approved Archie Royal Davis's plans with a $20,000 limit. People: Archie Royal Davis, Arthur Wells, Oscar Carver Beasley, Carter WhiteNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 22
  118. Murphey School closes and its pupils go to Hillsborough After years of falling attendance the county Board of Education voted on June 1, 1959 to close Murphey School, then a 79-pupil elementary school, at the end of the year and send its pupils and teachers to the new wing of Cameron Park School in Hillsborough.NC State Historic Preservation Office: Murphey School, National Register nomination (OR0467), p. 20 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 4, 1959, p. 1
  119. White Cross voters turn down a merger with the Chapel Hill schools a second time White Cross voters defeated a merger of their school into the Chapel Hill city district, 116 to 110, a year after Carrboro had joined it; a first vote, held with Carrboro's on May 20, 1958, had failed 193 to 75. A third vote failed on April 19, 1960, and the county closed the school in 1961. The county board sold the White Cross property to Edmiston Realty Company for $14,900 in 1967.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 13, 1959, p. 1 (continued p. 7) · Also: DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 21, 1960, p. 3
  120. White Cross's Black pupils begin the long bus ride to Central School in Hillsboro With White Cross left outside the Chapel Hill schools after the August merger vote failed, and tuition now required to attend there, 70 Black pupils from the White Cross area, grades 1 through 12, opened the term at Central School in Hillsboro, 15 miles or more from home. White pupils from the area in grades 7 and 8 were bused to Hillsboro High, and at least two families picked up transfer application forms.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 3, 1959, p. 1
  121. White Cross voters reject joining the Chapel Hill school district a third time Voters in the White Cross school area turned down merger with the Chapel Hill district for the third time, about three to two, with 301 votes against and 507 of 538 registered voters taking part. The area stayed in the county system, so its pupils could attend Chapel Hill schools only by paying tuition, without bus service. People: G. Paul CarrSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 21, 1960, p. 3
  122. The county board buys 100 acres from S. T. Latta for a new consolidated high school The board bought 100 acres from S. T. Latta in August 1960 for a new county high school, set aside $100,000 toward the building in July 1961 and accepted construction bids in May 1962. The school opened as Orange High School in 1963. People: Samuel T. Latta Jr.Search the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 84
  123. Black parents from White Cross ask the Chapel Hill schools to take their children A delegation of Black parents from the White Cross attendance area asked the Chapel Hill school board to let their children attend Northside School in Chapel Hill without the $50 out-of-district tuition. Their spokeswoman said that under the two boards' joint policy some of the children had ridden more than 100 miles a day by bus to Central School in Hillsboro since the year before.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 15, 1960, p. 7
  124. Two classrooms are added to the south wing of Cedar Grove School The two classrooms at the south end of the original wing, built to Archie Royal Davis's plans on bids taken in fall 1959, were finished by September 6, 1960, when the board inspected them with Davis and contractor Lindsay Fogelman. People: Archie Royal DavisNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 22
  125. A curriculum study begins for the proposed northern Orange high school About 50 people attended the organizing meeting in Hillsborough for a study, ordered by the county board of education and led by Drs. Guy Phillips and Neal Tracey of the UNC education faculty, to decide what the proposed consolidated high school should teach before plans were drawn. Committee chairmen were named for each subject area.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 29, 1960, p. 3
  126. Black parents at White Cross ask to send their children to White Cross School The parents of 23 Black children living near White Cross applied to move them from the Hillsboro Negro elementary school, a long daily bus ride away, to the white school in their own community. Most of the children had gone to school in Chapel Hill until White Cross voters again turned down a merger with the Chapel Hill district in 1960.The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 28, 1961, year-in-review story on integration, p. 1
  127. The county school board refuses the White Cross transfer requests The Orange County Board of Education on February 6, 1961 turned down the Black families' requests for 23 children to attend the all-white White Cross elementary school, saying no reassignment had been asked for within ten days of the parents being notified of their children's school and that three of the children were below the age for starting school. The board said new requests made at the end of the school term would be considered.The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 28, 1961, year-in-review story on integration, p. 2 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 9, 1961, p. 3
  128. Floyd McKissick represents the White Cross children at a school board hearing At a hearing on Friday, March 3, 1961 on the appeal of the parents of 19 of the White Cross children, the children were represented by Durham attorney Floyd McKissick, who argued that they were being denied their constitutional rights, that the area had no school for Black children and that the White Cross school had empty rooms. The Chapel Hill Weekly reported that the county board denied them again, reading a statement it had prepared before the hearing began; The News of Orange reported the board reaffirming its February 6 denial on Monday, March 6, as administratively impossible to change during the school year. People: Floyd B. McKissickThe Chapel Hill Weekly, December 28, 1961, year-in-review story on integration, p. 2 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 9, 1961, p. 6
  129. Aycock School parents petition against folding their high school into a new northern Orange high Wilfred Phelps, chairman of the Aycock Citizens Committee, gave the county board of education a petition with 476 names asking it to keep an accredited white high school at Aycock, keep busing Efland-district pupils there and draw fair school lines. Speakers objected to long bus rides; board member Gordon Cleveland said no county high school was yet accredited.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 16, 1961, p. 5
  130. The school board's lawyer advises closing White Cross School rather than fight the case A. H. Graham, attorney for the county board, told it the transfer fight could not be won and recommended shutting White Cross School instead. People: Alexander H. "Sandy" GrahamThe Chapel Hill Weekly, December 28, 1961, year-in-review story on integration, p. 2
  131. The county board votes to close White Cross School and send its white pupils to Hillsborough Rather than admit the Black children, the Orange County school board decided to close White Cross School at the end of the school year and move its 75 white pupils to Cameron Park School in West Hillsboro, a step it tied to its ten-year building program.The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 28, 1961, year-in-review story on integration, p. 2
  132. After closing White Cross School, the county board lets its pupils go to Alamance and Chapel Hill schools At a stormy meeting the Orange County Board of Education released 25 White Cross area pupils to attend Eli Whitney School in Alamance County and ten to the Chapel Hill schools, if parents furnished transportation, and asked the state to fold the White Cross district into the Hillsboro district. It took under advisement petitions for a fourth vote on joining part of the area to the Chapel Hill school district.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 1, 1961, p. 8
  133. The county school board again refuses nine Black children places at the closed White Cross School After a formal hearing requested by their attorney, Floyd B. McKissick of Durham, the Orange County Board of Education unanimously denied the applications of nine Black children, from sixth graders to entering first graders, to be reassigned from Central School in Hillsboro to the white White Cross Elementary School, on the ground that the school had been closed. People: Floyd B. McKissickThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 27, 1961, p. 4
  134. Chapel Hill school board recommends a Pearsall Plan tuition grant Finding it neither reasonable nor practical to reassign a Carrboro parent's two daughters to a school attended only by their own race, the board recommended that the state pay their tuition at a private Durham school. The News called it North Carolina's first formal application under the 1956 tuition-grant provision.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 28, 1961, p. 3
  135. County school board lets an Alamance bus serve the former White Cross district For one year the Orange County board agreed to let an Alamance County school bus come into the former White Cross district as far as Strowd Road, the third road from the county line, after a request to carry White Cross-area pupils to Eli Whitney School.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 7, 1961, p. 22
  136. Belton Edwards becomes principal of Cedar Grove School Belton Edwards, a South Carolina native and North Carolina A&T graduate, followed Harold Webb as principal in 1962 and stayed until 1968, when he became the first Black member of the Orange County Board of Education. George Pierce succeeded him at the school.NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 22
  137. The county school board decides to go ahead with selling the closed Murphey School Prompted by an inquiry from a woman who wanted the building for a rest home, the Board of Education voted to proceed with the sale of the abandoned Murphey School it had agreed to months before. The same meeting laid out changes coming with Orange High's opening, including buses for Hillsboro pupils and the probable closing of Caldwell School and of Aycock's junior and senior high grades.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 4, 1962, p. 10
  138. Orange High School begins desegregation Tonya and Narviar Cathcart entered Orange High School after their family’s transfer petition was approved, beginning the school's desegregation.Orange County Historical Museum
  139. Orange Junior High School opens in the old Hillsborough High School building When the county consolidated its white high schools into Orange High in 1963, it organized Orange Junior High School for grades six through nine in the old Hillsborough High School building, with Ted Shoaf as principal.Search the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 85
  140. Aycock School patrons protest the high school consolidation at a county hearing About 150 people came to a hearing at the Aycock school in Cedar Grove on merging the county's high schools at Hillsboro, and spokesmen said they had been led to believe they would not be forced to consolidate. Attorney Lee Settle, hired by Aycock patrons, argued they should decide for themselves; earlier hearings at Hillsboro and Efland drew 15 to 20 people and no opposition. People: G. Paul CarrThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 28, 1963, p. 11
  141. Orange County Board of Education closes Caldwell School In spring 1961 the county board weighed its attorney's proposal to close White Cross and Caldwell schools. In March 1963, in the consolidation that came with the new Orange High School, it eliminated the Caldwell district and closed Caldwell School, a school for white pupils built in 1925; that May Caldwell pupils were moved into the Aycock district, and other parts of the old district joined Cameron Park. A sale of the building fell through in 1963 because the board could not give clear title, and it was not sold until the 1970s.The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 8, 1963, p. 2 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, May 1, 1961, p. 1; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 6, 1961, p. 6; February 4, 1963 resolution; Chapel Hill Weekly, November 6, 1963, p. 14; Open Orange: Caldwell School
  142. The county school board enlarges the Aycock and West Hillsboro school districts Keeping promises made during the consolidation fight, the Orange County Board of Education extended the Aycock elementary district eastward, adding 29 pupils from the abolished Caldwell district, and added 14 pupils to West Hillsboro School. The board also took a $5,450 bid for a sewer line tying Central School into the Hillsboro system. People: G. Paul CarrThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 9, 1963, p. 12
  143. The Underwood family buys Murphey School at public auction The county Board of Education, which had offered the closed school for sale, confirmed on August 5, 1963 the sale of the Murphey School property for $11,000 to the highest bidder, P. L. Underwood of Durham, Route One. Bidding over several months had raised the price from $7,500. The National Register nomination says the property was sold at public auction to the Underwood family.Search the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Murphey School, National Register nomination (OR0467), p. 20 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 8, 1963, p. 4; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 11, 1963, p. 5
  144. Aycock and Hillsborough High schools are consolidated into Orange High School On February 4, 1963 the county board of education resolved to consolidate the high schools at Hillsborough and Aycock into the new Orange High School. The News of Orange reported the board's vote on the consolidation, over the protests of Aycock and Caldwell parents, late on Tuesday, March 12, 1963. The new school north of Hillsboro opened to pupils on Monday, September 9, 1963, a week after the date first set, with Charles Yelverton as its first principal, and had 460 pupils that month. The new Orange Junior High School was housed in the old Hillsborough High School building, and Aycock continued as an elementary school.DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 85 · Also: Orange County Historical Museum: Integration in Orange County; NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination; Open Orange: 6116 Efland Cedar Grove Rd. / Aycock High School; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 14, 1963, p. 2; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 29, 1963, p. 8; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 12, 1963, p. 1; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 19, 1963, p. 1
  145. The county school board calls off the sale of the closed Caldwell School The Board of Education had voted on September 7 to auction the seven-acre Caldwell School property in Little River Township, but in November the superintendent reported the sale called off because the board could not give clear title. All-American Apparel, which had shown interest in the building, had also withdrawn. People: G. Paul CarrThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 7, 1963, p. 10
  146. Four of Orange County's 2,001 Black pupils attend white schools The county school system enrolled 2,001 Black students in 1964-65. Four went to formerly white schools; the rest attended Central High, Efland-Cheeks or Cedar Grove.NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 28
  147. Sixty-six Black parents petition the county board to stop running schools by race Led by the retired Cedar Grove teacher Hassie Vanhook Gattis, 66 parents signed a petition asking the Orange County board to stop operating its schools on a racial basis. It charged that the board had kept a dual system since the 1954 Brown ruling in disregard of the law.NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 27
  148. Only 7 percent of the county's Black pupils attend an integrated school At the start of the 1965-66 school year, about 7 percent of the Orange County system's Black students were enrolled in an integrated school.NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 28
  149. The county board asks the commissioners to back a desegregation plan and Black members on school boards Facing federal compliance rules, the board met the county commissioners and asked for two Black members on the Board of Education, integration of schools, buses and staff, Black members on district committees and signature of the federal compliance form.DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 86
  150. Cedar Grove families answer the county's freedom-of-choice forms The county sent 401 school-choice forms to Cedar Grove School families at the end of the 1964-65 year. Fifty-two made no choice, three asked for all-white Aycock Elementary and four for Orange Junior High.NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 23
  151. Three Cedar Grove families ask to move their children to the all-white Aycock School At the end of the 1964-65 school year, under its freedom of choice plan, the Orange County Board of Education sent school choice forms to the parents of every school-age child. Of the 401 forms sent to families at Cedar Grove School, the area's school for Black children, three asked for transfer to the all-white Aycock Elementary School and four to Orange Junior High School.NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 23 · Also: DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983; Open Orange: 6116 Efland Cedar Grove Rd. / Aycock High School
  152. The county board adopts a school desegregation plan After most of a year spent trying to reach a plan acceptable under federal rules, the Orange County Board of Education adopted a desegregation plan on September 7, 1965.DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 86
  153. Cedar Grove's advisory council asks for a painted lunchroom and a paved playground Oscar Beasley and Arthur Wells of the Cedar Grove Advisory Council asked the board to paint the lunchroom, hang doors on the girls' restroom and give the school a hard-surfaced playground. The board granted part of the request. People: Arthur Wells, Oscar Carver BeasleyNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 23
  154. Central High School becomes A. L. Stanback School After Central High's last high school class graduated in 1968 and its older students moved to Orange High School, the school was renamed for its longtime principal A. L. Stanback and became an elementary school. People: A. L. StanbackNC State Historic Preservation Office: Hillsborough Historic District Additional Documentation, National Register (OR0077ad, 2014), Education Context
  155. Central High students march and Orange County schools integrate In 1968 Black students at Central High School in Hillsborough walked out and marched to protest a plan for phased desegregation. After Central's last class graduated that spring, its high school students moved to Orange High, ending the county's dual school system in 1968–69.Alliance for Historic Hillsborough: Central High School/Agnes Kindergarten
  156. Stanford Junior High School is built near Hillsborough with two classroom buildings and a gymnasium Under Superintendent G. Paul Carr the county finished Stanford Junior High, a main classroom building for about 800 pupils, a second for about 225 and a gymnasium, on the 100-acre tract it shares with Orange High. People: G. Paul CarrDigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 169
  157. Principal George Pierce and Arthur Wells ask for basketball goals and better lighting Cedar Grove principal George Pierce and advisory council chairman Arthur Wells asked the board for basketball goals, better lighting, doors for the boys' restrooms and supplies for the lunchroom. People: Arthur WellsNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 23
  158. The county board presents a plan to end its dual school system to federal civil rights officials After the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare told Orange County to give up freedom of choice and balance its schools by race, the board met with Walter Warfield of the Office for Civil Rights' education branch to present its plan for ending separate Black and white schools. The plan took effect in 1969-70.NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 28
  159. Belton Edwards, a Black member, joins the county Board of Education When A. B. Coleman resigned from the board in May 1968, Belton Edwards, whom Pender identifies as Black, took his place. The board had asked the county commissioners in 1965 for two Black members.DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 87
  160. Orange County Schools regroup pupils by grade across the Hillsborough schools to complete integration For 1969-70 the county put all its pupils outside the Efland area into Hillsborough schools, each serving set grades: kindergarten at Central Elementary, grades 1-2 at Cameron Park, 3-4 at Central, 5-6 at the old Orange Junior High, 7-9 at a new Orange Junior High and 10-12 at Orange High. Efland-Cheeks took kindergarten through third grade and Efland Elementary grades 4-6, and Aycock, Cedar Grove and West Hillsborough dropped out as separate schools. People: G. Paul CarrDigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 139
  161. Orange High School is enlarged with new buildings Six years after it opened as the county's consolidated high school, Orange High near Hillsborough added buildings in 1969 under the new superintendent George F. Williams. People: George F. WilliamsDigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 170
  162. West End Graded School closes The West Hillsborough elementary school closed in 1969, perhaps because the new Central Elementary School took its pupils once schools were integrated. The main building later burned, leaving only the rear wings.Search the index · NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey (2017), p. 15
  163. Cedar Grove's advisory council petitions to keep the school open As the county prepared to integrate its schools, the Cedar Grove Advisory Council brought the board a petition asking that Cedar Grove School run fully through 1969-70 and that the integration plan be reconsidered. The council said the community did not intend to give up its school.NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 23
  164. Cedar Grove School closes under the county's integration plan The county board announced in May 1969 that Cedar Grove School would not operate in 1969-70. The school closed at the end of the 1968-69 year despite the community's appeals, and its pupils moved to schools in Efland and Hillsborough.NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 23
  165. The county school board sells the closed Caldwell School property After the school board asked its attorney in November 1971 to move toward a sale, it accepted $5,143.52 from the sale of the Caldwell School property. Pender later wrote that the building was demolished and the land went back to its owner.Search the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 88
  166. The school board sells the empty Cedar Grove School to Orange County for ten dollars After the building had stood vacant for nearly a decade, the Orange County Board of Education conveyed the former school and its eight acres to the county for $10.NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 23

Places in this history

Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first. The map shows the 23 with a known location.

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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Background on Schools & Education

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Faison, Elisa · 2026 · Cardinal

A 2026 novel set in Carrboro. Frances, thirty and grieving her mother, and her husband Ben open their marriage, and the book follows what that decision does to them and to the people closest to them. The characters include college teachers and a ghostwriter. 296 pages.

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Carolina Nursing through the decades: a historic timeline

2025 · The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing

An illustrated online timeline of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing, issued by the school in 2025. One page with portraits.

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North Carolina baseball: the blue thread and the rise of an ACC power

Johns, Bill · 2025

A 2025 history of University of North Carolina baseball from its nineteenth-century beginnings to the program's rise as an ACC power. Chapters cover the early years on campus, the building of Boshamer Stadium, and the Mike Fox era. Self-published by the author, 288 pages.

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Bright and tender dark: a novel

Pearson, Joanna · 2024 · Bloomsbury Publishing

Joanna Pearson's novel of a cold case at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Karlie Richards was a nineteen-year-old student when she was murdered; decades later her onetime roommate, divorced and in middle age, finds herself drawn back to the crime as online conspiracy theories about it multiply. A psychological thriller with a Chapel Hill setting, published by Bloomsbury in 2024, 275 pages.

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Jagged Lines

Carrboro High School students · 2023

The 2023 issue of Carrboro High School's literary magazine, featuring fiction and poetry written by its students.

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Putting Down Roots

Burk, William R. · 2023

William R. Burk's history of botany at the University of North Carolina, from its early natural scientists such as Denison Olmsted and Elisha Mitchell through later figures including George Francis Atkinson, Joseph Austin Holmes and Henry Van Peters Wilson, closing with a chapter on the Department of Botany itself. Published in Fort Worth in 2023.

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A Consequential Life: David Lowry Swain, Nineteenth-Century North Carolina, and Their University

Whichard, Willis P. · 2022

Willis P. Whichard's biography of David Lowry Swain, governor of North Carolina from 1832 to 1835 and president of the University of North Carolina from 1835 until his death in 1868. The subtitle ties Swain, nineteenth-century North Carolina and the university together, and the book belongs with the lives of college presidents and governors. Published in 2022.

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The dove in the belly

Grimsley, Jim · 2022 · Levine Querido

Jim Grimsley's coming-of-age novel about Ronny, who grew up in a trailer alongside his mother and a string of stepfathers, kept his head down, earned good grades and won a scholarship to UNC in Chapel Hill. On campus he finds his first love and begins to sort out who he is. Subjects include gay college students, first loves and mothers and sons. Published by Levine Querido in 2022, 322 pages.

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The Carolina Union Proudly Presents: Memories of the Tech Crew of Memorial Hall

Madry, Scott · 2021

Scott Madry's recollections of the student tech crew at Memorial Hall, the University of North Carolina's auditorium in Chapel Hill, presented under the banner of the Carolina Union, the campus student union. Published in Chapel Hill in 2021.

UNC

To Drink from the Well: The Struggle for Racial Equality at the Nation’s Oldest University

Kapur, Geeta · 2021

Geeta Kapur's history of race at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, from the enslaved labor that built the campus through desegregation and the Black student protests that followed. Twelve chapters, with a foreword by William Barber II, move from the founding era and the Great Depression controversies to the state's response to integration and the turmoil of later decades; North Carolina Central University also figures. Published 2021 by Blair in Durham.

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Legendborn

Deonn, Tracy · 2020

Tracy Deonn's young adult fantasy about an African American teenager who arrives as a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after her mother's death and finds a secret society bound to Arthurian legend, with demons, magic and her own family's past. Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books in 2020, 501 pages, for ages 14 and up. Winner of the 2021 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent.

Reviewed in Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books./Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (2020).

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Anna Burwell and the business of being a Presbyterian minister's wife in North Carolina, 1835-1857

Hoffert, Sylvia D. · 2019 · Historical Research Office, Office of Archives and History

Sylvia D. Hoffert's article on Margaret Anna Burwell, 1810 to 1871, and the work of being a Presbyterian minister's wife in North Carolina from 1835 to 1857, the years of the female school she and her husband kept in Hillsborough. Pages 245 to 275 with illustrations, facsimiles and portraits, issued by the Office of Archives and History in Raleigh in 2019.

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