noa_sohpcr_c-0063 c-0063 sohpcr noa yes Oral history interview with Robert Giles, September 10, 1987 Giles, Robert E. Jenkins, James Lineberry, 1919-2003 North Carolina--Officials and employees School integration--North Carolina Education and state--North Carolina North Carolina--Politics and government--1951- Giles, Robert E. Robert Giles discusses the public and political reaction to the Supreme Court's Brown ruling, explaining the heavy pressure the Brown order placed on North Carolina politicians, who hoped to prevent alienating the white population. Giles asserts that state politicians adopted a moderate stance and moderate policies which yielded minimal racial desegregation. The Pupil Assignment Act of 1955 and the Pearsall Plan, he says, assuaged whites fears by keeping the public schools open and projecting the perception that the public controlled school assignments. He lauds the effectiveness of the gubernatorial leadership of William Umstead and Luther Hodges in the early to mid-1950s. Giles also touches on segregationist I. Beverly Lake, who attempted to stoke racial tensions and drum up support for his personal political ambitions. The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the aggregation and enhancement of partner metadata. [Chapel Hill, N.C.] : University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill. Southern Oral History Program University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Documenting the American South (Project) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library Oral histories of the American South (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Documenting the American South (Project)) 2008 Transcripts Sound recordings Oral histories http://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/C-0063/menu.html Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 88 kilobytes, 131 megabytes Mode of access: World Wide Web System requirements: Web browser with Javascript enabled and multimedia player MP3 format / ca. 131 MB, 01:11:37 Duration: 01:11:37 Forms part of Oral histories of the American South collection. 1987-09-10 North Carolina 20090730 093614