noa_sohpcr_r-0011 r-0011 sohpcr noa yes Oral history interview with Andrew Best, April 19, 1997 Best, Andrew A., 1916-2005 Thomas, Karen Kruse African American physicians--North Carolina--Pitt County Discrimination in medical care--North Carolina--Pitt County Segregation--North Carolina--Pitt County Pitt County (N.C.)--Race relations Civil rights--North Carolina--Pitt County Old North State Medical Society Medicine--North Carolina--Societies, etc. Best, Andrew A., 1916-2005 Activist and physician Andrew Best describes his experiences as an African American medical practitioner in North Carolina during the civil rights era, and his own efforts to desegregate medical practice and spur integration in other arenas across the state. After attending all-black schools, including one of the few medical schools that admitted African Americans, and fighting in World War II in a segregated regiment, Best devoted himself to integrating the medical practice in his community as well as changing the mindsets of segregationists. He did so using a variety of methods, but his primary tool was communication. A member of at least two interracial organizations, he sought to convince both the black and white communities of the wisdom of integration. Posing the most significant challenge to his goal were the die-hard segregationists who might, for example, refuse service at a store even to a black doctor who had just treated an injured white police officer. This interview provides a detailed look at the dismantling of segregated medicine and the enduring obstacles to equality of care. 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)) 2007 Transcripts Sound recordings Oral histories http://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/R-0011/menu.html Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 130.9 kilobytes, 252 megabytes. Mode of access: World Wide Web. System requirements: Web browser with Javascript enabled and multimedia player. MP3 format / ca. 252 MB, 02:17:43 Title from menu page (viewed on May 29, 2008). Interview participants: Andrew Best, interviewee; Karen Kruse Thomas, interviewer. Duration: 02:17:43. This electronic edition is part of the UNC-CH digital library, Documenting the American South. It is a part of the collection Oral histories of the American South. Text encoded by Jennifer Joyner. Sound recordings digitized by Aaron Smithers. Forms part of Oral histories of the American South collection. 1997-04-19 Pitt County (N.C.) 20090716 164832