- Collection:
- Oral Histories of the American South: The Civil Rights Movement
- Title:
- Oral history interview with Edward L. Rankin, August 20, 1987
- Creator:
- Rankin, Edward L., 1919-
- Contributor to Resource:
- Jenkins, James Lineberry, 1919-2003
Southern Oral History Program - Date of Original:
- 1987-08-20
- Subject:
- School integration--North Carolina
North Carolina--Politics and government
North Carolina--Biography
North Carolina--Officials and employees
Governors--North Carolina
Education and state--North Carolina
North Carolina--Politics and government--1951-
Political leadership - People:
- Rankin, Edward L., 1919-2006
Umstead, William Bradley, 1895-1954 - Location:
- United States, North Carolina, 35.50069, -80.00032
- Medium:
- transcripts
sound recordings
oral histories (literary works) - Type:
- Text
Sound - Format:
- text/html
text/xml
audio/mpeg - Description:
- In 1948, Edward L. Rankin left his job as a journalist in order to work as William Umstead's press assistant during the his gubernatorial campaign. Umstead was not elected in 1948, but when he chose to run again in 1952, Rankin eagerly joined him on the campaign trail and became Umstead's private secretary after his election that year. Rankin describes his perception of Umstead as a personal friend and as a political figure, his struggle with illness, and his death in 1954. Rankin focuses on Umstead's reaction to the Brown v. Board of Education decision, handed down just prior to his untimely demise. According to Rankin, Umstead took care to understand the meaning of the decision and its potential ramifications for the South before working to establish a citizens group headed by Tom Pearsall. Although Umstead believed that Brown was a mistake on the part of the Supreme Court, he was determined that North Carolina would abide by the Court's decree. Following Umstead's death, Rankin stayed on as private secretary to Umstead's successor, Luther Hodges. According to Rankin, although Hodges and Umstead had not had the most congenial personal relationship, Hodges was determined to maintain Umstead's approach to the issue of school desegregation. Rankin describes in detail the activities of the Pearsall group, the spectrum of responses to the Brown decision and the Pearsall Plan (1956), and efforts to challenge its implementation. He discusses the leadership roles of such individuals as Governor Hodges, Tom Pearsall, lawyer Paul Johnston, and state superintendent Charlie Carroll. Rankin's recollection of this tumultuous time in North Carolina history draws attention to the role of political leaders in mediating a potentially explosive political minefield.
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. - Metadata URL:
- http://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/C-0044/menu.html
- Language:
- eng
- Extent:
- Title from menu page (viewed on Oct. 29, 2008).
Interview participants: Edward L. Rankin, interviewee; Jay Jenkins, interviewer.
Duration: 01:34:55.
This electronic edition is part of the UNC-Chapel Hill 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. - Contributing Institution:
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Documenting the American South (Project)
- Rights:
-
