[Notes on interview with Otis Hairston Sr. by William H. Chafe]

              11/
interview with Rev. Otis Hairston, minister of Shiloh Baptist Church,
July 17, 1972
OH came to §B in '58 to take over his father's church — grew up in
GB, went to S&aw, had a church in Raleigh where was was vice-pres, of
Raleigh Citizens Association
v—Here he has been chairman of the Citizens Emergency Committee founded
in '68 after the death of MLK,member of various bi-racial commissions
before that, head of Greensboro citizens Association, etc.
On Expectations: says the black community in GB after '54 was very
disappointed that the school board did not follow the lead of Sup't.
Ben Smith ~ Smith, OH savst did not have in mind tokensinm, but meaningful
integration — pressure from state gov^T and school board forced Smith,,,.
<    to slow down — OH says that there was pressure to get a more conservative
d^        City Council which woisid appoint a more conservative school board.
^r      The key here is that the blacks felt Smith meant mora than tokenism
a In Raleigh and GB. blacks saw Brown as requiring meaningful integration
[ in all schools.^- some blacks and white in every school ~ which
3 [ meant more that freedom of choice — OH believed that tbe state gov't
'would go for token integration — some blacks going to white schools
but moTVice versa — says .Pearsall was planned_as__cijaaimyefttion —
if any blacks were consulted, they were^ependenTblacks — school principals
or teachers who depended on the state and pol's for a job.
Dr,rHampton was on the school board at the time — his feeling was
Jv^e-  that .Smith really did have in mind meaningful integration, and OH talked
I            with him often — thought that Smith wanted also to integrate the teaching
staff! '  '
After he came, OH became active in GB Citizens Association — Henry Frye
[president, OH v-p — every year they would request school board to speed
up integration with noj^ results — schl bd would cite Pearsall and say
GB was complying with it (in other words when the state did step in to
[give the direction which Hudgins said was needed, it was direction in
the wrong way) -- OH says that Smith had a lot of local pressure to
slow down_(Roach confirms this, cf 4-3 vote on Hampton; — uh says that
by *58 there was a wide sense of disillusionment in the black*" community.
4   *
Res sit-ins — Ezell Blair Jr. a member of the church — other students
wanted to participate in sit-ins — had to be organized ~ 3 of leaders
came to the church wanting to mimeograph etc. ~ afraid to go to the
college, and as members of the church felt free to come and ask for
stencias and mimeo (Blair a member, Richmond an attender).
.OH says he became involved because of his closensss to Blair ~ he's
^convinced that the sit-ins resulted from a buzz session in the dormitory
J/and they said, why not just go down there — had no plan for afterward —
Hdidn't know what they were going to do.