This June 17, 1977, oral history interview conducted by William Chafe with Robert Ford documents Ford's work for equality in employment and education through the American Friends Service Committee in Greensboro, North Carolina. Ford recalls hiring a black foreman at his plant; his white workers quitting; running the shop at night with students from A&T; being beaten by a community member; receiving advice and support from Catholic clergy; and other local machinists hiring black workers. Ford also discusses the American Friends Service Committee; its Merit Employment Program; the Education Committee; committee members; its effective grassroots approach; its relationship to Quakerism; and specific AFSC activities, including enrolling black students at white schools and Ford's leaving the committee over its support of busing. Other topics include a court case against a young black student over a lost engagement ring; the Ku Klux Klan and White Citizens' Council in Greensboro; poor housing conditions for blacks in Guilford County; the role of morality, religion, and local churches in social justice; reproach from members of the Catholic Church; and mental health care in North Carolina.
