This February 9, 1973, oral history interview conducted by William Chafe with Louise Smith primarily documents Ms. Smith's involvement in school desegregation in Greensboro, North Carolina. Topics include her expectations for school desegregation; her friends' thoughts on desegregation; educating blacks about freedom of choice assignment plans; Josephine Boyd's attendance of Greensboro Senior High; the state of local black schools; and the loss of the initial hope after the Brown decision. Smith also discusses what makes Greensboro different from other North Carolina cities; the YWCA's involvement in the community; the leadership role of women in the movement; the protests of segregated city pools; her impression of the '60 and '63 sit-ins; pastors Charlie Bowles and Harold Hipps; her husband hiring a black secretary; business powers in Greensboro; and the role of the newspaper.
