This transcript of an October 13, 1977, oral history interview conducted by William Chafe with A. Knighton "Tony" Stanley primarily documents Stanley's involvement in the civil rights movement in Greensboro, particularly during the 1963 sit-ins. Topics include police captain William Jackson; Jesse Jackson's leadership; Stanley's relationship with Bill Thomas; Stanley's role as a strategist and personal dislike of protest; prayer at protests; the generation gap; the lack of frontline action by established blacks; poor planning of the sit-down in the square; James Farmer; the mass arrests and overcrowding in Greensboro prisons; and Dr. Willa Player's actions following the arrest of Bennett students. Stanley also discusses his opinions of Armistead Sapp, McNeill Smith, Dr. Lewis Dowdy, Dr. Samuel Proctor, George Simkins and Otis Hairston, local newspaper reporters, the power structure in Greensboro, the Greensboro Community Fellowship, and Edward Zane. Other topics include Stanley's experiences as a youth in Greensboro, including segregation in neighborhoods; Dudley High School's feeling of community; influential teachers Vance Chavis and Nell Coley; his membership in the NAACP youth group; and his thoughts on class consciousness and white privilege.
