Oral history interview with Walter Burch
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Walter "Sticky" Burch, originally from Asheville, North Carolina, spent much of his life serving in the Greensboro Police Department. Burch briefly describes his early life and military service in World War II. After the war, Burch returned to the Greensboro Police Department, and remained with the department for forty years. Burch has also been involved with the Rotary Club of Greensboro, the Oriental Shrine Club, and the One Hundred Club, an organization that brings together political and business leaders. Through his role in the police department, Burch recounts the difficulties faced by Greensboro during the Civil Rights Movement. He also emphasizes the development of the police department, its struggles with corruption, and the power of crime, particularly bootlegging and gambling, in the history of Greensboro. Burch focuses on the unique qualities of Greensboro an academic environment, positive leadership, and a strong African-American population that allowed the city to have relatively peaceful integration. Burch credits Jessie Jackson as a positive influence on Greensboro during the Civil Rights Movement, suggesting his nonviolent approach mirrored Martin Luther King, Jr. He highlights events, notably the Greensboro Massacre, that occurred throughout the 1970s and 1980s and marked this turbulent period in the city's growth.