Collection Timeline

1961 to 2025

1961
West Concord Mothers present transportation concerns to the Morganton Board of Aldermen. In response, the Board arranged private meetings with the School Board and a local taxi company to provide discounted transportation to students. If their requests were not met, the Mothers were prepared to escort their children to the segregated white schools closer to their neighborhood, rather than Mountain View Elementary over a mile from their neighborhood across town. This petition led to the "first wave" of desegregation in June 1963, where Morganton City Schools reassigned 30 Black students to formerly all-white schools closest to their homes.
Morganton Board of Aldermen and Morganton City School Board appointees discuss West Concord Mothers' request to provide transportation to segregated Mountain View Elementary School for their children.
News Herald reports on the special meeting of the Morganton Board of Aldermen and Morganton School Board appointees, which resulted in no publicly funded transportation offered to the West Concord families.

1963
John E. Fleming's letter to the editor discussing segregation and Christian imperative in Morganton.
Morganton City School Board grants requests for 30 Black children to transfer to historically white schools closer to their homes. Students experience rejection, isolation, discrimination, and trauma. This pilot desegregation program is a result of organizing by Black families, the local branch of the NAACP, Slades Chapel, Gaston Chapel, and New Bethel Baptist Church.
Editorial by Stanley Moore commending Morganton City School Board for their decision to reassign Black pupils and integrate the schools.

1964
One of the mothers of West Concord Street, Mildred Largent published this letter to the editor calling attention to the Recreation Foundation's discriminatory attempts to prohibit Black residents from using Collett Street Recreation Center.

1965
Photograph of Ms. Woody's third grade class at Mountain View Elementary School during the first year of desegregation in Burke County. Faced with many years of activism by Black families, especially the West Concord Mothers, local churches, and NAACP, as well as the threat of losing federal funding with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Burke County's schools consolidated and desegregated in 1965. The three previously separate school systems (Morganton City, Glen Alpine, and Burke County) merged into one, and all students were assigned to the school closest to their home. From its opening in 1958 to 1965, Mountain View Elementary was an all-Black school serving grades one through eight. As a result of desegregation in 1965, only 12 of the 26 Black teachers in the school system were rehired. Later that year, nine Black teachers who were not rehired sued the Morganton City School Board. In the case of Arthur Baglis Buford, et al v. The Morganton City Board of Education, Judge Braxton Craven ultimately rejected the teachers' argument of discrimination and sided with the School Board. Desegregation resulted in many Black teachers leaving Burke County due to this loss of employment.

2005
Ruth Roseboro, who was a child during school desegregation in the 1960's, tells of her experiences.
Article highlighting the successful efforts of the West Concord Mothers to integrate Morganton City Schools.
Loretta Whiteside, student during 1960's desegregation, writes about the transition from a segregated school system to an integrated one in Morganton. She describes being "happy, sad, and fearful."

2006
Biographical account of Mildred Largent's life, one of the West Concord Mothers and first woman president of the Morganton NAACP.

2012
Michael Ervin's Bachelor's thesis discusses two desegregation efforts at the Collett Street Recreation Center and in the Morganton City School system. Ervin argues that white moderates in Morganton used a variety of tactics to subdue African American protest and to promote the town as progressive in order to attract business, at the expense of Black residents.
Reverend W.F. McIntosh and Robert Caldwell speak with Claude Sitton about their experiences of desegregation in Burke County schools. Coach McIntosh grew up in Marion, South Carolina and moved to North Carolina to play football at Johnson C. Smith University. After graduating and serving a few years in the military, he accepted a position at Oak Hill High School teaching math and coaching football. Coach McIntosh also taught typing after school until typing was added to Olive Hill’s curriculum and taught physical education until a teacher was hired. Robert Caldwell was one of Coach Mac’s students and players at Olive Hill. He played football in the Shrine Bowl in 1957 and also grew up in the same neighborhood as Coach Mac.
Article about Lucille Rutherford's experiences growing up under segregation in Morganton and her organizing as one of the West Concord Mothers. Shuffler quotes Ruth Roseboro and Artie Logan who were among the first students transferred from historically Black schools to formerly "whites only" schools in 1964.

2015
Community archivist and Morganton resident, Garby Harbison planned a Black History month program about the West Concord Mothers. Harbison read this script at the program.
Lucille Johnson Rutherford grew up in Glen Alpine and went to McAlpine Elementary School. Johnson was one of the Seven Mothers who called themselves the West Concord Mothers. Other mothers include: Ms. Laura Thomas, Ms. Willett Chambers, Mildred Largent, Annie Hicks, Ruth Thorney, Rose Johnson. These mothers worked with local preachers and churches to challenge school segregation in the 1960's, advocating for better educational opportunities for their children.
Elias Bryant attended MacAlpine Elementary School and Olive Hill High School for most of his high school years. During his senior year in 1964-1965, due to desegregation he was reassigned to Glen Alpine High School. On his first day at Glen Alpine High School, the principal sent white students to one side of the gym and Black students to the other and addressed Black students using a racial epithet.
Andrea Chambers Lytle lived on West Concord Street for most of her life. She is the daughter of Mrs. Willette Chambers, one of the seven West Concord Mothers. She attended Mountain View Elementary School during segregation. In 1963, Lytle was reassigned to a special education class at Central School downtown, separated from her siblings, and one of only four Black children sent to that school. She completed half a year at Central School before the school psychologist admitted they mistakenly placed her in the special education class. She was transferred to Forest Hill Elementary School and forced to repeat fifth grade.
Charles Forney was born in Morganton and attended first and second grade at Olive Hill School. Mountain View Elementary School opened in 1957, and Forney transferred there. His family lived on West Concord Street, and his parents were involved in organizing among West Concord families to have their children transferred to the all-white schools in their neighborhoods. His mother Ruth Forney was part of the Seven Mothers. Because of his families’ efforts, Forney was among the first wave of Black students to desegregate public schools. In 1963, he transferred to Morganton Junior High, a formerly all-white school.

2017
Background handout from the History Museum of Burke County's Children of the Struggle exhibit.

2022
Friend of the children and mentee of the mothers, Artie McKesson Logan shares stories from her school-age years during desegregation and under the tutelage of the West Concord Mothers. Artie McKesson Logan was a friend of the children of the Seven Mothers, or West Concord Mothers. In 1963, she was part of the group of children who challenged segregated recreation facilities. The Mothers trained them in nonviolent practices before their actions–as Logan says, “prompting and priming” the children for the dangers and rejection they would encounter.
Andrea Chambers Lytle and Jeannie Chambers Logan are the daughters of Willette Chambers, one of the Seven Mothers. Andrea recalls the Seven Mothers meeting at Reverend McIntosh’s home at night in order to develop a plan for their children to attend the white schools closer to their homes.
Dr. Leslie McKesson reflects on the history and legacy of the West Concord Mothers, including reflections from newly conducted interviews with Andrea Chambers Lytle and Artie McKesson Logan.
Among the first students to desegregate Morganton public schools in 1963, Richard Johnson, Christobel Johnson, and Andrea Chambers Lytle share their stories of racial violence and discrimination. Richard and Christoble Johnson are the children of Lucille Johnson Rutherford, one of the Seven Mothers. In 1963, Christoble was among the “first wave” of Black students to attend formerly white schools as a result of the Seven Mothers’ activism. She transferred from Mountain View Elementary School to Morganton Junior High for seventh grade, which resulted in being isolated from her siblings and peers as administrators assigned Black students one to a class. Richard Johnson was among the “first wave” of students to desegregate Morganton High School. His mother sent him to school for a quality education but no one accounted for the hostility and threats he would receive. Richard, Christoble, and Andrea recall the loneliness and rejection of sitting at a cafeteria table only for other students to move away, being served cold food at the end of lunch periods, having to dance alone or play basketball alone. As Christoble states, “We got abused for quality.”

2023
"The Journey for Equality" is a graphical timeline created by Beverly Carlton. This timeline was distributed to attendees at the Slades Chapel AME historical marker dedication on October 14, 2023.

2024
Beverly Carlton is the daughter of Mrs. Ruth Forney, one of the West Concord Mothers. She contribute this written impact statement to the Children of the Struggle digital archive, in which she discusses how desegregation impacted her and her community in Burke County.
Allen Fullwood graduated from Olive Hill High School in 1959 when schools were still segregated. In 1961, Fullwood attended a small college in South Carolina and participated in sit ins in Rock Hill alongside his classmates and teammates. Morganton had an abundance of mimosa trees during this time period and was known as Mimosa City, "but beneath that great fragrance was the stench of segregation."
Andrea Chambers Lytle attended Mountain View Elementary School until fifth grade. She was in the first wave of desegregation and in 1963 was moved to Central School downtown, a formerly white school. She was wrongly placed into special ed classes and forced to repeat fifth grade two years later in 1965 when she was transferred to Forest Hill Elementary.
Beverly Forney Carlton grew up in Morganton under Jim Crow with no unsupervised trips outside of her neighborhood. After Mountain View Elementary opened in 1958, Carlton walked 41 minutes or two miles to school across town. She states that walking through town required hyperviligance that "you don't step on land bombs." After her parents and other families appeared before the school board to ask for transportation, they reassigned the complainants to white schools closer to their homes. Carlton felt unprepared for the pain and hostility she experienced when she was reassigned to Central School downtown for 1963 and 1964 school years. As integration went on, Carlton says, "the atmosphere was never truly welcoming."
Carol Largent attended Mountain View Elementary School from kindergarten to fourth grade. In 1965, she was moved to Hillcrest Elementary, a formerly all-white school, for fourth grade. She was raised by a single mother who worked as a domestic laborer, cooking, cleaning, and catering. She grew up in a small neighborhood on a gravel road surrounded by her large extended family. Even though Hillcrest was the school closest to her home, she had never seen it. As a child, all she knew about desegregation was it meant going to a different school, a school she had never seen. She recalls her uncle "piling all of us in the car and driving us over to Hillcrest so we could see the school."
At the age of fourteen, Carol Poole attended the newly formed West Concord School, a desegregated school for ninth graders in the same buildings that a year prior housed Olive Hill High School, the historically Black high school. Poole describes support from friends, teachers, guidance counselors, and her church. She credits Black teachers with preparing students for the coming challenges of desegregation.
In 1966 at the age of six, Charles McKesson attended desegregated Hillcrest Elementary School. He shares about a formative experience with his grandfather, Daddy Charlie, when court decisions mandating desegregation were announced on the evening news. McKesson speaks about his parents and family fighting for their children to be treated as equal and his grandmother's lesson, "There's no such word as can't."
Diann Thomas Tate attended Olive Hill High School for three years and was transferred to Morganton High School her senior year due to desegregation and Olive Hill's closure. Her brother, Eugene Thomas, was one of the first Black students to graduate from Morganton High School in 1965. Tate describes the sadness and fear her and her classmates felt upon learning they would not graduate from Olive Hill and they would be sent to separate, desegregated high schools throughout the county. Tate's mother, Laura Thomas, was one of the West Concord Mothers. She worked for the superintendent and advocated for her son to attend Morganton High School in 1964. Tate describes how students dropped out due to desegregation and the impact of the loss of Black teachers. She states, "The teachers we had at Olive Hill were not just teachers, but they were people that lived in our communities." Tate talks about the differences in quality of resources like textbooks, uniforms, and libraries. She recalls taking part in sit-ins and protests with the NAACP advocating for desegregation of the Collett Street Recreation Center.
Doris Anne Luck Fullwood taught biology, math, and physical education during desegregation. She grew up in Asheboro in Randolph County and attended segregated schools. She went to an all-women's college and accepted a position at Olive Hill High School in Morganton as her first teaching job. After desegregation and the closure of Olive Hill High School, Fullwood was one of the few Black teachers retained by the school system. When Freedom High School opened in 1973 or 1974, Fullwood became Chair of the Biology department where she wrote the curriculum, developed workshops, managed the budget, and supervised faculty.
Gary Harbison attended Mountain View Elementary, a segregated elementary school. At age 14, he desegregated Morganton Junior High School. He fondly remembers growing up in his community and Mountain View Recreation Center being an important gathering place to play sports, hold dances, swim, meet people from other cities like Gastonia. Harbison speaks about the difficulties and pain of desegregation and details the 1968 student walkout. Harbison was part of efforts to honor the West Concord Mothers who organized for transportation and achieved the pilot desegregation program for their children. He facilitated a Black History Month event at New Day Christian and asked the surviving Mothers and their children to speak. He also worked with Dr. Leslie McKesson to install a historical marker at Slades Chapel AME Church downtown to honor the Mothers.
Nancy Phifer was in eighth grade at Morganton Junior High School at the start of desegregation. She recalls the way white administrators assigned one Black student per class as a way to separate them from each other and how isolating that was for her classmates. Phifer does not recall any preparations or conversations in her family or school to get ready for desegregation. Phifer discusses the opening of a school in Hickory called North State Academy, which was for white families to avoid integration. Families would meet in the First Baptist Church parking lot for their children to board the bus to Hickory--"they didn't mind that busing." Phifer shares two memories about Olive Hill High School traditions that Coach McIntosh brought to Morganton High School, including an award recognizing the smartest students and students dressing up on Mondays. As a white student, Phifer recalls being unaware of the realities of her Black peers and the work of the NAACP.
Pam Andrews is a white student who attended Morganton High School before and during desegregation. She felt during her time in high school, she and her classmates did not include or treat Black students the same way they treated each other. She did not invite Black classmates to her home. She played on the championship winning women's basketball team and believes sports were a unifying force during desegregation.
In third grade, Rita Rankin was transferred from McAlpine Elementary, the segregated Black school, to Glen Alpine Elementary, the formerly all-white school. Rankin recalls segregated water foundations in downtown Morganton and the impact these experiences and the erasure of this history through courthouse square renovations and the presence of the Confederate statue has had on her. She discusses losing a close childhood friend when her friend's father prohibited an interracial friendship. Rankin describes the sense of community at McAlpine Elementary School and seeing Black adults in professional roles that she no longer saw them in after desegregation, and the loss of cultural nourishment when she was transferred to Glen Alpine Elementary--"it was like going from home to a strange land." Rankin's mother visited her children's schools to advocate for better treatment on several occassions after they were abused and humiliated by teachers. She describes differences in desegregation between Glen Alpine and Morganton. Rankin credits her family, parents, NAACP, church, and the Black community with providing support and advocacy during this time.
Ruth Roseboro was one of the first 28 African American students to desegregate a previously all-white school in Morganton, North Carolina when she was 10 years old. She had mixed feelings about desegregation, uncertain of what to expect but with an adventurous spirit. Her parents supported integration for the overall good. Roseboro faced discrimination and insensitive comments from some of her new white peers, but was able to form new friendships over time. After desegregation, Roseboro felt the sense of community was lost, as African American teachers were displaced and extracurricular activities became segregated. Roseboro and other Black students staged a walkout protest at their high school to push back against how Black students were only allowed to participate in sports, not other activities. Roseboro's experiences with desegregation shaped her as an adult, sometimes making her feel less than despite her abilities, but also leading her to a career in human services and community activism.
In 1964, Tommy Carpenter transferred to a formerly all-white school, Glen Alpine. He felt numb and confused learning he would attend a desegregated school. Memories from riding segregated buses stand out to him and how ingrained the expectations were that Black people would go straight to the back or would give up their seat for a white person. Carpenter and Elias Bryant desegregated Hush Puppy Fish Camp by eating dinner with their agriculture club after winning a competition. Their teacher told them not to attend, but Bryant refused. He picked up Carpenter from his home and said, "Let's go die together." Carpenter speaks about how desegregation closed Black schools and led to a profound loss of community and pride.

2025
Rev. Dr. Charlene Forney Hemphill is the daughter of Mrs. Ruth Forney, one of the West Concord Mothers. Hemphill provided this written impact statement as her testimony to the Children of the Struggle digital archive.