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Object Description
Interview no. | L-0289 |
Restrictions | No restrictions. Open to research. |
Project | L.2. University of North Carolina: Anne Queen and the Campus Y |
Project description | Interviews, 1990-2010, about the Campus Y and Anne Queen, its director, 1964-1975. The Campus Y, a student organization founded in 1859, was active in integrating the University of North Carolina's undergraduate program, the local civil rights movement, Vietnam War protests, overturning the Speaker Ban Law, the Foodworkers' Strikes of 1969 and 1970, anti-apartheid work, and other major social movements. Interviewees include former Y student leaders, alumni, staff, and University administrators, who focus on the significance of the Y, with reflections on social movements, the development of social consciousness, staff support, student leadership and community, and work in post-college life. |
Date | December 10 2009 |
Interviewee | Medford, James A. |
Interviewee occupation | Attorneys |
Interviewee DOB | Unknown |
Interviewee ethnicity | Whites |
Interviewer | Vaughan, Hudson. |
Abstract | In this interview, Jim Medford, Campus Y Co-President from 1964 to 1965, shares his extensive memories and involvement in the Campus Y and the influence it has had on his life. Medford was family friends with Campus Y Director Anne Queen, and tells how he was introduced to the Y at Freshman Camp. As a sophomore, he was asked to take over the Model UN on campus. Medford confesses he was not aware of the social unrest of the times, but learned about the Speaker Ban through his work at the Y and quickly became involved. He discusses the Speaker Ban at great length: the planning, strategizing, and organizing to overturn it. Medford was one of the main student challengers of the Speaker Ban, working with the chief of campus security and Herbert Aptheker to set up the case. The Campus Y was a catalyst for Medford and many other students' involvement in issues of social justice, such as the Speaker Ban, the 1969 Food Workers' Strike, and civil rights. Medford talks about his growing up in the mountains and how his understanding of race changed in Chapel Hill. He discusses Anne Queen and her facilitation of a diverse community around the Y. The Y had a Scholarship Information Center in the mid-1960s, which he says played a crucial role in information campaigns to African Americans about access to higher education. The Campus Y was fairly controversial among faculty at the time, and the professors involved worked closely with students. The Y staff strongly influenced Medford’s life. He discusses life after college as a lawyer and some of the cases he is most proud of, as well as the ways he has maintained his Campus Y roots in social justice. |
Citation | Interview with [interviewee name] by [interviewer name], [interview date] [interview number], in the Southern Oral History Program Database |
Description
Interview no. | L0289_Audio |