As time passes we are losing the stories and experiences of the Guilford area's residents that lived in the era of segregation in our schools and in our society. We would like to interview as many Guilford area "seniors" as we can.
If you grew up in the Guilford community and would like to share your story, regardless of your background, please let us know. We would like this collection to be as inclusive as possible. For now, we are doing these oral history interviews online via Zoom, and are always looking for folks to help with minor edits of the videos to remove extraneous clips and provide a nice title page. Hope to hear from some of you!!
Please visit our YouTube Channel Playlist to view the interviews conducted to date and more.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAbMpztYf2jvtaMNxJD0NaBOCjVCKkwt
Original Guilford Oral History Interview of Mrs. Naomi Carter
This oral history interview is with Mrs. Naomi Frances Carter who was the wife of Junius Eugene Carter of Guilford. She was the daughter-in-law of Samuel and Nora Carter, and she often referred to her father-in-law as "pops". Samuel Carter was the son of Willis Carter, the founder of the First Baptist Church of Guilford. Mrs. Carter lived in Guilford for several decades. https://youtu.be/te_FPCLxDMw
Oral History Interviews with Guilford's Mrs. Beaula Moore
Mrs. Beaula Moore has lived in Guilford since the 1940s. She remembered when they were simply living on the old dirt road called route 32 and getting piano lessons from Mrs. Dora Mack Carter. In the 1960s, Guilford residents wondered if the town would even survive or if Guilford Elementary School would stay open. Ms. Beaula Moore, with others, lead the battle to reclaim Guilford and maintain its stability in those uncertain times.
Here is a link to her October 2020 interview conducted by the wonderful Mrs. Joan Carter Smith. https://youtu.be/CwpBQEh3vH8
Here is a link to an Oral history interview with Reverend Samuel Moore and his wife Beaula in 1988. https://youtu.be/0MlDMGJopFM
This is a recent link to a news interview recognizing Miss Beaula's 97th Birthday on June 2, 2021! https://www.facebook.com/TrafficJa.../videos/391300348802219
Oral History Interview with Guilford's civil rights leader and activist Leola Dorsey!https://youtu.be/PvVE82TEQxQ
Also see the Leola Dorsey Community Resource Center opening in 2017 by County Exec Alan Kittleman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWgSjb-lyK4
The Black Experience in Howard County - Word of Mouth
https://youtu.be/q7om8yQMfFw
This documentary is based on the 1986 documentation for "History of Blacks in Howard County: Oral History, Schooling, and Contemporary Issues" by Alice Cornelison, Silas E. Craft, Sr and Lillie Price.
See the Oral History Interviews from 1988 for Alice Cornelison and Lillie Price.