Boycott Flyer - 1963

     During the Civil Rights era, public places like restaurants, stores, water fountains, and movie theaters were segregated.  One way to protest segregation in public places is to boycott them.  To boycott a business means to stop attending or buying products from a business.  When somebody boycotts a business, they hope that the business will lose money because people no longer go there.  If the business loses money it will close down.  To make sure this does not happen, they will be willing to do what the group of people wants so that people will start going there or shopping there again.  During the Civil Rights Movement, people boycotted buses, restaurants, stores, and other businesses in order to force them to integrate. This flyer from Durham in 1963 encourages people to boycott certain stores.

Courtesy of the Southern Historical Collection   

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT?

In Durham, there were many clothing stores that would allow African-Americans to shop there, but it was not in an equal way.  Sometimes, African-Americans had to enter the store through the back entrance instead of the front and many times they were not allowed to work at the stores.  One of the most frustrating things about the stores is that they would not allow blacks to work there.  When you look at the flyer, notice the reasons the people gave for boycotting the store.  The stores wanted African-Americans to spend their money there, but would not allow them to earn any money there.  That’s not right!  So, a group of people in Durham decided to boycott the stores that did not allow blacks to work there.  They created a flyer that named the stores they were going to boycott.  Some of the stores they boycotted are still around today.  As the boycott continued, stores slowly began to integrate and allow blacks to work there.  As they were integrated, they crossed the name of the store off of the list.

QUESTIONS…

1. Do you recognize any of the stores they boycotted in Durham? Which ones?
2. If African-Americans were allowed to shop at these stores, why do you think it was so important that they had the right to work there? 
3. During the boycott, do you think it was difficult not to shop at certain stores? Where do you think the boycotters shopped during this time?

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Courtesy of the Sourthern Historical Collection 

        (1962)

From UNC Libraries Clipping File "Negroes in North Carolina" Volume 3

These two pieces of information show how much equality was needed in jobs for African-Americans.  In the sheet titled "Whose Taxes?" we see that out of 9,209 people who work for the Highway Department, only 352 are black.  That's not a lot!  And the newspaper title that follows that sheet, shows how more black police officers were needed.

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Duke University Job Protests 

1961 - 1968

                         250 protest on April 19, 1967                                                              Oliver Harvey, April 1967

          Courtesy of the Durham Civil Rights Heritage Project                       Courtesy of the Durham Civil Rights Heritage Project

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT?

In the early 1960’s, twice as many African-Americans did not have jobs as white Americans. When blacks could find jobs, they were treated unfairly and unequally many times.  This was the case with many blacks in Durham, as well.  For example, in public schools in Durham, black cafeteria workers earned $0.57 per hour instead of the national minimum hourly pay of $1.25. Also, at Duke University a worker named Oliver Harvey gathered people to protest the unfair pay they received, demand better medical care, and promote the hiring of more blacks.  These different groups of blacks banded together to picket, boycott, and protest in order to receive the equal rights in jobs that every American deserves.  In the picture on the left, women who work at Duke University in the cafeteria and as housekeepers picket on the University’s campus for equality.  In the picture on the right, Oliver Henry and a supporter spread the news about the equality they were fighting for.

QUESTIONS…

1. What did those protesting at Duke and in Durham want?  Why was this so important to them?
2. Duke University is a college campus, so when people protested on the campus, there were many college students around.  How do you think the protests affected the college students and the way they thought about segregation and inequality?