Jacobs, Sol Max

Description

This oral history interview conducted by Scott Ellsworth circa December, 1977, with Sol Jacobs primarily documents Jacobs' involvement in civil rights efforts in the sixties as the operator of Jay's Deli in Greensboro, North Carolina. Jacobs provides an overview of his life before moving to Greensboro, and particularly his experience leading an integrated army unit during WWII. On race relations in Greensboro in the 1950s, he discusses his restaurant serving as a meeting place; Superintendent Ben Smith's and public reaction to the Brown v. Board of Education decision; attending a school board meeting and accidentally sitting with the Ku Klux Klan; and leaving the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce because they took no real action. Jacobs also discusses some of the events of the 1960s, including having his restaurant "tested" by black protesters, mayor David Schenck meeting with restaurant operators in 1963; Jacob's suggestion that Friendly Center merchants run an ad declaring non-discrimination practices in all stores; Boyd Morris losing business at the Mayfair Cafeteria; his impressions of Ralph Johns, Dr. George Simkins, Nelson Johnson, Hal Sieber, and the Chamber of Commerce; and efforts to reform city government representation with a ward system.

Record Contributed By

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Record Harvested From

North Carolina Digital Heritage Center