CDHD: Durham’s Cultural History and Heritage Experience

This book narrates of Durham’s history through the intertwined stories of two figures: Ann Atwater, a civil rights activist, and C.P. Ellis, a local leader of the Ku Klux Klan. It’s a powerful story of how the two came to recognize their commonalities and became friends. If you want to read one book about the complex interplay of race and social class in Durham, this should be it.

Thoughtful exploration of a shooting in nearby Oxford NC that explores the history of race relations in North Carolina, with significant attention given to the Wilmington “race riot” of 1918.

History of Duke School of Medicine, more lively and controversial than the typical “official” history.

Lively telling of the truth and mythology surrounding the dead of the great African American blood bank pioneer in Alamance County in the early 1950s.

Tells Durham’s civil rights history focusing on the contributions of African American women.

One of Durham’s most famous citizens, a lawyer, and pioneer for civil rights and feminism who worked alongside the likes of Thurgood Marshall and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Murray is fascinating on many levels (poet, LGBTQ identity, first ordained African American woman priest in the Episcopal church)—and writes beautifully.

The story of a “secret” game between the Duke School of Medicine squad and the NC Central’s groundbreaking team, set against the history of Duke and Durham in the Jim Crow Era.

One of Durham’s most famous citizens, a lawyer, and pioneer for civil rights and feminism who worked alongside the likes of Thurgood Marshall and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Murray is fascinating on many levels (poet, LGBTQ identity, first ordained African American woman priest in the Episcopal church)—and writes beautifully.

Excellent account of how African Americans in Durham worked across lines of race, gender, and social class to challenge the barriers of segregation in the early 20th century.