Hillsborough Street

Hillsborough Street in the 1960s was superimposed with strict racial and cultural norms. As establishments gradually crossed the color line, Hillsborough was often the site for protestation and demonstration. Therefore, after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the 82nd sent a strong message of order on the long throughfare to the state capital.

Hillsborough Street, the northern border of NC State, was a vital component of student life. Restaurants, bars, bowling alleys, and movie theaters beckoned students craving a study break. However, black and international students of the 1960s remained wary of the bustling thoroughfare. In a 1961 letter to the Technician editor, a student wrote, "The main point of concern in this issue is the fact that during the holidays the foreign students have nowhere to eat that is near campus. Also they and the Negro students are deprived of the opportunity to see any special films at the Varsity."[1] On January 8, 1962, a poll corraborated those concerns, revealing that only three of seven restaurants regularly served food to black customers.[2] Absolutely no beer parlors served black students and the entire Varsity chain of theaters had a strict segregationist policy.[3] In the early 1960s, Hillsborough Street remained laregly off limits for black and international students. 

However, a follow-up article in 1963 displayed distinct flashes of resistance. The owner of the Cross Roads Tavern lamented, "This summer two Negroes walked up to the bar and gave their orders. A white State College student in the back of the room recognized one of the Negroes as having been in one of his classes in school and came up to the bar. The bartender assumed the order was to be taken out, but the white boy invited the Negroes to join him and some friends at the table. When those three sat down, everybody else in the place got up and left. Those two Negroes and the couple of white boys they were with were the only guys in the place!"[4] Students on Hillsborough began to test the color line.

Yet, it was not until 1965 that students began actively renegotiating strict segregationist laws on Hillsborough. For example, students excitably gathered and picketed the Gateway Restaurant's racial policies. Bobby Wilder, owner of the Gateway, publicly defended his decision and claimed, "Many people, most of whom are students say that if I begin serving Negroes, they will no longer patronize the Gateway anymore."[5] However, Wilder did offer a concession, "I have two places on the same block. In order to satisfy people, whether they be for or against integration, I integrated the Huddle, while the Gateway remained segregated. This was done in order to give people a choice. This was explained to several of the Negro visitors, and they would not accept this. Due to this attitude I refused service at the Huddle, too."[6]  The Gateway and the Huddle restaurants' evolving racial policies exemplify the constantly-changing color line that blacks had to keep note of every day. Communication was essential to the black community, as it purposefully avoided or confronted hostile public environments.

The Gateway's policies were nowhere near as complicated as those enforced by Fred Flethcher, the Jolly Knave's proprietor. In February 1968, students protested the Fletchers' decision to make the Jolly Knave a private club rather than integrate the establishment. Students picketed outside the club holding signs that read, "Give us Fletcher on a Stretcher!" and "America, land of white opportunity," while several blacks students entered the Jolly Knave and requested membership application forms.[7] The black students sat at a table and quietly filled out their forms. As they left, they noticed a waiter quickly disinfect the table and chairs in which they were sitting. Shortly thereafter, a white protester entered the club and, without a membership card, was served immediately.[8] The Good Neighbor Council heard of the protest and actively interviewed all major players involved. Slowly but surely, the GNC gained black students' respect. 

Hillsborough Street, 1970s

The Good Neighbor Council witnessed the street demonstration and read the article the next day and decided to act. Immediately, the GNC contacted the Fletchers and asked for their comment on the story.[9] The manager commented that club membership was highly selective and was not solely based on race.[10] The Fletchers argued that the black students approached the integration topic in the wrong way. Had the black students entered the establishment and asked for inclusion, they would have allowed membership. The Fletchers claimed that actions by black students left them no other choice but to enforce segregationist policies.[11]

Just by a simple investigation of Hillsborough establishments, one can glean key social patterns surrounding the NC State campus. White owners consistently blamed their segregationist policies on black patrons. If black students were more friendly, reserved, or grateful, then, perhaps, they would be allowed in their respective establishments. However, the conversation always began with exclusion. Blacks were not simply forbidden from white establishments, their exclusion signified white dominance. Therefore, in order to integrate an establishment, the white patrons must allow the change or the black customers must appear amenable. Even though the Gateway, the Huddle, the Varsity, and the Jolly Knave were simple disputes over service, they symbolized a negotiation of entrenched racial norms.