Audio Archive

GHS Meeting of February 25, 1986

Discussion of Education, Recreation and Other Topics

This is an audio recording made during a meeting of the Greensboro Historical Society on February 25, 1986.  The meeting was at the home of Lora & Bernie Atherton on Gebbie Road.  Present were Wilhelmina Smith (moderator), Lora and Bernie Atherton, Ida Perron, Robert Wilson and others yet to be identified.  The meeting was recorded on audio cassettes.  There are three cassettes, giving six mp3 audio files (one file per side).

The recordings were evidently done by simply placing a cassette recorder amidst the participants.  The resultant audio quality ranges from good to poor.  Multiple conversations are frequently heard along with occasional unintelligible background chatter.  The main theme of conversation was education in the old days.  Conversation topics included recreation by children and teens, standards of personal behavior for teachers, the French language, immigration, the various locations of schoolhouses, who the teachers were, where participants went to school and where they taught, political parties, barn raisings, barn dances,corn shucking, radio shows, Black power issues, holiday activities, winter weather, midwifery, found objects, and stamp collecting.

In spite of some audio quality issues, there are many gems to be found in the recordings.  Of particular historical value are the names and places mentioned and explained by the participants.

Listen to the unedited six sides by clicking on the links below: