CARRBORO, NC -- The Town of Carrboro expresses its deepest sympathy following the recent death of former Town Alderman Hilliard Caldwell.
Caldwell was a pivotal figure who advocated for and participated in the desegregation of schools in Carrboro and Chapel Hill during the Civil Rights Movement. He organized sit-ins and was arrested for protesting. Caldwell later served as a liaison for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools' integration process and is recognized for his contributions to public service in the community.
He served four terms (1981-1997) on the Town of Carrboro Board of Aldermen.
“The Town of Carrboro will remember Hilliard Caldwell for his service to the community, for his courage and dedication, and for laying the foundation for an inclusive community,” said Mayor Barbara Foushee.
When Caldwell was 23 years old in 1960, he was working as a UNC employee when he acted as an advisor to Lincoln High School students who organized the first sit-ins at Colonial Drug on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill. Caldwell also served on the executive committee for the Chapel-Hill Carrboro Committee for Racial Equality.
Through an oral history interview with the Marian Cheek Jackson Center, Caldwell discussed the relationship he had to younger and older generations of Black residents who had some opposing views on race relations. While older generations believed prayer was the best solution, some young people believed in rebellion and active protest to address concerns. Caldwell acted as a mediator to those generations. While he believed in prayer and viewed the church as a place of grounding, for prayer and “renewed hope,” Caldwell also encouraged protestors to march and conduct sit-ins. These more active forms of protest were ultimately the turning point of the movement and encouraged much of the changes which are evident today.
For The Chapel Hill Newspaper in 1981, Caldwell stated that he was a 1956 graduate of Lincoln High School where he served as student body president, attended NC Central University, and received professional certifications from Durham Technical Institute and UNC-Chapel Hill. He was the first Black PTA president for the Carrboro School, He served as president of the NC Association of School Social Services Personnel, and was on the Board of Directors for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA and the Inter-Faith Council. He was a member of the St. Joseph C.M.E Church.
Hilliard Caldwell was born on Feb. 26, 1937.
Thank you to the Marian Cheek Jackson Center for the oral history posted at https://fromtherockwall.org/oral-histories/hilliard-caldwell-on-the-african-american-freedom-struggle-and-civil-rights-movement-in-chapel-hill-interview
Photos:
- Portraits of Hilliard Caldwell published courtesy of UNC-Chapel Hill Wilson Special Collections Library.
- Photo by Jim Wallace, “Hilliard Caldwell,” From the Rock Wall: https://fromtherockwall.org/images/hilliard-caldwell-2.
- From newspaper clippings, portrait of Hilliard Caldwell published in The Chapel Hill Newspaper (Nov. 1, 1981) when he a candidate for Carrboro Board of Alderman. Celebrating an election win photo from The Daily Tar Heel (Nov. 4, 1981) and accompanying story “ABC (Association for a Better Carrboro) sweeps alderman’s race.”
