Swann Talk

Many Charlotte institutions marked the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Swann ruling with discussions of the past, present and future of education here in Charlotte. On April 20, the Levine Museum of the New South sponsored a program with myself, former CMS school board chairman and present-day education activist Arthur Griffin, and historian and longtime Charlotte Observer education reporter Frye Gaillard, author of The Dream Long Deferred: The Landmark Struggle for Education in Charlotte, North Carolina.

It was a marvelous evening. The video is available here.

Two days later, we resumed the discussion on Charlotte Talks with Arthur Griffin and Julius Chambers’ law partner James Ferguson II. WFAE dug up some amazing historical sound clips, including Chambers arguing Swann before the Supreme Court, and an exchange between Justice Thurgood Marshall and Solicitor General Erwin Griswold. Thanks Mike Collins and the WFAE team! You can listen here.

We hear Julius Chambers before the Supreme Court at 15:44 and Thurgood Marshall at 19:30. In this section of the broadcast – 15:44 to 22:59 – the combination of these historic recordings with James Ferguson’s recollection of that day is just extraordinary. So worth the time to listen.