West Southern Pines was one of the first incorporated African American towns in North Carolina. From 1923 to 1931, the town operated with its own mayor, city council, and municipal services. In early 2017 the Southern Oral History Program (SOHP) completed processing a group of twenty-six interviews conducted by Nancy Mason, an oral historian for the Town of Southern Pines.

The SOHP’s digital exhibit based on the West Southern Pines interviews features audio clips and photos and explores residents’ memories of West Southern Pines. The exhibit also reflects on how interviewees remembered differences between the era of an independently chartered Black town, and after 1931, when West Southern Pines was annexed into the majority white town of Southern Pines.

Visit the West Southern Pines digital exhibit

(Should go to: https://sohp.org/digital-exhibits/west-southern-pines-n-c/)

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