Interviewee: Rev. Dr. Lycurgus R. Harrell
Interviewer: Alexa Speller
Place of Interview: Sandy Branch Missionary Baptist Church
Date and Time: April 3, 2014 6:00 p.m.
Description:
Born June 22, 1942 in Gatesville, North Carolina to the late Floyd Harrell and Fannie Riddick Harrell Vinson, Rev. Dr. Lycurgus R. Harrell is a community leader, spiritual advisor, and a true man of God. A graduate of Buckland High School in Gates, North Carolina, Dr. Harrell attended Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, New York University in New York City, New York, and Elizabeth City State University in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.
During the heydays of the Civil Rights Movement, late 1950s-late 1960s, Rev. Harrell was living in the state of New York. The interview provides interesting details of one’s experience from growing up in the North to moving to the South and then back to the North. Although it may not focus on the movement’s heydays, his experiences fit into the Long Civil Rights Movement, which is classified as a movement that took root in the liberal and radical milieu of the late 1930s, accelerated with World War II, and stretches to the 1970s to include the North and South. His transition from North to South describes how the experiences of Jim Crow segregation transformed his daily routines, the way he had to operate through life, and robbed him of an honor that he deserved. One of the events of his participation that stands out to him is the March on Washington. The March on Washington was an effort to bring together people from all walks of life and varying parts of the country to march for jobs and freedom.
After the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Harrell continued his efforts to advance the state of his people. He returned to Gatesville, North Carolina and spread his passion of helping others across local, state, and national lines. Beginning in the late 1980s and continuing until December 2011, he worked for the State of North Carolina as an Advocate for children. In addition to this position, Dr. Harrell continued his work in civic and religious organizations such as the Happy Golden Club, the General Baptist State Convention, and the Hampton Ministers Conference. Currently, Rev. Harrell is the president of the Tri County Lott Carey Conference, Gates County Emergencies Ministries (GEMS), the Gates County Chapter of the NAACP, and the Rosa B. Riddick Alumni Chapter of Elizabeth City State University (ECSU). Aside from these civic and religious involvements, Rev. Harrell, takes much pride in being the pastor the Sandy Branch Missionary Baptist Church for the past 35 years.
Rev. Harrell is married to the former Carla Chavis. They reside in Gatesville, N.C. He is the proud father of four children, three of which preceded him in death.
As far as his thoughts for future generations, Dr. Harrell provides the following powerful words at the end of the interview: “Don’t allow no one to tell you, you can’t. Prove to yourself and others you can. Stop settling, become pioneers. It can be done. If George Washington Carver got over 33 products from a peanut, how many are in you? Guess what? You will never know until you try and see.”
Transcript: 
SPELLER: What was your childhood like?
REV. HARRELL: I had a very interesting childhood. I often tell people that I had two sets of parents. Starting out in Plainfield, New Jersey with my mother and father, then at the age of twelve went to live with my mother’s parents, “The Rev. and Mrs. Lycurgus Riddick,” in Gatesville, North Carolina. The transition from New Jersey to North Carolina was quite an adjustment that I had to make. In New Jersey you went or sat wherever your money allowed you to, while in Gatesville, North Carolina, Blacks were not able to go in here nor allowed to sit in there, in addition to the colored only and white only signs. Oh did I tell you Blacks had to walk to school while whites rode state funded buses that Black taxes help to buy but black children couldn’t ride.
SPELLER: What high-school, and post-secondary institution(s), did you attend?
REV. HARRELL: With the Lord on my side, I finished Buckland High School should have been valedictorian of my class. I was given 3rd place due to my skin color. Valedictorian was given to one that could have passed for white. Yes light skin and dark skin Blacks had that racial mess in them so it’s been a struggle but it made me determined to keep pushing. After Buckland High School days I landed at Shaw University Raleigh, NC and when I got what I needed from them at the time, I went to New York City, N.Y.
SPELLER: How did you become involved with the Civil Rights Movement:
REV. HARRELL: I went to New York City, N.Y. and whenever the opportunity presented itself where I could leave I took advantage of it. I had an aunt that was a professor at Jersey City State University and she introduced me to many programs and classes. I even studied at New York University and went to a lot of Civic Meetings. I even joined the Urban League. It was then I became interested in the Civil Rights Movement.
SPELLER: What are some particular events of the Movement that left a life-long impression on you and why?
REV. HARRELL: I’ll never forget the March on Washington 1963. The walking I did that day and the crowd of people, never had seen so many gathered together at one time for a coming together to better the people.
SPELLER: In your opinion, how much progress, or the lack thereof, has the African American community made since the Civil Rights Movement?
REV. HARRELL: It’s a shame all the marching, singing, dog biting, bombing and killing, racial hate is still alive. Can I blame it all on the white man? No. He can’t ride your back. If only Blacks would stand up and stop selling themselves short. Back then they were singing take it to the street, how we need to take it to the minds of growing ones. Progress will never be made until one educate themselves to play the man’s game and let me tell you, dreadlocks and sagging pants aren’t the answer. Education is the key, or ticket, out of poverty and into the world that was designed to benefit all mankind. Stop driving the bus and own the bus or buses.
SPELLER: What thoughts do you have for current and future generations regarding the Civil Rights Movement and where the African American community needs to go and grow from the present point?
REV. HARRELL: My words for the future generation are its up to you. Don’t allow no one to tell you, you can’t. Prove to yourself and others you can. Stop settling, become pioneers. It can be done. If George Washington Carver got over 33 products from a peanut, how many are in you? Guess what? You will never know until you try and see. I tried and did some things.
- I worked with the Urban League.
- I worked with the Jaycees.
- I was nominated as one of the five outstanding young men of North Carolina by the Jaycees.
- I am a full time pastor of a Baptist Church, same one for the past thirty five years.
- I am the president of the District Lott Carey.
- I am the president of the Gates County Emergency Ministries (GEMS).
- I am president of the Gates County NAACP chapter.
- I am president of the Rosa B. Riddick Alumni Chapter of Elizabeth City State University (ECSU)
SPELLER: Is there anything else you would like to add?
REV. HARRELL: Reach for the most out of life. Stay focused. Don’t settle for the leftovers.
SUGGESTED READINGS
Adina Black, “Exposing the ‘Whole Segregation Myth,” The Harlem Nine and New York City’s School Desegregation Battles,” Freedom North: Black Freedom Struggles Outside the South, 1940-1980. Edited by Jeanne F. Theoharis and Komozi Woodard (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003), 65-91.
Barbara Ransby, Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2003).
Interview with Rev. Dr. Lycurgus R. Harrell for HIST 494
Jacquelyn Dowd Hall, “The Long Civil Rights Movement and the Political Uses of the Past,” Journal of American History 91, no. 4 (March 2005): 1233-1263.
Komozi Woodward, “It’s Nation Time in NewArk: Amiri Baraka and the Black Power Experiment in Newark, New Jersey,” Freedom North: Black Freedom Struggles Outside the South, 1940-1980. Edited by Jeanne F. Theoharis and Komozi Woodard (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003), 287-311.
Leslie Brown, Upbuilding Black Durham: Gender, Class, and Black Community Development in the Jim Crow South (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2008), 285-330.