Much of North Carolina Central University’s School of Law archives are boxed up inside a storage closet in the back of the library, but won’t be for long.
Professor Nichelle Perry has taken up digitizing the original documents, which date back to the 1940s, calling it a passion project.
“They need to be preserved, but they also need to be shared. We need to show our history,” said Perry, who is also director of the law library. “The name of the school then was the North Carolina College for Negroes. I think we forget that, but that’s where we came from.”
There are only six HBCU Law Schools and
North Carolina Central University
is part of that small group. Perry is passionate about making sure students know the university’s history.
“The whole reason why we are in existence, and this is a painful truth, is we weren’t allowed to attend UNC Chapel Hill. There was a strict no-admissions policy for African Americans,” she said.
Robert Bond was the first student to enroll in the law program in 1939 and among the first to graduate. By the year 1960, the program’s enrollment numbers increased. The North Carolina Board of Higher Education recommended phasing out the law school. The board argued the move could save money if Black enrollment at UNC Chapel Hill was increased. Campaigns were launched in response to the recommendation and the school remained.