Researching the Greensboro Massacre at Wilson Library: Published Sources
What is on this page?
This page compiles a selection of secondary-source books, articles, theses, and master's papers written about the Greensboro Massacre and the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation, as well as other relevant historical background. Books linked here direct to the UNC-CH Libraries catalog, but many can be found in other places as well. Additionally, this section includes information about audiovisual records of the Greensboro Massacre, including several documentaries and recorded interviews with survivors.
Monographs - the Greensboro Massacre
Codename Greenkil by ISBN: 9780820331485Publication Date: 2009-09-21Elizabeth Wheaton’s book follows the events of the Greensboro Massacre and the trials that followed the 1979 attack, examining the historical background and causes of this event, as well as its aftermath for survivors and Greensboro community members. Wheaton was present for several of the trials following the massacre.
Love and Revolution by ISBN: 0742513653Publication Date: 2002-10-09Signe Waller's memoir provides her recollections of the events leading up to the Greensboro Massacre, in which her husband, James Waller, was killed. This book provides information about the organizing work of the WVO / CWP, the legal trials spanning from 1980 to 1985, and complicity of various federal and local law enforcement agencies. Additionally, Waller provides reflections on the broader organizing climate in the Piedmont in the seventies and eighties and the historical impact of this event in the following decades.
Through Survivors' Eyes by ISBN: 0826514383Publication Date: 2003-09-01Through Survivors' Eyes provides reflections from several survivors of the 1979 Greensboro Massacre on the buildup and aftermath of the massacre, and the political context out of which this event occurred. Survivors interviewed for this book include Willena Cannon, Nelson Johnson, Paul Bermanzohn, and Marty Nathan.
Bring the War Home by ISBN: 9780674286078Publication Date: 2018-04-09In Bring the War Home, Kathleen Belew overviews transformations of white power organizing in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s. These shifting organizing strategies formed around a sense of betrayal in the Vietnam War, and culminated in the events of Waco, Ruby Ridge, and with the Oklahoma City bombing. Chapter three, "A Unified Movement," focuses on the Greensboro Massacre and coalition building among disparate white supremacist groups during this period of U.S. history.
It Did Happen Here by ISBN: 0520065085Publication Date: 1989-01-01This book compiles oral histories of victims of political repression in the United States, with a focus on the period from the sixties to the eighties. The chapter interviewing Paul Bermanzohn includes information about the Greensboro Massacre and its aftermath for survivors.
Monographs - Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Democracy, Dialogue, and Community Action by ISBN: 9781557289919Publication Date: 2012-11-30The Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission was active from 2004 to 2006. Over the course of two years, the Greensboro TRC gathered public testimony and examined the causes and consequences of the massacre. This book presents a case study of the TRC process in Greensboro, and its significance as the first TRC to be carried out in the United States. Additionally, this book examines the motivations and goals of the commission, and its work to reconcile divergent understandings of this history in contemporary Greensboro.
Remaking Transitional Justice in the United States by ISBN: 9781461452942Publication Date: 2012-11-10This book analyzes the rhetoric of the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the broader field of transitional justice and its rhetorical tradition. This case study offers insights into the development of transitional justice in the United States and in grassroots contexts in other liberal democracies.- Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission Final Report byCall Number: C971.41 G81g11 v.1Publication Date: 2006The final report of the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission presents findings of the commission and suggests institutional reforms to establish greater clarity about the events of that day. This report compiles information about the causes and results of the massacre on November 3 gathered through witness testimony. The findings were shared with the Greensboro community upon completion of the TRC process in 2006.
Southern Exposure coverage of the massacre and trials
Braden, Ann. "Lessons from a History of Struggle." Southern Exposure 8 no. 2. 1980.
Recently 10,000 people, black and white, marched in Greensboro, North Carolina to say “no” to the Ku Klux Klan and racism. They came to express outrage at the massacre of five anti-Klan demonstrators by Klansmen and Nazis in Greensboro on November 3, 1979. The murders took place on the street, in broad daylight, in front of TV cameras — a new level of open racist terror in America. More and more people now recognize the Klan resurgence cannot be written off as a lunatic fringe, and that we must organize to stop it. The Greensboro demonstration was called by the National Anti-Klan Network, a coalition that emerged from meetings organized in late 1979 by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO). The coalition is attracting broad support — church groups, trade unionists, community activists, representatives of the political left. More than 300 organizations co-sponsored the Greensboro action.
Bryant, Pat. "Justice vs. the Movement." Southern Exposure 8 no. 2. 1980.
Wheaton, Elizabeth. "The Third of November." Southern Exposure 9 no. 3. 1981.
"November 3 killers back on trial." Southern Exposure 12 no. 2. 1984.
"CWP private suit is last hope for justice." Southern Exposure 12 no. 4. 1984.
Holmbeck, Paul. "Mixed verdict in Klan-Nazi trial." Southern Exposure 13 no. 4. 1985.
Audiovisual materials
Documentaries
Arts and Entertainment Network. History's Mysteries: the Greensboro Massacre. New York, NY: Films Media Group. 2000.
Morowitz, Noah and Bill Brummel. Lawbreakers : The Greensboro Massacre. New York, NY: A & E Television Networks, 2008.
Rogers, Michael, Geoffrey Proud, Stephen Land, and Paul Winfield. Greensboro: clash with the Ku Klux Klan. New York: A & E Home Video. 2000.
Zucker, Adam. Greensboro : closer to the truth. New York, NY: Filmakers Library : Longnook Pictures. 2007.
This documentary includes interviews with massacre survivors Signe Waller, Nelson Johnson, Marty Nathan, Willena Cannon, and Paul Bermanzohn, as well as the mayor of Greensboro at the time of the massacre, Jim Melvin. Additionally, Klansmen and Neo-Nazis that carried out the 1979 attack are featured, including Virgil Griffin, Gorrell Pierce, and Roland Wayne Wood.
WGBH-Boston, 88 Seconds in Greensboro.
Originally aired on PBS Frontline on January 24, 1983. Written and narrated by James Reston, Jr.
- Audiocassettes
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Audiocassette 66: Communist Workers Party CWP-5 slideshow audio accompaniment, circa 1980: side 1 in the John Kenyon Chapman Papers (Collection 05441)
Subseries 6.1. Audio Recordings, 1975-1988 and undated in the Bob Hall Papers (Collection 05633)
Monographs - Relevant Historical Background Information
Organizing the Breathless by ISBN: 9780813151366Publication Date: 2014-07-15This book overviews the formation and dissolution of the Brown Lung Association (BLA), a grassroots workers advocacy organization founded in 1975. One of the victims of the Greensboro Massacre, James Waller, was involved in the formation of the BLA, and was active in BLA efforts of its Greensboro chapter in the mid-seventies. Botsch overviews the formation and dissolution of the BLA, and the legislative, administrative, and judicial lobbying that it carried out on behalf of disabled textile workers. This book is instructive in better understanding the context out of which the Greensboro Massacre occurred, and the impact of Reagan-era policies upon disabled workers in the South.
Civilities and Civil Rights by ISBN: 0195029194Publication Date: 1981-05-14This book studies the history of Black protest movements in Greensboro and the deployment of the notion of "civility" as a tactic to dismiss and repress Black political organizing. Chafe explores the various means by which Black activists in Greensboro asserted their political will and desire for freedom before and during the civil rights movement of the sixties, through student organizing, civil disobedience, and other methods.
The Wilmington Ten by ISBN: 9781469624839Publication Date: 2016-01-04In this book, Kenneth Janken overviews the case of the Wilmington Ten, and the larger history of Black Power and post-Civil Rights era political organizing in North Carolina. This book uses interviews, declassified government documents, and archival research, to examine the events of 1971 in Wilmington and the protest movement that overturned the convictions of the Ten in 1980. This book also overviews Black student organizing that was happening throughout North Carolina in the 1970s that is relevant to the Greensboro Massacre.
Suggested subject headings
African Americans -- North Carolina -- Greensboro
Civil rights workers -- North Carolina -- Greensboro
Greensboro Massacre, Greensboro, N.C., 1979
Greensboro (N.C.) -- Race relations
Intelligence service -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Ku Klux Klan (1915- ) -- North Carolina -- Greensboro -- History
United States. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms
Videos related to the Greensboro TRC
Shared by Triad Digital History Collections, this Youtube playlist provides footage of efforts of the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
This video, shared by UNC Greensboro Special Collections and University Archives, is the 20th Anniversary Commemoration of the Greensboro Massacre in November of 1999. The Greensboro TRC initiated in 2004 grew out of decades of commemorative efforts in the Greensboro community.
Theses, master's papers, and honors essays
“Friendly Folks in Robes”: White Nationalist Women and Organized Terror in the Triad, 1979 by Irene Newman. UNC-Chapel Hill, 2021.
The ‘Southern Way of Life’: North Carolina’s Ku Klux Klan of the 1960s and 1970s by Nico Wright. UNC-Chapel Hill, 2020.
A Study in Archival Collecting from Extremist Groups: An Investigation of Ku Klux Klan Holdings in the United States by Lynnwood Titchener. UNC-Chapel Hill, 2011.
See also
Shaun Assael and Peter Keating. "The Massacre that Spawned the Alt-Right." Politico, 2019.
Alisha Ebrahimji. "Decades after Klansmen killed 5 during protest, a North Carolina city’s apology comes too late for some." CNN, 2020.
Amanda Magnus and Frank Stasio. "Greensboro Massacre Survivor Responds To City’s Formal Apology." WUNC, 2020.
"Greensboro Massacre: City Apologizes 41 Years After Cops Allowed Klan, Nazis to Kill 5 Antiracists." Democracy Now, 2020.
Databases with relevant information
Databases provided through UNC University Libraries:
This collection focuses on race relations across social, political, cultural, and religious arenas; coverage is predominantly in Atlanta, Chicago, Brooklyn, and towns and cities in North Carolina. It includes pamphlets, periodicals, correspondence, official records and oral histories regarding integration, civil rights, and other subjects.
African American Newspapers, 1827-1998
Provides online access to approximately 270 U.S. newspapers chronicling a century and a half of the African American experience. This unique collection offers researchers valuable primary sources for such diverse disciplines as cultural, literary and social history; ethnic studies and more. Users can compare and contrast African American views on practically every major theme of the American past.
Greensboro News and Record Historical Archive
Online access to the Greensboro News and Record from 1906 to Present.
Newspapers.com (North Carolina Newspapers)
Provides access to historic newspapers from the 1700s to the present. UNC users have access to a large selection of North Carolina newspapers through a partnership between Newspapers.com and the UNC University Library.