THE CABANISS FAMILY

Transcript

This 2-hour, 40-minute interview covers the gamut of growing up and going to school in Cleveland County, from Helen, who attended all-black Cleveland School to her younger brother, Peter, and Tanzy’s two sons, Stuart and Nikao, attending integrated Shelby High, after Rayfield (Helen’s and Peter’s brother) became the first black to go to court in order to be allowed to attend the all-white school.

The interview also covers the many big name musical groups and individuals that entrepreneur Ray Cabaniss, Helen’s and Peter’s dad, brought to Holly Oak Park, which Peter believes was the first black park in the region. Aretha Franklin, Kool and the Gang, and Bo Diddley were three examples of the types of acts that came to Shelby.

Helen was only the second black to be hired at First National Bank; she retired after 25 years as a teller, the first black person to retire from the bank. Her grandfather, called Papa Walt, was a courier for the bank as well as a chauffeur when needed.

Peter tells the story of his and Helen’s great-grandfather, Vance Cabaniss, who was the child of a union between his mother and the slave owner. Vance was raised as part of the white family, but his mother was sold as a slave. Vance inherited land at the death of his father, just as the other children did.

In response to a question from one of the interviewers as to how Tanzy has seen the county change since she has lived here, she responds that she has a term for Shelby—“country cosmopolitan.” By using that term she means that Shelby wants to preserve the Southern hospitality of the area but wants to change with the times as well.

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Location: Shelby, NC

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