History of Durham, NC

Durham's manufacturing fortunes declined during the mid-20th century. Textile mills began to close during the 1930s. Competition from other tobacco companies (as well as a decrease in smoking after the 1960s) reduced revenues from Durham's tobacco industry.

In a far-sighted move in the late 1950s, Duke University, along with the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University in Raleigh, persuaded the North Carolina Legislature to purchase a large tract of sparsely settled land in southern Durham County and create the nation's first "science park" for industry. Cheap land and a steady supply of trained workers from the local universities made the Research Triangle Park an enormous success which, along with the expansion resulting from the clinical and scientific advances of Duke Medical Center and Duke University, more than made up for the decline of Durham's tobacco and textile industries.

Civil Rights

As a result of its substantial African-American community, a prominent Civil Rights movement developed in Durham. Multiple sit-ins were held, and Martin Luther King, Jr., visited the city during the struggle for equal rights. The Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, organized in 1935 by C.C. Spaulding and James E. Shepard, has been cited nationally for its role in the sit-in movements of the 1950s–60s. The committee also has used its voting strength to pursue social and economic rights for African-Americans and other ethnic groups. In the late 1950s, Douglas E. Moore, minister of Durham's Asbury Temple Methodist Church, along with other religious and community leaders, pioneered sit-ins throughout