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A Multiracial and Intergenerational Movement

One of the most transformational aspects of the PCB landfill fight was the unique multiracial and intergenerational coalition that emerged. Local residents broke from established Southern norms and racial division to work together: young and old; Black, Indigenous, and white – often marching arm-in-arm. Leaders who had been involved in previous civil rights struggles (such as the integration of local schools and campaigns to register Black voters) understood the power of interracial cooperation and drew from the movement’s established repertoire for collective action and civil disobedience. The PCB fight was also a youth movement. Like the young activists who faced police dogs and firehoses in Birmingham, AL, in 1963, young Warren County protesters put their bodies on the line, even laying down in roadways to try to stop dump trucks from coming into the landfill. Many children (some as young as four years old) were detained. The full extent is unknown, as their arrests were not recorded.

People gathering before the protest, September 15, 1982

People gathering before the protest, September 15, 1982
JEROME FRIAR, AFTON, NC

Protesters meet prior to the September 15th march with local attorney Frank Ballance, Jr. (back to the camera) who represented many of the people arrested during the protests, along with attorneys T.T. Clayton and Floyd McKissick. All three men were also involved in the earlier campaign to desegregate Warren County schools. Dollie Burwell is shown at center, with her hand on her chest. Wayne Moseley is at left holding an American flag.

Jerome Friar Photographic Collection
North Carolina Collection

Copyright: Jerome Friar, 1982

Arrest of Wayne Moseley, September 15, 1982

Arrest of Wayne Moseley, September 15, 1982
HAROLD MOORE, AFTON, NC

Wayne Moseley described the scene in a 2022 essay, "As we approached the entrance to the landfill, we were met by an estimated 75 Highway Patrol officers outfitted in full riot gear… we were read an order stating that we were in violation of the law and would be arrested if we did not immediately disperse… Although I had not mentally prepared for what I was about to do, I instinctively joined the 65 other protesters as we sat in the roadway..."

Durham Herald Co. Newspaper Photograph Collection
North Carolina Collection

Letter to US Representative L.H. Fountain, January 11, 1982, from Cassandra Mitchell, Norlina, NC<br /><br />

Letter to US Representative L.H. Fountain, January 11, 1982
CASSANDRA MITCHELL, NORLINA, NC

Many constituents wrote to Fountain to express concerns about the PCB landfill, like this letter from ten-year-old Cassandra Mitchell. Fountain’s stock response was to refuse to comment, saying that it was a state matter. The letter also references a Ku Klux Klan rally held in Raleigh on January 3, 1982 for Lawrence Little, a Klansman convicted for the 1973 bombing of the offices of the Wilmington Journal (a Black-owned newspaper).

L.H. Foundation Papers
Southern Historical Collection

Deborah Ferruccio and young protester, September 15, 1982

Deborah Ferruccio and young protester, September 15, 1982
HAROLD MOORE, AFTON, NC

Durham Herald Co. Newspaper Photographic Collection
North Carolina Collection

Kimberly Burwell at a protest march, March 8, 1983

Kimberly Burwell at a protest march, March 8, 1983
NEWS AND OBSERVER, WARREN COUNTY, NC

In a 1995 interview, Kim Burwell (at center) shared, "I actually started in the movement when I was like two. My godfather is Reverend Dr. Benjamin Chavis. And my mom actually had me in the stroller marching for him and the Wilmington 10. So it’s been in me ever since the beginning… And at the age of eight, when I figured out what was going on with the landfill… I headed up my fourth and fifth grade class members and we wrote letters to the governor… and we had a Black Monday [protest], where none of the kids went to school and that type of thing. So, it’s been constant."

Courtesy of the State Archives of North Carolina

Copyright: News and Observer, 1982

“Youth – We Care!,” September 15, 1982

"Youth – We Care!," September 15, 1982
JEROME FRIAR, AFTON, NC

Participation in the landfill protests was high among Warren County children and young adults, but the role of the youth in the movement is not well documented. Young people in Warren County understood the immediate threat the dump posed to their health, economic opportunities, and quality of life.

Jerome Friar Photographic Collection
North Carolina Collection

Copyright: Jerome Friar, 1982