by Charly Mann

There was no better to place to learn the John Dunne lesson that “no man is an island” than Chapel Hill in the 1950s. No one in town felt isolated because there was so much family and community interaction, and everyone growing up at that time had the opportunity to learn and be influenced by a wide array of unique and highly intelligent individuals. In the 1950s, Chapel Hill had a myriad of great role models for young people. The majority of adults were in their mid to late thirties and had endured the hardships of the Great Depression, and most of the men had experienced the hell of World War II. Almost all of the men, whether they were professors or merchants, had come from small southern farming communities and were the first members of their families to have had a college education. I was fortunate to know many of these people, and they were collectively a great influence on me. From them I learned courage and discipline, and that anything was possible if one was determined and worked hard. One common denominator of these people was that each had experienced huge hardships in their lives, but rather than becoming cynical or hopeless, they grew stronger and more optimistic. Each of them also taught me to think creatively to solve my problems.

Charly Mann and family at home on Old Mill Road in Chapel Hill, May 1958

In those days, there was so much more time to talk, observe, and absorb the stimulating ideas of 1950s Chapel Hill. Few people watched more than three hours of television a week. That contrasts to today where the average person spends 35 hours a week watching television. Life then seemed like a constant adventure of listening to people talk about their interests or relating their daily activities.

Almost every night a couple of houses in every Chapel Hill neighborhood had at least four cars parked out in front, signifying they were having people over for dinner. Guests would sit and talk for at least an hour in the living room before being ushered into the dining room for dinner. After dinner the children would usually be sent to bed while the adults returned to the living room to talk.  Typically the women and men would sit in separate groups then. There was rarely any alcohol served at these dinners, and few people smoked.

In 1950s Chapel Hill there was no more exciting and stimulating time of the day than the family dinner. There was never any TV, radio, or music on nearby; just the family and often one or two guests sitting around a table enjoying each other's company over a home cooked meal. Though I remember that my mother's cooking was good, the conversation was usually better. At my house we would all share the events of that day in our own lives, as well as discuss some of the major stories going on in the world. We would also joke and laugh, and we enjoyed hearing ideas and opinions that were different from our own. In this daily forum new ideas were exchanged and learned.

Mothers raised the kids and cooked most meals. It was not unusual to eat on a porch or in the backyard on a warm summer evening.   

Almost every adult and childhood friend I knew was an independent thinker, and everyone had at least one parent who was involved in a civic organization or church group.

My mother was the Den mother of my Cub Scout Troop which met every Wednesday afternoon. My sister was a Brownie and did very well selling Girl Scout cookies at UNC fraternity houses.

The neighborhood you grew up in Chapel Hill was a contributing factor to your development. There was a significant difference between children who lived in each neighborhoods. The Kings Mills Road - Morgan Creek area, for example, was made up of primarily well paid University professors and administrators who had only recently settled in Chapel Hill. Unlike other neighborhoods it was heavily wooded and few people had lawns. Children there played in the woods or down along the creek, and today almost all of them still have friends from that neighborhood. Most of these children went off to private schools not long after completing elementary school and of the almost one dozen I have kept up with, all have had exciting lives and successful careers. On the other hand, growing up in one of the established downtown neighborhoods seemed to be far more challenging for a kid. Of the ten people I still keep up with or knew well who lived in the Downtown Historic District, Gimghoul, or Laurel Hills, there were very few happy childhoods, and many resulting tragedies in adulthood. Most of these people had primarily negative memories of Chapel Hill and have no sentimental attachment for the town. Even as a child you could differentiate unique traits and interests in the children of each neighborhood whether it be Glenn Lenox, Greenwood, Estes Hills, Dogwood Acres, Gimghoul, Laurel Hills, Carrboro, or anyone from the country (which at the time meant three miles or less from Chapel Hill proper). 

In the 1950s new houses were going up all over Chapel Hill. A large home in a neighborhood like Morgan Creek or Greenwood in the 1950s would cost around $25,000 with central air-conditioning.

I had friends all over Chapel Hill and would often bike, walk, or hitchhike to their houses to spend the day. All Chapel Hill kids spent a lot more time outside than kids today. One reason for this was that very few houses were air-conditioned, and there were lots of places outside that were cooler than inside.

Everyone dressed up for Church on Sunday morning. Church services were over by noon and lunch after church was the only time most families would consider going out for a meal. The most popular places for Sunday lunch were The Pines, The Colonial Inn in Hillsborough, Howard Johnson's which was an eight mile drive towards Durham, and Brady's.     

More than anything else, growing up in Chapel Hill gave me a strong sense of individualism and integrity, and now 50 years later I still often measure my actions by the standards of the adults I was surrounded by then.

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