Dennis Chestnut wsa raised in Tabor City, NC and graduated valedictorian from Douglas High School, an all black high school, in 1965.  He always knew he would go to college.  While working at the A&P he noticed the daughter of the Tabor City High School principal wearing an ECU sweatshirt and chose ECU.  Dennis Chestnut was one of fifteen African Americans enrolled at ECU in 1965 and part of the first group of African Americans to live in the dorms.  He graduated in 1969 with a degree in sociology and in 1971 with a masters in clinical psychology.  He eventually received a doctorate in community psychology and taught at ECU.

Listen to and read a transcription of his oral history

Citation

Dennis Chestnut oral history interview, April 23, 2008. First in the Family Oral History Collection. UA45-05. University Archives, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/1254