Alice Lowery Herself
When I got on the phone, I told the lady who I was and what color I was and that I was planning on coming to the movie and asked was there a problem. She said, “Yes, there is a problem. You can’t come.” I said, “Well, why?” She said, “I don’t know why, but I’ll let you talk to the manager.”
I said, “Put him on the phone."
Alice Lowery, a resident of North Carolina for decades, is a remarkable woman who was not afraid of challenging the status quo. In 1962, Alice decided to take her daughter to the historic Colonial Theater in Canton, North Carolina. Although this may sound like a normal family activity today, for Alice, it was a statement of defiance. In the segregated South, theaters isolated black Americans and denied them access to something as simple as attending a movie with their families. Alice aimed to change this.
After calling the manager of the Colonial Theater, Alice asked if she could attend the movie. Although initially met with resistance from an employee, the manager acquiesced. Alice could bring her daughter, Natalie, and enjoy the movie as an equal. Her challenge of the status quo gave equality a foothold within Canton’s historic theater, hinting at brighter future of equality for African Americans within a community dominated by segregation.