'The work and the fruit of that labor': The Foushee family's legacy

The Foushee family has led a legacy of public service in Orange County for decades, organizing efforts during the Civil Rights movement and occupying public service roles throughout Carrboro, Chapel Hill and beyond.

“There is no [Chapel Hill Civil Rights] movement without the Foushees,” Molly Luby, the community history coordinator at the Chapel Hill Public Library, said.

Currently, Barbara Foushee serves as the mayor of Carrboro, Paris Miller-Foushee serves on the Chapel Hill Town Council and Valerie Foushee (D-N.C., 4th) serves as a congressional representative for the Orange County area. 

Valerie Foushee previously served on the Orange County Board of County Commissioners and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education, and is the first Black woman to serve her district. Herman Foushee is the president of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP and attended sit-ins during the Civil Rights movement. 

“When I think about the legacy of the family, I think of public service — just fighting for people, fighting for people’s rights,” Barbara Foushee said.

Barbara Foushee’s husband, Braxton Foushee, was Carrboro’s first Black town council member, and began his Civil Rights efforts when he was in high school.

Barbara Foushee said her husband's humility as it relates to his service has been influential in how she approaches her work. She also said she had no idea who Braxton was, or what he had accomplished, until they had been dating for a few months and he received an award. 

“We might be riding down Franklin Street, and he will say ‘Hey, that’s where the bar used to be -– we protested so we could go in there and sit down,'” she said. “Or he may mention his time working at UNC Hospitals and leading the desegregation efforts of the hospital cafeteria.”

Luby said the Foushees experienced significant violence during the Civil Rights Movement in Chapel Hill. She said James Foushee, who participated in a historic fast on the post office lawn — which is now the Peace and Justice Plaza — in 1964, had a gun pulled on him during a sit-in at Colonial Drug Store. He was also assaulted by the owner’s wife at Watt’s Grill during another protest. 

“Both [James and Braxton] have been lifelong civil rights activists,” Luby said. “They have done a tremendous amount for the Chapel Hill and Carrboro communities, and their social justice work extends far beyond the direct activist work of the 1960s.”

When she interviewed James Foushee a few years ago, Luby said he described how he and some friends have a tradition of buying breakfast for unhoused community members in Chapel Hill. 

“Looking at folks like Congresswoman Foushee, who’s one of my mentors, and my own husband and his years of dedicated service to the community and to civil rights, it’s certainly an inspiration,” Barbara Foushee said. 

Paris Miller-Foushee said she was inspired to run for an elected office after a conversation she had with her late mother-in-law, Vivian Foushee.

Vivian Foushee was a longtime social worker in Chapel Hill, and a vocal proponent of affordable housing and desegregation efforts in the community.

Her work on the town council is an extension of the work Vivian Foushee accomplished, Paris Miller-Foushee said. She also said her mother-in-law played an influential role in her growth as a leader, planting the seeds and leading by example.

“I’m just really grateful to be surrounded by folks who are civic-minded, public service-minded and who I learn from every time I spend time with them,” Barbara Foushee said.

Paris Miller-Foushee said, rather than feeling pressure for being a Foushee, she feels support. 

“We look to the people that are not far removed from us — who are part of our family, those who we break bread with,” Paris Miller-Foushee said. “Looking at the ways in which they had to do their thing, it helps us see the path forward.”

The Foushees’ long-standing leadership in their community has fostered a sense of trust with community members, Paris Miller-Foushee said. Sustained leadership is important because it relates to representation, Barbara Foushee said adding that local governing boards and school boards should be as diverse as the communities they serve.

Barbara Foushee said the Foushees have been involved in public service in their community for at least 70 years, and likely before that; however, both Paris Miller-Foushee and Barbara Foushee said their family is no different from any other.

“Just because you have the last name Foushee, it means nothing,” Paris Miller-Foushee said. “What matters is the work and the fruit of that labor, and how we have, through the test of time — each and every one of us — individually held true to what we said we would do.”

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