“Shalom” — The word is inscribed onto a finely knitted maroon and gray pillow in the tidy office.

N.C. Central University’s Professor Pamela Allison said the word is Greek for peace.

According to Allison, the word was a source of strength during her senior year at North Stanly High School in Stanly, N.C.

In 1964, Allison was the first African-American student to integrate North Stanly High School, an all-white school. She transferred in from Kingville High School.

“I was apprehensive and nervous about my safety,” Allison said. “But I was more afraid of what would happen to me academically than physically.”

According to Allison, her stay in Stanly High School was “a fierce challenge in the eye of the storm.”

A few days later, another black student, Christine Connor, joined her at the high school

Connor said she was terrified and nervous about being in a white school, but in the end, she had a wonderful time.

On Feb. 25, Allison and Connor got to see each other for the first time in 20 years at a reunion sponsored by the North Stanly Octagon Club.

The club designed the reunion to recognize the first black students to integrate in North Stanly, calling it, “Celebrating Trailblazers Past and Present: Jewels in the Crown.”

At the reunion Allison and Connor read a news report about the event for the first time.

Allison said she was astonished to read a news article that called her and Connor “two Negro girls.”

“There were no incidents and the other students apparently accepted the situation as normal,” the article read.

The reporter never interviewed Allison to ask her if she viewed the situation as normal, she said.

“They assumed that we were fine,” Allison said.

Connor also said that she did not learn about the article until their reunion.

“Discovering the article did not upset me,” Connor said. “It’s been more than 40 years, and we have already gone through the worst of it all.”

Allison said one of her proudest moments was when she was the only student able to recite the prologue to Chaucer’s literary classic, “The Canterbury Tales.”

“Many of my white instructors had a preconceived notion that I could not measure up academically,” Allison said. “It shocked them that a black student could recite the prologue by heart.”

Both Allison and Connor said they heard racial slurs while in class.

They also said they felt isolated at Stanly High School.

But since they were prepared for the worst, they were able to get through it all, they said.

“Graduating from Stanly High was a thing of gratification and accomplishment for me,” Allison said. “I would not trade the experience for anything.”

During graduation, Connor was “thrilled to walk up on that stage realizing that we made it,” she said.

“I learned that all whites are not bad, and that not all will mistreat you,” said Connor.

At the reunion Allison and Connor spent much of their time sharing bitter-sweet memories and making up lost time.