During the Jim Crow Era, Duke Power Company, located in North Carolina, had a long history of overt discrimination against blacks, or African Americans. Black employees who were fortunate enough to be hired were restricted to the Labor Department, “where the highest paying jobs paid less than the lowest paying jobs in the other four ‘operating’ departments [Coal Handling, Operations, Maintenance, and Laboratory and Test] in which only whites were employed.” Promotions were made within each department based on seniority. In 1955, the company began to require a high school diploma for initial placement in any department except Labor. Ten years later, in 1965, African Americans were allowed to work outside of Labor but only if they had a high school diploma. This requirement was not applied to whites who were hired before the requirement was implemented.