In May 1974, a research team of four persons, representing Teachers College, Columbia University, went to Durham, North Carolina to study and document the processes the Durham City Schools engaged in during its transition from a segregated to a desegregated district. Durham was one of five school districts included in the comparative study of desegregated settings, funded by the National Institute of Education, which had as its goal the documentation of key processes that are associated with the implementation of successful desegregation plans. The team spent four days in the Durham city community meeting with central administrative office personnel, principals, teachers, students and parents attempting to gather, through formal and informal interviews, their knowledge of, involvement in, and perceptions of the city's desegregation process and plan. In addition to interviews, the team made formal and informal observations in eight of the districts' 26 schools. A total of 12 instruments were used to insure consistency in the collection of data across the districts' schools. This study, it is stated, does not attempt to evaluate the long range effects of desegregation on the populace. It is noted that in order to establish the chronology of desegregation related events, the school files at the local newspaper were searched and copied, in part. (Author/JM)