Corporal Johnnie Swinney, sent overseas.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 602 Viola Street, Samuel Sweny, 53, painter, and children Neoma, 17, Laney, 15, Easter, 13, Gracy, 12, John H., 10, and George P., 7.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 602 Viola Street, Samuel Swinney, 76, painter, daughters Ester, 22, a tobacco stemmer, and Gracie, 22, superintendent at NYA project, and sons Johnnie R., 18, “in CCC camp,” and George, 17.

In 1942, Johnnie Richard Swinney registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 602 Viola Street, Sidney Thompson, 37, cook; wife Lanie, 34, cook; son Alton, 11; and brothers-in-law George, 26, grocery store manager and Johnnie Swinney, 25, painter. 

Johnnie R. Swinney died 30 September 1986 in Wilson.

Image courtesy of Veterans of World War II Wilson County, spiral-bound volume, Wilson County Public Library.

James Baker, as imagined.

I am ambivalent about using artificial intelligence to restore photographs. Or, more specifically, I’m concerned about manipulated photographs supplanting original images and further blurring the line between reality and misinformation. However, the allure of AI-enhanced images is strong, as I often contend with blurry, poorly lit photographs in unnatural sepia or black-and-white tones. Photographs whose condition sometimes exacerbates the distance between us and our ancestors.

I have been experimenting with ChatGPT lately, feeding it queries and images to be restored and colorized. The results are somewhat haphazard, with many images weird and off-putting. Other times, the images are breathtakingly sharp and … alive. Black Wide-Awake exists to resurrect forgotten lives, and I believe these images are valuable to help us connect with the men and women we read about in these posts. From time to time, I’ll share the better ones here, clearly marked as AI-generated. Let me know what you think about them.

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James Baker (1879-1940), farmer.

Received of Daniel Vick.

From the Samuel H. Vick family’s archives, two receipts for payments made by patriarch Daniel Vick. The first reflects taxes he paid for 1883 “Graded School — Colored” in the amount of $5.52.

The second is a receipt for payment of $12.14 to Alpheus P. Branch, merchant, banker, and founder of Branch Banking & Trust (now Truist.)

Thank you for sharing, Vicki M. Cowan!

The 108th anniversary of the school boycott.

Today marks the 108th anniversary of the resignation of 11 African-American teachers in Wilson, North Carolina, in rebuke of their “high-handed” black principal and the white school superintendent who slapped one of them. In their wake, black parents pulled their children out of the public school en masse and established a private alternative in a building owned by a prominent black businessman.  Financed with 25¢-a-week tuition payments and elaborate student musical performances, the Independent School operated for nearly ten years. The school boycott, sparked by African-American women standing at the very intersection of perceived powerless in the Jim Crow South, was an astonishing act of prolonged resistance that unified Wilson’s black toilers and strivers.

The only known photograph of the Wilson Normal Collegiate & Industrial Institute. 

The school boycott is largely forgotten in Wilson, and its heroes go unsung. In their honor, today, and every April 9 henceforth, I publish links to Black Wide-Awake posts chronicling the walk-out and its aftermath. Please re-read and share and speak the names of Mary C. Euell and the revolutionary teachers of the Colored Graded School.

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the-heroic-teachers-of-principal-reids-school

The teachers.

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what-happened-when-white-perverts-threatened-to-slap-colored-school-teachers

604-606-east-vance-street

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minutes-of-the-school-board

attack-on-prof-j-d-reid

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lynching-going-on-and-there-are-men-trying-to-stand-in-with-the-white-folks

photos-of-the-colored-graded-and-independent-schools

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the-program

a-big-occasion-in-the-history-of-the-race-in-this-city

womens-history-month-celebrating-the-teachers-of-the-wilson-normal-industrial-school

the-roots-of-mary-c-euell

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the-independent-school-thrives

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And here, my Zoom lecture, “Wilson Normal and Industrial Institute: A Community Response to Injustice,” delivered in February 2022.

B.W.A. Historical Marker Series, no. 37: Holden School.

In this series, which will post on occasional Wednesdays, I populate the landscape of Wilson County with imaginary “historical markers” commemorating people, places, and events significant to African-American history or culture.

We been here.

HOLDEN SCHOOL

Originally one-room school for white students; converted to Black school circa 1921. Located near Mill Branch west of Holdens Crossroads. Building replaced with Rosenwald funds in early 1920s. Closed in 1951 with consolidation of rural schools. Demolished.

We know relatively little about Holden School, but for more, see here and here and here.

Darden debaters go to state finals at A&T.

Wilson Daily Times, 28 March 1939.

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The estate of Solomon Woodard (1878).

Solomon Woodard was enslaved by Stephen Woodard Sr. and, later, Stephen Woodard Jr. He was a young man when emancipated. On 3 April 1866, Solomon Woodard and Drury Edmundson registered their four-year cohabitation with a Wilson County justice of the peace, legalizing their marriage. In 1870, they were farming in Stantonsburg township, Wilson County, and had a daughter Mary, age 3. In February 1878, Woodard died at about age 38.

On 24 February 1878, administrator James S. Woodard paid out a year’s support to widow Drury Woodard. Solomon had done relatively well during the dozen or so years since he was freed, and Drury signed for three beds, twelve chairs, three tables, 1000 pounds of bacon, a mule, a horse, and other property totaling about $400 in value.

James S. Woodard then petitioned the court to sell the remainder of Solomon Woodard’s on cash terms only, opining that potential buyers (“in part … negroes”) likely would not be able to provide security for credit buys.

On 19 March 1878, James S. Woodard conducted the sale. Drury Woodard bought several of her husband’s items, including his wearing apparel, a shotgun, a safe, and an ox. Despite (or maybe because of) James Woodard’s concerns, few black people won bids. William Hall bought one sow. Frank Woodard picked up a wagon, a crosscut saw, and some measures. The sale cleared about $66.

Estate File of Solomon Woodard, Wilson County; North Carolina Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998, http://www.ancestry.com.