I seldom post from a first-person perspective, but beg your indulgence again here. I’m still a little giddy from my talks in Wilson and Goldsboro last week. The turnout and the response of both audiences validated the time and energy I devote to my blogs Black Wide-Awake, Fourth Generation Inclusive, and Scuffalong and renewed my dedication to telling our stories. In Wilson, I received an additional boon by tapping into the collective intelligence of the crowd for some answers to my long-standing questions about the locations of New Grabneck and Oakdale cemetery. To my astonishment, a number of people recalled walking through the abandoned graveyard on their way to the Graded School and thereby opened up a whole new field of inquiry for me. So, I have a favor to ask. If you read this blog regularly — and many of you said you do — please comment on it, or ask questions, or send me tips and pointers, or share your photos and other artifacts of pre-World War II black Wilson County. By crowdsourcing, I hope to tap caches I wouldn’t otherwise have access to and share them with all who share my deep love of local history and belief in the importance of its documentation.
Thanks, as always, for your unflagging support, and stay tuned!