1910s

The incorporation of the W.N.C.&I. Institute.

No. 16440

Certificate of Incorporation of the

Wilson Normal, Collegiate & Industrial Institute, Inc.

North Carolina, Wilson County }

Articles of agreement entered into for the purpose of forming a corporation without capital stock under the general laws of the State of North Carolina.

1. The name of the corporation shall be The Wilson Normal, Collegiate & Industrial Institute, Inc.

2. The location of its principal office shall be in Wilson County, post office address Wilson, North Carolina, and the annual meeting shall be held there.

3. The object of the corporation shall be to run a school for the purpose of giving instruction to the negro youth, beginning with the kindergarten, primary, intermediate, academic, normal, collegiate, and industrial work.

4. The corporation shall have the power to establish and maintain kindergarten, primary, intermediate, normal, academic, collegiate and industrial departments, and for the purpose of establishing and maintaining the same and for the general purposes of the corporation, may purchase, lease, hold and convey in its corporate name all kinds of property, real, personal, mixed or all of them as may be directed. And the Corporation shall have no capital stock.

5. The corporation shall have power to award diplomas and give certificates from the various departments when the courses have been covered satisfactory to the management of the department in which the course is taken or covered.

6. The corporation may solicit contributions, borrow money, and contract debts, secure the same by mortgage, bond or otherwise, and may convey any or all its property.

7. It shall have the power to adopt a corporate seal and change the same at will, and adopt by laws and regulations, and it may do any act as authorized by the general law of corporations.

8. The duration of the corporation shall be 99 years.

9. The principal officers of the corporation shall be a principal, assistant principal, educational secretary, and directors of departments, secretary and treasurer and board of directors. The said officers so elected by the board of trustees named in these articles or their successors in accordance with the by-laws to be adopted by the board of trustees.

10. The names of the incorporators and their respective residences are as follows:

11. The above named incorporators shall constitute the first board of trustees. And they shall remain in office until their successors are elected. The trustees shall elect one third of its members for a term of two years; one third for a term of four years, and one third for a term of six years. The annual meeting shall be on the second Tuesday in July.

12. The chairman of the trustee board, the treasurer, the principal and assistant principal, and educational secretary shall constitute an executive committee who shall be responsible for the active running of the school.

13. The private property of the members of this corporation shall be exempt from the debts of the corporation.

14. The corporation shall have the power to collect and disburse the funds for the purpose of the corporation under such rules and regulations as it may seem necessary to adopt.

15. The trustees shall have power to employ such teachers as they deem necessary; fix the tuition of pupils; give free tuition if they see proper; and to make contract with local school committee or any other person or corporation for the teaching of any number of pupils.

16. After the filing of these articles the board of trustees shall meet upon the call of the members and adopt for their regular government a set of by-laws and elect officers in accordance with same.

In witness whereof, we the undersigned subscribers for the purpose hereinbefore stated have hereunto set our hands and seals, this 30th day of September, A.D. 1918.

S.H. Vick; D.C. Yancey; Wm. Hines; Dr. W.A. Mitchener; N.J. Tate; L.A. Moore; E.L. Reid, V.S.; Walter S. Hines, C.L. Darden; John W. Rogers; M.H. Wilson; Wm.H. Phillips

Witness as to all 12. Robert N. Perry

——

The takeaways:

  • These folk were not playing. They incorporated the new independent school.
  • The incorporators were the equivalent of Wilson’s Talented Tenth — businessmen, a pharmacist, a doctor, a dentist, a veterinarian — and their bold rebuke of Charles Coon carried the tacit reproval of one of their own, principal J.D. Reid. (Who was, in fact, veterinarian Elijah L. Reid’s brother.)
  • The school was not just a normal and industrial school. It also, as its official name indicates, offered a collegiate track.
  • The school boycott was no temporary flex. Clearly, the idea was not to return to the public school system.

Corporations Book 2, page 131.

Where we worked: resort hotels.

Many young men traveled north for seasonal work at resort hotels in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and the Pennsylvania Poconos.

  • Walter Blount, waiter; Saint Charles Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1917
  • Ernest E. Boyd, waiter; Strand Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1917

Hotel Strand, Atlantic City, N.J. Image courtesy of westjersyhistory.org.

  • Arlando R. Dawson, waiter; Girard Hotel, New York, New York, 1918
  • Charlie Gay, dishwasher; Pennsylvania Assembly Hotel, Pocono Pines, Pennsylvania, 1918

Assembly Lodge, Pocono Pines, Pa. Image courtesy of mrlocalhistory.org.

  • Alexander B. Joyner, chair pusher; Shill Company, Atlantic City New Jersey, 1917
  • Joseph Speight, bellhop; Lorraine Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1918
  • Frank Taylor, porter; Hotel Yarmouth, Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1918
  • James T. Taylor, bellhop; Yarmouth Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1917
  • (maybe) William Kelley Cane Thigpen, waiter in kitchen; Johnstown, Pennsylvania, 1917

The Independent School thrives!

Just months after it opened, the Independent School was thriving.

In January 1919, enrollment had climbed over 500 pupils and, at a meeting at Saint John A.M.E. Zion, supporters donated $677.84 (about $13,300 in today’s money.)

Wilson Daily Times, 21 January 1919.

In March 1919, a fundraiser at First Baptist Church netted $1020.23 (about $19,000 today), and almost half came through the efforts of teachers and students like Lillian Wilson. We learn something else about the Independent School here — in the tradition of Fisk University, it fielded a corps of jubilee singers!

Wilson Daily Times, 25 March 1919.

In May 1919, the anticipated crowd for the school’s first commencement exercises was so large that organizers had to go to Goldsboro to secure a 1500-person tent. (Per the 1920 census, the population of the whole town of Wilson was only 10,612, and black people constituted about 40% of that total.)

Wilson Daily Times, 27 May 1919.

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Though nearly 20 years old, Lillian Wilson was an eighth-grade graduate of the Independent School — formally, Wilson Normal and Industrial Institute — in 1919. Her journey was common. Whether because of health challenges or need to work to help support their families, few students started school at age 6 or completed eight grades in eight years.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Newbern Street, William Wilson, 52, livery stable groomer; wife Sarah, 48; and daughters Ellen, 23, and Lillian, 21, both tobacco factory laborers.

In the 1922 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Wilson Lillian (c) dom 1010 Woodard av

On 28 September 1923, Rufus Wooten, 22, of Wilson, son of Arthur and Susie Wooten, married Lillian Wilson, 19, of Wilson, daughter of Will and Sarah Wilson, in Wilson. Missionary Baptist minister George Cooper performed the ceremony in the presence of George W. Barnes, L.G. Harvey, and R.L. Harvey.

School row continues in Wilson.

I don’t know who the Chicago Defender‘s Wilson correspondent was, but he (or she) filed several vivid reports in the wake of Superintendent Charles L. Coon’s assault on teacher Mary C. Euell on 9 April 1918.

On April 27, the Defender reported that school principal J.D. Reid had fled for his life after being beaten in the streets by angry citizens as he left church services. (Though it downplayed the severity of the clouting, the Wilson Daily Times reported the incident, as well as the meeting of community leaders with the school board.)

Chicago Defender, 27 April 1918.

A week later, the Defender reported that Reid was hiding out in the woods near town; that parents were refusing to send their children to school if Reid remained principal; and that three men were hauled into court because they had held their children out.

Chicago Defender, 4 May 1918.

On May 11, the defender reported Coon’s indictment on assault and battery charges and claimed Coon had allegedly said he knew how “to handle n*ggers.” Reid reportedly was still in the woods, having been spotted slipping in and out carrying food.

Chicago Defender, 11 May 1918.

Where did they go?: Pennsylvania death certificates, no. 8.

The eighth in a series — Pennsylvania death certificates for Wilson County natives:

  • Amanda Merritt

In the 1870 census of Upper Conetoe township, Edgecombe County, N.C.: Salomon Merritt, 18, farm laborer.

In the 1880 census of Wilson township, Wilson County, N.C.: laborer Solomon Merritt, 24; wife Amanda, 23; and Robert, 1.

In the 1900 census of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania: at 1326 Wood Street, hostler Solomon Merritt, 39; wife Amanda, 40; and sons Robert, 20, and Kinney, 16, all born in North Carolina.

1918 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, city directory.

In the 1920 census of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania: at 951 Jessup Street, Amanda Merritt, 57, keeper of lodging house; nephew Earl J. Lane, 18, railroad station elevator operator; niece Nanie Kearney, 18, servant; boarder Lloyd J. Ross, 8; and lodgers Clifford Holtz, 26, lathe machinist at steel works; and Anner Butler, 22, restaurant cook.

Solomon Merritt died 10 April 1926 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Per his death certificate, he was 61 years old; was born in North Carolina; was married to Amanda Merritt; and worked as a driver.

In the 1930 census of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania: at 112 North 59th Street, widow Amanda Merritt, 65; granddaughter Dorthy Maller, 17; Clarence Miller, 23, grandson-in-law; granddaughter Reba Merritt, 12; great-grandson Clarence Miller, Jr.,

In the 1940 census of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania: widow Lulu Langford, 49; granddaughter Lulu Rucker, 16; and lodger Emanda Merritt, 83.

Amanda Merritt died 29 January 1942 in Philadelphia. Per her death certificate, she was born 1 May 1860 in Wilson to Clarssie Taylor; was a widow; and lived at 1604 Seybert Street.

  • Hattie Smith

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Stephens Smith, 40; wife Hattie, 31; and children Essie, 13, Bertie, 7, Mary, 2, and Marvin, 4 months.

In the 1930 census of Enfield township, Halifax County, N.C.: Stephen Smith, 60; wife Hattie, 38; and children Mary L., 12, Marvin, 10, Annie B., 8, Hattie B., 5, and Dorsey L. Smith, 5 months.

Hattie Smith died 24 May 1937 in Philadelphia. Per her death certificate, she was 52 years old; was born in Wilson, N.C., to William Porter and Louisa Barnes; was married; lived at 611 North 36th Street; and was a housewife. S.B. Smith was informant. [In fact, per census records, Hattie Smith was born in Georgia.]

  • Emma Bunn

In the 1870 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer Hilliard Ellis, 43; wife Feribee, 40; and children Caroline, 16, William, 14, George, 11, Emily, 9, Hilliard, 6, Mary H., 4, and Warren, 8 months.

On 8 April 1880, Joshua Bunn, 21, married Emma Hill, 19, in Wilson County.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Joshua Bunn, 40; wife Emma, 37; daughter Hattie T., 22; son-in-law James Thorpe, 22; lodgers Bettie Lucas, 21, and Calonia Lane, 19; adopted daughter Nora Bunn, 8.

In the 1930 census of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania: at 1819 Van Pelt Street, owned and valued at $1800, Emma Bunn, 65; daughter Hattie Stevens, 46; son-in-law Samuel, 46, laborer for City of Philadelphia; grandchildren Walter, 12, and Joseph Stevens, 6; and several roomers.

  • Theodosia Parker

In the 1910 census of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania: at 1735 Woodstock Street, Henry Parker, 37; wife Charity, 34; and children Leon, 12, and Theodosia, 9; four lodgers; and boarder Samuel Parker, 27. All the Parkers were born in North Carolina.

Theodosia Parker died 31 March 1918 in Philadelphia. Per her death certificate, she was 17 years old; was born in Wilson, N.C., to Henderson Parker and Charity Hunter; lived at 1911 Montgomery Avenue; was a school girl; and was buried in Elm City, N.C.

  • Etta E. Logan

In the 1920 census of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania: at 922 South 17th Street, widow Martha Roundtree, 42, restaurant cook, and daughter Etta Logan, 22.

Etta E. Logan died 17 August 1920 in Philadelphia. Per her death certificate, she was born in 1895 in Wilson, N.C., to Windsor [no surname listed] and Martha Daniel; lived to 922 South 17th Street; and was married. Joseph L. Logan was informant.

Vicks visit “thriving Afro-American settlement.”

Philadelphia Tribune, 19 August 1916.

In 1916, Samuel H. Vick drove his “big touring car” on a visit to Whitesboro, New Jersey, with his young son George White Vick, Clarence Dillard, and Alfred Robinson. On the way back, they stopped in Washington, D.C.

——

Artis is the first to volunteer.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 5 February 1918.

——

We knew Columbus E. Artis migrated from Wilson to Washington, D.C., between 1915 and 1918 and remained just a few years. Now we know what drew him North.

Early in 1918, Artis jumped to respond to a call for volunteer shipbuilders and was lauded as the first to get his application in. Though it is not clear what skills Artis brought to the job — he had been a farm laborer, a grocer, a restaurateur, and an undertaker — he was recognized as “honor man” for his enthusiastic response.

The Baker family, redux.

Verona Barnes True allowed me to make a clearer copy of the photo of her mother’s family, which I first posted here.  Mollie Cooper Baker and James Baker stand at far right. Their little dog, with a ribbon around his neck, stands between them and their children. In ascending order, they are Lossie, Roney, Moses, and Rena, plus Mollie Baker’s younger brother. The house is believed to have been on Stantonsburg Street (now Pender Street S/Black Creek Road S).

Roney Baker’s class portrait.

At Wilson Colored Graded School (also known as Stantonsburg Street School and, later, Sallie Barbour School), classes regularly posed for group photos on the school’s front steps.

In this photo, taken in the late 1910’s, Roney Baker sits third from right on the second row. He was about six years old. Though this was one teacher’s class, notice the range in her pupils’ ages. As noted here, “[t]hree thousand African-American children in Wilson County were enrolled in eight grades during the 1923-1924 school year. They ranged from six to twenty years of age. The 1689 first graders ranged from six to seventeen years old, and nearly two-thirds were classified as ‘over age.’ There were three nineteen year-old second graders, and a full fifth of all third graders were thirteen years old. One was twenty. Only 17 of 269 fourth graders were age-appropriate. The eighth grade class — the highest grade offered to black children — tallied a single pupil.”

Do you recognize the teacher or any other students?

Many thanks to Verona Barnes True for sharing this photo.