1920s

Space reserved for white people.

Wilson Daily Times, 7 January 1921.

The unidentified Judge Harrison was a popular speaker in Wilson, having delivered the first commencement address for graduates of the Wilson Normal and Industrial Institute two years earlier. That speech was notably conservative, and it’s no wonder the Times‘ editor approved.

The purchase of land for Elvie Street School, part 1.

We saw this 1923 plat map of Daniel C. Suggs‘ property here.

Plat Book 1, page 215.

The plat map below shows that most of Suggs’ property was purchased by W.E. Batts. In 1925, a Durham auction house prepared a new plat for the Batts property.

Plat Book 3, page 17.

Here’s a present-day view of the area. New Street kept its name, but a truncated Hines Street is now Blount Street at its west end, and Elvie School Drive at its east. This map makes clear that the south end of the old Oakdale Cemetery (“colored cemetery” on both plats) lay under the circular driveway and front law of Elvie Street School [later M.M. Daniels Learning Center.] Its graves (or some of them, anyway) were moved to Rest Haven in 1941.

In 1946, to assemble land on which to build a replacement for the Sallie Barbour School, the Board of Trustees of Wilson City Schools began to buy up parcels in the property, also known as Suggs Heights and adjacent lots, including these:

  • on 26 May 1946, from Leon Powell and wife Carrie Powell — lots 12, 13, 14, and part of 11 [Deed Book 335, page 291]
  • on 12 April 1947, from W.E. Batts Jr. and wife Mildred C. Batts — block B, lots 5, 6, 15, 16, 29-36; Block C, lots 33-60; and Block E, lots 25-34 [Deed Book 333, page 256]
  • on 12 June 1947, from Sam Dixon and Evelyn F. Dixon (who had bought the lots from Hubert and Viola McPhail) — lot 14 and half of lot 13 [Deed Book 337, page 12]
  • on 8 July 1947, from Robert Lee Melton and wife Birt Melton — lot 11 and 6 1/4 feet of lot 12 of block E, facing Elmer [Elvie] Street, which had been conveyed to the Meltons by Lula Wynn on 28 February 1945 per Deed Book 295, page 461 [Deed Book 337, page 291]
  • on 25 July 1947, from Frank Norman and wife Elizabeth Norman — lot 13 and part of lot 12 of block E, conveyed by Wynn per Deed Book 295, page 465 [Deed Book 337, page 370]
  • on 28 July 1947, from Maggie Stokes and husband Turner Stokes — lots 9 and 10 of block E, purchased by the Stokeses on 20 January 1933 per Deed Book 202, page 465 [Deed Book 337, page 370]

An aerial view of Darden High School.

This aerial photograph of C.H. Darden High School likely dates to the late 1960s. The original Rosenwald-funded section of the school, with later added wings, at right. The building with a central entrance at lower center, adjacent to the original building, is an addition that dates to the 1940s. The buildings behind, which included an auditorium, gymnasium, lunchroom, and additional classroom space, were added in the 1950s and ’60s. 

The photo is also interesting for the glimpse of the surrounding neighborhood. The streets behind the school were developed starting in the 1950s from a large parcel owned by Martha Woodard, Louise Fike, and Hadley Blake. Darden faced Carroll Street, of course, and the termini of Viola and East Green Streets. The houses that once stood on land now occupied by Seeds of Hope Wilson’s garden are visible near bottom left.

Vick Elementary School now stands on the site. 

Photo courtesy of C.H. Darden High School Alumni Association.

Lucama School observes Negro History Week.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 9 March 1929.

Kudos to the teachers of Lucama School!

——

  • Cora W. Farmer — in the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 701 East Green Street, George Farmer, 55, porter for A.C.L.R.R.; wife Cora, 51, school teacher; daughters Lena, 20, teacher, and Janie L., 23, department store elevator girl; stepdaughter Cora M. Washington, 21 (marked as “absent”); mother-in-law Lou Miller, 75; and boarders Mildred Norfleet, 23, courthouse elevator girl; and Amos Moor, 35, hotel porter. [Janie, in fact, was Cora’s daughter and George’s step-daughter.]
  • Emma Williams — in the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 912 East Nash, Frank Williams, 50, building mechanic; wife Emma, 36, schoolteacher; and step-children Norwood, 21, odd jobs laborer, Mabel, 16, and Johnie Brewington, 14.
  • Lela M. Washington — in the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Washington Lelia (c) sch tchr r 305 Moore
  • Irene W. Lucas — in the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Lucas Irene (c) sch tchr h 701 E Green [Irene Washington Lucas was the daughter of Cora M. Washington Farmer, above.]