1940s

Agent Spellman’s excellent report, part 2.

Wilson County Negro Extension Agent Cecil A. Spellman did not stint. His two-part 1939 Annual Narrative Report is a 146-page treasure chest whose nuggets create a finely textured view of rural African-American life just before World War II — home demonstration, community entertainment, school improvement, test farms, engineering activities, tobacco work, gardening, corn-growing, meat-cutting, 4-H clubs, camp, spelling matches, Negro Health Week, projects, spotlights on people, houses, and schools — including photographs — and more.

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Spellman spoke highly of State Subject Matter Specialist W.R. Laws, who visited the county to deliver talks and demonstrations to women, such as making articles from fertilizer bags; making window screens from tobacco cloth or wire with denim bindings that could be buttoned to windows; and making fly traps. Spellman attached photos of Laws at Williamson and Jones Hill Schools.

Spellman then turned his attention to the pressing need for a permanent home demonstration agent for Wilson County, reporting that county commissioners had finally agreed to fund such a position. He credited the Women’s Civic Club of Wilson for their advocacy, specifically naming Mrs. H.L. Daniel, Odell Barnes, Mrs. Freeman [Willie Hendley Freeman?], and Mrs. William Hines [Ethel Cornwell Hines]. “These women were aided from the rural end” by Mrs. R.L. Mitchell [Ellenora Manley Mitchell], Mrs. K.R. Mitchell [Martha Taylor Mitchell], Rosetta Farmer, Rena Hilliard, Mrs. Charlie Ruffin [Henrietta Ruffin], and others. With supportive husbands in tow, women packed commissioners’ meetings in support of their cause.

Unfortunately, matters did not proceed as smoothly as hoped. As Spellman cryptically explained, “The beginning of extension work in the county on the home agent front was not as pleasant as it might have been due to several unfortunate ‘misunderstandings.’ Under different circumstances the work could have gotten off to a better start. As it turned out I was maligned and embarrassed and others, some innocent, also suffered as a result. The matter for a time threatened to split the community. For a time I regretted my little part in the movement to obtain a home agent in the county. Matters have now become ‘more or less’ adjusted.'”

Annie B. Brown was appointed home agent from June 1 to September 1. Jane Amos Boyd succeeded her as permanent agent on September 1, 1939.

North Carolina County Agent Annual Narrative Report, Wilson County, N.C., North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, UA102.002, Special Collections Research Center at N.C. State University.

The obituary of Joseph C. “Buck” Bynum.

Wilson Daily Times, 30 April 1948.

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In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Gay Street, plumbing shop laborer Cooper Bynum, 47; wife Annie, 33; and children Ruth, 12, house servant, Joe, 9, Curley, 8, Lucy, 5, Phebia, 3, and Floyd, 9 months.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 511 Narroway, widow Annie Bynum, 47, and children Ruth, 23, Joseph, 17, Curley C., 16, Feedy, 14, Lucy, 15, and Lizzie M., 7.

In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Bynum Joseph C (c) deliverymn h 214 N East

In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Bynum Jos C (c) delmn h 208 N East

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 208 East Street, rented for $20/month, widow Annie Bynum, 48, cook; children Joseph, 21, grocery store delivery boy, Curley, plumber, 20, Lucy, 19, cook, Feba, 18, cook, and Lizzie, 16; and granddaughter Annie, 4.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 109 East Street, Curley Bynum, 35, plumber; wife Pearl, 30; daughter Mamie, 13; brother-in-law [sic] Joseph, no age given; nephew Joseph F., 5; and sister-in-law [sic] Pheriby, 30.

In 1942, Joseph Cooper Bynum registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 27 September 1901 in Wilson; lived at 109 North East Street; his contact was Mary Robinson, 810 East Vance Street; and he worked for John H. Drone at West End Grocery. The registrar noted “doubt age.”

Joseph C. Bynum died 27 April 1948 at his home at 405 North Vick Street, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 9 April 1911 in Wilson to Cooper Bynum and Annie Woodard, both born in Edgecombe County, N.C.; worked as a delivery man; and was buried in Rountree Cemetery [likely, Vick Cemetery]. Curlie Bynum was informant.

Principal among two charged in fatal accident.

Wilson Daily Times, 26 April 1940.

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M. Stanley Gilliam Jr. was principal of Williamson School.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: filling station attendant Herman Gilliam, 20; his widowed mother Annie, 48, a cook in a private home; and brothers Charles, 28, a waiter at Cherry Hotel, Stanley, 26, a teacher, and George, 22, a janitor at Carolina Theatre.

  • Jake Edwards

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: tobacco factory laborer Jake Edwards, 45, widower, and children Mattie, 17, Golden, 22, oil mill laborer, and Eugene, 20, public service laborer.

  • Mamie Gibson

Mamie Gibson died 3 April 1940 at Mercy Hospital, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 12 February 1908 in Wilson County to Phillip Cooper and Florence Ruffin, both born in Wayne County, N.C.; was married to Willie Gibson; lived at 1204 Atlantic Street; worked as a teacher; and was buried in Rocky Branch Cemetery. Her cause of death: “multiple fractures of pelvis; fracture left clavicle due to automobile accident” (“was 2-3 months pregnant.”) Frederick Cooper was informant.

Agent Spellman’s excellent report, part 1.

Wilson County Negro Extension Agent Cecil A. Spellman did not stint. His two-part 1939 Annual Narrative Report is a 146-page treasure chest whose nuggets create a finely textured view of rural African-American life just before World War II — home demonstration, community entertainment, school improvement, test farms, engineering activities, tobacco work, gardening, corn-growing, meat-cutting, 4-H clubs, camp, spelling matches, Negro Health Week, projects, spotlights on people, houses, and schools — including photographs — and more.

There’s nothing to do but present Spellman’s report in totality, serialized.

The 66 pages of Section 1 are devoted to general and adult extension work. We meet Outstanding Man of the Year, Henry Armstrong of Elm City, and Outstanding Woman of the Year, Mrs. Charles Ruffin [Henrietta Ruffin] of the Saratoga side of the Fountain area.

Spellman praised the location of the county extension office at 559 1/2 East Nash Street, Camillus L. Darden‘s commercial building. He then described the equipment and furnishings supplied by the county (plus a few things he brought in.)

Spellman set out the organization of the extension agency and identified the eight-member County Advisory Committee as Seth T. Shaw, Thomas Hilliard, Robert L. Mitchell, Earnest A. Jones, Charlie Ruffin, Chester Woodard, John H. Clay, and Isaac Renfrow.

Spellman briefly mentioned the 4-H Club, which would be covered in detail in Section II, noting that its council met at Darden High School’s auditorium. He also lauded the principals of the county schools that hosted 4-H Clubs “as a very helpful body in the promotion of junior work in the county.”

Spellman then praised the agent training program he had attended at Hampton Institute [now Hampton University] in July.

North Carolina County Agent Annual Narrative Report, Wilson County, N.C., North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, UA102.002, Special Collections Research Center at N.C. State University.

The obituary of Janie Williams.

Wilson Daily Times, 27 November 1944.

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In the 1880 census of Brogden township, Wayne County, N.C.: Adline Brown, 30 (“H left her”), and daughters Sallie, 10, Jane, 6, and Lizzie, 3.

In the 1900 census of Mount Olive, Brogden township, Wayne County, N.C.: Adlene Spells, 54, and daughters Jane, 23, and Mattie, 17, all day laborers, and grandson Edgar, 4.

In the 1908 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Williams Jane (c) h 647 E Vance

In the 1912 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Williams Jane (c) h 206 E Spruce

In the 1916 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Williams Jane (c) factory hd h 213 E Spruce

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 213 Spruce, Jane Williams, 46, and son Edgar, 24, both tobacco factory workers.

In the 1920 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Williams Janie (c) dom h 213 E Spruce

In the 1922 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Williams Jane (c) janitress h 207 E Spruce

In the 1925 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Williams Jane (c) dom h 207 E Spruce

In the 1928 and 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Williams Jane (c) lndrs h 207 E Spruce

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Jane Williams, 55, laundress, widow; Elizabeth Bowden, 12; and Josh Smith, 56, widower, brickmason.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 207 Spruce, washerwoman Jane S. Williams, 68, and bricklayer  Josh Smith, 65, born Kentucky.

Jannie Williams died 25 November 1944 at her home at 207 Spruce Street, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 68 years old; was born in Mount Olive, N.C., to Isaac and Adline Spells, and was buried in Rountree Cemetery, Wilson.

Escapes death — now a stage star!

Jackson (Miss.) Advocate, 9 March 1946.

Javotte Sutton Greene was born in Wilson, but her family lived there only briefly, and she grew up in Durham, North Carolina.

More about “Striver’s Row” from the 2 March 1946 edition of The Ohio State News:

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Per the U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index 1936-2007, Javotte Sutton Greene was born 6 January 1922 in Wilson, North Carolina, to Ezekiel Sutton and Allensia M. McKinnon.  She died 4 November 1998.

Where we worked: 1949.

In 1949, Charlotte, North Carolina,’s Hollywood Film Company produced a 32-minute promotional film touting Wilson’s businesses, churches, schools, and neighborhoods. Predictably, not a single African-American person or place was mentioned, much less featured, though the town’s population was about 40% Black. This is the kind of erasure that will have you thinking your people never contributed, never built institutions, never thrived. Black people, however, can be glimpsed throughout the film, hard at work. Below, a few stills, starting with a scarfed African-American woman crossing Nash Street at Goldsboro Street, the courthouse and Confederate monument visible behind her. The other images depict tobacco warehouse and factory laborers, a laundry worker, and a bakery worker. The film also showed men working in a lumber yard and a concrete pipe manufacturer. Do you recognize anyone?

My thanks to the late Steve Brown for a DVD copy of this film.