Black Joy

Gala day for County School Commencement!

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 21 April 1917.

Can you imagine? Each spring, hundreds and hundreds of county school children gathered at the Colored Graded School to launch a parade through the streets of downtown Wilson, led by a brass marching band. (The article says 2000 children marched in 1917. There were only about 20 county schools, none larger than three rooms. That is a thirst for knowledge.) The children’s manual arts exhibits were displayed on the school grounds and in the auditorium an array of dignitaries (including “three white ladies from New York” and Dr. Frank S. Hargrave) graced the stage. Speaker after speaker delivered messages in the Booker T. Washington mode — work hard, be patriotic, know your place. J.D. Reid, principal of the Graded School and supervisor of the black county schools, was recognized for having spearheaded a prodigious fundraising drive, money that likely represented the community’s monetary contribution to the four Rosenwald Schools built in Wilson County in 1917 and ’18 — Williamson, Rocky Branch, Kirby’s, and Lucama. (Just shy of a year later, Reid and Charles L. Coon were embroiled in the disgraceful events that led to a boycott of the Graded School, but let’s stay present….)

——

  • Rev. Perry — Rev. Robert N. Perry, pastor of Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church
  • Mr. Vick — Samuel H. Vick, former Graded School principal and extraordinary businessman and political leader

Red Hots take top honor in Warrenton.

Wilson Daily Times, 15 July 1949.

Though their longtime leader Ben Mincey was nearing death, the Wilson colored volunteer company, better known as the Red Hots, won top honors at the North Carolina colored fire association’s annual contest, securing silver belt.

The company:

The hose reel team:

  • Charles Artis
  • Fred Barnes
  • Mack McKeathan — Daniel “Mack” McKeithan
  • Chester Smith (who was high school-aged) — in the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1023 Roberson Street, Emma Smith, 44, cooks and cleans, and children Gloria, 24, Chester, 17, Emma E., 13, and Robert, 8.
  • Moses Worsley (who was in high school) — in the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1210 Carolina, David Worsley, 43, butler in service; wife Connie, 36, tobacco factory hanging room worker; and children John E., 17, Moses, 15, Elnora, 15, Lois Jean, 11, and Stoney, 9.
  • Joseph Meachen
  • Offie Clark (who was in high school)
  • Clarence Reid — in the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 705 East Green, Mabel Boney, 58, husband Calvin, 65, and son Floyd, 27, pool room manager; sister Isabelle Reid, 51; and lodgers Viney, 58, servant, and Clarence Reid, 19; yard cleaner Robert Lee King, 28, and wife Marjorie, 17; Raymond, 24, and Lester Hines, 21, delivery boy; and Neil Tucker, 60, barber.
  • Robert Dudley — in the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: construction carpenter Henry Dudley, 51; wife Della, 46; children James, 25, Minnie B., 22, cooks and cleans, and Bernard, 2; and grandson Robert L., 20.
  • Charles Rountree (who was in high school)– in the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: farmer Raeford Rountree, 55; wife Mamie, 48; and children Raeford, 21, Mamie T., 19, Bessie M., 17, Charles, 16, Carrie M., 13, Nellie B., 10, Rosetta, 8, and Clarence F., 5.
  • Charlie Floyd — in the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Manda Floyd, 47; children Doretha, 23, hotel cook, and Charlie, 17; and grandson David E., 5, Alfonso, 4, and Nathaniel, 3.
  • Hubert Speight
  • William H. Kittrell

The spectators:

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.

we-tender-our-resignation-and-east-wilson-followed

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

The teachers.

a-continuation-of-the-bad-feelings

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

Lane Street Project: the sunny side.

Gravedigging news aside, today was lovely. 

The daffodils at Rountree never disappoint.

I sacrificed blood and boot trying get through the briers and wisteria to reach the base of the pole in Rountree Cemetery. I failed, but that’s okay.

I made a detour to Elm City Colored/Heritage Cemetery just to snap a photo of this marvel. Clarence B. Best at his best. I’m not sure why “avenging angel of death” was the motif the family settled on, but it makes for a compelling visual.

And then I pulled up to the house, and my sister’s car was in the driveway. All the way from New Jersey.

This evening I spoke at the library. I always relish these opportunities to share my research with folks who recognize and cherish the names and places I talk about. My family, two of my father’s classmates, my Wilson County Genealogical Society folks, the Lane Street Project Senior Force, Black Wide-Awake readers and followers, library staff, and so many others filled the room. Thank you.

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another. 1 Peter 4:10.

Shout-out to Gary Redding for his daily Halifax County black history highlights!

You know I love a granular Black history, and Halifax County, N.C., Commissioner Gary Redding is pouring it in spades this Month. I’ve known Gary since he was five years old. He comes from a long line of social justice warriors, and I’m so proud of his work as an educator, lawyer, and community advocate in his home county. He is the embodiment of “servant-leader.”

Every day, Gary posts to Facebook a brief description of a Halifax County black history milestone with several attached photographs or newspaper clippings. I am struck by the vignettes themselves, but also by the similarities and differences between what happened in Halifax and Wilson Counties. Gary is building a vital archive for his community and for all of whose who believe in the power and importance of sharing our stories.

Thank you, Gary R. Redding!

Revolutionary love.

Slavery was not built for love.

Nonetheless, despite caprice and cruelty, love endured.

In 1866, when the State of North Carolina created a path for recognition of marriages made  before Emancipation, thousands of couples found their way to a justice of peace. The cohabitation register for Wilson County shows a column for the groom’s name and a column for the bride’s and a column that recorded the years they had been together.

Arch Daniel and Rena Daniel. 35 years.

Bob Rountree and Tempy Horne. 30 years.

Amos Taylor and Amy Barnes. 33 years.

Champion Simms and Deura Simms. 40 years.

Living miles apart, without bodily autonomy, under constant threat of sale and separation, disrespected and denigrated, these men and women chose to love — and whom to love. Today, we recognize these revolutionaries and honor their memory.

My great-great-grandparents, Willis Barnes and Cherry Battle, registered their six-year cohabitation in Wilson County in 1866.