Photographs

Negro Library adds bookmobile.

The Wilson County Negro Library added bookmobile service for rural residents in 1950.

Wilson Daily Times, 29 November 1950.

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  • Azalea Cowan 
  • Mateele Gay — Matteele Floyd Gay Robinson. On 2 August 1950 Matteele Floyd, 26, of Wilson County, daughter of Ambrose and Mattie Floyd, married Harold E. Gay, 30, of Wilson County, son of Albert and Annie Bell Gay, in Nash County, N.C.
  • Mary L. Wright — in the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 625 East Green, Henry Wright, 51, farm mechanic; wife Lelia, 47; and children Mary L., 31, Ethel G., 23, and Roosevelt, 15; and grandchildren James H., 6, and Delois, newborn. 

In memoriam: Capt. William W. Farmer Jr. (1932-1961).

Capt. William Woody Farmer Jr., 341st Bombardment Squadron, 4038th Strategic Wing, Dow Air Force Base, Maine.

On 30 March 1961, a B-52 went down near Denton, North Carolina, killing five of the seven crewmen aboard. Among them was Captain William Woody Farmer, Jr., of Wilson.

This account of that terrible accident is found in a post in a Denton history blog:

Photos courtesy of Levolyre Farmer Pitt.

The Taylor sisters, as imagined.

I am ambivalent about using artificial intelligence to restore photographs. Or, more specifically, I’m concerned about manipulated photographs supplanting original images and further blurring the line between reality and misinformation. However, the allure of AI-enhanced images is strong, as I often contend with blurry, poorly lit photographs in unnatural sepia or black-and-white tones. Photographs whose condition sometimes exacerbates the distance between us and our ancestors.

I have been experimenting with ChatGPT lately, feeding it queries and images to be restored and colorized. The results are somewhat haphazard, with many images weird and off-putting. Other times, the images are breathtakingly sharp and … alive. Black Wide-Awake exists to resurrect forgotten lives, and I believe these images are valuable to help us connect with the men and women we read about in these posts. From time to time, I’ll share the better ones here, clearly marked as AI-generated. Let me know what you think about them.

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 Alice Taylor Perry (1889-?) and Martha Taylor Jones (1887-1970).

Benjamin A. Harris Sr., as imagined.

I am ambivalent about using artificial intelligence to restore photographs. Or, more specifically, I’m concerned about manipulated photographs supplanting original images and further blurring the line between reality and misinformation. However, the allure of AI-enhanced images is strong, as I often contend with blurry, poorly lit photographs in unnatural sepia or black-and-white tones. Photographs whose condition sometimes exacerbates the distance between us and our ancestors.

I have been experimenting with ChatGPT lately, feeding it queries and images to be restored and colorized. The results are somewhat haphazard, with many images weird and off-putting. Other times, the images are breathtakingly sharp and … alive. Black Wide-Awake exists to resurrect forgotten lives, and I believe these images are valuable to help us connect with the men and women we read about in these posts. From time to time, I’ll share the better ones here, clearly marked as AI-generated. Let me know what you think about them.

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Benjamin A. Harris Sr. (1894-1955), brickmason.

Ora Renfrow Parker, as imagined.

I am ambivalent about using artificial intelligence to restore photographs. Or, more specifically, I’m concerned about manipulated photographs supplanting original images and further blurring the line between reality and misinformation. However, the allure of AI-enhanced images is strong, as I often contend with blurry, poorly lit photographs in unnatural sepia or black-and-white tones. Photographs whose condition sometimes exacerbates the distance between us and our ancestors.

I have been experimenting with ChatGPT lately, feeding it queries and images to be restored and colorized. The results are somewhat haphazard, with many images weird and off-putting. Other times, the images are breathtakingly sharp and … alive. Black Wide-Awake exists to resurrect forgotten lives, and I believe these images are valuable to help us connect with the men and women we read about in these posts. From time to time, I’ll share the better ones here, clearly marked as AI-generated. Let me know what you think about them.

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Ora Renfrow Parker (1899-??), homemaker.

Patsy Tabron turns two!

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 1 November 1941.

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In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: painter-contractor Butler Jones, 59; wife Myrtie, 57; and sons Joseph, 25, Willard, 20, and John, 19, all painters; son-in-law William Tabron, 26, janitor at Carolina Theatre; daughter Myrtie, 21; and granddaughter Patsy, 6 months.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1011 East Nash Street, painter Butler Jones, 69; wife Myrtie, 67; son John H., 27, and his wife Lizzie M., 28; son-in-law William L. Tabron, 35; wife Myrtie, 30; and daughters Patsy, 10, and Julia, 9.