Sports

Sponsors of the Interstate Classic.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 20 September 1941.

Five Black businesses in the 500 block of East Nash Street took out a joint ad welcoming fans to the 1941 Interstate Classic — North Carolina College for Negroes (now North Carolina Central University) vs. South Carolina State College.

After the game, Johnson’s Happy Pals were playing a dance at Reid Street Community Center.

Offie E. Clark excels on the field and in the classroom.

Though his stellar collegiate career unfolded after Black Wide-Awake’s coverage cut-off 0f 1950, Offie Elliott Clark was born in Wilson in 1932 and graduated from Darden High School in 1950. His remarkable three-sport achievements at Atlanta’s Clark College are worth remembering and celebrating.

Clark played basketball for the Panthers.

Atlanta Daily World, 29 January 1953.

And ran track.

Tampa Bay Times, 15 May 1953.

And was a honor-roll scholar.

Atlanta Daily World, 23 October 1953.

And on the gridiron, despite having played only one year of high school football, he was an all-conference quarterback, who also ran the ball, served as kicker, and was a safety on defense. (He also was a member of Clark College’s modern dance troupe.)

Atlanta Daily World, 12 November 1953.

Alabama Tribune, 4 December 1953.

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In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 502 East Vance Street, fertilizer factory laborer William Clark, 37; wife Katie E., 37, laundress; and children Romaine, 16, Elaine, 14, Geraldine, 12, Arthur [Offie] E., 8, Addie E., 5, and William T., 2.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1300 Washington Street, William Clark, 47, mechanical helper in guano factory; wife Katie E., 47; and children Offie E., 18, Addie E., 15, and William T., 12; and grandson Milton Grady, 2.

The Trojan, the yearbook of C.H. Darden High School, 1950.

Offie Clark died 16 March 2006.

Atlanta Constitution, 21 March 2006.

The Darden Red Raiders?

Wilson Daily Times, 29 September 1938.

The Red Raiders of Darden? I have never known Darden High School’s mascot to be anything other than the mighty Trojan, and the school colors were blue and white. I’ll have to dig into this.

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  • Coach Miller — John M. “Bing” Miller Jr.
  • Glenwood Bass — Noah Glenwood Bess. In 1942, Glenwood Bess registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 25 October 1922 in Wilson; lived at 208 Pender Street; his contact was Mrs. Clinton Bess [mother]; and he was not employed.
  • C.C. Dawson — Clarence C. Dawson Jr. In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 619 Green Street, Charlie Thomas, 74; daughter Sarah Bryant, 29, movie theatre cashier; her husband Willie, 29, bicycle shop repairman; and children Jean, 6, and Fay G., 5; daughter Beatrice Neal, 29; her husband Willie, 28, retail grocery delivery boy; and grandsons Clarence Dawson, 17, and Thomas Dawson, 13.
  • George Swinney — in the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 602 Viola Street, Samuel Swinney, 76, painter, daughters Ester, 22, a tobacco stemmer, and Gracie, 22, superintendent at NYA project, and sons Johnnie R., 18, “in CCC camp,” and George, 17.
  • Leroy Foster — in 1940, Leroy Foster registered for the World War II draft. Per his registration card, he was born 10 January 1917 in Wilson; lived at 303 North Vick Street; his contact was sister Carrie Highsmith, 1910 North 21st Street, Philadelphia; and he was a student at Livingstone College, Salisbury, N.C.

Record crowd expected at football game.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 20 September 1941.

In the fall of 1941, North Carolina College (now North Carolina Central) and South Carolina State squared off at Wilson’s Municipal Stadium, which is now called Fleming Stadium. Black Wilson was a-buzz!

Whitehead plays on Saint Philip’s softball team.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 14 July 1945.

Gertrude Whitehead, second from left on the top row, played softball for the Saint Philip Hospital nursing school team in Richmond, Virginia.

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In the 1930 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Highway 91, owned and valued at $2500, oil mill contractor Henry Whitehead, 53; wife Victoria, 43, seamstress; and children Katherine, 19, Odell, 17, James, 15, Grace, 13, Rosalyn, 11, Herbert, 9, Gertrude, 6, Mable, 4, and Victoria, 2.

In the 1940 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: widow Victoria Whitehead, 52, sewing; children James, 25, apprentice carpenter; Rosaline, 21; Herbert, 20, tobacco company floor hand; Gertrude, 16, Mabel, 14, and Victoria E., 12; and nieces Elizabeth Brodie, 32, public school teacher, and [actually, granddaughter] Joan Bynum, 6.

In the 1950 census of Richmond, Virginia: at 2109 Bainbridge Street, widow Lillian G. Smithea, 48; brother Robert L. Glenn, 36; and lodger Gertrude E. Whitehead, 25, registered nurse-public health.

Wilson Braves best the Raleigh Tigers!

The Afro-American (Baltimore, Md.), 7 July 1934.

Accounts of the Wilson Braves are frustratingly stingy with the names of the team’s players. Here, we learn that “Leach” was the third baseman and that Charlie Leonard, whom we met as a crack shortstop on the 1925 Braves team, was both pitcher and manager.

Wilson edges Elm City in baseball.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 14 August 1948.

Many of the Wilson Eagles baseball team lived in the Daniel Hill community.

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  • Bobby Farmer
  • Bill Lucas
  • Willie Neal — in 1945, Willie Lee Neal registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 15 June 1927 in Nash County, N.C.; lived at 611 Norfolk Southern R.R. Street, Wilson; his contact was Lola Bell Neal; and he worked for Southern Dairies.
  • Harvey Scarborough — in 1945, William Harvey Scarborough registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 7 September 1927 in Wilson County; lived at 511 West Walnut Street, Wilson; his contact was Festus Scarborough; and he worked for Casters Beauty Supply.
  • John Wooten — probably: in 1944, John Henry Wooten registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 7 September 1926 in Pitt County, N.C.; lived at 513 South Warren Street, Wilson; his contact was Hattie Lee Wooten; and he worked for American Tobacco Company.
  • Robert Scarborough — in 1941, Robert Edward Scarborough registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 19 February 1920 in Wilson County; lived at 511 West Walnut Street, Wilson; his contact was Mary Parker Scarborough; and he was unemployed.
  • Larry Thomas — in 1945, Larry Thomas registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 7 June 1911 in Wilson County; lived at 604 Warren Street, Wilson; his contact was wife Marcella Thomas; and he worked for Liggett-Myers Tobacco Company, Wilson.
  • Austin Leach
  • William H. Vick
  • L. Cobb
  • Lathan, Davis, Bowden, Wynn, Barnes
  • George McNeal
  • Y. Tarry
  • Robert Knight