C.H. Darden High School

Wilson High School welcomes teachers.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 24 October 1936.

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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.

Darden student returns home for the holidays.

In an era in which black high schools were scarce, and schoolbuses even scarcer, many children in rural eastern North Carolina were forced to leave school after about seventh grade. When interest and resources aligned, however, families boarded their teenaged children with relatives or friends in larger towns.

Aurora is a tiny town in Beaufort County near the mouth of the Pamlico River. It is across and more than 30 miles down river from Washington, the county seat and location of the closest black high school. There was another high school in Pantego, which was closer as the crow flies, but direct travel there involved a ferry ride. Neither option was viable for a daily commute in 1941.

As the brief report below shows, Aurora’s black children dispersed as far as Wilson (90 miles) and Durham (160 miles) to pursue high school educations. Alvina Battle attended Darden High School. She and, apparently, her parents, were Beaufort County natives, so their connection to Wilson is unclear. Certainly, there were closer schools. I assume then, that a close relative had made the move and invited Battle to follow.

Alvina Battle does not appear on a roster of Darden High School graduates.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 4 January 1941.

Edward M. Barnes, 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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Edward M. Barnes (1905-2002), high school principal.

Changes at Darden High School.

New Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 13 August 1938.

In 1938, Darden High School added two new faculty members, an optional twelfth grade, and an extra month to the school year.

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Citizens rise up against W.H.A. Howard.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 10 October 1931.

As we know, Black Wilsonians did not play about their children’s educations.

The Pittsburgh Courier article we saw earlier did not name the “prominent citizens” who had called for William H.A. Howard‘s removal, but the Journal and Guide laid out the nearly 70 of them in three paragraphs. (Rife with misspellings.) All the big dogs. Howard survived the coup, but died the following year.

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The signatories: James T. Teachey, Lee Simms, Jack Rountree, Alfred Robinson, Samuel H. Vick, John M. Barnes, Walter S. Hines, William Hines, Benjamin F. Jordan, John P. Battle, Linwood Barefoot, G.F. Faison, J.P. Roundtree, Nannie Best, Darcey C. Yancey, Henry Lucas, Ada Winstead, George W. Barnes, William H. Mitchell, Albert Gay, Columbia E. Artis, Charles B. Gay, Elijah L. Reid, Samuel Barnes, John Cherry, Jarrett J. Langley, George Farmer, Jasper Reid, George W. Ragin, Nazareth A. Pierce, Oliver N. Freeman, Wiley Rountree Jr., George W. Coppedge, G.C. Black, Jarrett Z. Staton, George K. Butterfield, William A. Mitchner, Joseph H. Knight, R.J. McPhail, Charles Thomas, J.W. McCowan, William H. Phillips, W.M. Edwards, William Dixon, G.H. Hatcher, John T. Coates, Thomas Batts, John Teachey, J.F. Barnes, Clarence B. Best, S.L. Barnes, Ross McCollum, Wilson Best, Neverson Green, James Whitfield, Andrew J. Townsend, E.D. Holden, James Thomas, John Parks, J.A. Tucker, Edward Hinnant, Thomas Cook, Mack D. Cannon, Barney Reid, Robert H. Sheridan, C.S. Edwards, and Henry S. Reid.