election

Lane Street Project: the candidates’ positions on Vick Cemetery.

Erosion at Vick Cemetery, October 2025.

On September 26, I submitted a brief statement and set of questions about Vick Cemetery to all eleven candidates for Wilson City Council seats. I emailed the nine candidates for whom I was able to locate email addresses and mailed letters to the other two.

Ninety-foot power pole installed in Vick Cemetery in 1997 by the City of Wilson.

The responses received:

District 3

  • Tom Fyle (incumbent)

No response.

District 5

  • Jane Cookson

No response.

  • Bradley Eagles

No response.

  • Susan Kellum

First and foremost, thank you for your leadership regarding this issue. Your knowledge, perseverance, and commitment is admirable.

Below are my responses to your questions:

  • Proactive engagement with the Vick Cemetery descendant community about matters related to the cemetery’s care.

The descendant community should have an equal voice with other stakeholders because they, more than anyone, know and care about the stories, history, and cultural connection of those buried there. Their input ensures the cemetery is cared for with respect, accuracy, and dignity that honors their ancestors and Wilson’s  heritage.

  • Additional ground-penetrating radar of the public right-of-way, as well as areas of the cemetery not surveyed in 2022, to determine the location of additional graves?

I believe the use of additional ground-penetrating radar is a respectful, responsible way to identify all graves, honor those buried, and ensure the cemetery’s history is preserved with dignity. It’s an investment in truth, healing, and our community’s shared heritage.

  • An independent investigation into the handling of Vick’s headstones and the installation of power poles in the cemetery?

I share the desire for justice, and I fear an investigation at this junction would not truly deliver it. Instead, I would focus our resources on correcting these wrongs as best we can today, ensuring the cemetery and those laid to rest there receive the dignity they were once denied.

District 6

  • Eduardo Picasso-Herrera

Dear Ms. Henderson,

Thank you for your unwavering dedication to preserving the history and dignity of East Wilson’s historic cemeteries, and especially for the important work you lead through the Lane Street Project. As a candidate for City Council, I fully support the restoration of Vick Cemetery and believe we must do everything in our power to honor the lives and legacy of those buried there.

While canvassing, my wife had the opportunity to meet Mr. Castonoble [Hooks], and I had the privilege of meeting him personally after I spoke at a recent City Council meeting. During our conversation, he shared with me his concerns and explained that the city has had $50,000 allocated for Vick Cemetery but has not taken any visible action to use those funds. I told him directly that if the city has those $50,000, then they need to be used immediately. There is no excuse for delay. The community has waited long enough, and it’s time for real, visible progress.

This conversation reinforced why I am running for office. We need change in Wilson. We need leadership that listens to the community and acts on its needs. We can no longer ignore the voices of our residents, especially when they are calling for justice, respect, and accountability.

In response to your specific questions:

Proactive engagement with the Vick Cemetery descendant community

Yes, I fully support ongoing and meaningful engagement with the Vick Cemetery descendant community. These families and community members must be involved in every step of the restoration process. Their insights, history, and lived experiences are essential. As a council member, I will advocate for transparency, regular public updates, and inclusive collaboration with all stakeholders.

Additional ground-penetrating radar (GPR)

Yes, I support expanding the GPR survey to include areas not yet studied, including the public right-of-way and any remaining portions of the cemetery. Every grave deserves to be identified and honored. We cannot move forward without fully understanding the scope of what lies beneath this sacred ground.

An independent investigation into the removal of headstones and installation of power poles

Yes, an independent investigation is necessary. The removal of headstones and the installation of power poles in a cemetery is deeply troubling. We need a full, transparent account of what happened and why, and if there are ways to restore what was lost. This is about accountability and respect, and we owe that to the families of those buried at Vick Cemetery.

Again, thank you for your work and advocacy. I stand with the Lane Street Project and with all those who are fighting to preserve and protect Wilson’s history. Together, we can ensure that our city values and honors every part of its past as we build a better future.

  • Logan Liles (incumbent)

No response.

District 7

  • Will Arrington

I would first like to thank you for reaching out to me in the matter concerning Vick Cemetery. I will keep it short as I know that your time is valuable.

I will start by saying that I in no way agree with the handling or treatment of Vick Cemetery and over the last few decades. It is a resting place for souls long gone as well as part of our city’s history that deserves to be respected and treated as the landmark that it is.
As a citizen and hopeful representative of the city, as well as being an African American male, I feel that it is only right to support the efforts to right these wrongs. Whether it be proactive engagement with the descendants, using ground penetrating technology as well as an independent investigation or whatever methods may be necessary I am in favor of it and will offer my support.
  • Felicia Atkinson

No response.

  • Johnnie Chestnut

Hello. My name is Johnnie E. Chestnut, candidate for Wilson City Council District 7 since 2017-present. I’ve been following this story since 2016 to where we are today. City council meetings, hearings, public opinions, etc., etc.  It’s my understanding that the City of Wilson spokeswoman Rebecca Agner and the Wilson Cemetery Commission with the current City Council members I would like to consider if I can talk with them about the concerns and future plans for Vicks Cemetery other than the $50,000 allocated funds. Alongside Mr. Hooks, he’s been and advocating the erosions, utility poles and the removal of headstones. The difference between Maplewood Cemetery is in more stable condition than East Wilson cemeteries. As we seen, August 2025 with law enforcement and some leaders in the community had conducted an investigation that some human and bone fragments were in the side ditch. With that being said I would like to have a more detailed blueprint on the funding for the future of Vicks Cemetery and where would the funding come from other than the stormwater fund. The Commission Board plans along what Mayor Stevens’ opinion on this as I look forward to talking to you on this. Thank you for reaching out on this sensitive matter and my thoughts on what can be done as we move into 2026.

  • Anika Sanders

Thank you, Ms. Henderson, for your leadership in preserving and telling the story of East Wilson’s history.

The history of Vick Cemetery is not just about the past, it is about how we as a city choose to honor and respect our community today.

When I am elected to City Council, I would support the following:

  • Proactive Engagement with Descendants

I believe the City must actively engage with the families and descendants of those buried at Vick Cemetery before making decisions that affect the site. This includes regular updates, opportunities for public input, and listening sessions to make sure this sacred ground is treated with dignity.

  • Additional Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR)

I support additional GPR studies of the right-of-way and unsurveyed areas to fully map where graves are located. We cannot restore what we do not fully understand, and this is a necessary step to protect those resting places from future disturbance.

  • Independent Investigation of Past Actions

I believe there should be an independent investigation into the removal and disappearance of headstones, as well as the installation of power poles inside the cemetery boundary. The community deserves transparency and answers about how this happened and what will be done to prevent similar harm in the future.

Vick Cemetery is a cornerstone of Wilson’s African-American history. Any improvements must be done with care, respect, and full participation from the community.

Thank you for this question. I will work to make sure we finish what we started. I too have family who is buried somewhere in Vick Cemetery, this is personal for me.

 I will do everything I can to make sure the city follows through with the plan when I am elected for City Council District 7!

  • Lenwood Ward

[Updated 10/13/2025.] I am very passionate about the preservation of historical sites. Especially, the ones of African American history. I have been part of cleaning up one the cemeteries. I have personally walked the grounds reading the headstones. And I found it very disrespectful and concerning to see headstones broken and overgrown by debris. I have been following the issues of these historical cemeteries in the newspaper over the years. I think it’s disgraceful that the city has treated these historical places of rest, like farm land. I believe the city has a duty to correct this wrong. I believe more radar penetration should be done. Areas of erosion should be fixed. All headstones that can be saved, should be. And any that cannot, should have a memorial or a marker to show. The city should write a letter of apology for this disgraceful wrongdoing to its African American citizens. And to show that it respects all citizens. When I served in the military, I was in charge of Funeral Detail for all fallen soldiers, past and present.  I have always believed in showing the utmost respect. So respecting and the preservation of any fallen, should be shown the respect it deserves. And as a Black American, who has seen and experienced personally unfair treatment, I am and will be a supporter of Wilson’s historical places.

Vote for your friends and defeat your enemies.

My guess is that Rev. Richard A.G. Foster knew that Wilson was a stepping-stone, that he would not be in town long, that the A.M.E. Zion itineracy system, if nothing else, would roll him out before his civil rights zealotry ignited a retaliatory spark.

Also, he was financially insulated in a way that other local ministers were not. The church paid a decent salary and provided housing, so he had no need to work a supplemental, or even primary, job that could be boycotted or threatened.

Thus, Foster jumped into Wilson in late 1936 with both feet and, over the next three-and-a-half years, engineered election strategy, nurtured youth development, raised funds for investigations of police slayings, fought for better schools, and demanded integration.

Chicago Defender, 18 June 1938.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 1 October 1938.

Lane Street Project: the morning after, rise and keep moving.

The people have spoken. The incumbents are returned. The world keeps spinning.

Don’t let yesterday’s election results be interpreted as a referendum on satisfaction with the way Wilson City Council is handling (or not handling) Vick Cemetery though. 

We demand transparency and accountability. We demand investigations and answers. How many dead lie in the public right-of-way? How do we protect them from further desecration? 

This is why.

Karole Turner Campbell shared this photograph of her maternal grandparents, Wesley and Martha Taylor Jones, sitting on the stoop of their Stantonsburg Street house in Wilson. In 1954, when she was nine years old, Turner Campbell spent the summer with them. It was her first “sleep-away camp,” and her grandfather Wesley gave her a job. She was to help her grandmother Martha, then 64 years old, learn to read so she could register to vote for the first time in her life. This was the Jim Crow era, and North Carolina still imposed literacy tests and poll taxes to disenfranchise its Black citizens. Martha Taylor had achieved only a third grade education when she had to leave school and go to work. Writes Turner Campbell, “I CANNOT EXPLAIN HOW THAT EXPERIENCE TOUCHED, MOVED AND INSPIRED ME! Nine years old, and I helped teach my grandma to read and vote. This is one reason I became an educator. This is why I ALWAYS vote.” 

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I woke up this morning disappointed and apprehensive and angry. But, ever inspired by those whose shoulders I stand on, resolute. 

Many thanks to Karole Turner Campbell and to the many political pioneers of Wilson County’s Jones family.

Who was G.G.W. Coppedge?

Wilson Daily Times, 1 April 1955.

Though his success was singular, G.K. Butterfield Sr. was not the only African-American seeking elected office in Wilson in the mid-1950s. Brickmason General George Washington Coppedge also threw his hat in the ring for a First Ward seat.

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In the 1908 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Coppedge General (c) bricklyr h 133 E Nash; also Coppedge James G Rev (c) pastor Second Baptist Church h 113 Manchester

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Nash Street, brickmason George Copage, 25, and wife Mary A., 23, restaurant cook.

James G. Coppedge died 16 July 1913 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born in 1861 in North Carolina to Washington Coppedge and an unknown mother; lived on Manchester Street; was married; and worked as a butler. G.W. Coppedge was informant.

On 26 September 1915, Geo. W. Coppedge, 30, of Wilson, son of J.G. Coppedge and Sarah D. [last name not given], married Mittie Bynum, 27, of Wilson, daughter of Berry Bynum, in Wilson. A.M.E. Zion minister J.S. Jackson performed the ceremony in the presence of Dudley Bynum, C.L. Coppedge and Allen Brown.

General Washington Coppedge registered for the World War I draft in Wilson County in 1918. Per his registration card, he was born 1 February 1885; lived at 200 Vick Street; worked as a bricklayer for John Barnes, Green Street; and his nearest relative was Mittie Coppedge.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 200 Vick Street, brickmason George Coppedge, 34; wife Mittie, 34; and children George Jr., 4, and Elenora, 2.

Mittie Coppedge died 13 December 1933 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 2 December 1887 in Wilson to Berry Bynum and Lottie Willoughby; was married to G.W. Coppedge; lived at 200 North Vick; and was a housewife.

On 18 November 1936, George Coppedge Jr., 21, of Nash County, son of George and Mittie Coppedge, married Eloise Allen, 19, of Nash County, daughter of James and Rachel Allen, in Nashville, Nash County, North Carolina.

On 5 June 1937, Ruth E. Hooker, 29, of Wilson, daughter of Frank and Ella Hooker, married General W. Coppedge, 45, of Wilson, son of James and Sallie Coppedge. Presbyterian minister O.E. Sanders performed the ceremony at 708 East Green Street in the presence of Annie L. Sanders, Lenora Carroll and Eleanor J. Hooker.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 200 South Vick, George Coppedge, 55, bricklayer; wife Ruth, 40, schoolteacher at county school; [his] son George Jr., 23; daughter-in-law Elouise, 20; and grandchildren Julia, 4, Deloris, 2, and Carrol, 1.

In 1940, George W. Coppedge Jr. registered for the World War II draft. Per his registration card, he was born 14 November 1915 in Lynchburg, Virginia; lived at 1823 H Street, N.E., Washington, D.C.; his nearest relative was father George W. Coppedge Sr., 200 South Vick, Wilson; and he worked for “Fed. Wk. Ag.”

Ruth Hooker Coppedge died 26 May 1945 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 41 years old; resided at 200 South Vick Street, Wilson; was married to George Coppedge; was born in Wilson to Frank Richard Hooker of Greene County and Eleanor Farmer of Wilson County; and was a school teacher.

On 10 July 1963, the Wilson Daily Times reported that George W. Coppedge was awarded a plaque in recognition of fifty years of service to Wilson as a firefighter. Wilson Fire Chief Tyrus Bissette and George K. Butterfield Sr. “praised Coppedge’s work and participation in religious organizations, politics and fraternal groups.”

George W. Coppedge died 15 May 1973 in Washington, D.C. His obituary noted that he ran for public office twice.

Wilson Daily Times, 17 May 1973.

VOTE.

Black Wide-Awake‘s temporal cut-off is generally 1949, but 2020 calls for flexibility. If you are of voting age, but are not registered to vote, I don’t know what will stir you. Here’s a story for you though.

This receipt acknowledged the seven dollars my grandmother paid dentist George K. Butterfield for services on 17 September 1955. I’m not sure why she saved it, but perhaps the times felt historic. [And look who signed it — Marie Everett!] Just a few months before this office visit, Dr. Butterfield had thwarted the city’s voter suppression shenanigans to win a second term on Wilson’s Board of Aldermen. In 1957, to make sure this didn’t happen again, Wilson dynamited its ward system. 

Dr. Butterfield’s son George K., Jr. is, of course, the United States Congressman for the 1st District of North Carolina, which includes Wilson County. “That is the thing that has precipitated my whole interest in law and politics,” Butterfield Jr. told the Wilson Daily Times in a 3 February 2003 article, “I’ve learned how government can work for you and against you. And in this case, it worked against a significant portion of the community.”

The bullet-point version:

  • In 1928, Dr. Butterfield was one of 46 Black registered voters in Wilson.  
  • In the 1930s and ’40s, several organizations formed to support political and educational advancement of African-Americans, including voter registration.
  • By the early 1950s, about 500 Black voters were registered, almost all of whom lived in the city’s Third Ward, a long narrow precinct that crossed Wilson east to west.
  • In early 1953, Dr. Butterfield announced his candidacy for a seat on Wilson’s Board of Aldermen, the precursor to today’s city council. He drew immediate widespread support from unionized tobacco leafhouse workers (many of whom were women), churches, and the small African-American professional class.
  • A few days before the election, incumbent Herbert Harriss challenged the eligibility of 185 voters. Of 150 voters struck from the rolls as a result, all but three were Black. 
  • On election night, Dr. Butterfield and Harriss each received 382 votes, but Butterfield objected that the registrar had violated regulations requiring votes be counted where ballot boxes were opened. City Attorney W.A. Lucas conceded the count was irregular, but declared the point moot, as there were tie-breaker provisions. Over Dr. Butterfield’s expostulations, the City Clerk placed the two candidates’ names in a hat, blindfolded a three year-old girl, and asked her to draw a name.
  • Dr. Butterfield won!
  • Two years later, the City of Wilson rolled up its sleeves to get in front of Dr. Butterfield’s re-election. First, it threw out all the registration books, ostensibly to clear the rolls of dead or otherwise ineligible voters. It gave citizens one month to re-register by notifying their ward registrar at his house on a weekday, a difficult feat for factory workers and domestics working on the other side of town from their homes. Next, the city expanded Ward 3 on its western end to pull in hundreds more white voters. And the Wilson Daily Times did its part to highlight the peril by publishing running tallies of new registrations by race. 

Wilson Daily Times, 8 April 1955.

Wilson Daily Times, 25 April 1955.

  • On election day, 93% of all eligible Black voters voted — let me say that again, NINETY-THREE PERCENT OF ALL ELIGIBLE BLACK VOTERS VOTED — and Dr. Butterfield won again! (Won’t He do it?)
  • In 1957, faced with another Butterfield campaign, the City went for the nuclear option and chucked the whole ward system for “new and fair” city-wide, at-large seats. Further, to thwart bloc voting, voters would not be able to vote for just one candidate. Rather, they had to select six or their ballots would be invalidated. Jim Crow protocols prevented Dr. Butterfield from campaigning directly to white voters, and he was unable to counter when his white opponents sneered at his ties to “special interest groups” like the NAACP and cast him as a candidate solely interested in advancing Black issues. (One, oh, the hypocrisy! Two, doesn’t this all sound familiar?)
  • Unsurprisingly, Dr. Butterfield placed eighth of 16 candidates and was the sole incumbent to lose his seat. 

The story didn’t end there, of course. Butterfield’s final defeat coincided with the emergence of new grassroots civil rights organizing efforts to attack segregation and racism in every corner of Wilson life. I’m shining a timely light on Dr. Butterfield’s pioneering political career to remind you that there is nothing new under the sun; that voter suppression is the weapon of choice whenever you show your strength; and that, though you may not win every battle, you can do no less than the Black men and women of Wilson who defied their government and risked it all to vote over and over and over. 

“Victors in May 3 City Elections Are Given Oaths of Office Today,” Wilson Daily Times, 6 June 1955.

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The deadline for registration in Georgia is October 5.

The deadline for registration in North Carolina is October 9.

For the full, fascinating source of my summary of Dr. Butterfield’s elections, please read Charles W. McKinney Jr., Greater Freedom: The Evolution of the Civil Rights Struggle in Wilson, North Carolina (2010).

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P.S. Right on time — today, the first in the New York Times’ video series, Stressed Election, focuses on voter suppression in Georgia, where I now live. 

https://www.nytimes.com/video/players/offsite/index.html?videoId=100000006810942

Congratulations, Mayor Stevens!

Black Wide-Awake is focused on historical people, places and events, but:

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The whole of my politically conscious life, Wilson has had two mayors. Ralph El Ramey from 1979-1992, and Bruce Rose from 1992 to date. Last night, Carlton Stevens Jr., 44, having campaigned under the slogan “One Wilson,” defeated Rose to be elected the city’s first African American mayor.

The support of East Wilson’s residents, many of whom feel forgotten amidst efforts to rebrand and revitalize other parts of town, was critical to his victory. The work begins.

Poll holders and registrars, 1884.

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Wilson Advance, 26 September 1884.

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  • Tom Johnson — in the 1880 census of Town of Wilson, Wilson County: teamster Thomas Johnson, 30; wife Milly, 25; and children Willie, 9, Ella, 8, and Daisey, 5.
  • Jolly Taylor — in the 1880 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farmer Jolly Taylor, 60; wife Cherry, 38; son Richard, 18, farm laborer; and David Cotton, 18, farm laborer.
  • Jack Woodard — Jackson Woodard. In the 1880 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: farmer Jack Woodard, 35; wife Fanny, 32; and children John, 12, Julia, 7, Cynthia, 6, Albert, 5, and Aaron, 2.
  • Woodard Williams
  • Randall Hinnant — in the 1880 census of Old Fields township, Wilson County: Randall Hinnant, 33, farmer; wife Angeline, 26; and children J. Thomas, 10, James H., 8, Lilly Ann, 6, Roscoe F., 4, and Hugh M., 7 months.
  • Ruffin Woodard — in the 1880 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: farmer Ruffin Woodard, 56; wife Lucy, 38; and children Zilpha, 19, John, 13, Polly, 12, Sallie, 2, and Oscar, 1.
  • Joe Cox — perhaps, in the 1870 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: farm laborer Joseph Cox, 33; wife Litha, 27; children Augustin, 6, Bunyan, 11, Iredell, 4, and Zella, 3; and farm laborer Esther Hinard, 54.
  • Ned Scarboro — in the 1880 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: laborer Ned Scarboro, 35; wife Bedie, 27; and children Rufus, 14, Leda, 11, Jennie, 8, Polly, 6, Martha, 3, and Penny, 1.
  • Preston Jenkins — probably, in the 1900 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Preston Jenkins, 49; wife Patsy, 43; daughters Nancy, 22, and Lizzie, 18; and adopted son King Tom, 20.
  • Alfred Woodard — in the 1880 census of Taylors township, Wilson County: farmer Alfred Woodard, 50; wife Sarah, 45; children Florence, 28, Mary, 22, Howell, 18, Sarah E., 16, Zilly A., 17, Lundon, 13, Minnie, 12, Willie, 10, Josephine, 7, and Evvy, 4; and grandchildren Elizabeth, 7, Robt. B., 5, and John H. Bynum, 4.
  • J.I. Parker

Registrars and judges of election.

In August and September 1896, the Chairman of the Republican State Executive Committee submitted lists of  Registrars and Judges of Election for elections to be held in November 1896.

Wilson County was divided into 14 precincts — four in Wilson, two in Toisnot township, and one each in Taylors, Old Fields, Springhill, Cross Roads, Black Creek, Stantonsburg, Saratoga and Gardners townships. Braswell R. Winstead was appointed Judge of Election for Wilson Precinct No. 1 and Toisnot Precinct No. 1 and Elijah L. Reid was appointed Judge of Election for Stantonsburg Precinct. William H. Vick was appointed Registrar for Wilson No. 2; Alexander D. Dawson for Wilson No. 3; and Jeremiah Scarboro for Wilson No. 4. Jessie Howard was appointed Taylors registrar and Gray Newsome, Cross Roads.

Election Records 1896, Officials’ Bonds and Records, Wilson County Records, North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh.