Foster

Rev. Foster speaks out against Wage & Hour violations.

In the face of stiff resistance by tobacco stemming companies against paying a minimum wage — $11/week — the ever-fiery Rev. Richard A.G. Foster made a blunt statement. As these businesses wanted to “keep Negroes poor and ignorant,” and “the white South still feels that Negro labor is slave labor,” “Negroes that live in the South must turn their attention to self help.”


Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 19 November 1938.

Darden senior preaches first sermon.

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

Though Leroy Foster did not make his career in the pulpit, he remained a lifelong A.M.E. Zion lay leader.

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  • Leroy Foster

In the 1920 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: tenant farmer Claud Foster, 37; wife Cora, 37; and children Mammie, 16, Booker T., 12, Maggie, 9, Claud Jr., 7, Carry, 6, Leroy, 5, Sammie, 1, and Estell, 1 month.

In the 1930 census of Jackson township, Nash County, N.C.: farmer Claud Foster, 48; children Claud Jr., 16, Carrie Lee, 14, Leroy, 13, Samuel, 11, Cora, 10, Douglas, 8, and Marie, 6; and grandson Jimmie, 7.

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.

On 4 October 1944, Leroy Foster, 27, of Wilson, son of Claude and Cora Foster, married Lula Margaret Moore, 26, of Wilson, daughter of Louis Arrington and Lula Moore, in Wilson. A.M.E. Zion minister W.A. Hilliard performed the ceremony in the presence of Arthur Lee Battle, Viola McPhail, and Mary Elizabeth Thomas.

Leroy Foster interrupted his college education to serve in the United States Army from 1942 to 1946.

The Livingstonian yearbook (1947), Livingstone College.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 925 Washington Street, science teacher Leroy Foster, 33; wife Lula M., 32; and aunt Delphia V. Battle, 57, presser.

Leroy Darden died 10 March 1978 in Greenville, North Carolina.

Wilson Daily Times, 12 March 1978.

Rev. Foster fights for Black schools.

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

Rev. Richard A.G. Foster made the most of his few years in Wilson. Among other things, he led the fight for improved school facilities for Black students in town and in the county. With Camillus L. Darden, he successfully mobilized African-American voters to put unresponsive county commissioners out of office. The two new schools they eventually secured were Frederick Douglass High School in Elm City and Samuel H. Vick Elementary School in Wilson.

Studio shots, no. 267: Maggie Elizabeth Foster Barnes.

Maggie Foster Barnes (1911-1945).

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In the 1920 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: tenant farmer Claud Foster, 37; wife Cora, 37; and children Mammie, 16, Booker T., 12, Maggie, 9, Claud Jr., 7, Carry, 6, Leroy, 5, Sammie, 1, and Estell, 1 month.

On 11 December 1927, Rosevelt Barnes, 19, of Stantonsburg, son of Jim Henry and Appie Barnes, married Maggie Foster, 15, of Stantonsburg, daughter of Claud and Cora Foster, in Stantonsburg. A.M.E. Zion minister M.M. Patrick performed the ceremony in the presence of Edith Bell Barnes, Orlando Williams, and Pearlie Camron.

In the 1930 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer Roosevelt Barnes, 19; wife Maggie, 18; and daughter Hellen, 2.

Roosevelt Barnes Jr. died 21 February 1934 in Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born 15 June 1933 in Wilson County to Roosevelt Barnes and Maggie Foster; and was buried in Wilson [probably, Vick Cemetery.]

In the 1940 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer Roosevelt Barnes, 32; wife Maggie, 29; children Hellen, 12, Mammie Lee, 8, and Claud, 2; and lodger [nephew] Jimmie D. Foster, 19.

Roosevelt Barnes registered for the 1940 draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 28 February 1911 in Wilson County; lived on Route 1, Wilson; his contact was wife Maggie Foster Barnes; and he worked for Doc Mercer.

Maggie Barnes died 23 April 1945 in Brooklyn, New York.

Photo courtesy of Ancestry.com user Robert Faithful.

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.

Pal does his job!

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 8 January 1938.

“Scotch Collie”?

Per the website of the Old-Time Scotch Collie Association, “In 1900 the Scotch Collie was the dog to have. They were sought after by farmers for their herding ability, and they were sought after by city dwellers because they were intelligent and loyal pets. In fact, the qualities that made the Scotch Collie a great farm dog were largely the exact same properties that made it a great family dog, their intelligence and desire to please. Later in the 20th century, fancy show dogs and the decline of the small family farm made the Scotch Collie obsolete, a few people began searching for and reviving these dogs in the 1980s and 1990s. Today we have a small population of these fantastic dogs left. Join us as we work to preserve and increase the Old-Time Scotch Collie.”

Good boy, Pal!

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