Foster

Maggie Foster 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.

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Maggie Foster Barnes.

411 East Green Street.

The two hundred-sixth in a series of posts highlighting buildings in East Wilson Historic District, a national historic district located in Wilson, North Carolina. As originally approved, the district encompasses 858 contributing buildings and two contributing structures in a historically African-American section of Wilson. (A significant number have since been lost.) The district was developed between about 1890 to 1940 and includes notable examples of Queen Anne, Bungalow/American Craftsman, and Shotgun-style architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

In the nomination form for the East Wilson Historic District, described as: “ca. 1922; 2 stories; two-bay, side-hall, gable front house with intact turned porch posts.”

In the 1922 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Foster Hugh (c) carp h 411 E Green. Also: Foster Maggie (c) dom h 411 E Green

In the 1925 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Foster Hugh T (c) carp h 411 E Green

In the 1928 and 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directories: Foster Hugh T (c; Mollie M) carp h 411 E Green

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 411 East Green Street, Hugh Foster, 31, carpenter,

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 411 East Green, Hallie Armstrong, 48, pool room operator; wife Julia, 29; and lodgers Annie M. Brown, 39, of Mooresville, Iredell County, hospital nurse; Jeanett M. Lee, 24, of Mount Olive, Wayne County, hospital nurse; and Lawrence Peacock, 27, of High Point, sewer project laborer.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 411 East Green, widow Julia Armstrong, 39, born in Kentucky, and lodgers Mary Rose, 29; Anne Everette, 2; Herbert Rose Jr., born in July; Edward Harris, 20, construction company bricklayer; McDonald Hayes, 33, electric power company laborer; Josephine Hayes, 28, cotton picker on farm; and Willie Mack Hayes, 15, cotton picker on farm.

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Wilson Daily Times, 23 February 1968.

Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, May 2024.

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.