glee club

Sallie Barbour School glee club.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 21 May 1949.

Does anyone recognize any of the children of the 1949 Sallie Barbour School glee club?

——

  • Ruth Williams

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 405 East Green, dentist William H. Phillips, 56; wife Rena C., 52; sister-in-law Isabelle Thornton, 62; and lodgers Ruth Williams, 26, Vivian Speight, 23, both public school teachers, Harold Schmoke, 30, movie theatre manager, Angus Williams, 21, projection operator, and James Williams, 20, chauffeur.

Barnes School glee club performs.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 5 June 1943.

The nineteen children of the Barnes Elementary School Glee Club performed at Saint Paul Disciple Church of Christ in April 1943 under the direction of teacher Margaret L. Morrison. Blanche Thomas Baker was principal of the school, which was on what is now Airport Boulevard.

——

  • Willie Smith
  • Lonnie Artis
  • Fannie D. Harrison — in the 1940 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer Ben Harrison, 45; wife Daisy, 37; and daughter Fannie, 6.
  • Ethel M. Coleman — perhaps, in the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 902 East Vance Street, William T. Peacock, 35, “shake tobacco” in tobacco factory; wife Emma L., 36; daughter Ethel Mae Coleman, 14; and lodgers Acue Brookley, 27, dry-cleaning presser, and wife Sadie, 22, washer at laundry company.
  • Helen Bass — — in the 1940 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer Jim Bass, 48; wife Jennie, 46; and children James, 26, Virginia Bell, 21, Adell, 16, Mildred, 14, Robena, 12, and Hellen, 7.
  • Catherine Barnes — in the 1940 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer McKinley Barnes, 32; wife Heggar, 26; daughters Christine, 8, Katherine, 7, and Ruby, 1; niece Lizzie Mae, 20; and mother Lucy, 59.
  • Christine Barnes — see Catherine Barnes, above.
  • Bernice Bass — in the 1940 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer Charlie Bass, 28; wife Lillie, 28; and children Bernice, 5, and Beatrice, 3.
  • Louise Darden — in the 1940 census of Oldfields township, Wilson County: farmer William Darden, 29; wife Ethel, 26; and children Jay W., 7, Louise, 5, Curtis, 4, Moselle, 2, Adell, 1, and Marcell, 4 months.
  • Floyd Coleman — in the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: street worker for city street department Floyd Coleman Sr., 52, widower, and son Floyd Jr., 13.
  • James Vailes — in the 1950 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer John Bullock, 63; wife Mary, 63; lodgers Odessa, 25, and James Vails, 18.
  • Molly Barnes — in the 1940 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer Clarence Barnes, 29; wife Lessie, 27; and children Marie, 10, Molly Gray, 9, and Virginia, 2; and mother-in-law Mollie Baker, 50.
  • Celie Smith
  • Mae Frances Morgan
  • Mavona Melton
  • Marie Barnes — see Molly Barnes, above.
  • Rosa M. Roundtree — perhaps, in the 1940 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Winstead Mill Road, farmer James Roundtree, 59; wife Mary B., 56; and children Mary, 19, Eula, 17, and Rosa M., 8.
  • Mamie Lee Barnes 
  • George F. Dew — in the 1940 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer Claud Dew, 49; wife Addie, 44; and sons Willie B., 21, and George Frank, 10.

 

Harry T. Burleigh Glee Club at the Globe!

Harry T. Burleigh was a classical singer, composer, and arranger known for his adaptations of African-American spirituals. I have found scant documentation, but there appear to have been glee clubs named in his honor in several cities across the country, including Hampton, Virginia, and Dayton, Ohio.

Courtesy of an anonymous reader.

Glee.

Another gem from Darden Alumni Center, here depicting the Wilson Colored High School glee club in 1937. A label listing the students’ and teachers’ names has been augmented where possible with birth and death dates and parents’ names, below. Many eastern North Carolina counties did not provide secondary education for African-American children in the 1930s. As a result, families who wanted schooling beyond the elementary grades chose to send their children to Wilson to board with local families and attend high school. Where discovered, the hometowns of such children are noted below.

Front row: Annie Elizabeth Cooke Farmer (1921-??, Jerry and Clara Godette Cooke); Delores Robbins Coleman (1920-2003, James D. and Louise Davis Robbins); Edna Gray Taylor Desvigne (1921-2011, Roderick and Mary John Pender Taylor); Helen E. Reid Worsley (1921-1981, Willie C. and Mary Galley Reid); Lucy Gray Pittman Cunningham Parker (1922-2003, Aaron and Lucy Graham Pittman); unknown; Bessie Mae Joyner Redden (Eddie L. and Annie Joyner); Gracie White Terrell (1923-1994); Willia B. Jones Turner (1923, Wesley and Martha Taylor Jones); Lucy Dawson.

Second row: Spencer J. Satchell; Aurelia Janet Lucas Hagood (1920-1997, Henry and Mamie Battle Lucas); Helen Crutchfield Lewis (1924-1993, Willie and Novella Bryant Crutchfield), Doris Louise Crooms Caldwell Robinson (1920-1992, Lloyd and Maggie Jones Crooms); Bernice Gerald; Annie Frances Crawford (1921-??, Clarence and Maggie Barnes Crawford); Retha M. Best; Millicent Monroe; Naomi Lee Dawson Clark (1920-1978, Clarence and Elizabeth Thomas Dawson); Rosemary Plummer Fitts Funderburg (1923-2000, Howard and Elizabeth Plummer Fitts); Hattie L. Dixon; Evelyn Knight (1921-??, James H. and Ada Green Knight); Alice McCoy (1915-1983, Russell and Ometa Smith McCoy); Juanita Pope Morrisey.

Third row: Leroy Foster (1917-??, Claude and Cora White Foster); Harvey Gray Ford (1921-1942, Curlis and Mamie Battle Ford); Cornelius Best; Eula Mae Horton Bryant (1912-1990, Louis and Minnie Horton); unknown; Montez Colesse Hooker Boatman (1922-1990, Gray F. and Bettie Caddell Hooker);  Virginia Walden Wilson (Albert L. and Annie Moore Walden); Thomas H. Haskins (1919-1978, Robert and Gertrude Haskins); Primrose Carter (1914-1972, Morehead City, Carteret County, Willie E. and Henrietta Cooper Carter).

Fourth row: William Nelson Knight (1916-2011, James H. and Ada Green Knight); John Henry Mincey (1919-1982, Benjamin and Mattie Barnes Mincey); Charles Darden James (1914-1994, Randall R. and Elizabeth Darden James); James F. Coley (1921-??); Clarence Herman Best (1918-1994, Clarence B. and Geneva Smith Best); Weldon Williams; unknown; Clinton Rudolph Leacraft (1918-2007, Swansboro, Onslow County, Frank and Hagar Duncan Leacraft).

Fifth row: James Aaron Best; Marion Vernon Jones (1919-1975, Wesley and Martha Taylor Jones); unknown; Charles Elva Kittrell (1918-1990, Solomon and Lettie Roberts Kittrell); unknown; Elmond Henry McKeithen (1914-2003, Cumberland County, Henry and Sarah Robinson McKeithan).