John Worsley — in the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1210 Carolina Street, David Worsley, 43, “butler in home”; wife Daisy, 36, tobacco factory hanging room; and children John E., 17, Moses, 15, Elnora, 13, Lou Jean, 11, and Stoney, 9.
James Bynum
Bill Elliott — in the 1940 census of Edenton, Chowan County, N.C.: odd jobs yard man Weston P. Elliott, 61; wife Annie D., 59; children Sherman, 25, sawmill laborer, Raleigh, 28, Hattie, 22, cook, and Willie, 20; Quincey Beasley, 35; and grandchildren Glayds, 5, and Sarah Elliott, 5.
Twenty-one year-old impresario Percy Mincey put together an impressive Christmas night dance in 1943, five months before he enlisted in the United States Army. (Note the reduced price for white “spectators,” who could watch, but not dance.)
Percy Mincy
In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 500 Stantonsburg Street, John Mincey, 50, tobacco factory laborer; wife Olivia, 46; children Olivia D., 17, tobacco factory laborer, Joseph, 23, Margie, 15, Susie M., 12, Johnie M., 8, Percy, 6, and Prince, 21, and his wife Alice, 19; and grandchildren James, 12, Lawrence L., 7, and Willie L.Carroll, newborn.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 500 Stantonsburg Street, Jack Mincey, 61; wife wife Olivia, 58; sons Johnie, 20, and Percell, 19; and grandson Darance, 17.
In 1942, Percy Mincey registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 29 December 1922 in Wilson; lived at 500 Stantonsburg Street; his contact was Ben Mincey, 650 Wiggins; and he worked for Watson Warehouse, Goldsboro Street.
Ike Carpenter and his 12 Piece Orchestra — This would seem to be Isaac Carpenter, a white jazz bandleader from Durham, N.C., but biographies of Carpenter indicate he did not form his first band until 1945, and he generally led octets.
The Three Aces — This is another conundrum. The most well-known Three Aces group did not form until 1951.
In November 1949, the Eastern Star Quartet, which actually had five members, appeared at a community sing program at Reid Street Community Center alongside the Stantonsburg Jubilaires and Elm City’s Harris Brothers Quartet.
I think Junius Lucas has the guitar, and Ernest Edwards stands behind him to the left. Can you identify the other singers?
Every once in a while, we step outside Black Wide-Awake‘s period of focus to highlight an especially interesting document.
Reid Street Community Center opened in 1938 as, of course, a segregated facility. Long-time plans to build a state-of-the-art “community center building for the whites” (as it was called in a 11 August 1954 Daily Times editorial, and thus the moniker “White Rec,” as it was known for decades and maybe still is) screeched to a halt in early 1954 after the United States Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that “separate but equal” standards of racial segregation were unconstitutional.
Opined the Daily Times editorialist:
The exhortations worked, and voters (who were largely white) elected to fund both community centers. Architectural sketches of the proposed new (or renewed) buildings dropped in March 1955, and here’s the proposed updated facility at Reid Street with its big new pool.
A few features were pared away before final construction, but anyone, like me, who learned to swim at Reid Street as late as the 1980s will immediately recognize the high and low diving boards and the lifeguard’s chair. The overhang shown shading the exit from the locker rooms, where you turned in your wire clothes basket and received an enormous numbered safety pin, didn’t make the final cut. Nor did the tennis courts, the large wading pool, or the landscaping.
Courtesy of Google Maps, here’s an aerial rear view of Reid Street Community Center shot when the pool was closed during the pandemic. It’s looking a little worse for the 68 years of wear since 1955, and the $1.9 million overhaul recently announced is long overdue.
The first Catholic services for African-Americans in Wilson were held at Reid Street Community Center in 1941, with construction of a new church — to be known as Saint Alphonsus — soon to get underway.
Three hundred children showed up for a Halloween party at Reid Street Community Center in 1940. Instructors presented “an interesting program of contests, stunts, and games” and awarded prizes in various competitions.
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Deborah Swindell — in the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Deborah Swindell, 40, beautician in own shop; daughter Deborah, 16; and lodger Noble Wade, 38, cook in railroad shop, born in Georgia.Â
Virginia Melton — in the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1206 Washington Street, T[illegible] Barnes, 72, washing, widow; daughter Cora Melton, 42, private cook, widow; grandchildren Lucy, 16, Virginia, 15, and John, 14, all farming green tobacco, W.T., 8, and Hilda, 7; and daughter Lillie Barnes, 40.Â
Prof. M.D. Williams — Malcolm D. Williams, principal of Vick Elementary School.
Frances Eliza Williams
Thomas Freeman — in the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1114 Washington Street, owned and valued at $3000, brick mason Julius Freeman, 52; wife Pattie, 40; and children Julius L., 20, Doris, 19, Robert and Richard, 18, John, 16, Charles, 14, Eunice, 12, Mary, 11, Ruby, 10, Tom, 9, Dan, 8, Lillian, 6, and Henry, 2.
John Farmer
Paul Bryant
Silas Bryant
Office Clark — Offie Clark. In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1300 Washington Street, William Clark, 47, mechanical helper in guano factory; wife Katie E., 47; and children Offie E., 18, Addie E., 15, and William T., 12; and grandson Milton Grady, 2.
Virginia Williams
Hilda Gray Young
Dan Freeman — brother of Thomas Freeman, above.
Irvin Sutton
Dillon Bell — in the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1309 East Nash, auto body company blacksmith Charlie Bell, 58, born in West Virginia; wife Nina, 31, cook; and children Dillon, 14, and Benson, 10.
Bill Elliott supervised the Darden High School’s Teen Age Club, which held social events at Reid Street Community Center under the joint sponsorship of Darden’s Parent-Teacher Association and Wilson’s Department of Recreation and Parks.
