Rosenwald school

Agent Spellman’s excellent report, part 2.

Wilson County Negro Extension Agent Cecil A. Spellman did not stint. His two-part 1939 Annual Narrative Report is a 146-page treasure chest whose nuggets create a finely textured view of rural African-American life just before World War II — home demonstration, community entertainment, school improvement, test farms, engineering activities, tobacco work, gardening, corn-growing, meat-cutting, 4-H clubs, camp, spelling matches, Negro Health Week, projects, spotlights on people, houses, and schools — including photographs — and more.

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Spellman spoke highly of State Subject Matter Specialist W.R. Laws, who visited the county to deliver talks and demonstrations to women, such as making articles from fertilizer bags; making window screens from tobacco cloth or wire with denim bindings that could be buttoned to windows; and making fly traps. Spellman attached photos of Laws at Williamson and Jones Hill Schools.

Spellman then turned his attention to the pressing need for a permanent home demonstration agent for Wilson County, reporting that county commissioners had finally agreed to fund such a position. He credited the Women’s Civic Club of Wilson for their advocacy, specifically naming Mrs. H.L. Daniel, Odell Barnes, Mrs. Freeman [Willie Hendley Freeman?], and Mrs. William Hines [Ethel Cornwell Hines]. “These women were aided from the rural end” by Mrs. R.L. Mitchell [Ellenora Manley Mitchell], Mrs. K.R. Mitchell [Martha Taylor Mitchell], Rosetta Farmer, Rena Hilliard, Mrs. Charlie Ruffin [Henrietta Ruffin], and others. With supportive husbands in tow, women packed commissioners’ meetings in support of their cause.

Unfortunately, matters did not proceed as smoothly as hoped. As Spellman cryptically explained, “The beginning of extension work in the county on the home agent front was not as pleasant as it might have been due to several unfortunate ‘misunderstandings.’ Under different circumstances the work could have gotten off to a better start. As it turned out I was maligned and embarrassed and others, some innocent, also suffered as a result. The matter for a time threatened to split the community. For a time I regretted my little part in the movement to obtain a home agent in the county. Matters have now become ‘more or less’ adjusted.'”

Annie B. Brown was appointed home agent from June 1 to September 1. Jane Amos Boyd succeeded her as permanent agent on September 1, 1939.

North Carolina County Agent Annual Narrative Report, Wilson County, N.C., North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, UA102.002, Special Collections Research Center at N.C. State University.

County schools, no. 21: Sims School.

The twenty-first in a series of posts highlighting the schools that educated African-American children outside the town of Wilson in the first half of the twentieth century. The posts will be updated; additional information, including photographs, is welcome.

Sims School

Sims School is listed in “Survey File Materials Received from Volunteer Surveyors of Rosenwald Schools Since September 2002.” 

Location: Down a dirt path behind Flat Rock Church of Christ Disciples and a mobile home, Flat Rock Church Road, Sims.

Per Research Report: Tools for Assessing the Significance and Integrity of North Carolina’s Rosenwald Schools and Comprehensive Investigation of Rosenwald Schools In Edgecombe, Halifax, Johnston, Nash, Wayne and Wilson Counties (2007),

Per sale advertised for several weeks in the Wilson Daily Times in the fall of 1951: “SIMS COLORED SCHOOL in Oldfields Township, near the Town of Sims, and being Lots Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, in Block H as shown by map or plat recorded in Book 78, at page 125, Wilson County Registry, containing 1 5/8 acres more or less. Also the lot excepted from the deed from the Board of Education of Wilson County to Ruben Peele dated 14 March, 1929 and of Record in Book 179 at Page 478, Wilson County Registry. See deeds recorded in Book 179, at pages 513 and 514, Wilson County Registry.” 

On 19 November 1951, Grover L. Jones made the high bid of $800 at the auction of Sims School, but the Board Education determined the bid was inadequate. Jones raised his bid to $925, and he and his wife Allencia Jones took possession.

When Research Report was published, Sims School was one of two Rosenwald schools more-or-less standing in Wilson County, as shown in this photo from the report:

Since then, the school building has completely collapsed.

Known faculty: principal Howard M. Fitts; teachers Alice M. Shaw, Vivian M. Speight.

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, March 2025.

Additional evidence of Rosenwald school sites.

I went down a whole rabbit hole today at North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office’s HPOWEB 2.0 GIS mapping tool. Inching my cursor across Wilson County, I found locations (or approximate locations) for several Rosenwald schools I’ve only been able to guess at.

This location, labeled “approximate,” places Barnes School a little further south on Airport Boulevard than my guesstimate.

As identified by former students and confirmed by deed, Barnes School was here:

 

  • Williamson School

As I’d believed, the original two-teacher Williamson School was on the premises of Williamson High School, built in 1941. [Update: this is incorrect. Williamson School was on present-day Willing Worker Road.]

  • Lucama School

Confirmation that Lucama School was adjacent to First Baptist Church of Lucama.

  • Kirby’s Crossing School

Earlier sources indicated two possible sites for Kirby. The information below places the school adjacent to Saint Delight Free Will Baptist.

The pin dropped to mark Saint Delight is misplaced below. The church actually is further north, visible at the right edge of the oval I added to represent the approximate location of Kirby’s School.

[UPDATE: actually, the school was on the other side of the church in a area now wooded.]

  • Ferrell’s School

I only knew Ferrell’s was somewhere near Black Creek. In fact, it was a couple of miles southwest, on Perry Road, which runs roughly parallel to present-day I-795 and US 117.

  • Evansdale School

I knew Evansdale School was on or near the railroad south of the crossroads that marked Evansdale community proper. This information places it on the far side of the tracks paralleling Graves Road, about halfway toward Grimsley Store Road. The school’s lot description mentions a “corner of Church lot,” which was likely Jackson Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church.

  • Jones Hill School

I had assumed that Jones Hill School was adjacent to Jones Hill Primitive Baptist Church, but, per this information, it was located a little further west on Old Raleigh Road. In fact, it “stood in what is now [right-of-way]; Old Raleigh Rd. was moved slightly to the N[orth.]”

Aerial images via Google Maps.

The sales of colored schools.

I’ve written before of the 1951 consolidation of Wilson County’s tiny rural African-American graded schools following a lawsuit by Black parents seeking adequate education for their children.

“Wilson County Schools Institute Large Expansion Program This Year; Two New Colored Schools Are Among Listed Improvements,” Wilson Daily Times, 11 August 1950.

Some were Rosenwald schools, but others predated that program. During a recent visit to Wilson, I began to try to pin down the locations of the school buildings, nearly all of which have disappeared from the landscape.

In 1951, the county’s three school systems — Wilson City Schools, Wilson County Board of Education, and Elm City Schools — began to run notices in the paper publicizing auctions of the excessed buildings. Finding deeds of sale for most of the school properties was simple, but interpreting their archaic metes and bounds — with references to grocery stores, churches, and long-dead neighbors — is a frustrating exercise. If time and energy ever allow, I’ll run title searches forward to pinpoint locations.

I’ve created a spreadsheet to track what I find and of course will keep you posted. In the meantime, in case a name or place resonates with you, here are the descriptions set forth in deeds of sale filed at Wilson County Register of Deeds Office:

Brooks Colored School. Deed book 447, page 291.

Wilbanks Colored School. Deed book 447, page 37.

New Vester Colored School. Deed book 445, page 400.

Bynums Colored School. Deed book 445, page 333.

Williamson Colored School. Deed book 447, page 330.

Jones Hill Colored School. Deed book 445, page 322.

Turner School and Pender School. Deed book 505, page 295.

Minshew Colored School. Deed book 465, page 224.

Sims Colored School. Deed book 463, page 92.

Calvin Level Colored School. Deed book 463, page 37.

Yelverton Colored School. Deed book 447, page 187.

Lofton Colored School. Deed book 447, page 184.

Howard Colored School. Deed book 447, page 203.

Evansdale Colored School. Deed book 447, page 249.

Stantonsburg Colored School. Deed book 445, page 325.

Sallie Barbour School. Deed book 441, page 5.

Rocky Branch Colored School. Deed book 449, page 380 (correcting deed book 447, page 23).

Farmers Mill Colored School. Deed book 447, page 278.

Lucama Colored School? Deed book 463, page 171.

 

Barnes School recital.

Wilson Daily Times, 24 April 1943.

 

  • Barnes School
  • Rosa M. Roundtree — in the 1940 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Winstead Mill Road, in a house owned and valued at $100, farmer James Roundtree, 59; wife Mary B., 56; daughters Mary, 19, and Eula, 17; granddaughter Rosa M., 8; and mother-in-law Mary A. Barnes, 95.
  • George F. Dew — in the 1940 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: Claud Dew, 49; wife Addie, 44; son Willie B., 21; and son George Frank, 10.
  • Louisa Darden — in the 1940 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: Leeroy Darden, 34; wife Ella, 30; and children Leeroy, 10, Louise, 8, Julian, 6, Rose Etta, 4, and Georgia Mae, 1.
  • Mavora Melton — on 3 February 1947, John Brown Jr., 22, of Middlesex, married Mavora Melton, 18, in Wilson County.
  • Deacon Barnes
  • Deacon Bass
  • Deacon Hart
  • Sister Hart
  • Rev. E.Z. Coley — in the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 306 Pender Street, laundress Pearly Mae Parker, 33; son Willie E., 10; daughter Dorothy M., 9; father Julius Parker, 54, widower, tobacco factory machine feeder; and lodgers Annie Coley, 23, tobacco stemmer, and Exum Z. Coley, 40, preacher; Nathan Austin, 50, farm laborer; Fletcher Austin, 47, farm laborer; Dock King, 41, farm laborer; Quessie King, 21, servant; Mable LeGrand, 21, servant; and Essie Pearl LeGrand, 4.
  • S.B.T. Baker
  • M.L. Morrison — Margaret L. Morrison.

B.W.A. Historical Marker Series, no. 9: Barnes School.

In this series, which will post on occasional Wednesdays, I populate the landscape of Wilson County with imaginary “historic markers” commemorating people, places, and events significant to African-American history or culture.

We been here.

 

BARNES SCHOOL

Built 1921 by Wilson City School Board with Rosenwald funds using three-teacher building plan. Closed and auctioned off in 1951 after school consolidation. Building converted to housing; later demolished.

Barnes School was located on what is now Airport Boulevard near a senior living community.

[Note: this entry has been updated, and a new photo inserted, based on more accurate information about the location of Barnes School provided by former students.]

Rocky Branch School hosts citizenship program.

In the lead-up to my February 8 talk at Wilson County Public Library, every day I’ll feature a post related to Wilson County’s Rosenwald schools. Here, extension agent Carter W. Foster invited farmers from the Rocky Branch, Williamson, and New Vester school districts in southwest Wilson County to attend a citizenship program.

Wilson Daily Times, 27 April 1950.

In an era in which few African-Americans qualified to register to vote, it is interesting to consider what “responsibilities and privileges as a good citizen” were being imparted.

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Williamson Home Demonstration Club news.

In the lead-up to my February 8 talk at Wilson County Public Library, every day I’ll feature a post related to Wilson County’s Rosenwald schools. As seen here, the schools became the centers of rural communities. The Williamson Home Demonstration Club was comprised of women who lived in Williamson’s district. In this contribution to the Daily Times, the Club reported on members’ gardening, canning, and sewing work; their contribution to a fire fund for demonstration agent Jane Amos Boyd; a successful picnic with the clubs affiliated with Sims, New Vester, and Rocky Branch Schools; a baby shower; and the sick and shut-in.

Wilson Daily Times, 3 July 1945.

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  • Lillie Powell
  • Ida M. Finch— in the 1940 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farmer Eddie Finch, 30; wife Ida M., 28; and sons Joshua T., 7, and Willie G., 1.
  • Gladys Graham — in the 1940 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farm laborer James Graham, 24; wife Gladys, 20; and daughter Mary F., 1.
  • C.W. Foster — Carter W. Foster.
  • Lizzie Atkinson
  • Mamie B. Williamson

“Trained Teachers and Trained Leaders”: Wilson County’s Rosenwald Schools.

I have a bottomless well of names to say and stories to tell about Wilson County, and I always look forward to Februarys at Wilson County Public Library. WCPL walks the talk of inclusion daily and on many paths, and I deeply appreciate their invitations to speak with my home folk about our community’s rich legacy.

Come out on Thursday, February 8, to learn about Wilson County’s Rosenwald schools. Funded by community fundraising and Sears Roebuck magnate Julius Rosenwald, these two- and three-teacher schools became the hubs of their communities and forever changed the lives of their students.