Royall

The early activism of Dr. Evangeline Royall Darity.

Barber-Scotia College’s Evangeline Royall was among a multiracial group of students who lived together at a Black family’s home while working to build a credit union office for African-American farmers. A mob, led by a sawmill operator (straight out of central casting), gave white students 24 hours to get out of Columbia, North Carolina, and milled around their bus as they packed up to leave.

This news report of the incident is studiously neutral in its account of events, but carefully sets out the names and school affiliation of each student, as well as the ethnicity of non-white students like Royall.

Hope Star (Hope, Ark.), 21 August 1947.

We first met Evangeline Royall as the high school student regarded as the first “librarian” of Wilson’s Negro Library.

Per http://www.prabook.com, Evangeline Royall Darity was born 16 June 1927 in Wilson, North Carolina. She received a Bachelor of Science in Religious Education, Barber-Scotia College, 1949; Master of Education, Smith College, 1969; and Doctor of Education, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, 1978. She held various positions with the Young Women’s Christian Association, 1949-1953, and was executive director in Holyoke, Massachusetts, 1979-1981; taught in Egypt, North Carolina, and Massachusetts, 1953-1967; and was the assistant to class deans at Smith College, 1968-1975. Dr. Darity was vice-president of Student affairs at Barber-Scotia College, 1978-1979; associate dean at Mount Holyoke College, 1981-1994; and a member of the Amherst (Mass.) Town Meeting, 1971-1980. She was a member of the American Association of University Women; the American Association of Counseling and Development; the National Association of Women Deans, Counselors and Administrators; the League of Women Voters; Phi Delta Kappa; and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

Her husband, William Alexander Darity, was the first African-American to earn a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her son, William A. Darity Jr., is Samuel DuBois Cook Professor of Public Policy, African and African American Studies, and Economics at Duke University. Her daughter Janki E. Darity is an attorney.

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In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 203 Pender Street, widow Ossie M. Royall, 33, an elevator girl at the courthouse; her mother Tossie Jenkins, 53, stemmer at a tobacco factory; daughters LaForest, 16, and Evauline Royall, 14; and a roomer named Ed Hart, 45, a laborer employed by the town of Wilson.

On 23 December 1950, William A. Darity, 26, of East Flat Rock, Henderson County, N.C., son of Aden Randall Darity and Elizabeth Smith Darity, married Evangeline Royall, 23, resident of “(Wilson) Charlotte, N.C.,” daughter of Dock Moses Royall and Ossie Mae Jenkins Royall, in Wilson. Presbyterian minister O.J. Hawkins performed the ceremony in the presence of Mary B. Moore, Grace L. Coley, and Solomon Revis Jr.

In the 1952 Danville, Virginia, city directory: Darity Evangeline R Mrs (c) dir Y W C A h 330 Holbrook; Darity Wm A (c; Evangeline R) insp City Dept Pub Health h 330 Holbrook

Wilson Daily Times, 20 April 1963.

Evangeline Royall Darity died 27 September 1994.

Ossie Royal whirls through her days.

Wilson Daily Times, 30 May 1983.

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In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: farm laborer Tossy Jenkins, 30, widow, and children Jackson, 9, Ossie M., 6, Ovella C., 5, Lonnie, 7, and Arries D., 5.

On 10 August 1928, Dockery Royall, 28, of Wilson, married Ossie Mae Jenkins, 25, in Wilson. Walter M. Foster applied for the license, and Baptist minister B.F. Jordan performed the ceremony.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 321 Hackney, Doc Royall, 34, body plant laborer, and wife Ossie May, 26, cook.

Dock Royall died 31 March 1938 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 14 September 1898 in Sampson County, N.C., to Samuel and Rachel Royall; was married to Ossie Mae Royall; worked as a mechanic at Hackney Body Company; and was buried in Wilson [probably Vick, but possibly Rest Haven, Cemetery.]

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 203 Pender Street, widow Ossie M. Royall, 33, an elevator girl at the courthouse; her mother Tossie Jenkins, 53, stemmer at a tobacco factory; daughters LaForest, 16, and Evanline Royall, 14; and a roomer named Ed Hart, 45, a laborer employed by the town of Wilson. Ossie and LaForest were born in Wilson; Evangeline in Battleboro [Nash County]; and Tossie and Ed in Nash County.

Ossie Jenkins Royall died in Amherst, Massachusetts, on 16 March 2000.

The death of Dock Royall.

Wilson Daily Times, 1 April 1938.

Dock Royall was a member of the Red Hots, an all-Black volunteer fire company. A World War I veteran, he worked as a mechanic for Hackney Body Company and died after being severely burned while trying to prime a truck motor.

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On August 10, 1928, Dockery Royall, 28, of Wilson, married Ossie Mae Jenkins, 25, of Wilson in Wilson. Baptist minister B.F. Jordan performed the ceremony in the presence of Lossie Jenkins, Flonnie Farmer, and Maggie Jordan. Walter M. Foster applied for the license.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 321 Hackney Street, rented at $12/month, Doc Royall, 34, body plant laborer, and wife Ossie May, 26, cook.

203 North Pender Street.

The one hundred-third 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.

As described in the nomination form for the East Wilson Historic District, this house is: “ca. 1890; 1 story; Reverend Henry W. Farrior House; L-plan cottage with intact Victorian motifs, including bracketed chamfered porch posts and bay window; Farrior was minister of the St. John’s A.M.E. Zion Church.”

Robert C. Bainbridge and Kate Ohno’s Wilson, North Carolina: Historic Buildings Survey (1980) provides additional details about the house, including the photo above: “This L-plan cottage probably dates c. 1880. It boasts a handsome three-sided baby in the front ell. The bay is ornamented by a molded cornice, paired scrolled brackets, and arched window surrounds.” As shown in Sanborn fire insurance maps, prior to 1923 the house was numbered 130 Pender.

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From the 1908 Sanborn fire insurance map of Wilson.

In the 1916 and 1920 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directories: Farrior Henry W Rev h 130 Pender. (In 1916, also:, Farrior Dancy h 130 Pender)

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 130 Pender, minister of the Gospel Henry W. Farrior, 56; wife Icey, 54; and granddaughter Florence, 10; plus Isadora Estoll, 18.

In the 1922 and 1925 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directories: Farrior Henry W Rev h 203 Pender

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 203 Pender, owned and valued at $4000, Christian Church minister Henry W. Farrior, 60, and wife Aria, 60, with boarders tobacco factory stemmer Earnest Bulluck, 35, his wife Lena, 30, and children Earnest Jr., 12, Paul T., 8, and Lee, 7.

Henry William Farrior died 6 March 1937 in Wilson. Per his death certificate: he was born 12 August 1859 in Powhatan, Virginia, to Henry and Sylvia Farrior; resided at 203 Pender Street, Wilson; was married Isiebell Farrior; and was a preacher. Dalley Farrior was informant.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 203 Pender Street, widow Ossie M. Royall, 33, an elevator girl at the courthouse; her mother Tossie Jenkins, 53, stemmer at a tobacco factory; daughters LaForest, 16, and Evaline Royall, 14; and a roomer named Ed Hart, 45, a laborer employed by the town of Wilson. Ossie and LaForest were born in Wilson; Evaline in Battleboro [Nash County]; and Tossie and Ed in Nash County.

Wilson Daily Times, 18 September 1948.

203 North Pender has been demolished. The property now belongs to nearby Calvary Presbyterian Church.

Ossie Mae Royall is yet living.

Wilson Daily Times, 14 January 1939.

On August 10, 1928, Dockery Royall, 28, of Wilson, married Ossie Mae Jenkins, 25, of Wilson in Wilson. Baptist minister B.F. Jordan performed the ceremony in the presence of Lossie Jenkins, Flonnie Farmer, and Maggie Jordan. Walter M. Foster applied for the license.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 321 Hackney Street, rented at $12/month, Doc Royall, 34, body plant laborer, and wife Ossie May, 26, cook.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 203 Pender Street, widow Ossie M. Royall, 33, an elevator girl at the courthouse; her mother Tossie Jenkins, 53, stemmer at a tobacco factory; daughters LaForest, 16, and Evauline Royall, 14; and a roomer named Ed Hart, 45, a laborer employed by the town of Wilson. Ossie and LaForest were born in Wilson; Evaline in Battleboro [Nash County]; and Tossie and Ed in Nash County.

By the late 1950s, Ossie Royall had moved to Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and was working as the dining hall supervisor at Elizabeth City State Teachers College. She died in Amherst, Massachusetts, on 16 March 2000.