Vick Elementary School

The Barneses sell property to the School Board.

Plat Book 4, page 51.

On 30 September 1946, Dr. B.O. Barnes and his wife Flossie H. Barnes sold the Board of Trustees of Wilson City Schools a tract bordered by North Reid Street, East Vance Street, an unopened section of North Vick Street, and an unopened section of Crowell Street. Deed Book 326, page 43.

As the Google Maps aerial below shows, the property is adjacent to land on which the former Vick Elementary School sits. (Vick had opened ten years earlier.) Ultimately, however, much of it was sold to developers who built a row of houses in the 800 block of East Vance Street.

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.

B.W.A. Historical Marker Series, no. 7: Samuel H. Vick Elementary 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.

SAMUEL H. VICK ELEMENTARY

Opened in Dec. 1936 for first through 5th grades with 600 students transferred from overcrowded Sallie Barbour School. After integration in 1970, housed first through third grades. Closed in 1979. In 2007, Vick Elementary reopened on former site of Darden High School. OIC now operates in this building.

Legacy.

When you come home to give a Black History Month talk at the elementary school your father attended, and the instruction coach shows you this photograph of her and your mother (in slingbacks) when the instructor was in kindergarten. She said my mama really took care of her. And she’s now been teaching 28 years. This is legacy, folks.

Thank you so much for sharing, M.J.D.

Sam Victorious! (From the mouths of babes.)

I spent the morning with the third, fourth, and fifth graders of Samuel H. Vick Elementary School, talking about the hometown hero for whom their school was named. My father was a Vick alum, which made the day even more special. The kids were curious and attentive and engaged, and their hands shot in the air when they recognized neighborhood landmarks like the Vick house and Mercy Hospital.

I’m grateful to Principal Annette Faison, Rev. H. Maurice Barnes and Gentleman’s Agreement, and Winstead United Methodist’s Hand in Hand partnership for the invitation, and to the students for being an awesome audience.

The current Vick Elementary building sits in the footprint of the old Charles H. Darden High School (my father’s alma mater) and briefly bore its name.

This young scholar gave a reporter an interview after. My heart nearly burst.

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, February 2024.

Newspaper editor visits Vick School.

Wilson Daily Times, 22 December 1938.

Kudos to principal M.D. Williams, the teachers, and students of Vick Elementary!

  • M.D. Williams — Malcolm D. Williams.
  • E.E. Brodie — Elizabeth E. Brodie. In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Brodie Eliz E (c) tchr Stantonsburg St Graded Sch h 903 E Green
  • Julia Harrell
  • H.M. Fitts — Howard M. Fitts.
  • E.J. Coley — Eva Jane Speight Coley.
  • J.E. Hunter
  • Cecelia Norwood — Cecilia Hill Norwood.
  • A.D. Butterfield — Addie Davis Butterfield.
  • S.J. Satchwell — Spencer J. Satchell.
  • Doris Walker — Doris Vick Walker.
  • W.A. Gilmore — in the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 808 East Vance, W. Arthur Gilmore, 30, native of Washington, D.C., public school teacher.
  • F.J. Walston
  • H.D. Whitfield — Helen D. Whitted.
  • Annie Frances Parker — in the 1940 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Tilghman Road, farmer Ashley Simms, 41; wife Annie M., 35; children Augustus, 14, James, 12, Mildred, 19, Leslie, 8, Trumiller, 6, and Louis, 4; and nieces Annie F., 14, and Beatrice Parker, 12.
  • Reuben Lee Jones
  • Enza Williams
  • Van Jewel Thomas — in the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 715 East Green, owned and valued at $1800, Louis Thomas, 43; wife Lillie, 33; and children Louis Jr., 16, Charlie H., 14, and Van Jewel, 12.
  • Irene Farmer — in the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 812 East Green, Jeff Farmer, 48; wife Rena, 36; and children Irene, 13, and Marvin, 15.
  • Katie Johnson — in the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 503 Viola, carpenter James H. Johnson, 50; wife Carrie, 45; children Mamie, 25, household servant, Roxanna, 22, household servant, Victoria, 18, household servant, James, 16, Lanesy, 13, Katie, 12, Clyde, 9, Herman, 7, and Stella M., 5; and foster son Thurman Land, 14. 
  • Annie Marion Gray — Annie Marian Gay.
  • Walter Sanders — — in the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 534 East Nash, owned and valued at $2500, cook Mary Bynum Reed, 27; husband Jesse, 33, hospital orderly; nephew Walter Sanders, 13; cousins Mattie, 65, George, 29, Beatrice, 32, and Norward Bynum, 16, private servant; lodger Aldene Taylor, 26, private servant; lodgers Elmer, 25, hospital dietician helper, Hattie, 21, private servant, and Vernita McKeithan, 10 months; and lodgers Henry Benton, 21, servant in cafe, Rosa Lee Davis, 20, private servant, and Ella, 39, washerwoman, and Wilbur Smith, 19.
  • Thomas Stokes
  • Lotis Reid — Leotis Reid.
  • Herman Hines
  • George Hines
  • Harry John Farmer