The Ram (1949), the annual of Mary Potter Academy.
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In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 909 Washington Street, Sam Harris, 35, laborer; wife Edna, 27, tobacco factory stemmer; daughter Hilda Younger, 9; mother Maggie Younger, 48, cook; sister Sarah Speight, 24, cook; and brother James Younger, 22, odd jobs and tobacco factory laborer.
1948 Ayantee yearbook, North Carolina A.&T. State University.
Wilson County native Idell Jones, seated center, with sorors of Alpha Mu Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
Yearbooks can be a valuable source of photographs of community members whose images were infrequently captured or retained. The 1952 edition of Charles H. Darden High School’s yearbook, The Trojan, included this photograph of Dr. Malcolm D. Williams, Supervisor of Wilson Negro Schools.
Yearbooks can be a valuable source of photographs of community members whose images were infrequently captured or retained. The 1952 edition of Charles H. Darden High School’s yearbook, The Trojan, included this photograph of Oswald W. Harris, who briefly taught math at the school. A native of Warrenton, North Carolina, Harris went on to become a professor of mathematics at Union College-New Jersey and University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. He died in Pompano Beach, Florida, in 2001.
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In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 210 Powell Street, Oswald W. Harris, 40, math teacher at city high school; wife Johnnie, 37, home economics teacher at city high school; sons John M., 5, and Anthony W., 2; and cousin Lucy J. Oneill, 25, “caretaking of home.”
Yearbooks can be a valuable source of photographs of community members whose images were infrequently captured or retained. The 1952 edition of Charles H. Darden High School’s yearbook, The Trojan, highlighted the custodial staff, which included Lessie Mercer, born in Wilson County in 1892.
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In the 1900 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: day laborer Hayard Cooper, 50; wife Jula, 30, washing; and children Willie, 8, Lessy, 7, Hallie, 4, and George, 2.
In the 1910 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Lipscomb Road, widow Julia Cooper, 40, farm laborer, and children Lessie, 18, cook, Mahaly, 16, cook, Jessie, 9, and Allen, 5.
On 21 March 1911, Isiah Mercer, 2o, of Wilson, son of Henry and Florence Mercer of Wilson, married Less Cooper, 19, daughter of Heywood and Julia Cooper of Wilson, at July Cooper’s residence in Wilson. Primitive Baptist Minister Jonah Williams performed the ceremony.
In the 1912 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Mercer Lessie (c) lab h Harper’s Ln nr Herring av
Mable Mercer died 28 January 1915 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 8 March 1913 in Wilson to Isear Mercer of Florida and Lessie Cooper of North Carolina and was buried in Wilson [probably, Vick Cemetery.]
In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 217 Hackney, Isax Mercer, 28, factory laborer; wife Lessie, 27; and lodger Walter Mumford, 19, lumber yard laborer.
In the 1925 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Mercer Lessie (c) laundress h 314 Hackney
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 908 Carolina Street, tobacco factory laborer Isear Mercer, 51; wife Lessie, 48, laundress; and mother Julia Johnston, 68.
In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Isear Mercer, 63, “drives floor truck – local tobacco factory”; wife Lessie, 58, maid at local colored school; mother-in-law Julia Johnson, 76, widow; and nephew Augustus Mercer, 25.
Isear Mercer died 4 June 1953 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 13 June 1892 in Wilson County to Henry Mercer and Florence Farmer; was married; lived at 908 Carolina Street; and worked as a laborer. Lessie Mercer was informant.
Lessie Cooper Mercer died in August 1975.
Flame and Steel (1948), yearbook of Murrell Dobbins Vocational-Technical High School, Philadelphia.
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In the 1930 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County, North Carolina: auto shop mechanic Joe Hagans, 29; wife Estelle, 28; sons Joseph, 2, and William I., 1; and father-in-law Van Dawson, 55, farmer, widower.
In the 1940 census of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania: Brown Street garage mechanic Joseph Haggan, 39, widower; sons Joseph Jr., 12, and William, 11; and lodgers Sylvestia Edwards, 29; wife Carrie, 21; and Henry Counts, 46, auto mechanic.
In 1946, William Hagans registered for the World War II draft in Philadelphia. Per his registration cards, he was born 26 August 1928 in Elm City, North Carolina; lived at 4650 Brown Street, Philadelphia; his contact was father Joseph Hagans; and was a student.
From 1945 edition of The Ram, the yearbook of Winston-Salem State Teachers College [now University], senior Charles E. Branford, Darden ’41:
Alfred L. Moore is listed as a junior in the 1903-04 Tuskegee Institute Annual Catalogue.
Oliver N. Freeman is listed in the B Middle Class in the 1903-04 catalogue, A Middle Class in 1904-05, and a senior in 1905-06.
Artelia M. Darden is listed in A Preparatory Class in the 1905-06 catalogue.
Henry Howard is listed in B Preparatory Class in the 1905-06 catalogue. In the 1900 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farmer James Howard, 33, widower, and children Henry, 14, Mirantha, 9, Lela Ann, 7, Kinzey, 5, and Cleo, 4; plus boarders Mary Jane, 24, and David Battle, 2. In the 1910 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Stantonsburg Road, Jeasee Howard, 45; wife Zillar, 40; and children Henry, 25, Marenda, 19, Lena, 17, Kensey, 15, Leaola, 13, and Jessee Jr., 16 months.
Lincoln University‘s 1900 yearbook listed Wilson, N.C., as Joseph Burton Harper‘s permanent address.
His senior bio, however, listed his birthplace as Hookerton, in Greene County, and I’ve found no other records that place him as a Wilson County resident. We’ll claim him though.
The Herald, the yearbook of Atlantic City High School, Atlantic City, N.J., 1945.
Born in Wilson in 1928, Ernest Lee Artis Jr. and his parents Ernest and Louise Artis joined the Great Migration during the early years of the Depression.
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On 13 June 1923, Ernest Artis, 21, of Fountain, son of Joe and Ella Artis, married Louise McNair, 18, of Plymouth, N.C., daughter of Rufus and Louise McNair, at Louise McNair’s resident at Plymouth, Washington County, N.C.
In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Artis Ernest L (c; Louise) (Service Barber Shop), h 404 N Vick
In the 1940 census of Atlantic City, Atlantic County, New Jersey: at 700 Ohio Avenue, Ernest Artis, 36, barber; wife Louise, 35, storekeeper; and son Ernest, 12. All were born in North Carolina.
Ernest Lee Artis registered for the World War II draft in Atlantic City in 1946. Per his registration card, he was 27 September 1905 in Wilson County, N.C.; lived at 720 North Ohio Avenue, Atlantic City; his contact was wife Louise Artis; and he was self-employed at 135 North Penn, Atlantic City.
Ernest Artis Jr. registered for the World War II draft in Atlantic City in 1946. Per his registration card, he was born 2 January 1928 in Wilson, N.C.; lived at 720 North Ohio Avenue; his contact was friend Anna Butler, 705 North Ohio; and he was a student at Lincoln University in Oxford, Pennsylvania.
The Lion, the yearbook of Lincoln University, 1949.