Chowan Discovery Group

A Rich list of Accomplishments for 2018

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Chowan Discovery’s Presentations and Public Activities of 2018

  1. Haiti and the Civil War lecture at the Washington DC chapter of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, January 28.
  2. Panelist: “Telling/Sharing Military Stories” at a regional conferenceof the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS), Laurel MD, February 3.
  3. Haiti and the Civil War lecture at the National Park Service Center, in Herndon VA, February 7.
  4. An Army of Educators lecture, Brown Memorial AME Church, Washington DC, February 25.
  5. Three offerings at the 2018 Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference, University of Maryland, College Park MD:
    a. Displayed exhibit, A Mixed-Race Community’s Civil War, March 1-3.
    b. Sponsored and presented a panel including a CDG paper: Pleasant Plains School’s 150 Years, March 3.
    c. Hosted tour of names and stories for Winton Triangle soldiers on the wall of the African American Civil War Memorial in Washington DC.
  6. An Army of Educators lecture, Central Maryland Chapter of AAHGS, Columbia MD, March 10.
  7. A Winton Triangle Family and Agriculture lecture, North Carolina A&T University, Greensboro NC, April 12.
  8. Dedication of Chowan Discovery-nominated North Carolina Highway Historical Marker, the North Carolina Colored State Fair at Shaw University in Raleigh NC, April 13.
  9. Haiti and the Civil War lecture, Mt. Sinai Baptist Church, Como NC, April 14.
  10. An Army of Educators lecture, Greenbelt Library, Greenbelt MD as part of C.R. Gibbs’ lecture series, April 17.
  11. Radio interview with the Maryland Humanities Council at WYPR-FM, Baltimore MD, May 29.
  12. Chowan Discovery Fundraiser, June 9, Washington DC
  13. Hosted lecture on pre-colonial Chowanoke life by Dr. Jennifer Frick-Ruppert of Brevard College at the Winton Historical Association, Winton NC, June 19.
  14. Two lectures: Chowan Discovery Group’s 10 Years and The Winton Triangle’s Civil War at the Melungeon Heritage Association Conference at Big Stone Gap VA, June 21.
  15. Families of USCTs: Winton Triangle’s Men of Color in the Civil War lecture, North Carolina Genealogical Society 2018 Speaker’s Forum, Raleigh NC, June 23.
  16. Presentation of four Chowan Discovery films at the Andromeda Transcultural Health Center, Washington DC:
    a. The Campaigns of Molly Hundley, October 2
    b. Aunt Betty and Fort Stevens, October 5
    c. The Military Road School, October 9
    d. Oral Histories from the Gold Coast, October 12
  17. Received the Paul E. Sluby/Jean Sampson-Scott Meritorious Achievement Award from the AAHGS annual conference, King of Prussia PA, October 13.
  18. Sponsor and panelist of session at the DC History Conference, University of the District of Columbia, Washington DC, November 3.
  19. The Winton Triangle lecture, home of Jane and Clay Claiborne, Charleston SC, November 9.
  20. The Winton Triangle lecture, 1750 Isle of Wight Courthouse, Smithfield VA, November 11.
  21. Discussion of Chowan Discovery’s work to a session hosted by Humanities DC with special guest National Endowment for the Humanities Chairman Jon Peede, Washington DC, December 4.

A new Award for Chowan Discovery!

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From Marvin Tupper Jones: October 13, 2018 – King of Prussia, PA: African American Historical and Genealogical Society gave Marvin T. Jones (and thus Chowan Discovery ) its second highest honor, the Paul Edward Sluby/Jean Samson-Scott Meritorious Achievement Award for “Distinguished Performance In Support Of African American History and Genealogy”.    Tremendous thanks goes to the many supporters of Chowan Discovery,  and AAHGS members Alice Harris (my cherished nominator!), Robyn Smith, Margo Lee Williams, Bernice Bennett and Linda Crichlow White among others  The Sluby/Samson-Scott is the second highest award granted by AAHGS. In the 1980’s, Paul Sluby contributed much to Winton Triangle when producing genealogy books for the Collins-Bizzell family.

Marvin is a member of the Central Maryland Chapter of AAHGS and has presented at eight chapters and the national conferences.  This is part of Chowan Discovery’s mission to research, document, preserve and present the history of the Winton Triangle and beyond.  In 2014, Marvin and Chowan Discovery received an award from the North Carolina Society of Historians.

Lot of Lectures! Chowan Discovery’s Achievements for 2017.

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  1. The Winton Triangle area’s greatest institution is the Calvin Scott Brown High School STEM. Foundedin 1886 by church leaders from Hertford and the surrounding counties, it was the first high school for people of color, and is the oldest public school in the area. Here, Marvin brought 90 books from the
    Library of Congress for CS Brown’s library.

    1. Beginnings of African American Literacy a keynote speech at the 2017 AAGHS Black History Conference in Laurel MD. February 4.

  2. Winton Triangle presentation at a National Park Service facility in Reston, VA. February 6
  3. Haiti and the Civil War presentation, Brown Memorial AME Church, Washington DC. February 12
  4. Robbins Family at War presentation, Arlington Science Focus School, Arlington, VA, with the National Park Service. March 17
  1. Showing of the film The Campaigns of Molly Hundley at the Sumner School Museum and Archives, Washington DC. March 21
  1. Winton Triangle presentation at CS Brown High School STEM, Winton NC. March 31.
  2. Hosted photographer Julie Williams Dixon’s portrait project People And Their People, Cofield NC. March 31-April 1.
  3. Showing of the film Dunbar High School’s Classic Age 1870 – 1957, at the DC Dept. of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs as part of DC Emancipation Observance. April 6.
  4. Winton Triangle presentation at the Dunbar Pavilion, Tucson AZ. April 16
  5. Showing of the film Dunbar High School’s Classic Age 1870 – 1957, as part of DC Emancipation Observance at Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, Washington DC. April 23

 

  1. Showing of the film Dunbar High School’s Classic Age 1870 – 1957, Shepherd Park Library, Washington DC. June 26
  2. Showing of the film Dunbar High School’s Classic Age 1870 – 1957, at the DC Dept. of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, Washington DC. June 30.
  3. African American Institutions in Post-Emancipation DC, as part of the 153rd Battle of Fort Stevens Day, Washington DC. July 8
  4. Beginnings of African American Literacy, Public Library of Richmond VA, hosted by the Richmond Chapter of the African American Genealogical and Historical Society. July 29
  5. Haiti and the Civil War presentation, United States Park Service’s Rock Creek Nature Center, Washington DC. September 2
  6. Haiti and the Civil War presentation Greenbelt Public Library, Greenbelt MD. October 3
  7. Interview about Haiti and the Civil War lecture, Research at the National Archives radio program, Blogtalk Radio. October 5
  8. Radio interview about Chowan Discovery on the Epic City radio program, WOWD-FM, Takoma Park MD. October 17.
  9. Katie Hart presentation, Winton Public Library, Winton, NC. October 10.
  10. Delivery of 90 books from the Library of Congress to the C.S. Brown High School STEM.
  11. Winton Triangle Loggers, part of a group photography show at the Brookville Gallery/Art Collective, Chevy Chase, MD. October 20 – November 20.
  12. Showing of the film The Campaigns of Molly Hundley, George Washington University Museum, Washington DC, October 30
  13. An Army of Educators presentation United States Park Service’s Rock Creek Nature Center, Washington DC. December 3.
  14. Interview about the An Army of Educators lecture, Inside the Issues with Wilmer Leon radio program on SiriusXM. Dec. 10
  15. Donations to the C.S. Brown Cultural Arts Center.

 

 

Colored State Fair remembered with a New Marker.

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1- The new North Carolina Colored State Fair Highway Historical Marker on the 2600 block of Hillsborough Street in Raleigh.

The almost-forgotten North Carolina Colored State Fair (1879 – 1930) received a North Carolina Highway Historical Marker in April 2018.  The marker’s dedication was held at Shaw University’s historic 1873 Estey Hall in Raleigh.  The Chowan Discovery Group, the nominator, the NC State Office of Archives and History – the marker’s provider – and North Carolina A&T State University participated in the program.

In 1879, African American leaders in Raleigh, including Charles N. Hunter, founded the North Carolina Industrial Association (NCIA) to “encourage and promote the development of the industrial and educational resources of the colored people of North Carolina, and to gather statistics respecting their progress in the various pursuits and customs peculiar to civilized and enlightened Nations, to hold annually an exhibition of the progress of the industry and education…”.  The main annual event of the NCIA was the North Carolina State Colored Fair that ran from 1879 to 1930.  The fair’s objective was “to place before the world every evidence of our progress as a race which it is possible to secure.”

It didn’t take long for the fair to gain popularity. Various educational, social, business, fraternal, religious, professional, military and political organizations scheduled their annual gatherings to coincide with the fair.  Also, during the same 1897 fair there was parade, an Education Day with representatives from all of the North Carolina colleges and universities, a Mechanics and Farmer’s Day, a Women’s Day, a Press and Author’s Association meeting and a grand ball.

(L-R) Dr. Arwin D. Smallwood, Chairman of the Department of History and Political Science; Dr. Paulette Dillard, President of Shaw University; Marvin T. Jones of the Chowan Discovery Group; Ansley Herring Wagner of the NC State Office of Archives and History; and Dr. Antoine J. Alston, Associate Dean, School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University all unveil a substitute sign at the marker dedication program at Shaw University on April 13, 2018. Photo by Dr. Kandace Harris.

Among the famous leaders who appeared at the fair were Frederick Douglass, P.B.S. Pinchback and Booker T. Washington.  Other local fairs for African Americans followed the example of the NCCSF such the fairs of Wake and Johnson Counties and the Atlantic District Fair of the Roanoke-Chowan area in northeastern North Carolina.

The last fair was in 1930.   The North Carolina Colored State Fair represented efforts to promote the industrial, business, educational, agricultural, and community ideals of people of color – significant to the advancement of a state and a nation.  The marker is located on the 2600 block of Hillsborough Street near Pogue Street in Raleigh.  Chowan Discovery executive director, Marvin T. Jones who is a member of the Central Maryland Chapter of AAGHS, wrote the nomination.  This is Chowan Discovery’s seventh highway historical marker.

WHAT A PARTY WE HAD for CHOWAN DISCOVERY!

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Carol Joice-Jones, grilling burgers and half smokes high above Maryland.

Fantastic weather, a sunset view on the 20-story high roof, grilled half-smokes (a DC favorite), unusually delicious veggie burgers, bacon-flavored hamburgers, corn-and-black bean salad, rum cakes, a towering coffee-and-chocolate cake; and door prizes.  See the photographs here.

We will continue to throw this event in June so we can enjoy the early summer weather.  As for Chowan Discovery’s work, by the end of this month, we will surpass last year’s count of 11 presentations, which are mostly free to the public.  This year, we have presented to 5 student groups, including the student body of the Winton Triangle’s C.S. Brown STEM High School.  Another North Carolina Highway Historical Marker is coming later this year, making a total of 7!

We continue to earn the wonderful support you have given us!

Chowan Discovery’s Achievement Report for 2016

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So much has happened since Marvin’s first presentations in 2007 and the Winton Triangle stage production in 2009.  Over fifty presentations, seven articles, seven broadcast appearances, six highway historical markers, three films, three murals and one award are among Chowan Discovery’s achievements prior to 2017.  Here is our record for 2016:

Public Presentations

February: “A Chowanoke History” at Mt Pleasant Baptist Church in Harrellsville NC 
February: “Haiti’s Forts of Freedom” at the U.S. Park Service in Reston VA – closed event.
March: Showing the film The Campaigns of Molly Hundley at the Historical Society of Washington, Washington DC
April: Hosted the annual Chowan Discovery Fundraiser, Rockville MD
May: The new lecture, “Loyal Southerners” at Rock Creek Nature Center in Washington DC
September: “The Winton Triangle’s Civil War” at the Greenbelt Library in Greenbelt MD, hosted by C.R. Gibbs.
October: showing of the film The Campaigns of Molly Hundley and panel presentation on highway historical markers, at ASALH annual conference (Association for the Study of African American Life and History), Richmond VA
November: The new lecture, “Haiti and the Civil War” at Rock Creek Nature Center in Washington DC
November: “The Winton Triangle” for the Middle Peninsula Afro American Genealogical and Historical Society in Tappahannock VA
December: “Pleasant Plains School’s 150 Years” at Pleasant Plains Baptist Church, Winton, NC
December: The new lecture, “Memories of Mrs. Katie A. Hart”, Cultivator Bookstore, Murfreesboro NC

Publications:

– An essay, “Rebirth on the Chowan”, We Will Always Be Here, edited by Dr. Denise A. Bates, published by the University of Florida Press, May 2016
– “Foreword”, From Hilltown to Strieby by Margo Lee Williams, Backintyme Publishing, July 2016.

Recognition:

Placing Pleasant Plains Schoolhouse (a Rosenwald school) on the National Register for Historic Places, July, 2016

Final Note: It is important to recognize the efforts that were not ultimately successful: Chowan Discovery applied for a grant for a Winton Triangle photography project, and two marker nominations.  Despite this, the number of presentations for 2017 are set to exceed those of 2016.  More to come!

(For activities of previous years, visit the archives of the News and Events pages.)