Chowan Discovery Group

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.)

Presentations on Pleasant Plain School and Katie M. Hart

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Pleasant Plains Trustee McCoy Pierce, Joanna Braswell and Marvin T. Jones at church fellowship hall.

 

Chowan Discovery took part in two programs on Dec 11, 2016 in Hertford County.  The first was was to celebrate three milestones at Pleasant Plains Church: its 165th anniversary, the 150th anniversary year of the founding of its school – Pleasant Plains School, and the school’s placement on the National Register of Historic Places.  After the service conducted by Pastor W. Robert Ashe, the church served a meal in the fellowship hall where Marvin T. Jones recounted the history of the school and the process of putting it on the Register.   Historic preservation consultant Joanna Braswell of Smithfield, Virginia was acknowledged for her valuable contribution to the nomination.

Chowan Discovery thanks Church Trustee McCoy Pierce,  Deacon Dr. Terry Hall, Reverend Ashe and the congregation of Pleasant Plains for making the day possible.

Mrs. Katie M. Hart in 1969.

Shortly after, the Cultivator Bookstore in Murfreesboro hosted a Chowan Discovery presentation about Mrs. Katie M. Hart.  She  founded and ran the Hertford County Colored Public Library from 1938 to 1969.  It was the only public library for people of color in northeastern North Carolina during the jim crow era.

Mrs. Hart, then a teacher supervisor, on her own, began a small library for people of color in 1931. In 1938, she began a bookmobile service and within a few years opened a library building in Winton.   Her bookmobile served Hertford and Gates counties, and her books were available to all people.  Mrs. Hart retired in 1969 at the time her library merged with the Albemarle Regional Library.  The talk/slide presentation has many images of Mrs. Hart, her bookmobile, library, home and gravesite. Included are an interview  with Dr. Dudley Flood and reminisces taken from Ben Watford, John Eley, Jacqueline Vann Jones and Shawnee Smith Ball.  Mr. Eley, a piano student of Mrs. Hart, attended.

Mrs. Hart’s 1938 bookmobile.

Chowan Discovery is thankful to Barbara Boone Buescher for sending information about Mrs. Hart and her mother; and to Caroline Stephenson and Jochen Kunstler of Cultivator for the invitation to present.

Two Chowan Discovery Presentations at ASALH

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Panelists Dr. Rhonda L. Jones, Dr. Sandra Jowers-Barber and Marvin T. Jones.

In October 2016, the 101st conference of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History took place in Richmond.  Dr. Rhonda L. Jones and Dr. Sandra Jowers-Barber invited Marvin T. Jones to their panel, Documenting, Idenifying and Marking Hallowed Spaces.  Jones’ presentation was on highway historic markers called “Curbside Classroom: Demystifying the Process of Highway Historical Markers” and was based on Chowan Discovery’s experience in successfully nominating six North Carolina Highway Historical Markers. This presentation was first given at an Afro American Genealogical and Historical Society conference in Greensboro in 2012.

The Chowan Discovery-produced film, The Campaigns of Molly Hundley, was also shown.  At conferences like ASALH, frequently friends gather and this was no less true.  CDG advisor and friend, Dr. Arwin D. Smallwood, led a group of students and faculty from A&T University where he is chairman of the history department.

Marvin and Chowan Discovery want to thank Drs. Jones and Jowers-Barber for the invitation!

Dr. Smallwood (l) with his group and Jones.