Chowan Discovery Group

An Army of Educators – How the North upgraded education in the South during and after the Civil War.

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During and after the Civil War, Union officers and missionaries expanded literacy and skills in the south, resulting in a great rise in the reading population and creating schools, some of which exist today.  A school established in a Washington, D.C. army barracks in 1864 is still going strong. Fisk, Hampton, Howard and Shaw are among the universities that rose in the first five years after the war.  Within ten years after the war, Howard University was graduating men and women with degrees in medicine and law. Although many schools were destroyed and teachers and students threatened, the growth of education for people of color continued.  The Winton Triangle has its own story about a missionary teacher. Marvin T. Jones will give a overview of the people and organizations who propagated education among people of color and how southern whites also greatly benefitted.  As always, this lecture includes many stories and images of portraits, documents and places.

Location around Columbia MD to be announced.

Haiti and the Civil War presentation

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The Civil War is sometimes called the Second Haitian Revolution.  Pro-slavers feared Haiti, the enslaved and abolitionists found great hope from Toussaint Louverture and Haiti.  This lecture details the actions of enslaved and abolitionists who were encouraged by the Haitian Revolution, Haiti’s own involvement in offering freedom to people of color,  and why Haiti was so important to keeping alive the hope that all Americans would be free.  American leaders who wrote and spoke of their admiration for Louverture include John Brown, Martin Delaney, Frederick Douglass, Charlotte Forten, William Lloyd Garrison, Prince Hall, John Mercer Langston, Wendell Phillips, Senator Charles Sumner, Denmark Vesey and David Walker.

Before Marvin T. Jones earnestly explored the Winton Triangle, he did so in Haiti.  He honed his documentary and research skills to produce articles and exhibits on the defense works of Haiti, the second republic of the New World.  Now, his work comes full circle in tying connections between Haiti and eastern North Carolina.

Keynote speech by Marvin T. Jones

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Marvin T. Jones is the keynote speaker at the 2017 Black History Month Genealogy Conference (BHM) hosted by the State of Maryland and Washington DC chapters of the Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society, Inc. (AAHGS) and the African- American Special Interest Group, Washington DC Family History Center.  The conference is scheduled for Saturday February 4, 2017 from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM at the Laurel Family History Center. The theme for the 2017 conference is “From the Archives to the Classroom with African-American Genealogy: The Crucial Role of Education in the History of African Americans.”  Among the topics of Jones’ speech are Winton Librarian Katie M. Hart, Pleasant Plains School and C.S. Brown School.

This is a free conference where people can learn about advances in genealogy.  After January 6, please register at aaghs-conf2017@wdcfhc.org

The AAHGS State of Maryland and Washington DC Chapters along with the African American Special Interest Group at the Washington DC Family History Center are able to provide opportunities for researchers to come together for education and training from family history research basics to breaking brick walls, as we embrace the role of education in the history of African Americans.
 
 

Preservation – saving Dr. Brown’s grave.

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In the sun again, visitors can view Dr. and Mrs. Calvin Scott Brown without bending under the branches of the cedar - its stump is lower right. (MTJ photo)
In the sun again, visitors can view Dr. and Mrs. Calvin Scott Brown without bending under the branches of the cedar – its stump is lower right. (MTJ photo)

For years, the graves of Dr. and Mrs. Calvin Scott Brown were threatened by a full-size cedar tree. There were fears that the cedar would eventually fall during a storm and either uproot the Browns’ graves or break the 6-foot high monument.  At the request of Chowan Discovery, Dr. Michael D. Perry, Superintendent of Hertford County Public Schools, quickly had the tree cut down.  For the first time in years, people can view the graves and monument under the open sky.  Thank you much, Dr. Perry!

Dr. and Mrs. Brown are the educational founders of what was Chowan Academy, later Waters Training School and now C.S. Brown High School in Winton, NC.  The school was launched by the efforts of local Baptist leaders of color who formed the Chowan Educational Association.  The Association owned Waters Training School until 1924 when it became part of the Hertford County public school system.  What was Chowan Academy in 1886 is now 128 years old.  C.S. Brown High now is a STEM school (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).