Chowan Discovery Group

Winton Triangle Presentation in Tappahannock, VA

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Marvin T. Jones presents photographs, maps and narrative of his community’s 275 year-old history of landowning mixed-race people in North Carolina’s Hertford County area.  The written history of the Winton Triangle begin in 1584 when the English first learn about the area.  The three main towns of the Triangle are Winton, Cofield and Ahoskie. The Winton Triangle’s story is that of a new people who cobbled success and identity despite colonization, wars, slavery and discrimination.

Hosted by the Middle Peninsula African-American Genealogical and Historical Society of Virginia.

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.

Winton Triangle’s Civil War presentation

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Learn about role a rural community of color played during the Civil War. As part of Dr. C.R. Gibbs’ annual African American history lectures series at the Greenbelt MD Public Library, Marvin T. Jones presents with words and images the Winton Triangle’s successful efforts to keep American whole and to defeat slavery.  Serving from Virginia to Texas, many were from families of soldiers.  You will hear about their cause, challenges, escapes, victories and their lives – and what they created with their new freedoms after the war.

A Chowanoke History – the Winton Triangle’s First People

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The Chowanoke Nation was the largest of the Algonkian nations in North Carolina.  The English encountered them in 1586 – one year before the arrival of the Lost Colony and 21 years before the settlement of Jamestown.  CDG’s Marvin T. Jones will give this presentation near the site of Chowanoke capital of Choanoac at Mt. Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church of Harrellsville.  It was Mt. Pleasant’s congregation who hosted the unveiling of the NC Highway Historical Marker in 2011.

Chowan Discovery thanks Reverend Roosevelt Askew for this event.  Please see these links about for information about the Chowanoke Nation, the Chowanoke Reseveration Fund and the Chowanoke Descendants Community.

 

A Chowanoke History – told along Ancestral Waters

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North Carolina’s Gates County was part of the Chowanoke Native American nation when first reported in 1584.  In Gates, beside the ancestral waters of Merchant’s Mill Pond, Chowan Discovery will present a history of the Chowanoke people, the largest of the Carolina Algonkian peoples.  The presentation includes images of maps, documents and photographs.  Hosted by the Roanoke-Chowan Native American Association.

Chowanoke History at Bacon’s Castle

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Hertford County's first new marker in 17 years.
This NC Highway Historical Marker is just east of Harrellsville on NC45.  Marker nominated by the Chowan Discovery Group.

In the 1580’s, the Choanoac,/Chowanoke people were the largest of the Carolina Algonquian nations, and they controlled all of what is now the Chowan River.  Chowan Discovery’s Marvin T. Jones, a Chowanoke descendant, will lecture about the history of ancestors of many people in the Hertford County area.

On June 20 at 1pm, this lecture is hosted by Bacon’s Castle, a 350+ year-old house in Surry, Virginia.  Chowan Discovery thanks Joanna Braswell for the invitation.  Please visit the link of today’s Chowanoke people, the link for Chowanoke descendants, and the link for the Chowanoke reservation in Gates County.