Chowan Discovery Group

How the North brought Education to the South before, 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.

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.

“An Army of Educators” – a new Chowan Discovery lecture

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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.

This talk is hosted by the Rock Creek Nature Center’s Civil War Roundtable which is always followed by a lively lunch at Ledo Pizza at 7435 Georgia Avenue, NW in DC.  The sponsors are the wonderful supporters of Chowan Discovery!

Winton Triangle Presentation at LW Boone Family Reunion

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As part of our mission to speak to organizations, institutions and family groups,  we were invited by the family of the great Lemuel Washington Boon to present on July 27 in Reston, Virginia. Lemuel Washington Boon (1827 – 1878) was the Roanoke-Chowan area’s leader in worship, education and human rights.

Lemuel Washington Boon (1827 – 1878) was the Roanoke-Chowan area’s leader in worship, education and human rights

After the Civil War, Boone founded numerous churches for people of color.  These churches, in turn, founded community schools.  Along with this first-ever network of worship, leadership and education, Boon co-founded and was first president of the Roanoke Missionary Association.  He was, also, a founding trustee of Shaw University and the first president of the state baptist association for African Americans.

Many members of the Boon family now have signed copies of Carolina Genesis – Beyond the Color Line and Chowan Discovery Group mugs!

When planning your next reunion, consider inviting us to present the history of your family’s Winton Triangle community.

Contact Marvin T. Jones.