#TrueInclusion

The North Carolina Division of State Historic Sites Director Michelle Lanier spoke with Coastal Review Online about the #TrueInclusion initiative and the division's work to reach all audiences.

To learn more, check out Coastal Review Online - Memory Keepers' Aim to Tell NC's Full History

For more information on the thoughts behind the #TrueInclusion project, please see this open letter from our director, Michelle Lanier - An Open Letter for These Times: Black Lives and Historic Sites

George Henry White was born near present-day Rosindale, NC on December 18, 1852. It is possible that he was born enslaved and that his father, Wiley White, purchased his freedom, but evidence for this is contradictory. As a child, White attended a public school for free Black children and also studied under a teacher named David P. Allen at the Whitin Normal School in Lumberton, NC. White was encouraged to pursue his education and in 1874, began attending Howard University. After finishing school, he traveled to New Bern and became a teacher and lawyer. In 1880, he ran for a seat in the North Carolina House of Representatives, campaigning for increased spending on African American education. He served in the House for six years before being elected to the state’s senate.

In 1896, North Carolinians elected White to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he became the last African American to be elected to that legislative body for forty years. In Congress, White fought against racial discrimination and tried without success to compel the federal government to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment in states like North Carolina, where African Americans were being denied the right to vote. In 1901, he proposed a bill making lynching a federal crime, arguing that the majority of lynchings in the Deep South were of African Americans. The House defeated the bill, and White’s outspoken position cost him his seat. He delivered his final speech to the House in 1901 saying, “This is perhaps the Negroes' temporary farewell to the American Congress, but let me say, Phoenix-like he will rise up some day and come again. These parting words are in behalf of an outraged, heart-broken, bruised and bleeding, but God-fearing people; faithful, industrious, loyal, rising people – full of potential force.”

White moved with his family to Washington, D.C. and later to Philadelphia, where he practiced law and became involved in banking. He continued to fight for the rights of African Americans and was an early member of the NAACP, after that organization’s founding in 1909. White died in 1918 at his Philadelphia home.

After George Henry White’s term, North Carolina would not elect another African American to Congress until Eva Clayton was elected to the House of Representatives in 1992. #TrueInclusion

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In this video, Historic Stagville hosts Monèt Marshall, A.yoni Jeffries, and Gabrielle E. W. Carter in conversation at Horton Grove. These three Black North Carolina artists discuss how their farming, food, art, history, and music are gateways to healing. Together, they ask how sites of mass slavery, like Stagville, can become sites of healing for Black Americans. Their talk was recorded on the grounds of Horton Grove, the only surviving slave dwellings from the Bennehan and Cameron plantations. Stagville and Horton Grove are among the largest and best documented sites of slavery in North Carolina.  

Historic Stagville preserves the remnants of the one of the largest plantations in North Carolina. By 1860, the Bennehan-Cameron family owned over 30,000 acres of land and enslaved over 900 people. Stagville is dedicated to interpreting the lives, families, culture, and work of these enslaved people and their descendants. Today, the Historic Site includes four original slave dwellings (c. 1851), a massive barn (c. 1860), and a Bennehan family house (c. 1787-1799).

"We are still here as a people. We're composed of many different tribal nations, with distinct and unique cultures, and we're still here. It's important that the people living on our land know who we are and where we came from."

Fort Dobbs had the privilege to have tribally enrolled Native Americans take part in our annual Military Timeline program.

History has many perspectives, and we are committed to being a site where the stories of Native Americans can be shared BY Native Americans. Learn more:  Statesville Record & Landmark - Native Americans, historical reenactment more than just playing a role

Pictured is Malaciah G. Taylor an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.  

Fort Dobbs State Historic Site:
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Dave Phelps (b. 1812) was documented as living in the second two-story slave dwelling at Somerset Place in 1843. Two years later, Dave married widow Dinah Baum and they started a family of their own.  

Tragically, each of their three children passed away at or before the age of 2. The heartbreak of losing young children was all-too familiar to the enslaved families at Somerset Place. Between 1839 and 1862, the chapel register recorded the deaths of 144 children under 9 years old. 

Somerset Place State Historic Site:
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As a part of North Carolina Historic Sites' True Inclusion initiative, the Aycock Birthplace State Historic Site hosted an online screening and discussion of the award-winning documentary “Wilmington On Fire.” 

The film, directed by Christopher Everett, describes the Wilmington Race Riot of 1898 -- the only successful coup d’état in the U.S. -- and its long-lasting effects on the port city’s African American population. “Wilmington On Fire” features interviews with descendants of Alexander Manly, whose newspaper office was destroyed; Thomas Miller, who was a prominent businessman and property owner in Wilmington and was forced to leave the city; and Isham Quick, who was a coal and wood dealer and was also a board member of the Metropolitan Trust Company in Wilmington.

Aycock Birthplace State Historic Site:
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Rissi Palmer is a country, pop, R&B/Soul songwriter from Raleigh, N.C. Raised in a musical family that loved both country & R&B, she was offered her first publishing and label deals at 19. In 2007, she released her debut album with the single “Country Girl,” which hit No. 54 on the Billboard Hot Country charts, making her the first African-American woman to chart in country music since Dona Mason in 1987. Rissi has performed at The White House, Lincoln Center, and the Grand Ole Opry, has appeared on Oprah & Friends, CNN, the CBS Early Show, and the Tavis Smiley Show. She has shared stages with Taylor Swift, The Eagles, Chris Young, and Charley Crockett, and she has been featured in Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal, People, Parade, Ebony, Newsweek, and The Huffington Post. This summer Rissi just launched Color Me Country, a podcast about the black and brown women of Country/Americana/Roots Music.

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The Harper House, home of John and Amy Harper, built in the late 1850s, played a key role in the Battle of Bentonville, March 19-21, 1865.

Today, Bentonville Battlefield brings you the names of Lucy, Alexander, and Clarsie, people enslaved at the Harper farm who were likely witness to the battle of Bentonville and who impacted the history of North Carolina. 

Bentonville Battlefield:
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As a part of Somerset Place State Historic Site's  #TrueInclusion campaign, we would like to share more information about Wellington Roberts (1815-1866). Wellington was born in Edenton in 1815 and arrived at Somerset Place about 15 years later with Josiah III and Mary Collins. He served as their personal coachman and drove the Collins’ large barouche, or family carriage. On July 8, 1841, Wellington married Maria, a granddaughter of Suckey Davis. Together they eventually had seven children. 

Wellington's position meant that the Roberts family was at the top of the enslaved community’s social hierarchy, as determined by the Collins family. This is why they were recorded in 1843 as living by themselves in one of the first-floor houses of the third two-story slave dwelling when usually more than one family unit occupied each home. As a result of his social status, Wellington also wore high-quality, fancy clothing, including a top hat with a large plume on the side, and he once received a Christmas pass to visit family in Edenton. 

However, Wellington was often away from his family for long periods of time because the Collinses traveled frequently. This continued during the Civil War when he accompanied the Collins family to Hillsborough while Maria and their five surviving children were sent to Franklin County. Tragically, Maria passed away in 1863. When Mary Collins could no longer afford the luxury of a coachmen, she hired out Wellington as a teamster to the Confederate Army for the following two years.

After emancipation, Wellington and his children returned to Somerset Place where he continued to work as the family driver until his death on October 16, 1866. Due to their closer association with the Collins family, the Roberts were communicants of the Episcopal Church both before and after emancipation. Wellington's son Theodore and other members of his immediate family were founding members of St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church in Edenton in the late 19th century. Additionally, like other formerly enslaved people, Wellington’s family quickly took advantage of educational opportunities previously denied to them under slavery. Two of his grandchildren were enrolled in school by 1870, and later generations became public school teachers. 

Somerset Place State Historic Site:
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Watch and listen to Arnold Richardson and Netye Lynch’s performance at Historic Halifax. Arnold Richardson plays a hand-carved red cedar American Indian Flute and Netye Lynch accompanies him on the hand drum at Magazine Spring, a sacred place to the Haliwa-Saponi tribe.  

Arnold Richardson is a musician, sculptor, and storyteller and member of the Haliwa-Saponi tribe of eastern North Carolina. His work spans decades, starting in 1972 when he returned to North Carolina with a focus on revitalizing the cultural heritage of eastern North Carolina’s American Indians. In this performance, we hear Arnold play an American Indian Flute, the oldest melodic instrument in the Western Hemisphere. His prowess on this sacred instrument, along with his ability as a stone sculptor, gourd carver, and percussionist led him to be the American Indian Folk Artist for the North Carolina Arts Council from 1982 to 1989 and a North Carolina Heritage Award recipient in 2004.

Historic Halifax:
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As we continue to share the stories of African Americans associated with the NC State Capitol, we wanted to share more about Golden Asro Frinks. Frinks was born in Wampee, SC on April 26, 1920 and moved with his family to Tabor City, NC when he was nine. When he was seventeen, he moved to Edenton, NC.

After serving in World War II, Frinks briefly lived in Washington, D.C., where he witnessed organized protests. In 1954, he returned to Edenton, where he began his long career in civil rights, and in 1956, with a movement to desegregate public facilities in town. He went on to lead dozens of communities in North Carolina toward desegregation with non-violent tactics. In 1963, after meeting with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Frinks was chosen as a field secretary in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). While working for the SCLC, he led movements for the civil rights of both African Americans and American Indians in North Carolina. Often called “The Great Agitator,” Frinks was known to inspire others and lead them to victory with his brash and wild style of speaking and rousing a crowd. In 1977, Frinks stopped working with the SCLC officially, but continued to support their activities. Golden Frinks died in Edenton on July 19, 2004.

His home in Edenton, NC - the Golden and Ruth Frinks Freedom House - is currently being stabilized and renovated as part of a multi-year project through the National Park Service and @nchistoricsites. #TrueInclusion

These photographs show the Hyde County Civil Rights and School Protest March in 1969. The march was from Swan Quarter to Raleigh, and the protest led to the desegregation of public schools and the protection of historically Black school buildings in Hyde County. Frinks is in the foreground of the first image and in the middle of the second, wearing glasses and holding something in his hands. The Capitol’s dome is visible in the background, as the protesters marched through downtown Raleigh. Images from the News & Observer Collection, State Archives of North Carolina.

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Settlement was situated in the area west of the Yadkin River, and included the town of Salisbury. By 1759 there were more than 80 white families in the area, at least four of which were enslavers of a total of at least eight enslaved adults. The following names are presented exactly as they appear in the 1759 Rowan County Tax List.

The number with each entry represents the taxable adults (white and black) in each household:

Fort Dobbs State Historic Site:
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Today is the Preakness Stakes, part of the “Triple Crown” of horse racing. As we continue this installment of our #TrueInclusion campaign, we wanted to share more information about Austin Curtis.
Curtis was a veteran of the American Revolution, though we have little details of his service. When the British occupied Halifax in May 1781 on their march to Yorktown, they stole livestock, especially horses, from Halifax citizens. Lord Cornwallis stayed at the home of Willie Jones, but he did not confiscate the horses because Curtis successfully hid and protected all horses under his care.
Willie Jones filed a petition to the NC General Assembly to emancipate Curtis on December 5, 1791, writing of Curtis, “by his attachment to his Country during the War by his fidelity to his Master (the said Willie Jones) and by his Honesty and good Behavior on all Occasions, has demonstrated that he deserves to be free." The Assembly granted the petition and changed Curtis’ last name to “Jones.” His family later reversed their surname to Curtis.
After being emancipated, Curtis accumulated wealth and notoriety as a free man of color. He became nationally renowned as a horse breeder and trainer. In 1832, Judge William Williams, secretary of the Nashville Jockey Club, wrote, “. . . Austin Curtis, a man of color indeed but one of judgment, skill and courteous manners. He knew how 'to get the length into them,' or to bring out their game. Under his auspices the fame of Collector grew, and the powers of Snap Dragon were developed.” (Collector and Snap Dragon were both racehorses bred and trained by Curtis.)
Curtis purchased freedom for several of his children before he died in 1808, and left the family well provided for. His obituary was featured in the January 5, 1809 edition of “The  Raleigh Minerva" which was rare for a person of color: “DIED, On the 10th ult., at Halifax (n.c.) AUSTIN JONES, a colored man, aged about so years- well known for many years past, as keeper of race horses; in the management of which useful animals, he particularly excelled. -His character was unblemished; his disposition mild and obliging- his deportment uniformly correct and complaisant- he possessed the esteem of many—the respect and confidence of all who knew him.”

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The next installment of our series of posts highlighting the names of the enslaved inhabitants of colonial Rowan County focuses on the Bryan Settlement.
This settlement grew up around the Shallow Ford of the Yadkin River, near modern Huntsville and West Bend. By 1759, the community included approximately 18 white families and at least 10 enslaved people.
According to the Rowan County Court Minutes, James Carter sold two enslaved people to Johnathan Boone in 1756. Although we don't know the names of those two persons, we do know the names of the following enslaved people who were documented on the Rowan County Tax List for 1759 in the households of their enslavers:
“Bryan, Jos. Negro Will     2
 Ellis, John & Ellis Jno Junr, Ellis, William & Ellis, Willis & Negro Waree & Cumbe     6
Milner, Benj. & negro Sam     2”
The approximate location of the land on which these enslaved people lived can be found on this Google Map of the settlement of Western North Carolina--https://tinyurl.com/y5rrqcnw 

Fort Dobbs State Historic Site:
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In the next installment of our #TrueInclusion campaign, we are sharing information about Caroline, a young enslaved girl purchased in 1855 by Washington Duke. Her purchase record is pictured here. 
From this record, we know that she was separated from her mother and sister (Gracy and Emiline, listed above Caroline on the document, were sold to someone else). Life on a small farm with a family like the Dukes most likely meant working alongside the person who enslaved her, both in the home and in the fields. Caroline was around 11 years old when she was brought to live at Duke Homestead, and she likely spent several years enslaved by the Duke family. 
On the 1860 Slave Schedule of the U.S. Census, Washington Duke does not appear as an enslaver, so he may have sold Caroline by that time. However, Duke's name does not appear on the 1860 Agricultural Census, so it is possible that census workers simply failed to record him that year. When Washington Duke died in 1905, he left property to his housekeeper, an African American woman named Caroline Barnes. It is likely that this Caroline Barnes is the same Caroline that Washington Duke had enslaved decades earlier because her marriage certificate lists her mother as Gracy. 

Duke Homestead State Historic Site :
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As we continue to share the stories of African Americans associated with Duke Homestead, we wanted to share more information about James. Born into enslavement in Kinston, North Carolina between 1826 and 1835, James’ first enslaver was James Cox, who later deeded him, along with 29 other enslaved persons, to his son. Called Jim during his enslavement, James spent his childhood and adolescence on the Cox plantation, mostly doing agricultural labor. While enslaved by Cox, James' labor was hired out to numerous Lenoir and Orange County farmers between 1860 and 1865, including Washington Duke.     
In the North Carolina Piedmont, yeoman farmers exploited enslaved persons by participating in the “hiring out” of enslaved labor. Enslavers leased enslaved persons to individuals who paid the cost of the contract directly to the enslaver. James received no payment and had no choice in where he was contracted. Hiring out, which garnered huge profits for enslavers, also perpetuated isolation and destabilized familial bonds. Despite this, James actively found ways to resist his enslavers, intentionally slowing his work and causing damage to tools and crops.    
In early 1863, James was hired out to Washington Duke, where he was most likely forced to engage in agricultural labor in Duke’s crop fields. In June of 1863, James attempted to seek his freedom from Duke alongside a man named Green, Green’s wife Lear, and Lear’s child, who were enslaved by other men. James' attempt for self-emancipation was unsuccessful, and he was either captured or returned to Duke on his own. By October of the same year, James again sought to self-emancipate after Duke entered the Confederate Navy. James either returned to Cox, or was sent to labor for William Walker, to whom Duke transferred James' contract.   
After Emancipation in 1865, James continued to live and labor on the land of William Lunsford, to whom he was previously leased out. Based on Freedman’s Marriage records in 1866, it was at this time that James lists his name as James Cox instead of Jim, and married his wife, Martha. James spent the rest of his life in the Orange County area working as a farm laborer, most likely a tobacco sharecropper, until his death circa 1885.   
 

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In the next installment, we wanted to share more information about Urious (b. 1825). Urious was sent from Edenton to Somerset Place in 1839 when Henrietta Collins hired him out to her brother Josiah III. The practice of hiring out enslaved people was a common way that enslavers derived additional income from the stolen labor of enslaved persons, and Josiah III leased many enslaved people from his siblings to work at Somerset Place. 
Within a few years of his arrival on the plantation, Urious was documented as living in one of the houses in the third two-story slave dwelling. He was forced to labor as a cobbler (2nd), so he likely worked in the Shoemaker’s Shop. Most enslaved persons were rationed one pair of shoes per year, all of which were manufactured on the plantation by cobblers like Urious.  
In spite of his forced relocation and the plantation’s brutal working conditions, which for Urious was likely sunup to sundown 6 days per week, he was able to carve out a life for himself. He married Scylla Blount (b. 1822) in the Lake Chapel on February 12, 1848. Together, the couple had four children. 
Urious and his family last appeared on an 1849/1850 list of enslaved people that Henrietta hired out to Josiah III, but their names were crossed off without explanation (3rd ). Their fate is unknown.

Somerset Place State Historic Site:
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The exact year when settlers began establishing themselves along the Dan River in North Carolina is unknown. By 1759, of the few families widely scattered from modern Mayodan to Mount Airy, we know of at least five enslaved people of African descent.
The following are the names of the heads of households and the names of the people they enslaved, with the total number of taxable adults in each household.

These are presented exactly as they are in the 1759 Rowan County Tax List held in the collections of the Rowan

County Library:
“Hunter, John Capt. & negroes               4
Jackson, James & 2 sons & free Negroe               4
Lad, Noble & 2 negroes               3”
Additionally, Charles Perkins inherited 2 enslaved men, “Hang and Jimmy”, from his father in 1762.

The approximate location of the land on which these enslaved people lived can be found on this Google Map of the settlement of Western North Carolina--https://tinyurl.com/y5rrqcnw 
#TrueInclusion #NCHistory

Photo:  Detail of “An Accurate Map of North and South Carolina by Henry Mouzon, 1775

Fort Dobbs State Historic Site:
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The next installment in our series of posts sharing the names and stories of the enslaved inhabitants of colonial Rowan County focuses on the immediate neighbourhood of Fort Dobbs:
The Fourth Creek Settlement.

By the time of the 1759 tax list, the Fourth Creek Settlement had grown to include 34 white families. Most of the inhabitants were farmers, but at least one was a distiller who may have used enslaved labour in that occupation.

During periods of Cherokee attacks in both 1759 and 1760, some families sought refuge at Fort Dobbs, and it is likely that enslaved people would have come to the fort as well.

The names of the enslaved are below, listed by the household to which they belonged, along with the number of taxable adults (both white and Black) in the household.
These names are presented here exactly as they appear on the original document, which includes terminology that may be troubling in a modern context.

"Allison, Thomas & Negro Jude-----2

Graham, James & John Graham (Distiller) & Richd Graham &
Negroes Andrw & Tom-----5

Simonton, Wm & Negroes Peter & Rachel-----3"

(Photo of Allison Plantation enslaved headstones courtesy of Emily Baker, Director of Iredell Museums.) 

Fort Dobbs State Historic Site:
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