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Topics Related to African American History
Sponsored the 1891 bill to establish present-day Elizabeth City State University; legislator, 1876-80, 1885, 1891. His grave is 6/10 mile west.
Fugitive slave, writer, & abolitionist. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) depicts her early life. Lived in Edenton.
Negro orator and teacher. A founder and president of Livingstone College. Born in Elizabeth City. House was 2 miles S.
Founded in 1886 for blacks by Calvin S. Brown, pastor, Pleasant Plains Baptist Church. Later a public school named for Brown.
Federal judge whose writ of habeas corpus, 1870, prevented arbitrary arrest of N.C. citizens during Reconstruction. Home was 1/4 mile east.
A.M.E. Zion. Organized about 1850 as mission to serve black Methodists. Since 1856 congregation has met 1 1/2 blocks N.
Founded in 1891 as Negro normal school. Four-year college after 1939. Became a university in 1969.
On February 13, 1941, Piedmont Blues musician “Blind Boy Fuller” died in Durham. Fuller was famous for playing a steel-bodied National guitar that was a natural resonator before amplification. Along with Reverend Gary Davis, Fuller dominated the Bull City’s blues scene, attracting and influencing many musicians.
On February 3, 1983, Henry Frye was sworn in as North Carolina’s first African-American Supreme Court Justice. Governor Jim Hunt appointed Frye as an associate justice. Then, in 1999, in another first, Hunt named Frye to the unexpired term of retiring Chief Justice Burley Mitchell. After Frye lost his bid for a full term as chief justice in 2000, he retired, having served on the state’s top tribunal for more than 17 years.
On February 14, 1943, saxophonist Maceo Parker was born in Kinston. Perhaps best known for his work with James Brown, Parker brought funk to the soul music of the James Brown Band. For nearly 20 years, Brown’s call “Maceo, I want you to Blow!” summoned his unique sound.