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Topics Related to African American History
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.
On December 31, 1900, renowned sculptor Selma Burke was born in Mooresville.Fascinated by African ritual objects and other sculptural pieces, Burke made sculpture by shaping white clay from her parents' farm as a child. After being educated at what is now Winston-Salem State University and trained as a nurse at St. Agnes Hospital Nursing School in Raleigh, Burke moved to New York City to work as a private nurse.
On December 27, 1857, Republican Congressman, educator, and conservative and diplomatic advocate for racial equality Henry Plummer Cheatham was born with slave status near Henderson.
On December 13, 1986, Ella Baker, civil rights leader and organizer of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), died. Called “the mother of the civil rights movement” by one scholar, Baker culminated a life dedicated to civil rights work by helping to establish SNCC at her alma mater, Shaw University, in April 1960.