Carolina Comments

164 Pages·1999·9 MB·English

by  North Carolina Division of Archives and History

Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2019 with funding from
State Library of North Carolina
https://archive.org/details/carolinacomments47nort

Carolina
Comments
Published Bimonthly by the North Carolina Division of Archives and History
VOLUME 47, NUMBER 1 JANUARY 1999
NCLHA and FNCHS Hold Joint Annual Meeting
The North Carolina Literary and Historical Association (NCLHA) and the Federa¬
tion of North Carolina Historical Societies (FNCHS) held a joint annual meeting at
the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh on November 20, 1998. It was
the ninety-eighth such gathering for the NCLHA and the twenty-third such con¬
clave for the FNCHS.
The joint meeting commenced at 1:00 p.m. with a welcome by Frances Manderson
of Morganton, chair of the FNCHS, followed by presentation of NCLHA-sponsored
North Carolina Student Publication Awards for 1998 by John Batchelor of
Laurinburg. A trophy for first place in the high-school division of the annual com¬
petition went to Highlands School of Highlands for its student publication Cross¬
roads. Grey Culbreth Middle School of Chapel Hill won a trophy for first place in
the middle-school category for Panorama. Sharing first place with Grey Culbreth in
a tie vote was Rugby Middle School of Hendersonville for "We Know What We Are
During the November 20 joint annual meeting of the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association
and the Federation of North Carolina Historical Societies, Alan D. Watson (left), professor of history at the
University of North Carolina at Wilmington, received the 1998 Christopher Crittenden Memorial Award
from William S. Powell of Chapel Hill. (All photographs by the Division of Archives and History unless
otherwise indicated.)
..." Certificates of commendation for second and third place in the senior high
division went to Washington High School of Washington for Opus '98 and to J. H.
Rose High School of Greenville for Insights respectively. In a tie for second place in
the middle-school division were Davis Drive Middle School of Apex for
MoonShadow and Charlotte Country Day School of Charlotte for Pirates' Treasure,
John McKnitt Alexander Middle School of Charlotte captured third place for Blue
Blazes.
A panel discussion titled "The Search for Queen Anne's Revengd' followed the
opening presentations. Panelists included Jeffrey J. Crow, director of the Division
of Archives and History (A&H), moderator; Jerry C. Cashion, supervisor, Research
Branch, A&H; Lindley S. Butler, professor emeritus, Rockingham Community Col¬
lege; and Richard W. Lawrence, Underwater Archaeology Unit, A&H. At the con¬
clusion of the panel discussion, Carole Troxler of Elon College announced the
recipients of the 1998 Hugh T. Lefler and Robert D. W. Connor Awards. The Lefler
award went to Samuel L. Schaffer of Washington, D.C., for his undergraduate pa¬
per titled "To Wake Them Up': The Racial Mentality of John Spencer Bassett—Its
Origins and Effects," written while he was a student at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill. Winner of the Connor award was Patrick J. Huber, a doc¬
toral candidate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for his article
"'Caught Up in the Violent Whirlwind of Lynching': The 1885 Quadruple Lynch¬
ing in Chatham County, North Carolina," which appeared in the April 1998 issue
of the North Carolina Historical Review. Each year the Historical Society of North
Carolina presents the Lefler award for the best paper written by an undergraduate
student and the Connor award for the best article to appear in the North Carolina
Historical Review during a one-year period.
Winners of the 1998 Hugh T. Lefler and Robert D. W. Connor Awards were Samuel L. Schaffer (left photo)
of Washington, D.C., and Patrick ). Huber (right photo) of Chapel Hill. The Lefler award recognizes the
best undergraduate paper written each year, and the Connor award honors the best article published in
the North Carolina Historical Review during a one-year period. Carole W. Troxler of Elon College pre¬
sented both awards.
Jo Ann Williford of Raleigh announced that the 1998 Roanoke-Chowan Poetry
Award had been given to Kathryn Stripling Byer of Cullowhee for her volume of
poetry titled Black Shawl (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1998).
The award, bestowed each year by the Roanoke-Chowan Group of Writers and
Allied Artists and the NCLHA, recognizes the best volume of poetry published
2 CAROLINA COMMENTS
during a one-year period. The 1998 American Association of University Women
(AAUW) Award for Juvenile Literature went to Jacqueline K. Ogburn of Durham
for her book The Jukebox Man (New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1998).
Sandra Champion of Kings Mountain
(left) presented the 1998 American
Association of University Women
(AAUW) Award to Jacqueline K.
Ogburn of Durham for her volume of
juvenile literature titled The lukebox
Man.
Jeffrey J. Crow then presented an American Association for State and Local His¬
tory (AASLH) Award of Merit to Old Salem, Inc., and Darrell Spencer of
Winston-Salem for the book The Gardens of Salem: The Landscape History of a Moravian
Town in North Carolina (Winston-Salem: Old Salem, Inc., 1997). Dr. Crow likewise
distributed AASLH Certificates of Commendation to the Winston-Salem Journal of
Winston-Salem for its Centennial Edition and to John Hairr of Lillington for his
contributions to preserving the history of the Cape Fear River valley.
Accepting a 1998 American Association
for State and Local History Award of Merit
on behalf of Old Salem, Inc., and Darrell
Spencer of Winston-Salem was Cornelia
Wright (right) of Old Salem. The award
honors the 1997 publication The Cardens
of Salem: The Landscape History of a
Moravian Town in North Carolina.
Jeffrey J. Crow of Cary (left) also distrib¬
uted AASLH Certificates of Commendation
to additional recipients.
VOLUME 47, NUMBER 1, JANUARY 1999 3
The evening portion of the joint meeting, held at the Woman's Club of Raleigh,
commenced with a 6:00 p.m. social hour, followed by a dinner presided overby Lee
Smith of Hillsborough and an after-dinner speech by novelist Kaye Gibbons of
Raleigh. Frances Manderson then presented Albert Ray Newsome Awards to the
Carteret County Historical Society of Beaufort and the Gates County Historical
Society of Gatesville. The FNCHS bestows the Newsome awards annually to his¬
torical organizations in North Carolina that conduct the most comprehensive and
outstanding programs in local or community history during the previous year.
The Federation of North Carolina Historical Societies bestowed 1998 Albert Ray Newsome Awards on
two county historical associations. Accepting on behalf of the Carteret County Historical Society of
Beaufort was Les Ewen (left in top photo); receiving the award on behalf of the Cates County Historical
Society of Gatesville was Larita Kellison (right in bottom photo). Frances Manderson of Morganton,
current chair of the FNCHS, presented both awards.
Sue Hatcher of Greensboro, representing the Historical Book Club of North Caro¬
lina, announced that the 1998 Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction had been voted
to Clyde Edgerton of Durham for his book Where Trouble Sleeps (Chapel Hill:
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1997). Winners of the 1998 Mayflower Society
Award for Nonfiction were Bill Bamberger of Mebane and Cathy N. Davidson of
Durham for their book Closing: The Life and Death of an American Factory (New York:
4 CAROLINA COMMENTS
W. W. Norton and Company, 1998); accepting the award on behalf of the authors
was Iris Tillman Hill of Chapel Hill. The R. Hunt Parker Memorial Award, bestowed
annually by the NCLHA in recognition of significant lifetime contributions to the
literary history of North Carolina, went to Alex Albright of Greenville, associate
professor of English at East Carolina University and founding editor of the North
Carolina Literary Review. Mary Paschal of Raleigh made the presentation. In a special
ceremony. Dr. William C. Friday of Chapel Hill received a special education award
on behalf of the North Carolina Division of Magna Carta Dames and Barons.
The NCLHA-sponsored R. Hunt Parker Award
recognizes significant lifetime contributions to
the literary history of North Carolina. The 1998
winner was Alex Albright of Greenville, associ¬
ate professor of English at East Carolina Univer¬
sity, who received the prize from Mary Paschal
of Raleigh.
In the evening's final ceremony, William S. Powell of Chapel Hill, chairman of
the North Carolina Historical Commission, presented to Alan D. Watson of
Wilmington the NCLHA's 1998 Christopher Crittenden Memorial Award, which
recognizes "significant contributions to the preservation of North Carolina his¬
tory." Dr. Watson is a longtime professor of history at the University of North Caro¬
lina at Wilmington and the author of numerous books and articles on North Carolina
history, particularly in the realm of colonial history. He currently serves as
vice-chairman of the Historical Commission and has been a member of numerous
advisory boards connected with work of the Division of Archives and History and
other public history organizations.
Symposium Marks Centennial of Interracial Incident
The Division of Archives and History, the University of North Carolina at
Wilmington (UNC-W), the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association, and
the North Carolina Humanities Council recently commemorated the centennial of
the so-called Wilmington race riot of 1898, one of North Carolina's most infamous
and divisive interracial incidents, by hosting a symposium titled "The 1898
Wilmington Racial Violence and Its Legacy." The two-day event featured the par¬
ticipation of noted historians and scholars, whose presentations were intended to
foster a better understanding of the events of a century ago and to open for public
discussion a topic that has long remained taboo in Wilmington.
VOLUME 47, NUMBER 1, JANUARY 1999 5
The 1898 incident occurred at the close of a highly charged white supremacy
campaign initiated by Democrats to overturn four years of political rule by a "fu¬
sion" of Republicans and Populists. Democrats organized White Government
Unions, established a speakers bureau to dispatch white supremacy spokesmen
throughout the state, and engaged paramilitary units known as Red Shirts and
Rough Riders to intimidate Populists, Republicans, and particularly African Ameri¬
cans. The largely overblown Democratic rhetoric of "Negro rule" produced elec¬
toral success on November 8,1898, and Democrats regained control of the General
Assembly. Two days later white mobs rampaged through the black neighborhoods
of Wilmington, killing at least fourteen (and probably more) African Americans.
The rioters also burned the offices of the Wilmington Daily Record, a newspaper
edited by Alex Manly, a mulatto, who had previously employed the journal to
decry lynching and to speak frankly about interracial relations. Democrats seized
control of municipal government in Wilmington by forcing the Republican-controlled
board of aldermen and mayor to resign. Two of the most enduring results of the
white supremacy campaigns of 1898 and 1900 were the disfranchisement of Afri¬
can American voters and the enactment of laws mandating segregation of the races.
The symposium consisted of four regular sessions and four breakout sessions.
Participants included Melton McLaurin, John H. Haley, Kathleen Berkeley, and
Philip Gerard of UNC-W; David S. Cecelski of the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill; Timothy Tyson of the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Laura F.
Edwards and Richard Yarborough of the University of California at Los Angeles;
Lisa Henderson Adams of Newark, New Jersey, great-granddaughter of one of the
riot's victims; Jeffrey J. Crow of the Division of Archives and History; LeeAnn
Whites of the University of Missouri at Columbia; Glenda Gilmore of Yale Univer¬
sity; John Hope Franklin (who delivered the symposium's keynote address),
Raymond Gavins, and William H. Chafe of Duke University; Beverly Jones of North
Carolina Central University; and W. Leon Prather of Nashville, Tennessee. Secre¬
tary of Cultural Resources Betty Ray McCain introduced the symposium's initial
session, characterizing the 1898 unrest as "a dark chapter in our state's history."
Preceding the opening session was a brief ceremony to dedicate and unveil a new
state highway historical marker honoring editor Alex Manly (1866-1944). Secre¬
tary McCain; James R. Leutze, chancellor of UNC-W; and Hamilton Hicks, mayor
of Wilmington, led the marker dedication.
More than a thousand people attended one or more sessions of the symposium,
which Jeffrey Crow characterized as "exceeding everyone's expectations." Indeed,
the keynote address by John Hope Franklin attracted an overflow audience, re¬
quiring the addition of a second meeting room equipped with a television moni¬
tor. Dr. Franklin, chairman of the advisory board of President Clinton's Initiative
on Race, attributed the 1898 violence to a perceived breakdown in the social order
of the post-Civil War period, which assigned black people a certain "place" in
society. He pointed out the importance of the historical context of the violence and
reminded his listeners not only of the necessity of confronting their history but
also of the role of communication as a key to racial understanding. Members of
Wilmington's African American community participated fully in the conference,
and many individuals expressed themselves candidly on the subject of race rela¬
tions.
Most of the participants and many members of the audience—including a niece
of Alex Manly attending from Arlington, Virginia—agreed that a frank discussion
of the 1898 unrest offered a unique opportunity to improve race relations and pos¬
sibly to help avoid future interracial confrontations. Historian David Cecelski, not¬
ing that scholars seldom receive the opportunity to speak directly to the general
6 CAROLINA COMMENTS