Fannie Willis was born in a small rural area just east of Washington, North Carolina, in 1956. She grew up in a large, tight-knit family. One of their common threads was their love of music. At a young age, she sang with the family gospel group, the Harding Gospel Singers. After many years, she would …
Terry Sneed Brown was born in Washington, North Carolina, in 1951. A time when the racial divide in this small rural Eastern North Carolina community was very evident. From being kicked off an all white outdoor tennis court at the age of 8, to being refused service at the counter in Woolworth’s, to having the …
Born in the early 40s, first cousins Shirley Tyre and Preddy Stilley come from humble beginnings in rural Beaufort County near Blounts Creek, North Carolina. Their families were sharecroppers, and each worked the fields, primarily corn and tobacco, from six in the morning till six in the evening. It wasn’t an easy life, but there …
It has been a pretty amazing life for 95-year-old Emma Howard. Born in 1930 in Belhaven, NC, she has spent her life touching the lives of many and trying to make a difference in the world. As a teacher, she always tried to instill a sense of worth and dignity in her students, always telling …
Blanche Gibbs was born in Washington, North Carolina, in 1951. She credits her life experiences as a child for laying the foundation for who she is today. From experiencing segregation firsthand, to her teachers at P.S. Jones, an all Black high school, who prepared her well for the journey ahead, and working for her Uncle …
Born in Martin County, North Carolina, Georgina Smallwood grew up on a farm. Her father was a sharecropper, and she and her siblings helped to work the fields. It wasn’t an easy life, but they always got by. Her father made sure that she and her other sisters would be able to attend college, which …
Born and raised in Beaufort County, North Carolina, James H. Smallwood continues to live on what remains of the ancestral piece of property that his great-grandfather purchased in 1871. As a child, he worked that land with his father and grandfather. He went on to graduate from P.S. Jones High School in 1962 and, in …
75-year-old Frederick Hopkins lost his father at the age of three. He credits his mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother for their tireless hours in molding him into the man he has become. He played sports and pursued his love of music at the all Black P.S. Jones High School in Washington, North Carolina. He marched in …
At 88 years of age, Florence Lodge has spent a life questioning, and if something needed changing, she was always there. This meant helping others and trying to make positive changes in the world. She led the charge in Washington, NC, to have 4th Street renamed Martin Luther King Drive. The name of the Washington …
Betty Jean Barr Randolph was born in the small rural town of Greelyville, South Carolina, in 1942. As she said, “If you were Black, you were human, but you may not have had the same experiences as others. At a very young age, she saw chain gangs working across the street from her home. She …