African American History

Buncombe County Puts Slave Records Online

Shawn Wen and Isaac-Davy Aronson — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:13:13 +0000

During the Great Depression, the New Deal funded a project to collect the narratives of former slaves. Sarah Gudger came forward to give an account of her life as a slave in Buncombe County. Her testimony was the same brutal story that is familiar to many of us. She described a “hard life” of nothing but “work, work, work,” under the threat of abuse.

SBI Investigates Oldest Incorporated African American Town

Frank Stasio and Alex Granados — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 16:14:08 +0000

Princeville, North Carolina is the first town created by African Americans in the United States. It was almost wiped out by Hurricane Floyd but survived. Now, it’s facing another threat.

Audits revealed that top-town officials may have been inappropriately using town dollars, and the state has taken over control of Princeville. Host Frank Stasio talks about the situation with Gurnal Scott, assistant news director at WUNC; and Rudolph Knight, a history columnist for The Daily Southerner in Tarboro.

Pulitzer Prize-Winner Discusses Definitive Volume On Civil Rights

Dave DeWitt and Frank Stasio — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 14:52:38 +0000

Taylor Branch's trilogy on Martin Luther King, Jr. -- "The King Years" -- is widely considered the seminal work on one of the 20th century's most important figures. But at 2,300 combined pages, the three volumes can be a bit daunting for even the most interested reader.

The Life of Huey P. Newton

Alex Granados and Frank Stasio — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 14:04:00 +0000

The origins of the Black Panther Party were as a group that wanted to provide self-defense and support to communities overlooked and abused by the authorities. American government and media portrayals dismissed the Panthers as thugs, but filmmaker Dante James wants to tell the true story of the revolutionary members of the radical organization.

Pauli Murray Gets State Historic Marker

Leoneda Inge — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 12:25:00 +0000

An official state historic marker now sits in the West-End neighborhood of Durham celebrating the life of human rights leader Pauli Murray.

Black Soldiers In The Civil War

Frank Stasio and Julia Cox — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 15:35:00 +0000

Visualize a Civil War soldier and a sepia colored picture of a white man likely comes to mind. But thousands of African Americans in North Carolina served in the Union Army during the Civil War. They trained in the town of New Bern after its fall in March 1962.

Eastern NC House To Become Black History Museum

Will Michaels — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 09:35:00 +0000

The owners of a historic house in eastern North Carolina are donating it for use as an African-American history museum. The Picot-Armistead-Pettiford House has stood in the small town of Plymouth for nearly 200 years. Local folklore links the house to the Underground Railroad before the Civil War despite Census data that shows the tenants were white and owned slaves. Willie Drye is the leader of a downtown development committee in Plymouth. He says free African-Americans bought the house at auction after the war.