Program focuses on people of color in the American Revolution

During Black History Month, the N.C. Museum of History and the Sons of the American Revolution will present the program Return to Tradition highlighting a lesser-known fact about the American Revolution: significant numbers of people of color fought for the Patriots during the war.
This free program on Saturday, Feb. 25, from 10 a.m. to noon in Raleigh features keynote speaker Brig. Gen. James Gorham, the first African American general in the N.C. Army National Guard. His talk will focus on these soldiers who served in integrated troops during the war for independence.
“Though nearly lost to history, these Patriots of color served as equals in the typical regiment of Continental soldiers,” said Earl Ijames, Curator at the N.C. Museum of History.

First African American in North Carolina Will Be Inducted Into SAR
Another program highlight will center on Raleigh resident Chaz Moore, whose enslaved ancestor, Tobias “Toby” Gilmore, fought for the Patriots in the American Revolution. During a brief installation ceremony, Moore will be the first African American in North Carolina inducted into the Sons of the American Revolution. He is a firefighter with the Raleigh Fire Department.
Moore’s ancestor was born in coastal West Africa as Shibodee Turrey Wurry. At age 16, around 1758, this son of a chieftain was kidnapped by slave traders and sent to Rhode Island aboard the slave ship Dove. He was purchased by Capt. John Gilmore of Massachusetts and became known as Tobias Gilmore. He enlisted in the Continental Army and fought in several major battles.
Learn more about this lesser-known, yet important, part of our nation’s history during Return to Tradition on Feb. 25 at the Museum of History.

ChathamArts' Sustainable Cinema Series honors Black History Month

In February, ChathamArts' Sustainable Cinema Series will celebrate Black History Month by screening two powerful films:

THE LOVING STORY
Who: Director & Producer Nancy Buirski; Producer & Editor Elisabeth Haviland James
What: On Oscar 2012 Shortlist for Best Documentary. Official Selection of SilverDocs, Tribeca, Full Frame and Hamptons International Film Festivals
When and where: Shown Sunday, Feb. 26, at 2 p.m. in Fearrington Village Barn, located on U.S. 15-501 midway between Chapel Hill and Pittsboro.
How much: Purchase advance tickets $8 online. Print the receipt for ticket. Admission will be $10 at door the day of the screening.

THE LOVING STORY (documentary feature) is director Nancy Buirski’s film about Loving v. Virginia, a watershed civil rights case in which the United States Supreme Court declared Virginia's anti-miscegenation statute unconstitutional in 1967.
A racially charged criminal trial and a heartrending love story converge in this documentary about the Lovings, an interracial couple who fell in love and married at a tumultuous social and political time in American history yet nevertheless brought about change where previously no one else could. Through stunning archival footage of the Lovings, the film revisits this public battle through the eyes of a private couple who simply wanted to have the right to get married and live in the place they called home.
The Loving Story is produced by Nancy Buirski’s production company Augusta Films, LLC, in association with HBO Documentaries. The film was made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Buirski is the founder and was the director of the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. Producer/Editor Elisabeth Haviland James is based in Durham, where her company, Thornapple Films, is headquartered. Additional local crew members include: Cinematographers Rex Miller and Steve Milligan; Sound: Mark Barroso. Co-producers Nancy Buirski and Elizabeth Haviland James will be in attendance for Q&A if possible.
The Loving Story screening is sponsored by The Southern Documentary Fund, an organization that encourages documentary media projects made within or about the American South. Through services like fiscal sponsorship, SDF aims to connect people, ideas and resources—furthering their goal of growing a community of documentary artists.

WOLF CALL
Raleigh Director Rob Underhill's 12-minute narrative transports us back to 1956. The previous year, 14-year old Emmett Till from Chicago had gone missing in Money, Miss. Later, the boy's mutilated body was found in a river. William Bradford Huie of Look magazine sits down with the two men acquitted for the boy's murder, Roy Bryant Jr. and J.W. Milam, to discuss the trial. This historic drama became a lightning rod for moral outrage and pivotal in inspiring a whole generation of young people to commit to social change in the 1950s.
WOLF CALL is the winner of seven festival awards, four nominations, dozens of official selections and recently nominated for Outstanding Independent Short Film by the Black Reel Awards. Director Rob Underhill, actor Mike Wiley and cinematographer Aravind Ragupathi in attendance for Q&A.
Director Rob Underhill has written, directed, and produced dozens of short films, numerous music videos and several feature films. WOLF CALL stars Mike Wiley (a Chatham County resident) in multiple roles. Wiley is the winner of best actor awards in 2009 and 2010 for his performance in 'Empty Space,' including best actor at the 25th Black International Cinema Berlin. He is the 2010 Lehman Brady Visiting Joint Chair Professor in Documentary Studies and American Studies at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition to his numerous school and community performances, he has also appeared on Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel and National Geographic Channel.

‘Heroes of the Underground Railroad’ at library

On Thursday, Feb. 16, at 6 p.m., the Bright Star Touring Theatre will present “Heroes of the Underground Railroad” at the Orange County Main Library. This presentation honors Black History Month with an empowering look at some of the figures behind America’s Underground Railroad.
The play includes secret signs along the routes and features figures like Harriet Tubman, Levi Coffin, and John Parker.
This Bright Star Touring Theatre performance offers valuable lessons for young audiences, with curriculum- and character-education-based performances. Their productions are always kid-friendly, well acted and imaginatively produced.
“Heroes of the Underground Railroad” will be presented free to the public in the library meeting room. This is a family event for all ages that works best for students in grades 3 and up.
For more information, visit the library website at www.co.orange.nc.us/library, stop by the library Children’s Services Desk or call (919) 245-2532.

‘Visual mythologist’ Lynn Marshall-Linnemeier brings exhibition to Stone Center gallery

From Feb. 9 to April 30, the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will feature the work of artist Lynn Marshall-Linnemeier in an exhibition titled “Dry Run: Defining Determination, Testing Reconstruction.”
On display in the center’s Robert and Sallie Brown Gallery and Museum, Marshall-Linnemeier’s latest work uses the Penn Center papers and photographs held in the Southern Historical Collection of UNC’s Wilson Library.
As with previous work, “Dry Run” is inspired by her travels to Mound Bayou, Miss., the largest predominantly African American town in the United States. The exhibition explores notions of experimentation, reconstruction and the idea of self-determination through images of the experimental plantations set up by the Union government at Davis Bend (where the founders of Mound Bayou were enslaved) and Port Royal, during the Civil War.
Marshall-Linnemeier was inspired by the unique history of both places and how and by whom self-determination was defined.
She re-imagines the experimental plantation space by manipulating archival photographs that include stereographic images. Her visual narratives explore myth, spirituality and memory through vivid paintings, collages and textile works. She focuses on toural communities—rural agricultural communities that rely on and/or are developing tourism—urban enclaves and indigenous communities observing culturally significant connections that are often overlooked.
An honors graduate of the Atlanta College of Art (Presidential Scholar), Marshall-Linnemeier received a Master of Arts degree in Southern studies in 2005 from the University of Mississippi. She has received numerous awards and her work is held in various collections including the High Museum of Art in Altlanta, Atlanta University and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
An opening reception for the exhibition featuring a talk by Marshall-Linnemeier will be held on Thursday, Feb. 9, at 7 p.m. at the Stone Center. The reception is free and open to the public.
“Dry Run: Defining Determination, Testing Reconstruction” will be on display through April 30. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. or by appointment. For information on the exhibition, call (919) 962-9001 or visit the website.

Chapel Hill Transit employees to perform the Rosa Parks story

The Rosa Parks story comes to life in the one-act play "Why Should I Move?" scheduled to be performed by Chapel Hill Transit employees at 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4, on a central corridor stage at the University Mall.
The free and public performance is being held in conjunction with Black History Month, an annual celebration of achievements by black Americans and a time for recognizing the central role of African Americans in U.S. history. Rosa Parks was a central figure in Black History, as her courageous act of refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery Alabama bus helped spark the Civil Rights movement.
The play is a reenactment of the day Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Ala., bus. The play is narrated by "old Rosa" talking to the audience 56 years after the event. Chapel Hill Transit bus operator Michele Sykes plays "old Rosa," and Sheila Neville plays "young Rosa." Other Chapel Hill Transit employees reenact the event as Old Rosa tells the story. Key performers include the bus driver, the white passenger who demanded that Rosa move, and the police officer who arrested her.
In addition to the play, an acapella vocal group of Chapel Hill Transit employees will use song to interpret the mood of the events.
The play was performed initially to celebrate the ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and their connection to the town's values of respect at an employee celebration held at Hargraves Community Center. The University Mall performance was planned jointly by Chapel Hill Transit and the Chapel Hill Public Library. Special thanks is paid to Kathy Williams of UNC-Chapel Hill Playmakers Theater, who assisted town employees in preparing their roles, and to the theater for providing the costumes.

February programs at the N.C. Museum of History

February is Black History Month, and several programs at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh will highlight the experiences of African Americans in North Carolina and beyond. From a children’s program about educator Charlotte Hawkins Brown to a lively performance by blues musician Boo Hanks, there is something for all ages.
During another February program, watch out when the notorious pirate Blackbeard and his crew take the stage. Don’t miss the wild pirate dance, sea chanteys and more in the participatory play A Rollicking Tale of Blackbeard, Pirate of the Carolina Coast.
Admission is free unless otherwise noted. Parking is free on weekends. Take advantage of February programs at the Museum of History.

History Corner: The Correct Thing
When: Wednesday, Feb. 1, from 10 to 11 a.m.
Ages: 6 to 9 with an adult
Cost: $1 per person
To register, call 919-807-7992.
Educator Charlotte Hawkins Brown taught not only the basics—reading, writing and arithmetic—but also polite behavior. Learn how knowing the proper etiquette benefited her students. The program is presented with Cameron Village Regional Library.

History Hunters: The Whirligig Man
When: Wednesday, Feb. 1, from 10 to 11 a.m.
Ages: 10-13
Cost: $1 per person
To register, call 919-807-7992.
Learn about Wilson County craftsman Vollis Simpson and the park that is being created to show off his giant whirligigs. Make a small whirligig of your own.

African American History Tour
When: Saturday, Feb. 4, 11, 18 and 25 from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.
Explore the lives and accomplishments of African American North Carolinians from the antebellum period to the Civil Rights era. For example, in the exhibit Behind the Veneer: Thomas Day, Master Cabinetmaker. Learn about this free man of color who owned and operated one of North Carolina’s largest cabinet shops prior to the Civil War. See approximately 70 pieces of furniture crafted by this accomplished artisan and entrepreneur from Milton, Caswell County.

A Rollicking Tale of Blackbeard, Pirate of the Carolina Coast
When: Saturday, Feb. 4, from 2 to 3 p.m.
Presented by Raleigh Little Theatre’s Storytellers to Go!
Join the adventure with Blackbeard and his crew. A wild pirate dance, storytelling, a sea chantey and puppets will draw you into this participatory play that is appropriate for all ages. Help the notorious Blackbeard search for his hidden treasure and the crew of his flagship, Queen Anne’s Revenge. Along the way, meet interesting people that he knew and learn about North Carolina’s 18th-century coastal history. Judy M. Dove created the play.

Time for Tots: Clay Creations
When: Tuesday, Feb. 7 or Feb. 14, from 10 to 10:45 a.m.
Ages: 3 to 5 with adult
Cost: $1 per person
To register, call 919-807-7992.
People have been making items out of clay for thousands of years. Find out about North Carolina’s pottery traditions and make your own clay creation.

History à la Carte: Operation Dixie
When: Wednesday, Feb. 8, from 12:10 to 1 p.m.
Bring your lunch; beverages provided.
James Wrenn, Phoenix Historical Society
Nearly 10 years before the Montgomery bus boycott, black workers in eastern North Carolina campaigned for civil rights in tobacco warehouses. Discover how thousands organized and secured union contracts in nearly 30 leaf houses.

Music of the Carolinas: Boo Hanks
When: Sunday, Feb. 12, from 3 to 4 p.m.
Drawing from a deep musical well, Hanks showcases his virtuosity in the delicate finger-style guitar of classic Piedmont blues. The performance is presented with PineCone, with support from the N.C. Museum of History Associates, Williams Mullen and WLHC-FM/WLQC-FM.

Raleigh radio icon to be recognized at MLK celebration

As a part of the Martin Luther King Prayer Breakfast Celebration at 7 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 16, at the Sheraton Imperial, RTP, special recognition will be given to a Raleigh radio icon, Ray “Dr. Jocko” Henderson. A dynamic personality with a broad following during the 1960’s, Dr. Jocko was huge on WLLE 570 am. He is credited by many observers of that tense time of civil right activities with promoting calm on the streets throughout the total community, black and white.
Mr. Henderson was very involved with local schools at a time when the Capital City had just one black and one white public high school. He visited the campuses, held dances, served as master of ceremonies at many functions involving students at Needham Broughton and J.W. Ligon High Schools. He stressed conversation and not confrontation. He was a measurable calming force at a time when, all across the nation, nerves were on edge and many communities were tinder boxes of potential overreaction to the news of the day. Ray Henderson built bridges between the races and helped Raleigh set a more positive tone and example for the rest of the country.
“Dr. Jocko” was on the air at WLLE (WiLLiE Radio) when other popular disc jockeys called that radio station their on air home. They included Daddy O on the Radio; Big Bill Haywood; Brother James Thomas; Prince Ike Behind the Mike; Jimmy Johnson of JJ’s House Party; and Sweet Bob Rogers. The station’s signal reached to Wallace - Rose Hill in the east and to Walkertown in the west.
Ray Henderson modeled “Dr. Jocko” after Jocko Henderson, a popular DJ in Philadelphia and “Dr. Jive” from WSRC radio in Durham. Henderson was an outstanding athlete as a student at J. W. Ligon High School and carried those talents forward as a college student at St. Augustine College.
Later in his career, he was an executive with Motown Records in Detroit. He hosted a television program in that city, The Scene, which was much like Teenage Frolics on WRAL-TV in Raleigh featuring J.D. Lewis. He was on a first-name basis with every music industry star of that era. He traveled with James Brown as master of ceremonies and toured the nation and world when the Godfather of Soul was at the height of his illustrious career.
Throughout it all, Ray Henderson never forgot his roots and proudly promoted, at every opportunity, his lifelong love of his hometown, Raleigh (third stop on the Night Train). The music of the sixties has its stars, known to all. Just as bright and shining in the firmament is Ray Henderson… the man behind the music.

Black History Month story from a friend of News of Orange columnist, D.G. Martin

In February, Davidson College honored Mike Maloy, the college’s first African-American scholarship athlete, who passed away in February 2009. A three-time All-American basketball player, Mike Maloy’s greatness on the court is undeniable. Maloy was the centerpiece of two Elite Eight teams and still holds the title of Davidson College’s all-time leader in rebounds. Mike’s legacy off the court, however, may be more important. More than 40 years after leaving the college, the name Mike Maloy still resonates throughout North Carolina, a reminder of a man with an infectious smile who was not afraid to take the road less traveled.

Although Mike Maloy would later grace the cover of Sports Illustrated, he initially had little interest in playing college basketball. At the end of high school, Mike Maloy was set on becoming a Jehovah’s Witness missionary, but Coach Lefty Driesell was not about to let a 6’7” kid with one of the quickest first steps in the nation go that easily. Coach Driesell, who was known for his creative recruiting tactics, eventually convinced Mike to drive down to college with him. After reciting “the Cremation of Sam McGee” in its entirety from New York to North Carolina, Mike Maloy was administered the SAT, got a great score, and committed to playing for Davidson College in 1966.

Mike Maloy’s decision to play for a small school in the South took great courage. That year, the college’s other top recruit, Charlie Scott, broke his commitment to Davidson after he and his family faced racial discrimination at a local restaurant. To help him survive his isolating position at the college, Maloy found a supportive family in the West Davidson community. Whether he was singing Temptations songs with his friend Garfield Carr or eating a whole pot of pinto beans on a Sunday afternoon, Mike was loved and accepted. In a 1969 article of the Charlotte Observer, Maloy was asked about his time “across the tracks.” Mike replied, “some people tell me not to associate with them. But I say, in no uncertain terms, go to hell.”

Today Mike is remembered for spending time with the kids in town, serving as a role model and encouraging them to pursue a college education. During a time when many African-Americans did not feel welcome on Main Street or on the Davidson College campus, Maloy proclaimed that he spent his spare time “trying to get my black brothers to seek their own identity.”

Back on the Davidson campus, Mike Maloy spent the bulk of his time with the basketball team and the Sigma Chi fraternity. Sigma Chi’s national office, which clung to long-standing practices of discrimination, would not recognize Mike Maloy as a member, He would have been the first African-American in a white fraternity in North Carolina. After the controversy came to light, the fraternity’s University of South Carolina chapter threatened to burn down Davidson’s Sigma Chi house if they pledged Maloy. Sigma Chi overwhelmingly voted to end its affiliation with the national office. Former Davidson President Tom Ross, who pledged Sigma Chi in 1968, said that the Sigma Chi’s decision to turn in their charter was “one of my proudest moments at Davidson College.” On a campus that was more than 90 percent Greek, the former Sigma Chi brothers renamed themselves the Machis, and Mike was a full member.

Despite his impact on and off the court, Mike Maloy left Davidson in 1970 only a few months before graduation. Without saying a word, Mike Maloy was gone, leaving his Sports Illustrated commemorative cover in his dorm room and his many honors in the basement of a fraternity house. Although his reasons for leaving remain unclear, in an interview with Michael Kruse, Maloy remembered his years at Davidson as “probably the best years of my life. I loved it there.”

After a short-stint in the ABA, Mike Maloy eventually became a beloved teacher and coach in Austria. The month of Maloy’s death, one of Mike’s players wrote, “Mike Maloy transformed me from a timid freshman on and off the court to a young man who believed in his game and in himself.” Mike also sang with the Boring Blues Band and recorded three CDs with the group.

On Feb. 26, Mike’s family, teammates, Sigma Chi brothers and friends from the West Davidson community came together at the Davidson basketball game at 2 p.m. to unveil a permanent display in Mike Maloy’s honor and announce a $1 million scholarship in his name. Although these are fitting ways to honor his legacy, the Mike Maloy story should not end there. We must make a conscious effort to keep Mike’s story alive in the North Carolina community and continue to reach across boundaries of race and class. Nothing can honor Mike Maloy like our everyday actions.

--- John Rogers
Davidson class of 2011

Help us celebrate Black History Month

In honor of February being Black History Month, we're working on an article chronicling local black history (see next week's edition, Feb. 23). Share your stories here and help create a complete picture of history in Hillsborough and Orange County.