The historically Black community of Kingsboro organized to stop hog slaughterhouse efforts, 1996. Environmental victory. Met 1/2 mile west.
Topics Related to Edgecombe County
In 1777, John Lewelling led a secret plot to kill the governor. Convicted of treason, he received the state’s first pardon. He lived ¾ mile west.
Newly freed people, 1866, rallied at Hammond’s Hill, here, for voting rights, fair wages, self-defense. Became early grassroots civil rights organization.
Led by African American workers and civil rights coalition, 1978, against sanitation dept., here. It reshaped the labor movement in N.C.
Landmark N.C. Supreme Court case, 1834, gave protection to slaves who killed in self-defense. Will was a slave on the Battle plantation, here.
Black farmworkers in region affiliated with labor union, 1886-1890. Precursor to the Fusion movement. State convention held here, 1890.
Jazz pianist, composer, and architect of bebop. Wrote “’Round Midnight” (1944). Born 1 mile S.
A founder in 1908 of Alpha Kappa Alpha, nation’s oldest sorority for African Americans; history teacher. Her grave is ¼ mile east.
Represented the state's "Black Second" district, U.S. House, 1897-1901. Last black Southerner in Congress for 72 years. Lived two blocks east.
In his speech, Nov. 27, 1962, in gym 200 yards S.E., civil rights leader delivered refrain "I have a dream," used in Lincoln Memorial address, 1963.