Heritage Center Newsletter - Fall 2021

10 Johnston County Heritage Center Fall 20 21 Vol 1 9 , No 2 Update A Full - Scale Johnston County Museum In the spring of 2022 the Heritage Center finally will be able to display Johnston County‘s history from pre - European settlement to modern times — all under one roof A renovated space in the former Rose’s store at 329 East Market Street in Smithfield will provide over 4,500 square feet for exhibits as well as our gift sho p Interactive stations will allow visitors not only to see , but also to touch , smell , and hear local history The lobby will feature rotating displays related to more recent history We are grateful to our patrons for their continued support and to the Robert P Holding Foundation , First Citizens Foundation , and the Board of County Commissioners for providing extra funds to make this new venture possible The Heritage Center’s Reading Room eventually will be moved to the ground floor of the histori c First Citizens Bank building to provide better access to our collections of state , local and family history Upper floors will provide much needed storage that will allow us to continue to grow our collections Black History Committee to Recogni ze Health Care Professionals The Heritage Commission’s 2022 black history program is scheduled for Thursday , February 24 , at 6 30 pm , in the Reginald Ennis Pavilion former Johnston Central High School gymnasium , 1110 Massey Street , Smithfield African A merican health care professionals will be recognized , and Dr Marilyn Pearson , Johnston County Public Health Director , will be the keynote speaker Lucille Raiford Jones of New York will be among the honorees She was one of the first African American nur ses in Johnston Memorial Hospital when it opened in 1951 She later worked for many years on the staff of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City This is a public event for all ages , and admission is free of charge Dr Marilyn Pearson 2022 Patrons ’ Dinner The current coronavirus resurgence once again poses a possible threat to our annual Patrons ’ Dinner , but for now we are moving ahead with plans for a dinner on Tuesday , March 15 , at the Johnston County Agricultural Center We will make a decision on postpo ning or canceling by late February and notify patrons as soon as possible PageFrom the Director Preserving and Sharing Johnston County’s Unique Story The Johnston County Heritage Center is located at 241 E Market Street in Downtown Smithfield Our phone number 919 - 934 - 2836 Our mailing address PO Box 2709 , Smithfield , NC 27577 Our web address wwwjohnstonnccom heritage Like us on Facebook wwwfacebookcom jocoheritage YouTube channel wwwyoutubecom JohnstonNC Heritage Hours of operation Monday - Friday , 9 am to 5 pm Saturday , 9 - 5 Exhibits , 9 - 1 Reading Room Johnston County Heritage Commission Pam Baumgartner Mary Stephens Lettie Best Vicky Temple Rains Pearl Blackmon Ashley W ebster John Booker Larry Wood Suzanne Cook Charles Creech Emeriti Matt Dean Belle Allen Carolyn Ennis Elsie Collins Mary Nell Ferguson Ossie Fields Warren Grimes Wingate Lassiter Cathy Gutierrez Julia McCullers Frank Knott Becky Renfrow Royce Lambert Helen Smith Rich Nixon Heritage Center Director K Todd Johnson toddjohnson @ johnstonnccom As our tee shirts say , we are “ still making history ” in Johnston County We are collecting , preserving , and sharing it A glob al pandemic may have deprived many individuals of in - person , hands - on access to information , but we are finding ways to share history with the public and to provide research for those who cannot be physically present to do it themselves Our doors are open six days a week , and we a re a phone call or email away We are especially grateful for the continued support of our patrons over the last two years Thanks to our collective efforts , we have managed to keep the Heritage Center staffed and operating throu gh this long public health crisis While fund - raising efforts have suffered somewhat , we have found ways to adapt to shortfalls and carry on We look forward to unveiling our larger exhibit space in the spring Not only will we be able to tell more of Joh nston County’s unique story , but there will be more floor space for groups to have shared learning experiences hopefully unmasked Our goal is to use the primary sources at our disposal to present history in a balanced and meaningful way , to foster a bet ter understanding of why things are the way they are We want to be a source of truth and enlightenment that both grounds us and allows us to challenge our assumptions about the past The Heritage Center is approaching a significant milestone in February 2022 — our 25 th anniversary as a county agency If you add 30 years prior to that when our collection started in the public library , this treasured resource has been around 55 years Back in the 1970s it was predicted that interest in history and genealogy would eventual ly wane The naysayers were wrong , and we look to a bright future Historically yours , Todd JohnsonPageLiterary and Historical Journal To Be Published This year we began publishing the first of what we hope will be a longstanding annual collection of writings by Johnston County authors Special thanks goes to the Cynthia DeFord Adams Fund for financial assistance and to Dot La Motta , Cindy Brookshire , and the Johnston County Writers Group for help in soliciting entries This attractive hardcover book , published by Lulucom , is dedicated to the late Margaret Maron It includes poems by Oakley Dean Baldwin , Teresa McLamb Blackmon , Cindy Brookshire , Cornell Cox , Carolyn G Ennis , Nell M Evans , Dorothy La Motta , Shelby Steph enson , and Lasa Williams Contributors of short stories and essays are Joe Austin , Cindy Brookshire , Dale Coats , Cornell Cox , Mary Nell Lee Ferguson , Kelley Garris , Todd Johnson , Dorothy La Motta , Margaret Maron , Gordon McLamb , Gary Ridout , Vicki Poole She rwood , Jake Stephenson , Sherwood Williford , and Evelyn Wool As the back cover states , t his volume represents the perspective of those with deep family roots as well as that of newcomers who have embraced the slow - paced “ JoCo ” way of life , sometimes enth usiastically , sometimes reluctantly The book is priced at 30 and will be available for purchase in early 2022 Ghost Walk The 17 th annual Historical Ghost Walk was virtual again this year , not because of the pandemic but because of rain Jonathan Levin produced the video , which was filmed in the Heritage Center’s Exhibit Hall The following personalities were resurrected for this event ? prankster Eli Olive portrayed by Shaun Braswell , ? pioneer African American teacher Bettie Morgan Brow n portrayed by Crystal Roberts , ? Bentonville battle eyewitness Dora Hood Kirkman portrayed by Elinor Wallace Starling , ? African American physician Dr Charles Furlonge portrayed by Haywood Watson Elinor Wallace Starling of Winston - Salem recounts her great - grandmother’s eyewitness account of the Bentonville battle in 1865 - - ta les she heard as a child while sitting on her knee To view the video , visit Youtubecom and find the Heritage Center’s c hannel , JohnstonNC Heritage Changes in Heritage Commission The Johnston County Heritage Commission is grateful for the service of Kenly resident Monica Davis , who ended her term as a Commission member in 2021 The County Board of Commissioners appointed Cathy Gutierrez and Rich Nixon , both of Selma , to the Heritag e Commission in October Davis Gutierrez NixonPageSmithfield Freedmen’s Schoolhouse Gets Boost The recently adopted state budget includes an appropriation of 250,000 for the restoration of North Carolina’s single remaining schoolhouse built for freedmen Located at 308 N 4 th Street in Smithfield , the two - room school later expanded to three rooms will be restored to its 1869 appearance and opened for tours , meetings , and educational programs Work by restoration specialist Jaso n Allen and general contractor Jimmy Dillahunt , both of Raleigh , is scheduled to begin in January We are extremely grateful to State Representatives Donna White and Larry Strickland for their assistance in securing this vital source of funding The Heritage Center is collaborating with the Historic S mithfield Foundation , owner of the property , to develop a plan for interpreting and promoting the site The Center was awarded a 20,000 grant by the North Carolina Humanities Council to hire interns and a humanities scholar to develop an interpretation pl an , docent scripts , and a website Georgia Earley and Tiana Galloway , pictured here , are college students working with Heritage Center Director Todd Johnson and Penn State professor Dr Crystal Sanders on plans for this unique historic site Galloway and S anders are believed to have ancestors who attended the school Historical Markers Princeton Graded School and Three Creeks Meeting House soon will be commemorated with historical markers , thanks to the Johnston County Heritage Commission , Princeton sc hool alumni , and the Smith - Bryan Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution The Princeton school , listed in the National Register of Historic Places , is one of two Rosenwald school buildings remaining in Johnston County It was constructed for grades 1 - 7 in 1925 - 26 with matching funds provided by Julius Rosenwald , CEO of Sears - Roebuck Company Rosenwald helped to build hundreds of schools for African Americans across the South in the early 20 th century The County Board of Education financed much of the cost , and members of the black community also raised funds for the school Three Creeks was the name of a Baptist congregation formed in what is now Cleveland Township in about 1756 Joseph Ryals gave an acre of his farm on Swift Creek for the church in 1778 , although it is believed the building is 20 years earlier Three Creeks also called Swift Creek Church was a member of the Charleston SC Baptist Association in its early years and later affiliated with the Kehukee and Neuse Associations of NC The congregation was excommunicated by the Calvinist - leaning Neuse Association in the 1790s on the grounds that they espoused Arminian free will views Records suggest they disband ed soon thereafter Top photo , Rosenwald School Plan 6A , used in constructing Princeton school in 1925 - 26 It was modified by adding brick veneer Bottom , Sandy Creek Baptist Church i n Randolph County , built in the colonial period and believed to be similar to the Three Creeks structure , which was abandoned by the early 19 th century Page