1. Opening Remarks

• Principal Sonja Leathers

• Ms. Dona Dowling, Chatham County Arts Council

• Mrs. Geraldine DeGraffenreidt, President, Chatham Black Historical Society

• Rev. Larnie Horton

2. StreetSigns/Student Poetry Performance 
Ms. Lynn Johnson, Mrs. Carver and Mrs. Strange’s Seventh Grade Class

3. Remarks by Mrs. Doris Betts

4. Storytelling by Ms. Barbara Lott

5. Remarks from Horton High School Alumni

• Mrs. Margie Horton Ellison

• Mrs. Fayedean Richardson 

6. Horton Chorus Presentation

• Remarks by Mr. Scott Tilley, Composer

• Premiere Performance: “The Old Carriage Horse.”

7. Keynote Speaker: Dr. Trudier Harris, “The Legacy of George Moses Horton”

8. Remarks by Mrs. Marjorie Hudson

9. Poetry Awards: Presented by Mrs. Anne Sadler, Chatham County Reading Association, and Rev. Susan Knight Brooks

10. African American Dance Ensemble

Ms. Sonja Leathers has been principal of Horton Middle School since fall 1999. She has been an active leader in the Project

Ms. Dona Dowling is Executive Director of the Chatham County Arts Council. She is an art teacher and painter, and technical adviser for the Project.

Mrs. Geraldine DeGraffenreidt is President and Founder of the Chatham County Black Historical Society, now in its fifth year, and an adviser for the Project. She is also Director of We Care, an award-winning service organization in Chatham County.

Rev. Larnie Horton is a Chatham native and minister of St. Paul’s AME Zion Church.

Mrs. Doris Betts is author of 9 novels and story collections, most recently The Sharp Teeth of Love and Souls Raised from the Dead. She is a longtime resident of Chatham County, professor of English at UNC Chapel Hill, and an adviser for the Project.  

Ms. Barbara Lott is an actress/director with StreetSigns Center for Literature and Performance, a community-oriented arts organization based in Chatham.

Mrs. Margie Horton Ellison is a native of Chatham County and Alumnus of Horton High School.

Mrs. Fayedean Richardson is a Horton High School Alumnus.

Mrs. Anne Sadler is coordinator of the Community Poetry Competition for the Chatham County Reading Association, and a teacher at Moncure School.

 Mr. Scott Tilley is a classical composer who works with Triangle Opera Company. He was commissioned to create “The Old Carriage Horse” for the Horton School Chorus.

Mrs. Amelia O'Dell is Music Teacher for Horton Middle School and director of the Horton Middle School Chorus.

Dr. Trudier Harris is Carlyle Sitterson Professor of English at UNC-Chapel Hill and founder and Director of the George Moses Horton Society for the Study of African American Poetry. She is author of 6 books. 

Mrs. Marjorie Hudson is a poet, essayist, and fiction writer. She is coordinator of the George Moses Horton Project. 

The African American Dance Ensemble, Inc. is supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the North Carolina Arts Council. Program support is made possible in part through gifts to the Durham Arts Council’s United Arts Fund and a grant from the grassroots Arts Program of the North Carolina Arts Council, a state agency. 

The Jubilee is made possible by grants from the North Carolina Humanities Council, the Friends of the Pittsboro Memorial Library, The George Moses Horton Society, and other funders. It is sponsored by the Chatham County Arts Council, in partnership with the Horton Middle School and the Black Historical Society. 

Thanks to the volunteers, teachers, parents, and students who made this event possible. Special thanks to the Horton Middle School PTA for providing reception materials.

Home     GMH Fact Sheet     Horton Project 2000   Horton Middle School Project     Jubilee Scrapbook    Press Archive     Selected Writings    Links     Donations