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PRESS ARCHIVE
"Monuments to a Forgotten Past," by Mirinda J. Kossoff.
Spectator, Mirinda Writes: Wed. September 13, 2000. http://www.spectatoronline.com/2000/091600/notebook2.html
Cover story, Independent Weekly:
http://www.indyweek.com/durham/2000-11-08/index.html
Jubilee wrap up, Durham Herald Sun:
http://www.herald-sun.com/archives/URNDetail.cfm?URN=0342331898
Historic Marker News:
http://www.herald-sun.com/archives/URNDetail.cfm?URN=0338093999
Horton Middle School celebration:
http://www.herald-sun.com/archives/URNDetail.cfm?URN=0342330954
Efrain Ramirez fundraiser:
http://www.herald-sun.com/archives/URNDetail.cfm?URN=0339776967
Horton Project:
http://www.herald-sun.com/archives/URNDetail.cfm?URN=0342330953
Village Voices, Friday, June 16, 2000
"Of statuary, symbolism, and Sam"
by LOUIS D. RUBIN, JR.
For want of something more constructive to fight about, our community may
soon be embroiled in a dispute about whether "Silent Sam," the Confederate
memorial statue on the UNC campus, should or should not be hauled down. This is one of
those quarrels that cannot possibly be decided on artistic merits, for the reason that
nobody is really concerned with the actual statue itself, but only what it symbolizes.
Those who want it removed view it as a left-over emblem of the defense of
slavery. Those who would retain Silent Sam -- or some of them, anyway -- insist that
states' rights, not slavery, was why the Southern states fought the Civil War, that a
majority of white North Carolinians didn't even own slaves, and so on.
Let me say at once that I am in favor of leaving Silent Sam where he is --
but not for the reasons cited above, which are totally specious. In the first place, while
states' rights were why the South sought to secede from the Union, the rights in question
were meant to protect the ownership and employment of slave labor. I have long relished
the story of what Gen. Jubal Early reportedly said to Gen. John C. Breckinridge following
the defeat of Early's Confederate army at Winchester. Breckinridge had been the Southern
Democratic candidate for president in 1860; Early had strongly opposed secession. Now,
four years later, as the two men retreated southward through the rain with what was left
of their thoroughly whipped forces, Early remarked, "Well, general, what do you think
of the 'rights of the South' in the Territories now?"
Secondly, it is true that most white North Carolinians did not own slaves.
But those who did own them controlled the politics in the state, and the vote to secede in
1861 was an early example of what for generations was the guiding maxim of Southern
politics; this is, that if you can make a sufficiently lurid appeal to people's racial
prejudices, you can always get them to vote against their own economic and social
interests. The issue that got all this started, in its latest incarnation at least, was
the dispute over the presence of the Confederate battle flag atop the capitol of my native
state of South Carolina. The flag had not been placed there by those who had fought for
it, but instead a century later to serve as a conscious rallying symbol of white
opposition to the Supreme Court's 1954 ruling that racial segregation in school was
unconstitutional. The statue of Silent Sam, however, is another matter, as are the
multi-hundreds of similar statues of Confederate soldiers on courthouse lawns and other
public places through the Southern states.
Sam is the product of another and different time, when thousands of
white-bearded old men wearing gray uniforms were looking forward to their approaching
oblivion. They wanted their place in time to be marked. The distinction is crucial. People
do learn and grow. Just as we no longer drown witches, burn heretics or bar women from
voting, so most of us have also learned a few things about civil rights, human dignity,
and equal opportunity for all. Silent Sam and the other Confederate monuments were erected
by the survivors of the war and by their children and grandchildren to commemorate the war
they had fought and lost when young. Another such monument, to my mind far more moving,
are the tablets in Memorial Hall on the UNC campus with the names of more than 300
students and former students at the university who died in that war.
If the right to own human beings as slaves lay behind the secession of the
South in 1860-61, it does not follow that the principal motivation of most of those North
Carolinians who enlisted in the Confederate Army was to support the institution of
slavery. It was far more basic and visceral than that. Their state was under attack. That
was why they went to war -- and one of every four Confederate soldiers killed in battle
was a North Carolinian. Yet we ought not to confuse the gallantry of the fight that the
North Carolina boys put up with what all of us now agree was the underlying evil of owning
human beings as slaves.
People, most of them ordinary decent people, fought hard and well in a
cause that was morally flawed, and that they would have been economically, politically and
morally better off not having been maneuvered into supporting. Because they did support
it, the life of their state was blighted for a century to come. Now what could possibly be
gained by trying to rub their descendants' noses in it 135 years afterward? I have a
great-uncle who was severely wounded while fighting for that cause, and an uncle who was
badly shot up during the Meuse-Argonne campaign 53 years later. Both were South
Carolinians. The flag that the one was fighting against was the same that his nephew was
fighting for. Had their situations been reversed, I feel sure that each would have fought
on the side that the other chose. Both were creatures of their time and place. So are we
all.
To return to the matter of Silent Sam, I would leave him exactly where he
now stands. But I would also commission and erect another statue. It would be of that most
remarkable of all 19th-century North Carolinians, the slave poet George Moses
Horton, who was in and about our town at the same time that the young white
college students of Sam's generation were. I would place George Moses Horton's
statue on the front campus, not far away from Sam's, both in clear view for all to see. I
daresay that present and future passers-by would get the point.
Louis D. Rubin Jr. is professor emeritus of English at UNC-Chapel Hill
and founder of Algonquin Books. Messages for him can be sent to eloise@nando.com or left at the newspaper at
932-2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September
15, 2000
Contact: CCAC, 542-0394
GEORGE
MOSES HORTON PROJECT BRINGS ART AND LITERATURE TO CHATHAM
Pittsboro--Under the name of a single project, the Chatham
County Arts Council is bringing a wealth of programs to the schools and
community this fall. “This project has something for everyone,” said Dona
Dowling, Chatham County Arts Council director.
In the first few weeks of September, the Project has
started up a “Countywide Jubilee Quilt,” inviting churches and quilter
groups to create squares based on images from a Horton poem. It has made a
presentation of 95 books and 15 curriculum guides to Chatham County Schools
Media personnel. It has published a “chapbook” of poems in partnership with
the Chatham County Reading Association, inviting students and citizens to submit
to a countywide poetry contest.
“Things are
happening now, but they will really start to gear up in October,” Dowling
says, “when we bring artists and scholars to the schools.” At Horton Middle School alone, the Project has worked to
create and fund projects for students to work with artists, performing artists,
musicians, and scholars:
·A
fifth grade art project to create a “Horton Freedom Path” in mosaic,
·A
sixth-seventh-eighth grade chorus project, to sing an original score based on a
Horton poem
·A
seventh grade poetry and performance project with StreetSigns
·
An eighth grade oral history project.
“We’re
hoping to fund some storytelling and African dance and drum projects in other
schools around the county,” said Dowling, “and we hope this is just the
beginning of an annual celebration of Horton as HISTORIC POET LAUREATE.”
George Moses Horton is HISTORIC POET LAUREATE OF CHATHAM
COUNTY by declaration of the County Commissioners in April 1997.
And in 1999 the NC Division of Archives and History approved a marker to
honor him, to be placed on 15-501. Still, Hudson maintains, many people do not
know his story, and some do not know the Horton Middle School was named for him.
George Moses Horton was a slave living in Chatham from the
age of three to the age of 68. He invented poems and rhymes and attempted to
learn to read from a very young age. His work took him to Chapel Hill to sell
vegetables at the farmers market, where UNC students discovered his talents as a
poet. Soon, Horton became a cause with North Carolina governors, newspapers, and
other supporters. He published two books of his poems, with the help of a
mentor, in an attempt to make money to buy his freedom. All his efforts were
frustrated, however, until Union troops came to Chapel Hill.
“It is an
amazing thing to read the autobiography of this man who struggled so hard to be
educated and literate. It’s like a voice straight from the nineteenth century
to our time,” said Marjorie Hudson, a writer and educator who is coordinating
this project. “It haunts me, just
the way the land’s beauty and his lack of freedom haunted him. I encourage
everyone to read his story.”
Horton’s story is available in books that have been
donated by UNC Press and the Chapel Hill Historical Society and distributed to
Chatham schools.
For information about the quilt project, call Glennie
Beasley, 542-8202.
For information about the Poetry Competition, contact the
Chatham Reading Association, at mhhoffman@mindspring.com
For more information about the Horton Project, check the
Chatham County Arts Council Website, at http://ChathamArts.org/horton/
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE: October 23, 2000
Contact: Stacye
Leanza, 542-5960
FUND-RAISER
FEATURES LOCAL TALENT
PITTSBORO--The General Store
Cafe’s recent fund-raiser for the George Moses Horton Project gave a glimpse
of how Horton’s life and poetry can inspire Chatham citizens.
Storyteller Barbara Lott performed a new work she created
in recent months based on the slave poet’s life. Cynthia Crossen and Rev.
Carrie Bolton performed a moving new ballad by Crossen interspersed with
excerpts of Horton poems.
“It was great to see people so inspired by Horton,”
said Project Coordinator Marjorie Hudson. “In him, we have a real hero of
education and artistic expression. His struggle to be free speaks to all
people.”
Beverly MacLean, a soloist from the Alston Chapel Choir,
entranced everyone with powerful gospel hymns. The audience sang and swayed
along with her as she sang. Dave Smith and Susan Strozier paid tribute to George
Moses Horton with a medley of songs, and local favorites Tommy Edwards and
Snuffy Smith played bluegrass.
An art auction led by Pam Smith featured the “historic”
first cash register from the Pittsboro General Store and a beautifully decorated
walking stick by White Buffalo Spirit (Michael McCormick). Other hot items
included a massage by Karen Ladd, and artwork
by Shannon Bueker, Lynn Morrow, Celia Gray, John Amero, and Maggie Wilson.
The General Store Cafe, in addition to hosting this event and providing
chef Doug Lorie’s Famous Lasagne, contributed Dinner for Two.
“The General Store Cafe did a great job of making this
happen, as did all the performers and artists who donated their talent and
art,” said Stacye Leanza, who organized the fund-raiser along with Becket
Royce, one of the owners. “Becket
was extremely generous with her time and resources.”
“We thoroughly enjoyed hosting this event,” said
Becket. “The generosity and energy of our guests was inspiring.”
George Moses Horton was a Chatham slave who published three
books of poems, hoping to raise money to purchase his freedom. In 1997 County
Commissioners declared him Historic Poet Laureate of Chatham County. The George
Moses Horton Project is celebrating his life and work this fall through a series
of arts and educational events in the schools and the community.
The fund-raiser brought in $1,295.00, part of which will go
toward the Horton Jubilee, a public celebration planned for Saturday, November
18 at Horton Middle School. The Project is a special program of the Chatham
County Arts Council in partnership with Horton Middle School and the Black
Historical Society.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October
23, 2000
Contact: Stacye Leanza, 542-5960
HORTON MIDDLE
SCHOOL KICKS OFF STUDENT ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
PITTSBORO--Two UNC scholars have
come to Pittsboro in search of young minds. Ms. Michelle McCullers and Ms. Joy
Salyers of the UNC Folklore Curriculum begin work this week in the eighth grade
classes of Mrs. Dawn Streets at Horton Middle School to train and certify the
students in Oral History techniques. Student historians will interview their own
family elders and seniors in the community, preserving their words and stories
on tape and film.
“We are so excited to be
able to work with these young people,” said Ms. McCullers. “It is our dream
to make local history come alive to students.”
Salyers and McCullers came in contact with the George Moses
Horton Project last spring at a presentation of the George Moses Horton Society
conference on the UNC campus.
The Project worked with Mrs. Streets and the scholars over the summer to
develop a six-week curriculum and to help find funding.
Local funders were also excited by the idea. The Chatham
Education Foundation in Pittsboro and the Cross of Nails Project in Chapel Hill,
a ministry of the Chapel of the Cross Episcopal Church, both considered the
project worthy of funding. Small
grants from the Western Chatham NAACP and the Chatham Black Historical Society
will help provide some of the tape recorders for the students to use. After the
Project is complete, the Black Historical Society will
use the recorders to continue to document living history in the
community.
In addition, the Chatham County School Board has provided a
one-time fund of $1,000 for disposable cameras and developing, in hopes of
helping to preserve important school history. “The Board recognizes that one
of our schools is named for George Moses Horton and wants to see the history of
the school preserved,” said Superintendent Larry Mabe. The young scholars will
have the opportunity to interview some of the graduates of the Old Horton
School, which educated African Americans from 1937 until the 1970s. The last
major structure of the school was demolished this summer, to make room for
modern new facilities.
The Oral History Project is a component of the George Moses
Horton Project, in partnership with the Chatham County Arts Council and the
Black Historical Society. Its
mission is to bring arts and educational programs to Chatham County to celebrate
the legacy of George Moses Horton, the Historic Poet Laureate of Chatham County.
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE: November 9, 2000
Contact: Stacye
Leanza, 542-5960
Horton
Jubilee Features Chuck Davis
PITTSBORO -- Chuck Davis and his
African American Dance Ensemble are coming to Chatham County for a free public
workshop on Saturday November 18 at Horton Middle School. The workshop is part
of the George Moses Horton Jubilee, an arts and humanities celebration of the
life and work of Chatham’s Historic Poet Laureate, who was the only person in
American history to publish books of poems while living in slavery.
“This celebration is the culmination of a year’s work and incredible
local support,” said Dona Dowling, Director of the Chatham County Arts
Council. “Horton’s legacy will not be forgotten--he is inspiring artists,
musicians, writers, students, and citizens, to be creative and to see the deep
links between education, local history, and the arts.”
Free workshops will be held at the school from
2 to 3 p.m. in Oral History and in African Dance.
The Oral History workshop will be particularly useful to teachers and
others looking for training in conducting oral history interviews. From 3 to
3:30 p.m. there will be a Northwood Jazz Ensemble Reception, with student art on
display, local history displays, and book sales. From 3:30 to 5 p.m. the Jubilee
features Storytelling with Barbara Lott, brief talks by
author Doris Betts and Horton Alumni, Poetry Performances, the Horton
Chorus, the African American Dance Ensemble, and Keynote Speaker Dr. Trudier
Harris.
All events are free and open to the public, but call-in registration for
workshops is required. Call 919-542-5960.
For more information about George Moses Horton, check the website at http://chathamarts.org/horton.
The Jubilee is a special program of the Chatham County Arts Council in
partnership with the Black Historical Society and the Horton Middle School. The
event is funded in part by a grant from the North Carolina Humanities Council.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 10, 2001
Contact: Maggie Zwilling, Chatham County Arts Council 919-542-0394
CHATHAM
POET LAUREATE WINS VOTES IN STAMP COMPETITION
PITTSBORO--George Moses Horton, Historic Poet Laureate of
Chatham County, was voted 19th out of 205 nominations for a U.S. Postage stamp
this year. With 92 votes, Horton placed just after Chilean Nobel Prize-winner
Pablo Neruda and before W.H. Auden, considered the greatest English poet of the
twentieth century.
“It’s terrific that he had that much support,” says
Chatham poet Marjorie Hudson, who nominated Horton for the stamp. “I think his
story and his poetry have affected many people.”
From March 1 until April 30, 2001, the American Academy of
Poets accepted nominations and votes for poets for a U.S. Postage stamp series.
Through its website and write-in votes, citizens and students could nominate and
vote for the poet of their choice. Hudson asked teachers in Chatham County schools to let their students
know of the opportunity to vote on line. “I think it was a great teaching
tool,” Hudson says. “As a bonus, students got access to information about
the best poetry written in the English language.”
The winner of this year’s competition was
African American poet Langston Hughes, who was part of the Harlem Renaissance.
He won 23 percent of the vote, the largest percentage by far. Sylvia Plath, E.E.
Cummings, Wallace Stevens, and Elizabeth Bishop were runners up, with between 6
and 3.4 percent of the votes. To learn more about the voting process, poetry, or
poets on the list, check the following website: http://www.poets.org/npm.
To
learn more about George Moses Horton, check the Chatham County Arts Council
website: http://www.chathamarts.org/horton.
The Chatham County Arts Council is
considering proposals for ways to celebrate Horton's life and work in the
schools and community. Call for more information.
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