Black history exhibit to open at Waynesborough
By Bonnie Edwards
Published in News on February 11, 2008 1:45 PM
A Black History Exhibit will open Friday in the historic Waynesborough Village.
The exhibit, first shown by Linda Wilkins-Daniels at the Wayne County Museum in 2007, was requested by the Old Waynesborough Commission as a permanent attraction for the Visitor's Center in front of the village facing U.S. 117 South, Goldsboro.
Mrs. Wilkins-Daniels says the exhibit follows a time line from the 1840s through to 1920, and new artifacts are welcome.
One display shows evidence that Harriet Tubman's Underground Railroad came through Goldsboro. If a lantern was seen on a hitching post, it was a sign that the house was a safe house.
Other displays feature things like the Battle of Goldsboro Bridge in 1862, the Union forming the 135th Colored Infantry in 1865 and the occupation of Goldsboro by 100,000 Union soldiers. There is a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation and a display showing President Abraham Lincoln's views about slavery.
The exhibit also provides a history of Cherry Hospital, which was a site set aside for black mentally ill patients from all over North Carolina, and information about Goldsboro's first black school, which was started by the Quakers. The school building is still standing on the corner of William and Elm streets, Mrs. Wilkins-Daniels says.
More artifacts are welcome. For information contact Mrs. Wilkins-Daniels at 736-1872 or via e-mail at ldaniels1@nc.rr.com. or call the village office at 731-1653.