Slavery, Race and American History by John David Smith

Author:John David Smith [Smith, John David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, General, United States, 19th Century, 20th Century
ISBN: 9781317459866
Google: jO7qBgAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2015-03-04T01:24:58+00:00

Journal of a Historian’s Southern Journey in the South in the Summer of 1953

August 18, 1953. Left Raleigh by bus for Fayetteville at 8:45 A.M., cloudy and relatively cool—passed through a little cotton mill town Erwin, which had a Church of God prominently located in the village—the forests in N.C. seemed to be completely uncared for—mostly pine trees of no great height—tobacco—one field with paper bags tied over the top leaves—peas—corn, much dried by the drought, and cotton are the main crops—the land rather flat, sandy, and the reddish slightly rolling land hard-baked by the sun. The houses visible from the railroad cars are frail frame structures—painted white—often with tin roofs [and] no cellars—frequently in need of paint.

Arrived at Fayetteville at 10:24. The chief attraction of Fayetteville is its curious brick structure, thro [ugh] the center of town, called the Old Slave Market. It is a small brick structure with a cupola and clock on its roof. The remarkable feature of it is that it rests on stilts of stone buttresses—beneath the building on the street level slaves were sold in the antebellum period—its architecture is Georgian, in style, with white classic pilasters. As I looked at it I thought of the human suffering it witnessed. Now it is occupied by the Chamber of Commerce—whose motto, I guess, is material progress. Although there are some old houses remaining—most of the old structures have been replaced by colorless, utilitarian buildings—Fayetteville has broad modern streets—a town of 50,000 population “as of now” said the young girl at the desk of the Travellers Aid Society. Its main industry is cotton mills—but it must have been affected greatly by the location of Camp Bragg—the largest military camp in the United States.

Left Fayetteville at 11:17 A.M. Aug 19 on the Atlantic Coast Line—am in an air-conditioned car with 23 colored people, mostly women, and nine white people, mostly men. Stopped at Dillon another cotton mill town and shortly afterwards crossed the Pee Dee River—a moderate-sized muddy river—my Uncle Joe used to say that the stream of the family farm near Mocksville, N.C., ran into the Great Pee Dee River.

Near Dillon [I] see some cotton fields with cotton on the plants—in the area around Raleigh the cotton is only in bloom. The train stops at Florence, where passengers change trains for Sumter and Columbia—does not appear to be much of a town—a railroad center—few people get on the train except Negroes.

Pass some cypress swamps—the trees having a bulbous base—this train is called the Havana Special connecting with an over-night steamer at Miami for Havana.

August 18, 1953.

Arrived in Charleston in the rain—rode in a bus from the station to the Francis Marion Hotel on the square, where the Old Citadel is located. On this square is a huge towering statue of Calhoun with the inscription that he was an upholder of the Constitution. In the Charleston News and Courier is an editorial opposing mixed schools and suggesting that abolishing segregation is against the Constitution and that the only way to abolish segregation in schools is to adopt a constitutional amendment.

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