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During the month of February, Milt and I traveled throughout eastern North Carolina visiting schools. Several schools, and one as far away as Raleigh, also visited the museum. We share Washington’s Black History from the early 1700s to the Civil Rights era with the students. Students ask us all kinds of questions, and we answer the best we can using the research we have done.

My favorite questions are the student’s inquiries about how and why we started the Washington Waterfront Underground Railroad Museum, how we started our historic walking tours and how we discovered the Black History in Washington that had been hidden/unknown for so many decades.

Here are a few of their questions:
1. What were the three most exciting things you uncovered that were pretty much unknown to people in Washington? (This was hard to answer because I have uncovered so much fascinating Black history in Washington.)

I discovered Dr. Booker T. Washington came to Washington in November 1910. He spoke at Brown’s Opera House that was on the corner of Main and Market Streets. I learned about Dr. Washington in school, but no one ever mentioned he was here in Washington. While here, he visited a family on Fourth Street (now Dr. Martin Luther King Dr. Drive.) I grew up on Fourth Street, two blocks from where he visited.

Mr. Jarvis M. Williams, who was a renowned baker in Washington, owned a bakery at the corner of Market and Water Streets. He was born around 1840. In April 1864, he along with other Black leaders, including Civil Rights leader Abraham Galloway, went to Washington DC to meet President Abraham Lincoln. This was said to be the first meeting President Lincoln had with southern Black leaders. He invited them to the White House and had them enter through the front door.

Uncovering the fact that the Port of Washington played a significant role on the Underground Railroad. The Pamlico-Tar River, the fourth longest river in North Carolina, hosted the second largest port in the state. Only the Port of Wilmington was larger. The port was well known along the east coast as a freedom seeker’s paradise. There were ships bringing enslaved people into the Port of Bath, which included Washington’s maritime interest in 1754 and 1755. Many of the documents I have chronicled freedom seeking attempts from the Port of Washington early in Washington’s history.

2. What time would you like to go back to if you could use a time machine?

I would like to go back in time to have a meeting with Harriet Tubman and spend time listening to her and learning all about her.

3. Do you think telling Washington’s Black history is making our ancestors proud?

Yes, I do. And I am so deeply honored to be able to share this history.

I will host another Green Book Walking Tour soon. I will share the details in an upcoming column. Thank you so much for reading my column.