|
|
CAROLINA GENESIS - Beyond the Color Line presnts the first published history of the Winton Triangle. Marvin T. Jones' essay, "The Leading Edge of Edges - The Tri-Racial People of the Winton Triangle", tells the story of a people who emerged from the meeting of the New and Old Worlds and how they created success from century to century in northeastern North Carolina. The cover of this book of seven essays features a 1977 photograph of the Deaconesses of Pleasant Plains Baptist Church, the first institution established by the people of the Winton Triangle. Highlights of the essay: -
Origins of the Winton Triangle |
| Copies
signed by Marvin T. Jones are available by calling 202.726.4066. Book Signings September: TBA in New York City September 18: Home
of Marvin Jones and Carol Joice-Jones, Washington, DC at 5pm The Chowan Discovery Group is also proud to share this achievement with author K. Paul Johnson whose essay "Dismal Swamp Quakers on the Color Line" is included in CAROLINA GENESIS - BEYOND THE COLOR LINE. Johnson has been instrumental in gathering support for the CDG's mission. Special thanks goes to publisher Frank Sweet and editor Scott Withrow. The Chowan Discovery Group is a tax-exempt charitable organization whose mission is to research, document, preserve and present the history of the Winton Triangle. This publication is part of that mission.
|
|
| March 2010: Exploring Chowanoke forests. Historian David Powell, Gates County Historical Society President Edith Seiling (right), Marvin T. Jones and others traipse through the forests bordering the Chowan River swamp land to document graves. The Harrell Taylor family grave is of particular interest because it is said to be near if not above a Chowanoke burial ground. Seiling is a member of the Chowan Discovery Group's Advisory Committee. Photograph by Marvin T. Jones |
|
|
|
November 2009: CDG Advisor Donna M. Wells passes. I sought out Donna when I was shopping around for advice about the research I was collecting on the Winton Triangle. Her reputation as a respected archivist at Howard University's Moorland- Springarn Research Center was long known to me. It was Donna who planted the idea of creating a non-profit organization. All along the way she encouraged me, was always interested in the work and continued to advise me. I'll always be thankful for her friendship and help. - Marvin T. Jones Photograph by Jeffrey Fearing |
| August 2009: Cofield native Eric Mountain, now living in Raleigh, and his daughter Erin Madelyn, retrieves and brings back a relic from Hertford County's past. The North Carolina Museum of History has donated a booth bench from Chowan Beach to the Chowan Discovery Group whose mission is to research, document, preserve and present the history of the Winton Triangle. Museum Curator Earl Ijames arranged the transfer. The bench was in the restaurant of the Chowan Beach resort which entertained people from the region for over fifty years. It appears in a 1963 photograph that is part of our digital image collection. The Chowan Discovery Group's recent acquisition of non-profit and tax-exempt status helped make the transfer possible. Photograph by Marvin T. Jones
|
 |
| June 2009: We're now Tax-Exempt!
The Chowan Discovery Group, whose mission is to research, document, preserve and present the history of the Winton Triangle area, was recently granted tax-exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service. The law firm Morgan, Lewis and Bockius donated the services and expenses incurred in the filing of the non-profit and tax-exempt applications for the Chowan Discovery Group(CDG). Shown here, on the 39th floor of the Manhattan offices of Morgan, Lewis and Bockius are E. Laverne Jones (center), the CDG board member holding the tax-exempt application; and attorneys Robert Dickey (left) and Stephen Nesspoor of the law firm. Board Member Jones undertook this successful effort. Photograph by Marvin T. Jones
|
|
| June 26-27, 2009: A lecture on the Winton Triangle by Marvin T. Jones was among the presentations at the 13th Reunion of The Melungeon Heritage Association held in Logan, West Virginia. K. Paul Johnson, author of Pell Mellers: Race and Memory in a Carolina Pocosin and a consultant to the Melungeon Heritage Association, invited Jones and Bertie County's Dr. Arwin D. Smallwood, Associate Professor, The University of Memphis Department of History and a native of Bertie County’s Indian Woods community. Dr. Smallwood presented an extensive and exciting history of the Tuscarora people who are among the ancestors of the Winton Triangle community. Both Jones and Smallwood have ben invited to speak at next year's MHA conference in Tennesee.
Dr.Irene
M. Wright of St. Louis, Missouri (second from right) is laughing
with researchers of Gallery
of photographs: 13th Reunion
of the Melungeon Heritage Association
|
|
| March 28, 2009: A well-received lecture of the community's role in the founding and growth of C.S. Brown School was given by Marvin T. Jones at the C.S. Brown School Alumni Association's annual Founder's Day.
|
|
|
March 2009: CDG Advisor John E. Pierce passes. John was as good a friend as you could have whether you were an individual or a community. John encouraged the work of the CDG and was an enthusiastic supporter of the Winton Triangle production. A year earlier, he gave our visitors from North Carolina Central University a tour, and he towed one of our cars out of the soft ground around Lemuel W. Boone's grave. May we remember and be blessed with a concerned, caring and accomplished spirit like John Pierce's.
|
|
December 2008 and February 2009:
The Chowan Discovery Group on Radio:
Executive Director Marvin T. Jones has been making the rounds
of several radio programs. Thanks to Don Upchurch
of WQDK-FM and Rev. J.C. Watford of WRCS-AM,
both Ahoskie radio stations, Jones has presented the history of
the Winton Triangle and promoted the stage production to local
audiences. CDG Advisory Group Member Wilmer Leon
(shown here) gave the CDG one hour of national exposure
on his XM Radio show, "On With Leon".. The
February 28th podcast is online. Photograph
by Marvin T. Jones
|
|
Feb. 6 & 7, 2009: The CDG's first major end product a success at the Gallery Theatre! The Gallery Theatre was almost full each night, grandparents, their children and grandchildren came. People came from as far away at Atlanta and New York. The cast of 38 dancers, actors, choir members and directors took their well-deserved bows from an enthusiastic audience who heard and saw the telling of the 400+ year-old history of the Winton Triangle. The multi-media production, directed by Ralph Hewitt, written and narrated by Marvin T. Jones, was promoted in the local newspapers and radios, by email, mail and phone calls. All three board members of the Chowan Discovery Group were part of cast. The Chowan Discovery Group thanks all who came, participated and support our first big public effort! Please visit the links below.
Along with the narrator, some of the cast of the Winton Triangle production seen here are members of the New Bethany Missionary Baptist Church Ensemble, the Meherrin Indian Dancers and Drummers, Pleasant Plains Baptist Church Ensemble and the actors from Hertford County Public Schools. Photo by Gregg A. Adams Photo Gallery | K. Paul Johnson's blog | Media Package
|
|
|
Ralph Hewitt, Executive Director of the Gallery Theater and Marvin T. Jones at a planning meeting for the February 6-7 run of "The Winton Triangle" stage production. Photo by Laverne Jones |
October 2008: Ahoskie’s
Gallery Theater to present Winton Triangle history on stage! As part of Hertford County’s 250th anniversary celebration, Ahoskie’s Gallery Theater is staging Marvin T. Jones' Winton Triangle lecture for two nights, February 6 & 7, 2009. Directed by theater director Ralph Hewitt, scenes from the lecture will be brought to life by actors, choirs and Meherrin Indian dancers and drummers. This is the first time in the Theater’s forty-year history that a production focuses on Hertford County history. Just as important, this is the first major project for the Chowan Discovery Group. Much of the stage production’s story is based on information gathered by the Group’s researchers. Much credit goes to them, the families who shared their stories and materials, and the Gallery Theater. Ticket information is forthcoming. |
September 2008: North Carolina Museum of History curator, Earl Ijames, visits the Winton Triangle. Ijames, formerly of the North Carolina State Archives, has been a supporter of the Chowan Discovery Group since its conception in 2007. In his first visit to Hertford County, Ijames and Marvin T. Jones visited the grave and home of post-Civil War leader, W. D. Newsome. At the Atlantic District Fair grounds, Ijames met Fair president Dupont Davis and legendary harness driver Charles Williams. . Earl Ijames (left) with harness racing legend Charles Williams at the Atlantic District Fair grounds. MTJ Photo |
 |
| March 2008: Dr. Rhonda Jones, Professor of Public History at North Carolina Central University, brought eight of her graduate students to Hertford County for a tour of the Winton Triangle. After breakfast in Murfreesboro, Dr. Jones and the students walked along Winton’s Main Street to the Calvin Scott Brown School campus. John Pierce, of the Newport News Shipbuilding Commuters Club which now owns the school’s North Building, gave them a tour of the building and explained the Club’s plans. The NCCU group visited the graves of Dr. and Mrs. Calvin Scott Brown. On Bluefoot Road, the group stopped at the cemeteries of the William and Julia Jones Family and the family of Reverend Lemuel Boone, a 19th century educational, religious and political leader. Mayor Hermea Pugh greeted the group in Cofield and showed a model
of Cofield in its early years.
Dr. Rhonda Jones of North Carolina Central University, left, photographs her class of history graduate students as they listen to John Pierce in a North Building classroom on the campus of C.S. Brown School. MTJ photograph
|
|
February and March 2008: Using material gathered by the researchers of the Chowan Discovery Group, Marvin T. Jones lectured on the Winton Triangle at the Gates County Historical Society and at Pleasant Plains Baptist Church. This lecture was previously presented to history professionals at the Smithsonian Institution, Howard University, the Museum of the Albemarle, the North Carolina Museum of History, the North Carolina State Archives, North Carolina Central University and East Carolina University.
|
|
| April 2007: Duke University Visiting Professor of History, David Cecelski, on the recommendation of historian Alice Eley Jones, spent the day with Marvin T. Jones and toured the Winton Triangle. Cecelski wrote an article, "Marvin Tupper Jones: Pleasant Plains" about the community for the Raleigh News & Observer, July 8, 2007. This article was cited in a book published in 2008, Pell Mellers - Race and Memory in a Carolina Pocosin, by K. Paul Johnson. |
|
