Connie Fenner is a local business owner, community connector, and proud breast cancer survivor. She’s committed to supporting orgs that bring people together to create healthier communities, including powering our Go See This series this season.
This month, guest author Elisabeth Lewis Corley fills you in on the Black History Bus Tour presented by CRC-C, and we invite you to go see this…
The Community Remembrance Coalition Chatham (CRC-C) is dedicated to storytelling and bringing hidden history into the light, even when that history can be stygian. They are organized around the principle that sharing stories, refusing to look away, can be both liberating and unifying. On their website they put it this way:
“The Community Remembrance Coalition Chatham (CRC-C) asks all Chatham citizens to remember the full truth and history of race relations in the county, acknowledge that truth and reconcile our community of all races to achieve a brighter future. We tell the good and the hard history of our county in order to acknowledge to all the county’s citizens the achievements and experiences of the Black community and other people of color. Our Equal Justice Initiative is partnered with the Legacy Museum of EJI (Equal Justice Initiative) in Alabama to commemorate and memorialize the victims of six lynchings that took place in Chatham County. May our website and collaborative work with multiple individuals and groups over all the county educate and also inspire future dialogue to achieve better race relations throughout our community. Truth, Justice and Reconciliation is our pathway to a brighter tomorrow.”
In service of this mission, CRC-C President Mary Nettles is leading a storytelling bus tour of Pittsboro in connection with the seventh annual Juneteenth Black Arts Festival brought to us by Community Organizing for Racial Equity (CORE). The bus departs from the fairgrounds at 9 a.m. on Saturday, June 15, and will return at 11 a.m. as the doors to the festival open.
CRC-C Finance Committee Chair, Jo Corro, says, “The many contributions and struggles of the Black community remain unknown. What we are trying to do through this bus tour is tell some of the untold stories about what the community was like. I just think an increased awareness of our history will lead to a stronger commitment to understanding the legacy of that history, and will help us create a legitimate pathway to a more unified future.”
Bus tour storyteller Mary Nettles, President of the East Chatham Branch of the NAACP and President of CRC-C, makes things grow. Nettles was born and brought up in Pittsboro, in a family atmosphere of both gardens and political action, moved to Carborro in the course of her thirty-year career with UNC Health Care, returned to Pittsboro in 1995, and recently completed her certification as an NC State Extension Master Gardener. A lifelong activist, Nettles was the first African American woman to chair the Chatham County Democratic Party. She was the subject of a JumpstART commission from the Chatham Arts Council that resulted in a stunning portrait by Chatham County Artist Emily Anderson revealed during this year’s ClydeFEST.
The Community Remembrance Coalition Chatham has been sponsoring an African American Walking Tour for Pittsboro, North Carolina for several years and makes available a brochure that allows a self-guided walking tour to places of historical significance where all that might remain today is a brick or a stone. You would have to know the story to know its significance.
And Mary Nettles is ready, willing, and able to share those stories. Even though she grew up here, she did not know until 2018 that Chatham County had been home to six lynchings. Very few people in Chatham County did. Since learning about this history, she has been indefatigable in seeking the truth, sharing it, and seeking ways to commemorate the dead and reconnect them with their descendants and the rest of the community. She has said that she understands why white residents might feel a need to protect their ancestors and also why some in the Black community feel painful history should be left in the past. But Nettles feels that true reconciliation depends upon a clear-eyed look at what has come before, in order to move together into our common future. In the podcast “The Gospel According To” by The Local Church, Nettles tells host Brent Levy, “It’s deep down rooted but I think we’ll get there one day. I’m not sure I’ll see it.”
On September 24, 2022, thanks to the work of many community organizations, including CRC-C and NAACP, a historical marker was placed outside the Chatham County Government Annex in Pittsboro commemorating the fact that, according to Chatham County Government: “Between 1885 and 1921, white mobs terrorized and lynched at least six Black people in Chatham County, creating a legacy of violence, intimidation, and injustice. The victims were Jerry and Harriet Finch, John Pattishall, Lee Tyson, Henry Jones, and Eugene Daniel. No mob participants were held accountable for lynching these individuals.”
This June, take a simple journey through a familiar small town and hear the stories that will help you to see it in a completely different way. When you get a chance to hear what Mary Nettles has to say, you will want to seize the opportunity! Rumor has it that by the time of this article’s publication, the limited number of seats available on the bus may be spoken for, but a recording will be made available on the CRC-C website and the Juneteenth Black Arts Festival will be in full swing from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on June 15 at the Fairgrounds.
- The Short Version
- Who: CRC-C and Mary Nettles
- What: Black History Bus Tour: The Untold Story
- When: 9 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on June 15, 2024, before the start of the Juneteenth Black Arts Festival
- Where: 191 Fairgrounds Road, Pittsboro, NC
- Cost: Free. Reservations required.
- Parking: Parking available
- Accessibility: Accessible parking available. Please note, the grounds may be uneven in places
- For more info: https://www.crc-c.org/upcoming-events.html
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