The Town of Carrboro unveiled its second truth plaque at the former Freedmen’s School site on Monday.

The truth plaque is located on North Merritt Mill Road next to the St. Paul AME Church and adjacent to the Carolina Car Wash.

Carrboro Town Council Member Jacquelyn Gist is the liaison to the town’s Truth Plaque Task Force. She said the land that the church and car wash currently sit on was purchased for the town’s Freedmen’s School back in 1866.

“We were able to work with St. Paul AME, who generously agreed to let the plaque be put there,” Gist said. “I think part of telling the truth is telling the truth about the resilience of some of the earliest citizens of our community. So, it fits in very nicely that way.”

Scattered across the nation, Freedmen’s schools were created for the south’s Black communities following the Civil War. Many of these schools were established by the Freedmen’s Bureau, a United States government agency that tried to help freed people make the transition to life as free citizens.

While there were many federally funded Freedmen’s schools, the one in Carrboro was unique. The original founders of the school, Green Cordal and Benjamin Craig, purchased the land at auction from the family who had previously enslaved Craig.

Craig and Cordal donated a portion of the land to the Quakers for the establishment of a school for freedmen. The remaining portion was donated to create a place for the present-day St. Paul AME Church.

By 1868, the Quaker school had begun operations as a private school. In 1890, the school expanded to serve Black children in grades 1-7. By 1910, about 130 students were enrolled with three teachers.

View of the Freedmen’s school building in 1916. (Photo via Open Orange NC.)

The school was in operation until 1917, when it was consolidated with the original Orange County Training School.

Gist said this is a part of Carrboro’s history that has long needed to be recognized.

“As we struggle, always, to become an inclusive and equitable community, you can’t do that without acknowledging the truth of your history,” Gist said.

The final text of the truth plaque reads, “Green Cordal and Benjamin Craig, freed from bondage, purchased this land for a Freedman School and church. With funds from the Society of Friends, they built a schoolhouse that served hundreds of free Black children and adults.”

“This to me, not only speaks to the Quakers and their contributions to our community, it speaks to the resilience of our Black community,” Gist said. “That people who were formerly enslaved, one of the first things they did was to build a school for their kids. I think that that is amazing and something that we need to honor.”

This is the town’s second truth plaque – the first of which was placed in front of town hall explaining Julian S. Carr’s ties to racial segregation. According to the town, the goal of these truth plaques is to recognize Carrboro’s history while uplifting the truth and acknowledging an unjust past.

 

Lead photo via Town of Carrboro. 


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