Black Emporia

BLACK EMPORIA: The African American Experience

Through the Lives of Emporians

– published 2001 (1890 - 19??) – Essex, Marshall, Williams

Emporia, Kansas is viewed as a microcosm of the Black experience in the United States – starting from its location in the state of “Bleeding Kansas” at the beginning of the Civil War – to its involvement in each step of the evolution of African-American experience. The writers have told accompanying stories against this tapestry saying something about how important the life of each of these persons has been in relationship to the events happening in the nation.

The book Black Emporia shows how this town mirrors the nation’s experiences through oral histories, references to comparable national events, and a 1916 redwork quilt top made by four Black churches.

Writing Contributors: Nellie Essex and Elizabeth Williams
(seated and standing right)
Consulting Editor: Carol F. Marshall (standing left)

Excerpts from the Book:

From Paul Terry’s Story

In 1932 Paul Terry entered the tenth grade at Emporia High. Dean Smith’s (basketball's famous North Carolina coach) father Alfred D. Smith had known Paul while he attended Lowther Junior High School from seventh through ninth grade. When Paul got to Emporia Senior High he suggested Paul try out for the varsity team. He would be welcome. Paul wasn’t trying to break any barriers. He just loved the game. “What did I know about making a statement,” Paul said years later, “I just like sports.” As soon as word got around that Paul had joined the team some people in town started getting upset. Dean Smith said, “I am told my father received calls from the town’s school board asking him what he thought he was doing. The superintendent of the Eastern Kansas Athletic Conference also raised objections, but my father was firm about it. Paul was a member of the team, he was a guard, a sixth man who came off the bench.” Paul’s own father almost forbade him to play because he knew what it would mean for his son to be on that team. Dean Smith’s account of his father’s experience coaching Paul Terry has statements in it like: (a telegram when Emporia was scheduled to play in the upcoming game) “Leave the Negro at home . . . or don’t come”. And although Smith quotes that his father had no intention of leaving Paul behind he would acknowledge needing to locate some places for eating. They would usually have to settle for leaving Paul in the car with a sandwich while they ate. Sometimes he ate back in the kitchen. Things like that made Charles Terry want to take Paul off the team. Paul insisted he wanted to finish the season.

Emporia made it into the state basketball tournament and finals one year but state tournament officials would not allow Emporia to enter the tournament if Paul played. So play he did not. For years everyone assumed that Paul played because he was listed on the roster. But the truth is he was left at home. He never got another chance to compete at the top level. Dean Smith’s book says that Paul singlehandedly integrated high school sports in Kansas. In 1995 Mr. Terry was inducted into the Emporia High School Hall of Fame.

From Neal Morrow’s Story

"As we neared the Battle of the Bulge everyone had to pull guard duty. One night three of us were challenged to give the password by fellow American soldiers. Sometime earlier, a few Germans had broken through the lines and were wearing MP uniforms. The password that night was 'baseball'. We would say 'base' and they would reply 'ball'. One white soldier asked for the word. We gave it and then we asked if we looked like Germans. He looked at us and said 'no' but he wasn’t quite convinced until we asked if he knew how to jitterbug. That was the magic word."

Camp Alexander

Driving west on 12th Avenue was a common practice for Mr. E.J. Alexander, a Black man who came from North Carolina and bought land five miles east of Emporia to raise vegetables and fruits to make his living. He would sing about his wares as he came into town, always giving the children an apple or a pear or whatever he had available. Upon his death he willed his property to the children of Emporia for a camp and park. The Camp Alexander year-round recreation programs are important to the Emporia community. It sits on a hillside overlooking the east entrance to the city as I-35 crosses over the Neosho River.

Bud Brooks

The Bud Brooks family property is on parts of each side of East Street south from 9th to 8th. An annual Eastside Community Memorial Day BBQ is held there and is attended by hundreds. It has become Emporia’s Juneteenth celebration, one that observes the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Music, dancing, and games accompany the meal and a memorial service is held during the evening. Bud’s grandfather, a former teacher in Africa, was forced into slavery. Bud was born in Durant, Mississippi. He was in the cement construction business for 35 years. He and his wife Dorothy had thirteen children, all of whom attended William Allen White school. At a family reunion in 1986 at Durant, Mississippi, the Brooks in attendance mirrored the migratory patterns of Blacks as reflected in a February 2001 television special entitled “Goin’ to Chicago.” The migration after the Civil War gravitated to this northern city.

1916 Redwork Quilt Top made by 4 Black churches

During April 2001 persons in the Emporia Regional Quilters Guild heard that a story and history was being written about Black Emporia. It was brought to the attention of Emily Hooper in Osage City, Kansas, that Dr. Carol Marshall might be a person to contact. Ms. Hooper called Marshall and said she had a quilt top that she believed belonged to the Emporia community. She said she had purchased it in 1991 at a Topeka auction, an auction of the estate of Ashley Washham. She wondered if the writing project might be interested in acquiring it. Arrangements were made to bring the quilt to the Emporia home of Dr. Marshall. The writers of the Black history of Emporia viewed the quilt and it was decided it was authentic. The writers informed the Emporia Guild. Marshall and Janice Bailey, the project coordinator for the Guild, viewed it as a collaborative way to make the quilt acquisition a community project expanding the African-American holdings of the Lyon County Historical Museum and a means of tying BLACK EMPORIA to an historical artifact-a signature quilt with over 400 names embroidered 85 years ago.

A first glimpse of the quilt by the writers


Larry Schwarm, photographer, prepares the quilt
for photos to be used in Black Emporia and the
permanent display which can be seen at the
Lyon County Historical Archives.


Black Emporia is available from the
Lyon County Historical Society
and
The Town Crier bookstore in Emporia, KS.
The cost is $12.00.

Created on 10/31/2006 08:11 PM by lycohiso Updated on 11/01/2006 02:42 PM by lycohiso