Chowan Discovery Group unveils exhibit
Published 5:37 pm Friday, March 31, 2023
- Marvin Tupper Jones (middle), director of The Chowan Discovery Group, was honored by the CS Brown Cultural Arts Center for his work in promoting Hertford County history and for support of the Center. He is shown with Cultural Arts Center board members, from left, Alice Sharpe, Mary Harrell-Ruffin (Center Director), Berna Stephens (Board Chairman) and Lillie White. Contributed Photo
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WINTON – The Chowan Discovery Group unveiled a new exhibit here on March 26 about people of color in Hertford County.
“Building a Mixed Race Community – the People, Buildings and Sites of the Winton Triangle” was on display at the C.S. Brown Regional Cultural Arts Center and Museum, located at 513 S. Main Street in Winton.
The next showing is scheduled for 11 a.m. on April 13 at Roanoke Chowan Community College. For more information visit www.chowandiscovery.org.”
The exhibit is the work of Marvin Tupper Jones, a native of Cofield and the director of The Chowan Discovery Group which is based in Washington, DC.
“Our exhibit is for those who want to remember and learn the best of our Winton Triangle community,” Jones said. “We have buildings – some worn or in ruins – that tell stories of a successful community of color that rose through the Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow and supported the Civil Rights movement that provided so many freedoms and opportunities. Our research brings out the importance of the people connected to these buildings and sites. Our storytelling and photography present that research to the viewer. We hope that people will find new value in the world that immediately surrounds them.”
Shown here is just a portion of the 30 panels that comprised the exhibit inside the CS Brown Cultural Arts Center in Winton. Contributed Photo
Jones noted that the exhibit is in the form of informative panels that when placed side by side cover a total of 75 feet.
Each 20” x 30” panel features a main photograph of a building or site, along with text and another image about a significant person or persons associated with the panel. Elders in the local community still remember some of the featured people such as Dr. Joseph D. Weaver and Howard Hunter, Sr., but stories of the local founders of C.S. Brown School, the community’s greatest institution, are forgotten, Jones said.
“Before much of our community’s past is forgotten, this extensive exhibit allows us to present significant people of the past who contributed much to enrich our community. I hope this exhibit will renew paths of accomplishment that are also important to our futures,” Jones stated.
The Chowan Discovery Group received a grant from North Carolina Humanities to support this exhibit. North Carolina Humanities is a statewide nonprofit and the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.