Black Oral HIstories of Beaufort County

Born in 1948, Reginald Willis grew up in the rural community of Blounts Creek, North Carolina, where he still resides today.  He says his work on the family farm as a child taught him how to survive, as it meant rising at 4:30 in the morning and not stopping until dusk. After graduating from the all-black SW Snowden School in Aurora, North Carolina, he went on to work as a welder at Hackney, a company that builds truck bodies and trailers, in Washington, North Carolina, for the next 49 years. Community service was also a part of his heart and soul, as he was always there to lend a helping hand to others.  “It’s been a good life.”

Born in 1933, 92-year-old Ledell Moore grew up in a small two-room house with her five other siblings in Blounts Creek, NC. She never wore shoes in the summer, and when the only pair she got for school in the fall wore out, her dad would use hog rings to patch them up. And, despite the hard times, there was always food on the table for the family of eight. Ledell thanks the Lord that she is still living, cooking, and able to take care of whatever she needs on her own. Hear her story and others at blackoralhistories.blubrry.net.

Born in 1949, Joyce O’Neal grew up in Belhaven, NC. As a child, she experienced segregation and racism firsthand and admits to being a bit rebellious at times with some of the things she encountered. She credits her success in life to those who recognized her potential and helped to get where she needed to go.  She was a school teacher for 25 years. An experience that brings tears to her eyes because of her love for the kids and what she learned from them.

Luther Harvey was born in rural Beaufort County in 1946. He has seen and experienced so much in his first 79 years. He says nothing in his life was planned, “it just sort of happened.” Harvey says his parents and a lot of other good Black folks“taught him right,” but the one thing that changed his life was Beaufort County Community College, and the guidance he received as a young Black man from one instructor, Tom Heath.

Mary Brooks was born in Greenville, North Caroloin, in 1942. After her father passed when she was only three months old, her mother brought her and her two sisters to Washington, North Carolina, where she has lived for the last 83 years. Her mother worked hard in the fields and in the homes of others to ensure that Mary and her sisters were always taken care of. Values that Mary carries with her today, as she is always there to help others in need.

Born in 1940, Richard Brooks grew up in Washington, North Carolina. As the oldest of six siblings, he grew up fast. While other children were outside playing, he was learning how to cook, working in the garden, and helping put food on the table. At 12, his uncle taught him how to do cement finishing. When his father fell ill during his high school years, he stepped up to work weekends and nights to make sure his family was provided for. He never learned how to be a kid, but he learned how to lead when people needed him the most. Something he has carried with him his entire life.

To say it has been an interesting life for Washington, North Carolina native Nancy Burroughs would be an understatement. When she was two weeks old, her mother gave her up to her sister, who was only 15 at the time. She went on to work in the banking industry for over 30 years in New York. She holds 13 college degrees, serves as the bishop of her own church, opened two biblical colleges, and currently sits on the Human Relations Council in Washington.

Mima Dixon was born in the small community of Ransomville, North Carolina on February 21, 1947. “Blink and you would miss it,” said Dixon. She went to business school in Durham, NC, and returned to Washington, NC, where she worked as a secretary at the Beaufort County Technology Institute for over 20 years. But inside, she always wanted to be a teacher. She became a librarian at the BHM Regional Library in Washington, which is where she found her true calling, reading stories to children.

Born on March 7, 1943, in Washington, North Carolina, Ray Northern never shies away from the fact that his family was poor, but he and his five siblings never knew it. They never went for want of food on the table or a roof over their heads, even though his father only made $37.50 per week. And, because of his humble beginnings, he credits his parents for instilling the values he needed to be successful throughout his life.