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Stories no longer hidden

Marilyn Chaplin and her mother, Lovelia Edwards, at Midway. Photo by Christine Nguyen.

By Kirk Ross

Usually when you’re thinking about exploring a territory, you start with a map. But in this case, the territory — the historical black neighborhoods of Carrboro and Chapel Hill — was mostly uncharted. The exploration ended – or, more accurately, paused – with a map that includes names like Potterfield and Tin Top and places like the old Quaker School, the Hollywood movie theater and Susie and Bynum Weaver’s store.

About 1,000 maps of the cultural heritage of these neighborhoods rolled off the presses in late February to be distributed as part of the ArtsCenter’s latest Hidden Voices program. Entitled “Because We’re Still Here (and Moving),” the project is actually a group of efforts centered on an effort to help young people explore their pasts by gathering their elders’ stories. Local students, artists and photographers and sociology students from the university have participated in documenting the stories and scanning scrapbooks.

The centerpiece of the project is a live montage of stories, music and movement starring the students, artists and neighborhood residents themselves. The performance debut of the piece, written by Hidden Voices’ founder Lynden Harris and directed by Kathryn Williams, is Feb. 15 at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 8 p.m. at the ArtsCenter.

Admission to the school and morning shows is $6. A donation is suggested for the evening show.
Harris, artistic director for the ArtsCenter’s theater programs, said the project started small with the idea of doing something multi-generational, but once the students started collecting stories things grew “uncontrollably.”

“We’d talk to somebody and they’d say ‘you have to talk to my best friend’ or ‘you have to talk to my sister.’”

The community premiere for the photo exhibit and walking-tour map, including a large interactive display where residents can add to the map, is Friday, Feb. 8 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Harris said she’d like to see the collections have a permanent place online and she hopes to take the show to other locations. And while the story-collecting has paused, the experiences of the past two years have assured her that there’s no shortage of stories to discover.

James (Bubba) Norwood formed The Sceptors at Lincoln High and went on to play with Ike and Tina Turner for eight years, as well as the Monkees, among a host of other bands. Photo by Elena Rue.

One reply on “Stories no longer hidden”

[…] Pauli Murray; • Written in Stone — reflections on black history • Hidden Voices’ Because We’re Still Here — a local black history project; • Bayard Rustin illustration and narrative by Phil Blank; […]

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