w
( Chronicle Profile
Photographer d
By JAMES PARKER
Staff Photographer
Last Friday, and in true Hitchcock fashion, 1 stepped
through the front door of the Delta Arts Center
and, subsequently, back in time. What was to have
been a stroll through an exhibit by Winston-Salem
photographer Clarence Nottingham became, for me,
y an eye-opening delve into the Twin City's black
: history.
Everything became black. But 1 wasn't afraid at
all. 1 l? ~i .l .
? _? - ? ?uvvh tiuou* me tate?
1950s 01 so; 1 could tell b> the cats parked next to
Sale Bus Co., once the onl> black-owned bus firm in
the world.
Had you wandered into the downtown area surrounding
the Phillips Building in 1958, you 4oo
would have seen what Clarence Nottingham saw and
later photographed. Since that time, Nottingham, an
81-year-old Philadelphia native, has recorded, and
probably better than any other artist, Winston's
black people and places. Samples of is work will be
on exhibit at the Delta Arts Center until March 10, and
they help tell the story of this city's proud black
history.
Included in Nottingham's exhibit are pictorial
scenes that make the mind drift back to the days of
the Liberty and the Lincoln, black theatre houses; of
Winston Mutual and North Carolina Mutual, black
insurance agencies; of a black YMCA on Patterson
Avenue and a black hospital named Kate Bitting
Reynolds.
The list of black businesses was enough to boggle
my 1980 intellect. There were black barbershops,
Calendar From Page A6 | j
. ** - ?
'V
The Institute for Islamic Involvement Inc. will
sponsor a forum on "Understanding the Middle
East: An African American View" at the East
Winston Branch Library at 6:30 p.m.
The Old Hickory Council. Bov Scouts of America,
which serves the youth of eight northwestern counties
in the state, will hold its"annua! Recognition Banquet
in the Magnolia Room at Wake Forest University at 7
p.m. Superior Court Judge James M. Long will be
the guest speaker.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29
Home Economics Extension Agent Joanne Falls
V will-feature "Sewing Shortcuts" at the East Winston
Branch Library at 10 a.m. Bring your lunch, if you
wish and stay for conversation.
The National Council of Churches Racial Justice
working Group will hold a Service for Justice in the
Greensboro Massacre at First Lutheran Church at
West Friendly Avenue in Greensboro at 7:30 p.m.
Wachovia promotes four
Sharon G. Caldwell has Point College graduate,
been elected assistant vice In other promotions, P.
president in the Personnel Marshall Henderson was
Group at Wachovia Bank elected assistant vice pres^
and Trust in Winston- dent; Mary J. Simos was
Salem. Ruth W. Fine, Kyle . elected investment officer;
A. Royce and Richard A. and George G: Costas II
Walden have been elected was elected international
personnel officer. banking officer.
Caldwell joined Henderson joined
Wachovia in 1978 in the Wachovia in 1980 and is a
training and development financial consultant in the
section and recently was financial siervices section of
named manager of sales Corporate Banking Ad
roir*ir?r? Qhp ic a r\f minietratinn A nativ;o r\f
11 Ul IV 1J U 11UU T V VI muuju MUV/ll, / * null T V VI
Seagrove and a graduate of South Bend, Ind., he is a
the University of North graduate of Indiana UniverCarolina
at Greensboro. sity.
Fine, a Winston-Salem e. .. f
,?' , . . . Simos, a native of
native, is benefits admin- .... c , . ,
? , Winston-Salem, has been
sitrator in the Personnel ... ... , r
_ . , with Wachovia for seven
Group. She has been with , c ,
xxt j . r , ^ years and is a funds
ac ovia or ^ar*' management specialist in
Royce jomed Wachov.a c rate Bankj Ad.
in 1981 and serves as .
ministration.
manager of non-exempt
employment. A native of Costas joined the bank in
Glen Cove, N.Y., she has a 1981 and became foreign
bachelor's degree from the exchange trader later that
University of Richmond. year. He is a native of LynWalden
joined Wachovia chburg, Va., and earned a
a year ago. He is a native of bachelor's degree from the
High Point and a High University of Virginia.
Garden club meets
The Alta Vista Garden a discussion of the club's
recently met at the home of 50th anniversary, which will
Mrs. Maggie Rucker, with be planned at the club's
% a f II T MAvi m AA?
ivirs. janie w. i nomas ser- ?cai
ving as co-hostess. Mrs.? Odessa Perry set up
The president presided the table arrangement for
over the meeting, and Mrs. dinner and lunch for two
Alberta Singleton read a people. Roll call showed 13
devotional message with the members present and one
theme song "In The visitor, Mrs. Glennie M,
Garden." Hall. t
Old business was called Mrs. Thomas and Mrs, '
tor. New business included Rucker served the meal.
. /
\
elves into history
restaurants, food stores, drugstores, ta.xieab companies,
a plumbing company. Black-owned offices
were busy with black doctors, law>ers and tailors -you
name it and black Winston had it. By 1947,
Winston-Salem had pioneered so many black enterprises
that Ebony magazine published the news of the
black mecca nationwide that yeajn
"Atlanta and other major cities heard about
Winston-Salem from that article and black
businesses were inspired all over." said Winston
native Minnie Benson. "They got it (the inspiration)
- from us,"
And Nottingham himself is just as intriguing as the
history he has recorded with film.
"I never felt black. I felt as a person, as a.
man."
? Clarence Nottingham
He was first trained in his craft at the Germain
School of Photography in New York City in 1931.
While studying portrait photography in the 1960s
with one of New York's best, Monclova, Nottingham
took a portrait he won't ever forget.
?A?young?Southern minister fresh out of "afT
Alabama bus boycott was starting a speaking tour in
New York when he was stabbed inches from his heart
with a letter opener. During his recovery stay in
Brooklyn, the young minister suited up to have a portrait
made, and Nottingham was his photographer.
-That minister, who became the famous civil rights
leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., didn't mean a lot
c
Being Black in Amer
Reme
your i
Vv ? " " It' vi^fc''?'??? - ?#' .
real fa
lessor
PHOT(X',K\PME0 B> KEITH H -VIE
An ,is*,t?d Ainnmu BU< K ph??totfr,?ph?>r Mr H.?U? i* ? urwntlv im >
Chu ,)>(() Kun Time* Over the year* hi* >M>rk h,i* appeamd in m.t
< luriing EBON> and ESSENCE The photograph helnw is oi Mr t
her Kreal-iirandmofher
....
MPv:-. v-^n
ppr
.-'isti^EKFfW
>< /
r
'^^Wafc/. *
Sa' fPfflt**. .-j^:
X
?*
I
The
''''
lj ' '*?& ' fr~vx" ^'f ' ** < A
s^SB WFi^f JR
ll mm m %
\m m. >
ImSm^'-*- Vn^KV^M
. . v - n^^^^BKaVH* ^jgsfl^H
|J
Clarence Nottingham: The dean of Winston-Salei
to Nottingham then.
~~" I hen, we weren't impressed," says Noitingham.
"We (photographed) so many jaekleg ministers one
was like another."
Since then, Nottingham has seen his portrait of
King reproduced on calendars and posters all over
the country. For an 8x10 of King, Nottingham received
$7.50 and no copyright.
On his initial visit to Winston-Salem for his
ica: A Real Picture
When
^ and talk c
tales. She
historians
Tfi leds?fror
<JL JL M a. W^L -B the most
m m ^ human vo
rt# i " sl
^ A \ . you know
who you
I So did W
L JLJL 0v ' :iCart^G
. A ^ They
Vftfc .ft*-* ,.V: . v^. .1
> <**. ^ ^rhat this
ustory !|i
A v\e have
partnersh
rniinf
Lr V 1 i V VWV.4AAI.
the Black
^ And i
9 the conur
Queens o
A rea
includes i
of all ract
common i
Building
with the
VnN'tw Hu-. I> ( ..-I
I'll I'llUI"! ..I H.Mlw
Hmkw"*- I <tif S
.tatt with the
|(>' puhliiations in
tale ? daughter and
* . .
.^Sk? <-~*l^r /M
*
w
V
V
Chronicle, Thursday, February 23, 1984-Page A7
\ IK/
\ ^1 *iii^
* j/y '
j^QP f &>ji&'?L i^lvH
C. ^
m photography (photo by James Parker).
nephew's christening, Nottingham tell in love with
the city. llI felt at home," he says. "It was a lot likrc
Long Island (where he was then li\ing)."
Since moving to Winston-Salem, Nottingham,
who is semi-retired, has traveled extensively. Included
in the many places he's visited are nearly every
country between Canada and South America,
Europe and several islands in the Atlantic Ocean.
Please see page A8
y
4
i Grandma used to sit you down
ibout her. life she wasn't just telling
was following a long line of Black :
who passed their precious known
generation to generation using
expressive instrument created. The
licer
knowledge is power. Because when
where you come from you know
are. Our grandparents knew this.
^E.B. Dubois, Sojourner Truth,
Woodson and Martin Luther King.
also kne^ how M&antU was
knowledge continue to be nanaed
ack History Month is a reminder for
'n from the past, because it positivethe
quality of our future.
user-Busch appreciates this fact,
an ongoing commitment to forging
ips with Black organizations across
ry which are involved in preserving
cultural heritage.
-ve've brought Black history into
lunity through our Great Kings and
f Africa art collection.
i ?:.,i r>i ? i. ? *
i jjinuic ui uemg DiciLK m America
ill of us. The future rests on people
?s working together to make our
reality one we "can all be proud of.
a future in partnership
community.
iUSER-BUSCH COMPANIES
I f >? |urt'?l iiumjm'H i ?t Vihi'uM-' H.MI',
Mil ' K' Ml)> Mil h(*loh? I l^bl
I w'?' ,|Mc! KhhI1*
r?* - v^,vcv<
* . *'v 'C
. "i"
BRf^r^EK^BflS^^JHrv ?.' >x< s
v h9
KSw< >'<
H^g*; - ^jvSKSB
? i .
f