Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / Dec. 1, 2012, edition 1 / Page 16
Part of The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
16-SATHpnAv DECEr^ER 1 12- ; IS c NTE RTAINME NT Award-Winning Exhibit About Thomas Day Closes Dec. 31 Be/ id The Veneer: Thomas Day. Master Cabinet- maker' Sine it opened ir/ 201 0. the exhibit "Behind the Veneer: Thomas Day. M tier Cabinetmaker" has received three national awards and been fe Tired on BBS's "The Woodwrighfs Shop with Roy Under hill" an- Hi The New York Times. Only ve weeks remain to see this acclaimed exhibit at the N.C. Museum of History in R aleigh. On view through Monday. Dec. 31. the exhibit features turn lure made by Thomas Day. a free man of color who oh ned and operated one of North Carol a's largest cabi net shop irior to the Civil War. Admission is free. In a' tion to showcasing approximately 60 pieces of furniture crafted this accomplis hed artisan and entrepreneur from Milton. /Behind the Veneer explores the extraordinary story of a man who succeeded and flourished despite shrinking freedoms for free people ot color in antebellum North Carolina. Beith rhe Veneer presents a remarkable range of items pro duced in Tav s shop from 1830 to I860. He created furniture in popular til-century styles - from the very "neat" and "plain" to the oi nate F oco Revival - and infused many of the styles with his exu- boant. ifs/. I he Patricia Phillips Marshall curator of the exhibit and co- auihor he book /Thomas Day: Master Craftsman and Free Man ot roll said that Day can rightfully be called one of the fathers of'"“ 1 11 Carolina furniture industry. She noted that hi- surviv ¬ in'. nri: . re and architectural woodwork still represent the imest of I9u ntury cimismanship and aesthetics. Day's pieces are highly sougrt ifter today by collectors of antebellum furniture and African Ameiicnimaierialculture. Lxmoit pieces, such as a mahogany veneer sideboard, manogany side emirs and a faux-painted wardrobe, reflect his creative genius. ' Beomu the Venec' textures furniture from the collections of the Mu- seuu. ot istoty. private and public lenders, and Thomas Day House/ Umoi '’W ern Restoration Inc. in Milton I'wghtful and informative, the exhibit goes behind the veneer of antebeil tin North C arolina to reveal its complexities. Many restric tive la, . applied 1.. free people of color: the right to own property was in, fkeeption. By capitalizing on this freedom. Day built a life for linn .11 and hi' family and ran a thriving business. The master draftsman gained the respect of white clients, the movers and shakers of the Iha. Rivet region in North Carolina and Virginia. Da- meet a few cabinetmakers who could design the archi- lectui ments fo- , room and then creme the furniture to comple ment a. opleo. ih- Dan River area came to him because of his extras la,ary skill liuy..ging interactive offerings enhance the visitor experience. Walk 11 gh t re-created workshop tilled with hand Ails Irom an yearly i - u > c c, n u ry cabinet shop turn the shops great wheel lathe X aid po st a ueadle to run a jigsaw. Throughout Behind the Veneer. ideo ' poiiraiis " come to life to highlight tspects of IFo "s life and Bliie am,''’ mm period. , A Wr., .ver frustrations Day endured ...a free pm .m oi color, he font'll efuge in his Milton Top. There, he expressed freedom j through ms incredible designs aim experienced a higl degree ofau- L tonom; is master ot his shop. His workforce includes journLAmen. apprent's.Jay laborers and enslaved workers, with a racial makeup of w bin 'lack and people of mixed races. I Visit Behind the Veneer to learn more about this ariisan. entre preneur. curt , industrialist, and devoted husband and lamer wno left behind a 'legible legacy. Discover how Day set a course for survival ano success in the lace of injustices, hardships and uncertainties in hi' life. Progress I nergy is title sponsor ofthe exhibit, with additional support fiom Raleigh's 'News and Observer. The Broyhill Family i oundaiiou Inc. and Mr. and Mrs. H, Nelson Rich. For more information about the N.C. Museum of Histoiy. call 0 10-807-790'1 or access ncmuseumollnstory.org /or Facebook. Ilie museum is located at 3 E. Edenton Street, across from the Stale Capum Parking is available in the lot across Wilmington Street. Hours are Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.. and Sunday, norm fo 5 p.m. I he Museum ol History, w ithin the Division of State History Museums, is part of the N.C. Department of Cultural Millennium Sounds, A Benefit Concert for Hayti Heritage Center Set for Nov. 30 a Market Place opens 6 1'M Concert Begins ~:30 PM ’y All Donations Are l ax Deductible And Greatly Encouraged I he Hayti Heritage Center is a cultural centerpiece ol the Arts couiniunity in Durham. Himidi Productions. Li t is requesting the Triangle Arts audiences to help us attain the ambitious goal of raising $5,000. The funds would assist this prestigious institution with its’on-going expenses for building and program operations for this 2012-2013 fiscal year. This is a community effort to pre serve. promote and embrace the Hayti Heritage center. Local artist and vendors will participate in MILLEN NIUM SOUNDS. The a rtist will consist of Members of the Award winning Bull Citv Slam leant: LuMi' Naughty (Carolina Music Ward Winner For Hip Hop Female): Co- coFilipina: Dace Al Mansur; Jazz artist Alan Thompson and band: MGL (a one man band): and culminating the evening with the Inno vative Flip-Hop Artist Igwe Fogg. This evening of entertainment will be eclectic and prom ises to be a wonderful way for the community to support Hayti Heritage Cente r. Join us for fun. food and the musi cal Sounds ot the M illennium. For more information call: 919-358-5254 (Himidi Pro ductions) or 919-683-1709 (Hayti Heritage Center) http://www.ni.-a.gov/> . http://www.ucarts.org/> http://npnweb.org/> http://www.ci.durham.nc.us/> http://www.hayti.org Register To Vote r Day side chair, mahogany, mahogany veneer, rosewood ve nder, and poplar (upholstery not original), made by Thomas Day tor the James Poteat family, Yanceyville, Caswell County, 1855- 1860. Lounge, walnut (upholstery not original), made by Thomas Day for Gov. David S. Reid, Rockingham County, 1858. Before Columbus: Black Explorers Of the New World By Legrand H Clegg II l ivery October Americans pause to celebrate Columbus Day. Children are taught that the Italian navigator discovered America. Parades are held in his honour and tributes tell of his skill, courage and perseverance. Historians, archeologists, anthropologists and other scientists and scholars now know that Columbus did not discover America. Not only were native Americans present w hen he reached the New World, but also Africans. Asians and Europeans, among others, had been sailing to the Americas thousands of years oefore Columbus ventured across the Atlantic. Ot the various people who reached America before Columbus, black Africans appear to have made the most contacts and to have had the greatest impact. During the 19th and 20th centuries, several scholars wrote books and articles about this subject and urged the academic establishment to change primary and secondary curricula across the country to re flect the great contributions of African people to early America. Un- lortunately. such pleas fell on deaf ears so ... our children are being taught the myth that Columbus discovered America. (A few years ago), a group of 13 African Americans participated in a study-tour of numerous Mexican archeological sites. Led by the renowned black historian and architect. Mathu Otir. and two Mexican guides, we visited numerous museums, temples, pyram ids and cities, most of which reflected the genius of the native American Mayas and Aztecs. Toward the end of the tour, in southern Mexico, we began to see the remains of an ancient black presence. Evidence of the early Africans is widespread and varied. Dozens of majestic stone heads have been found at ancient sacred sites, such as La Venta and Tres Zapotes in southern Mexico. Ranging up to nine feet and four inches in height, with a circum ference of 22 feet, and weighing 30 to 40 tonnes, these colossal stat ues depict helmeted black men with large eyes, broad fleshy noses and full lips. They appear to represent priest-kings who ruled vast territories in the ancient New World from provinces near the Gulf of Mexico. In the holy city of La Venta. dating back to at least I500BC, four of these large stone heads were discovered on a ceremonial platform featuring a miniature step pyramid and a conical pyramid - the earli est of such monuments to appear in the Americas. Other art work also serves as evidence of Africans in America be fore Columbus. For years the late art historian. Alexander Von Wuthenau. collect ed ancient clay figurines that provide clues regarding the diversity of America's pre-Columbian population. His remarkable African collection depicts priests, chiefs, dancers, wrestlers, drummers, beautiful women and stately men - a collage of Black people who occupied every stratum of society from Mexico to South America. Negroid skulls and skeletons have also been found throughout the New World. Polish professor Andrzej Wiercinski has revealed the discovery of African skulls at Olmec sites in Tlatilco. Cerro de las Mesas and Monte Alban. Furthermore, very ancient African skeletons have been unearth in California. Mexico. Central and South America. Ilie best evidence of the black presence in America before Co lumbus comes from the pen ofthe "great discoverer" himself. In his Journal ofthe Second Voyage. Columbus reported that when Bull Durham Blues Festival Rain Date Announced If you were one of the hundreds of people who rain kept away from the Annual Bull Durham Blues Festiva in September, the St. Joseph's Historic Foundation. Inc is presenting the Blues Festival Redo on Dec. 7. at 7 p.m "We're excited to be able to offer this FREE Blues Fes tival Redo or makeup performance to our loyal patrons and festival lovers who've come to count on us for a grea Blues show." said Interim Director Janella Sellars. "Wt were so disappointed that the weather prevented three fan. tastic groups and performers from entertaining those who showed up for a good time, as well as those who couldnj make it out that Saturday due to the massive storm. Bui now is our chance to make it up to everyone, and let then know how much we appreciate their continued support." Artists who were unable to go on stage due to the weather during the September festival are scheduled it perform at the December show. They are: 7 p.m. - Bullfrog Willard McGhee. 2011 Triangle Blue; Society Blues Challenge winner (solo artist) "McGhee it one of tlie great characters of modern-day North Carolina Piedmont blues" - Dave Menconi. Our State Magazine 8:15 p.m. - E-train and the Rusted Rails. The Rustec Rails ignite local audiences with a captivating mix of fa miliar and original rock-a-billy. swing, and blues. They were voted best band by the Triangle Blues Society in 2011 and the Cape Fear Blues Society in 2010. 9:30 p.m. - Stanley Baird. Acclaimed jazz musician, composer and entertainer. He's has shared the concert stage with his mentor Donald Byrd. Najee. Alex Bugnon, Regina Belle. Richard Elliot. Brian McKnight. Kirk Wh- alum. Kim Waters. The O'Jays and the late George How ard. Doors open at 6 p.m. at the Hayti Heritage Center, anc vendors will also be on hand. The Hayti Heritage Centci is located at 804 Old Fayetteville St. Seating is limited, so get there early. For more information about the perfor mances. contact Janella Sellars at jsellars4i hayti.org/. or call 919-683-1709. www.hayti.org African features on statue in New World he reached Haiti the native Americans told him that black-skinned people had come Irom the south and southeast in boats, trading in gold-tipped medal spears. At least a dozen other European explorers, including Vasco Nunez de Balboa, also reported seeing or hearing of "Negroes" w hen they reached the New World. 'I? Nicholas Leon, an eminent Mexican authority, recorded the oral traditions of his people. Some of them reported that "the oldest in habitants ot Mexico were blacks ... The existence of blacks and gi ants is commonly believed by nearly all the races of our sail and in their various language they had words to designate them." Early Mexican scholars were convinced that the impact of the black explorers on the New World was profound and enduring. One author. JA Villacorta. has written: "Any way you view it. Mexican civilisation had its origin in Africa." Modern excavations throughout Latin America appear to confirm Villacorta's conclusions. The Olmec civilisation, which appears to have been of African origin or to have been dominated by Africans, was the Mother Cul ture of Mexico. Ol this. Michael Coe. the leading American historian on Mexico, has written that, "there is not the slightest doubt that all later civilisa tions in (Mexico and Central America), rest ultimately on an Olmec base." Ivan Van Sertima. the foremost authority on the African presence in ancient America, has built a strong case demonstrating that many Olmec cultural traits were of African origin: "A study of the Olmec civilisation reveals elements that so closely parallel ritual traits and techniques in the Egypto-Nubian world of the same period that it is difficult to maintain (that) all these are due to mere coincidence.'’ Other scholars believe that Africans introduced a calendar, writ ing. pyramid and tomb construction, mummification, as well as cer tain political systems and religious traditions to the native Americans’. Who were the Africans who sailed to America before Columbus? Indian scholar RA Jairazbhoy states that the earliest settlers were An cient Egyptians led by King Ramesis III. during the 19th dy nasty. Van Sertima also believes that most of the explorers sailed front Egypt, but during the much later 25th dynasty. Many other scholars insist that the navigators came from West African nations, such as Ghana. Mali and Songhay. Whoever these black people were, they most certainly sailed to America in ancient and medieval times and left a profound imprint on New World soil. As Jairazbhoy notes: " I he black began his career in America not as slave but as master." Our Mexican guides agreed. As we ended our tour and prepared to return to the US. one of them proclaimed: "I would like to thank the African people for bring ing civilisation to the New World." It is high time for the American media and academic establishment to admit the same. - Rense.com
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 1, 2012, edition 1
16
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75