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Sec Sports on page B1
See Opinion/! oruni pages on A8&9
Volume 43, Number 50
-WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.
THURSDAY, August 17, 2017
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Photos by Tevin Stinson
Isaiah Fletcher, third vice president of the Forsyth County Democrats, ignites
the crowd at a candlelight vigil in Merschel Plaza on Sunday, Aug. 13.
More than 300 people gathered in downtown Winston-Salem on Sunday, Aug.
13 for a candlelight vigil.
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
The unrest in Charlottesville, Virginia,
over the weekend has spurred much reac
tion across the nation and in Winston
Salem.
Mayor Allen Joines on Tuesday
released the following statement about the
events in Charlottesville over the week
end: “Our city, stands with Charlottesville
Mayor Mike Singer and his strong leader
ship as he and his community fight against
hate and bigotry. Such actions have no
place in our society and must be con
demned immediately when they occur.
The citizens of Winston-Salem and I are in
solidarity with the people of the great city
of Charlottesville.”
On Wednesday night, the Ministers’
Conference of Winston Salem & Vicinity
and Della Brook Presbyterian Church co
sponsored a memorial service for Heather
Heyer of Charlottesville, who died on
Saturday during unrest there.
Rev. Dr. Lamonte Williams, president
of the Ministers’ Conference of Winston
Salem & Vicinity, said that the faith com
munity of WiWMjmgm-inity desires to
stand in solic#l(fwilPsame day with
the family and friends of an activist who
stood for justice and was slain while stand
See Vigil! on A7
Charlottesville can
happen here,
religious leaders say
BY CASH MICHAELS
FOR THE CHRONICLE__
The searing images of TOtPTWHraftd
white supremacists battling on the streets
of Charlottesville, Virginia, with counter
protesters on Saturday, culminating in the
tragic murder of a young white woman
when a car driven by an alleged Nazi sym
pathizer slammed
into an unsuspect
ing crowd, are still
in the minds and
hearts of most
African-Americans
almost a week later.
“The hate and
violence we’ve
witnessed in
Virginia is repre
hensible and has
no place in our society,” said U.S. Rep.
Alma Adams (D-12-NC). “As a nation, yve
Adams
See Charlottesville on A7
HIDDEN TOWN
Old Salem’s enslaved
and free Africans
come to light
This is the first of a
three-part series.
BYTEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
Before Old Salem was
restored and turned into
one of the most highly
acclaimed historic districts
in the country, Salem was a
budding town that was
quickly becoming the cen
tral town of Wachovia.
Although the early
Wachovia . Moravians
viewed the ownership of
enslaved people with
apprehension, by the end of
the 18th century the num
ber of free and enslaved
blacks in Salem continued
to grow.
While it is well noted
that following the Civil
War, freed Africans estab
lished the first school for
black children, the neigh
borhood of Happy Hill was
established, and the legacy
of St. Phillips Moravian
Church will live on forever.
But, not much else has
been recorded about the
lives of Africans in Salem
during the 18th and 19th
centuries.
That is until now.
Through continued
research, Old Salem Inc.
has worked to understand
the complicated use of
enslaved Africans and their
contributions to the growth
and development of Salem,
all while going unnoticed
in the spaces they lived,
worked and played: spaces
hidden in plain sight,
known as Hidden Town.
Over the next two
weeks, The Chronicle will
feature a series of articles
that will go back in time
and tell the untold narra
tives of Africans in Salem
from the inception of the
town itself, the Jim Crow
Era, and into the 21st cen
tury. Since December
2016, a committee of
scholars has used resources
within Old Salem Museum
& Gardens, the MESDA
Research Center, the Anne
P. and Thomas A. Gray
Library and countless other
sources to help unveil the
secrets of Hidden Town.
Photo submitted by Old Salem Inc.
Members of the Hidden Town Project Committee discuss the project during a
recent meeting. The committee, co-chaired by Franklin Vagnone, Cheryl Harry,
and Martha Hartley, has been discussing the project since December 2016.
In the early stages of
research, the committee
found out that the Old
Salem Hidden Town
Project might be one of the
most important archeologi
cal sites of the urban
enslaved in the country.
During an interview,
earlier this summer. Old
Salem Inc. President and
CEO Franklin Vagno'ne
said the project has already
received attention from the
International Chipstone
Foundation, a foundation
devoted to promoting the
study of American material
culture. Vagnone said the
overall goal of the Hidden
Town Project is to bring
lives, names, families, and
legacies to life.
“This Hidden Town
Project will never end
because. research will just
continue. As far as we’re
concerned, this is not dead.
This is not history. Our
See Hidden on A7
WINSTON SALEM. NC 27101-4120 01
City might help turn former Church’s Chicken into Zesto
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE_ _ _
The Winston-Salem City Council may help
fund the transformation of the former Church’s
Chicken on New Walkertown Road into a new
Zesto eatery.
The building, located at 2600 New
Walkertown Road, has been vacant since the
Church’s Chicken there closed a couple years ago.
2600 NWR, LLC is requesting $260,000 in
Revitalizing Urban Commercial Area (RUCA)
funds from the city to upfit the facility into a
Zesto franchise location. Zesto is a fast food chain
that specializes in hamburgers and ice cream that
currently has no locations in the state.
2600 NWR, LLC, which will purchase the
property, was started by Goler Community
Development Cooperation to request the RUCA
funds, which are used to revitalize commercial
property in certain areas of the city. The $260,000
will be evenly split between a low interest loan
and matching loan. The item was unanimously
approved in die finance committee this week and
will be on the council’s consent agenda on
Monday, Aug. 21.
SeeZestoonA7
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