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However, he knows the members want to pursue the subject of the chapter’s history, possibly doing research through the national headquarters of the NAACP and the National Archives.Ihe early consensus is that the group will mark the anniversary during its annual Freedom Fund Banquet in September, Borders-Walker said, although she does not have any detailed plans.Ihe members are taking the extra time to learn as much as they can and possibly find more connections to those early years, she said, “to do it right.One possibility is inviting the descendants of those early branch founders to honor their courage in a racially charged time, she said.“I think it is important as far as black history and the community. We weren't just slaves. We were strong and smart. We have talents and can help make our community a strong community, she said.Organizers want to find anyone who was alive at the time and remembers the chapter or documents from those early years that may have been passed down in family papers, Borders-Walker said.One of the challenges to keeping good records through the years has been a “lack of a consistent office space for the branch,” said Darlene Walker, 62, of Winchester.She joined the group in the 1990s and knows that it had office space on Boscawen Street around that time. Meetings were also held in private homes, churches, or other locations, she said.Part of the hope is that the renewed interest will help the branch to build its membership, which is about 70, Borders-Walk-er said.The local chapter meets at 10 a.m. on the second Saturday ofinterest in the chapter's history will build membership. The local chapter meets at 10 a.m. on the second Saturday of each month in Highland Episcopal Church at 448 Highland Ave.were tired of being mistreated, abused, beaten, and thrown in jail because they were not subservient enough.In time, “people reached a limit, which was a commonly shared attitude where the branches began to be chartered in the South, she said.Digging deeperThe documents from the Library of Congress that first revealed the Winchester branch’s origins were found by Casey Turben, a senior history and political science major at Shenandoah University.He was part of a research project tied to the university’s production of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird” in November.The project was led by Dr. Warren Hofstra, professor of history at SU, and J.J. Ruscella, director of acting, to add greater weight to the play’s performance by drawing connections to local history.Hofstra had heard about the case of Howard Walker, a black man in Winchester accused of raping a white woman and executed in the 1940s.Walker’s death drew comparisons to a fictional character in Harper Lee’s book, Tom Robinson, he said.His Virginia History class researched general history of segregation in the 1940s while 'Turben, as part of a independent study course, focused on Walker.New information was discussed during weekly Thursday meetings leading up to the play, Ruscella said. His cast members often attended to gain greater insight for their production of “Mockingbird.”nf i nih;cans in the community.“I think they were courageous people. They had a sense of need. They saw our area as one that needed help, he said. “I guess in their minds there were things going on that were wrong that they wanted to correct.A letter from the director of branches of the NAACP to the local chapter dated July 28. 1944, said the application had been received and gave the members permission to “function as a unit of the NAACP until it could be presented in a meeting of the national board on Sept. 11.Another document T urben found, stamped Dec. 6,1944, is a letter marked from the Winchester Shenandoah Area Branch and begins listing chairmen of the chapter’s committees.Letters in the Bell Archives reveal more about the branch’s timeline.One dated Aug. 24,1948 from the national organization’s secretary — addressed to G.W.Eight NAACP. workers pose for a portrait in St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church at 428 N. Loudoun St. in 1944 (seated, from left): Unidentified, William Brown, unidentified and Rosie Bartlett; (standing, from left) George Monroe, unidentified, Mary Laws and Alice Catlett. The Winchester Area chapter was chartered on Sept. 11,1944, according to records at the National Headquarters of the NAACP in Baltimore. The local chapter received handwritten documents found in the NAACP files at the Library of Congress and now is taking a closer look at the Stewart Bell Jr. Archives in Winchester's Handley Library to learn more about the group’s history.Photo provided by the Stewart J. Bell Jr. Archives of the Handley LibraryCasey Turben, a Shenandoah University senior history and political science major, displays some of the information and documents he has researched about the 1944 trial of Howard Walker. The documents from the Library of Congress that first revealed the origins of Winchester branch of the NAACP were found by Turben as he was conducting a reseach project on Walker, a black man accused of raping a white woman in Winchester in the 1940s.
Newspaper Details
Winchester Star
Winchester, Virginia, US
Sat, Mar 08, 2014
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Handley R.
VA, USA 19 Aug 2024
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