This season’s series began with Shepherd on the Rock, held at Chapel of the Cross on Septebmer 18, 2011. Schubert’s Shepherd on the Rock is featured, with clarinet, soprano and fortepiano. Jimmy Gilmore and Florence Peacock join Beverly Biggs for this beloved early romantic work. The ensemble is rounded out by John Pruett and Stephanie Vial (violin and cello). The program also includes a remarkable Beethoven Trio for clarinet and strings;  CPE Bach’s Sonata in B-flat for violin and fortepiano, Wq.77; and Haydn’s Trio in C,Hob.XV:21, for strings and fortepiano.

Goddess in the Grove was held January 29, 2012, at the home of Florence Peacock, a huge supporter of the Preservation Society and its music program, and the featured soprano in this program. This French baroque program takes its theme from “Actéon”, a cantata by Boismortier. Like most cantatas and opera works from the baroque era, this one has a complicated but delightful story. Other featured musicians are  baroque oboist Alicia Chapman; viola da gambist Gail Schroder; and harpsichordists Elaine Funaro and Beverly Biggs.

This season concluded with Gulliver & Gusto! on March 4, 2012, at the Chapel of the Cross with late baroque music con gusto! Telemann’s Gulliver Suite with violinists Andrew Bonner and Leah Peroutka; a sizzling continuo band (cello, viola da gamba, violone, and harpsichord) and soprano Penelope Jensen, in music of the baroque era.

For more information about the series, to view press releases and reviews of the concerts, or find out about purchasing tickets to a concert, please visit Baroque and Beyond.

In looking through these photos I’ve gotten some really interesting finds. I’ve stumbled upon the house in the seventies and eighties when designers took their liberties with the house. As you can see in the photo, one designer brought in shag carpet to the house.

Overall looking through these photos has been an eye opening experience. Although the house itself experienced many structural and decorative changes its purpose has never changed. The community presence just jumps out of these pages as I’ve looked through various events at the house. I loved the many pictures documenting the quilting process that many ladies in the community undertook, the manger scene exhibit that was here many years ago, the multiple parties and dances held on the front lawn as well as the various art that came and went through the years.

Although the styles changed and maybe even the people, the Horace Williams House has continued to have a place in the community and be a treasured part of history. As I embark upon this project commemorating the Fortieth Anniversary of the Preservation Society I am beginning to understand just what an impact the house as well as the PSCH has had on the town of Chapel Hill and its citizens. I’m honored and inspired by those that treasure and preserve history.

- Hannah Craig, UNC-Chapel Hill, Preservation Intern

Located on Purefoy Drive, the Hogan Rogers house was originally built by plantation owner Thomas Lloyd Hogan, a descendent of Revolutionary War veterans and a prominent North Carolina family. The property passed from Hogan family hands when it was bought by Sam Rogers, the son of former slaves, in 1917. Rogers lost the house in the Great Depression and built a small cabin nearby which still stands on the property.

The Rogers Road community first gained media attention over highly publicized existence of a landfill in their community in the 1970s – a dumping ground which polluted the neighborhood’s water supply with cancer-causing contaminants. Now, the community’s strength is being tested again, this time with the demolition of the Hogan Rogers House with the relocation of Chapel Hill’s St. Paul’s AME Church.

The proposed plan for St. Paul’s relocation involves a move from the church’s current location South Merritt Mill Road to a five-parcel tract on Rogers Road and Purefoy Drive. The expansive site is planned to include a sanctuary as well as a fellowship hall, mixed-use affordable housing, a daycare, athletic fields and walking trails, a wellness center, a health clinic, an historical museum and a memorial garden.

The planned sanctuary site sits directly atop the current location of the Hogan Rogers House, though church leaders have “made a firm commitment to preserving the historical and cultural heritage of Rogers Road.  It is for this reason that the church has included in their proposed plan a space dedicated for The Rogers Road Historical Museum,” according to the project description on the Town of Chapel Hill website.

Because the site plan does not allow for any existing structures to remain on the property, the Rogers Road community is in danger of losing the Hogan Rogers house, and with that, an important piece of its history. Unless the house can be moved to an alternate location, demolition is in its near future, which would destroy not only the house, but a 150 year-old testament to the African American past.

The original Sam Rogers cabin stands nearby, as well as the Morris Grove Elementary School, a facility named for Morris Hogan, a biracial enslaved person who founded the school in 1880. A monument to the rich African American past, this area offers a unique testament to the struggle of the Rogers Road community, as well as a possible new location for the Hogan Rogers house.

The Preservation Society of Chapel Hill is dedicated to saving the Hogan Rogers house, as well as the rich history of the Rogers Road community. Without community support, however, the Rogers-Eubanks neighborhood is in danger of losing this historic landmark, and the rich history behind its walls.

- Laura Page, Public Outreach Intern

The answer comes from The Southern Part of Heaven, the boyhood memoir of William Meade Prince.  Born in Roanoke, Virginia on July 9, 1893, Prince and his family moved to Chapel Hill in 1898.  His grandfather was Dr. William Meade, the pastor of the Chapel of the Cross.  Prince wrote: “From the beginning, all of us loved Chapel Hill.”  His account explored what the town was like in the early 1900′s and explains his interactions with people from all walks of life.

At the age of fifteen, Prince left Chapel Hill to work for a short time in Birmingham, Alabama.  While in Birmingham, Prince met Lillian Hughes and the two were wed in 1915.  When Prince was trying to decide where he wanted to attended college, he was torn between West Point Military Academy and the Georgia Institute of Technology to study architecture.  His final decision was the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts, which he attended from 1913-1915.  Prince discovered that he was a talented artist and in 1915 he won a contest sponsored by Collier’s magazine, launching his career as a magazine and book illustrator.

His art is reminiscent of Norman Rockwell and portrays similar characters and situations as Rockwell focused on.  The following are three samples of his artwork.  The first is entitled Grandma Bobs Her Hair.  This piece was illustrated for the May 9, 1925 edition ofThe Country Gentleman.  You can see in this image a generational cross as Grandma is getting her long hair cut for the more stylish 1920s bob that the hairdresser has.

Grandma Bobs Her Hair

The second image was illustrated for the March 28, 1925 edition of The County Gentlemanand is entitle Dog Doesn’t Like Sax Sounds.  The young boy is practicing his instrument while the dog howls along with him.  Either he does not like the sounds of the saxophone or the boy needs to spend a little more time practicing his craft.

March 1929 edition of The County Gentleman, Prince depicted the imagination and dreams of a child in Playing Pirate.  The young boy is pretending to set sail under the traditional skull and cross bones flag.  The clouds in the back signal the child’s imagination and the fact that he could dream as big as he wanted to.

Prince returned to Chapel Hill in 1936.  During World War II, Prince served as the head of the art department at UNC, producing a number of illustrations to aid the war effort.  The Southern Part of Heaven was published in 1950.  A year later on November 10, 1951, Prince, working in his studio, phoned Dr. Fred Patterson instructing him to “Come right away, there’s an emergency.”  When Dr. Patterson made it to the house, he found two notes on the door.  One note read “I’ve shot myself in the studio.  There’s nothing else you can do for me.  Please see about Lillian.”  Mrs. Prince, who had been ill in bed for several days, heard nothing that night and was rushed to Duke Hospital in a “state of collapse.”

On November 10, 1951, at 58 years old, Prince died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.  He had just begun penning a second memoir.  He is interred in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery.  Lillian Hughes Prince was famous in her own right, appearing in many productions.  She became well known for portraying the first Queen Elizabeth in Paul Green’s The Lost Colony from 1947-1953.  Lillian passed away in 1962 and is buried beside her husband.

[Images in the post can be found in the Saturday Evening Post archives at http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2010/11/13/art-literature/delightful-art-william-meade-prince.html.  Biographical information on William and Lillian Prince from "The William Meade and Lillian Hughes Prince Papers" in the Southern Historical Collection, and from the Durham Morning Herald and the Chapel Hill Weekly.]

Preservation Group Wins Award for Work on African-American Home

The Federation of North Carolina Historical Societies has awarded the 2011 Albert Ray Newsome Award to the Preservation of Chapel Hill for their work on the Toney and Nellie Strayhorn House in Carrboro. “We were impressed by the Preservation Society’s efforts to save this house” noted the Federation’s outreach coordinator, Laura Ketchum. Ketchum noted the key to the Preservation Society winning application was not only their campaign to preserve the nineteenth century home but also their use of the families story to link members of their extended family.

The Federation of North Carolina Historical Societies is a coalition of societies, associations, and commissions located throughout the state that are dedicated to preserving and promoting history in North Carolina. The Federation received applications from across the state for the award but considered the Preservation Society’s work to be among the most innovative. Albert Ray Newsome served as secretary of the North Carolina Historical Commission and as professor of history at UNC-Chapel Hill where he was a strong advocate for the study and preservation of local history. The award named in his honor recognizes outstanding achievements in preserving local history by member organizations. The recipients receive a $250 cash prize and a framed certificate. Presentation of the award will be made at the annual joint meeting of the Federation and the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association on November 18, 2011 in Raleigh.

The home in Carrboro is owned by Dolores Clark, the great granddaughter of Toney and Nellie Strayhorn, and is listed as a potential addition to the National Register of Historic Places. But in recent years, Clark has not been able to make needed repairs on the structure. In an effort to find assistance, she appealed the the Preservation Society for help.  ”The Strayhorn story makes this house important” said Preservation Society Director Ernest Dollar, “but taking that story and linking it with a bigger effort gives our work added meaning.” Dollar has woven fundraising for the restoration of the historic African-American home with a national effort to connect descendants of the the original Strayhorn family slaves. Originally, the property of Gilbert Strayhorn who settled near Chapel Hill in the 1740s, the Strayhorn family moved around the country after emancipation and includes such notables as Duke Ellington’s premier composer, Billy Strayhorn.

In 2010, the national Strayhorn reunion came to Hillsborough but were unable to visit the Dolores Clark’s house because of the restoration projects. “We hope to have the home open for the family when they return for the next family reunion in July 2012″ said Dollar. The Preservation Society worked with Clark to place historic preservation covenants on the home and hopes to raise at $10,000 to complete major repairs to the Strayhorn Home.

For more information on the Preservation Society’s efforts, and the Strayhorn’s story, visit their webpage or call their offices at (919) 942-7818.

A big thank you is extended to the wonderful judges who sacrificed their blood sugar levels to sample 30 delicious entries to determine the winner of the “Who Bakes Chapel Hill’s Most Luscious Cupcake?” challenge! Debbie Moose, Ruth Moose, and Emily Pierce, this really would not have been possible without you testing all those different baked treats. Finally, we would like to thank the wonderful contestants who put their skills to the test and came up with the delicious treats for our judges and guests! Thank you all for participating in the challenge and we hope to see you again next year!

Congratulations to Paulina Garcia Hernandez; she won the bragging rights to the title with her entry Cuckoo Coconut cupcakes. Second place went to Joe Parker of JP’s Cupcakery for his Turtle cupcakes, and Anna Mee and Natasha Anbalagan’s Orange Bedazzle took home third place. To everyone who attended, thank you for venturing out to the event in spite of the encroaching hurricane to attend this event. It was all for the love of cupcakes and the celebration of Horace Williams’ birthday!

Check out photographs from the event on Chapelboro.com!

Sherril Koroluk
Preservation Society of Chapel Hill

In my research, I examined the references of material culture within the letters. Most of these letters were corresponding between him and his wife, Mary Ellen Hedrick, while Benjamin was abroad in New York, Boston, Cambridge and Washington DC. At the wife’s requests, Hedrick shipped back several articles of clothing, silverware, furniture and toys for the family and friends. The purchases of silverware and china were particular prevailing, as during Hedrick’s time in New York in December 1855, he went on a considerable shopping spree, purchasing a 56 piece set of French china along with sets of Easter plates, platter forks and dinner sets. Also purchased, were 9 soup and 9 oyster plates, a rocking chair and washstand, a study chair and quartet table, and other sleeves, collars and dish covers. Many of these objects are presumably lost or destroyed, however, the sheer documentation allows for a potential discovery of the historic items.

In October 1856, Benjamin Hedrick was removed from the University of North Carolina following his comments and support for anti-slavery. The university and town neglected to condone his actions, and Hedrick was essentially kicked out of town, leaving his wife and child behind. For the rest of the calendar year, Hedrick received a multitude of letters from supporters of his actions along with an influx of letters from his wife, ensuring her safety. Many people who applauded Hedrick’s actions, sent newspaper clippings, confirming the widespread coverage of the controversial matter. By April 1857, Hedrick appears to return to Chapel Hill, then leaving for good with his wife and child. Unfortunately, much of the material culture is not prevalent within these final letters from Chapel Hill, and the future of the Horace Williams House and the content within, is not widely discussed.

One day I found myself in the archives at UNC, digging through the old Horace Williams papers. I found everything from his will, to his bills, to the letters he wrote. Then, I stumbled upon a book from Bertha Williams, Horace William’s wife. Opening this book, I found detailed pencil sketches of houses, people, and nature; the sketches of an artist. I look around me now and see new artwork every month. Some similar to Bertha’s, some drastically different, but all the work of a contemporary artist, an artist who much like Bertha leaves his or her footprints through their artwork. These footprints are one of the easiest ways to trace the past to the present and to see how both can and will reach into the future. The next time you are at an art opening at the Horace Williams House, reflect on how the 1840s house used to be the home to an artist, and now instead of being the literal home to artists, is the home for their artwork. The footprints of the past reach into the present and the present serves as the catalyst to connect the past to the future. The artwork on the walls around me represents the love of art which will live on after we are no longer and will create a path of footprints from the past to the present and beyond.

Next update is the murals – the porthole alley mural is restored and looks wonderful!  If you have the change, go up to Franklin St. and check it out, it is right beside of the Carolina Coffee Shop.  This brings up to the turtle mural.  Now that the porthole alley is saved the attention is turned to the turtle mural as we race against time to restore it to its original grandeur.  For more information on this check out the Painted Walls Project under the Current Efforts link.

And last but not least…

Decorations are up and the music is blaring from every storefront – that’s right it’s the Holiday season!  You know what that means; it is time for the much anticipated 2010 Holiday House Tour!! This season we will be exploring the birthplace of Chapel Hill – the beautiful Cameron-McCauley Neighborhood.  We at the Horace Williams house are excited to bring this tour to you!  There are 11 different homeowners who have generously agreed to open up their doors and let you explore this area rich with the history of Chapel Hill in a new and exciting way!  Join us as we explore the attractive environment that nestles the homes of past industrialists, professors, and artists who changed the face of their community and the South.

Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 the day of the tour – so get yours today!