Peter Oliver was a skilled Moravian craftsman in Salem.  Born enslaved in Virginia on May 10, 1766, he came to Wachovia as a young man hired out to work in the Moravian town of Bethania sometime around 1784.   From all indications, Peter Oliver was very shrewd and was masterfully navigated..Read More

James Francis Shober, who would have been around 12 years old when slavery ended went on to graduate from Howard University School of Medicine, becoming the first black known physician in North Carolina. Shober was born on August 23, 1853, in or near the Moravian town of Salem (now Winston-Salem),..Read More

In 1830-31 North Carolina passed laws that made it illegal to teach enslaved Black people to learn how to read and write. Two years after the ending of slavery, Lewis Hege, Alexander Volger (Gates), and Robert Waugh, Black lay leaders in the African Moravian Church in Salem, led the effort..Read More

Israel L. Clements was elected to the Board of Commissioners in May, 1881 but died less than a year later. He was the first African American elected to public office in Winston or Salem. Upon his death a resolution by the Board called him “..one of our most faithful and..Read More

Slater Hospital was the first hospital in the county for Blacks.  Simon Green Atkins raised $3,650 and R.J. Reynolds matched the amount to fund the building.  The hospital was located next the Salter Industrial and State Normal School.   Later the building was used as a men’s dormitory and for home..Read More

According to an undated newspaper article, the “colored branch of the YMCA” formerly known as the Patterson Avenue Y.M.C.A. and now known as the Winston Lake Family YMCA has been existence since 1911.  The YWCA for Blacks opened in 1917.  In the 1920s, community leaders, both black and white saw..Read More

William S. Scales was an entrepreneur beginning in the mid 1900s, operating cafes, billiard parlors, manufacturing plants, a funeral home, a bank and theaters.  He was born in Winston-Salem in 1878 and worked at R J Reynolds as laborer.  

A library branch to serve African American residents of Winston-Salem opened on February 15, 1927.  For four years the library was located in the Chestnut Street Branch of the YWCA.  The library was named for famous African American poet, George Moses Horton.  In 1953, Dr. H.D. Malloy, Sr., Dr. H...Read More

Doctor H. R. Malloy attended public schools in Winston-Salem & graduated from Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte NC. Following graduate study at the University of Chicago, he completed work for his M. D. degree at Howard University in Washington D. C.   Doctor Malloy was an attending surgeon at Forsyth..Read More

[smartslider3 slider=13] The Kate B. Reynolds Hospital opened in 1938 with one hundred beds for the treatment of black patients and the education of black medical students.  On May 15, 1938 a “city-Wide Negro Appreciation Service was held at the Bowman Gray Memorial Stadium to honor the hospital’s donors and..Read More

Miss Naomi C. McLean opened Winston-Salem’s first Black public stenographic office in 1939, and the first Black business school in 1941. Both were located in the Bruce Building on Patterson Avenue. The school was equipped with all modern machines, plus a piano, and offered a complete secretarial course. Day and..Read More

The Winston-Salem Urban League was founded in 1947 through the efforts of Mr. James G. Hanes who was concerned about negative race relations. Originally name the “Community Relations Project,” the organization became the Winston-Salem Urban League in 1953 and was chartered in as an affiliate of the National Urban League..Read More

Kenneth R. Williams Kenneth R. Williams won an alderman seat in 1947 and became the first African American to defeat a white opponent in a twentieth-century election in a Southern city. He was the first African-American elected to the city council since 1900. However seven- nine African Americans had served..Read More

[smartslider3 slider=5] WAAA signed on the air October 29, 1950 as the first Black programmed radio station in North Carolina and with an all Black format. The station was first located on the corner of Church Street and Third Street “in the heart” of the downtown’s black business district over..Read More

After the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, still most Black students in Winston-Salem went to all-Black schools and White students did the same. In efforts to achieve a fully integrated school system, busing was initiated which assigned and transported students outside their..Read More

In 1960, Dr. Lillian Lewis, a professor of biology, became the first African American elected to the local school board. Her swearing in was covered by Jet in its December 29, 1960 issue.  Dr. Lewis taught and several positions in the school system. Dr. Lewis was a member of Alpha..Read More

On February 8, 1960 Carl Matthews sat down at the S. H. Kress Lunch counter which would begin the sit-in-movement in Winston-Salem.  On Feb. 23, 1960 eleven African-American students at Winston-Salem Teachers College and 10 white students at Wake Forest joined the protest. From Winston-Salem Teachers College were Royal Joe..Read More

John P. Bond, III became the highest Black in Winston-Salem’s city government when he was promoted to deputy city manager.  Other Blacks would follow including Alexander Beaty, who became the Assistant City Manager. Alexander Beaty Al Beaty, a former assistant city manager, retired in 1994 after more than 20 years..Read More

The Winston-Salem Chronicle was established in 1974 by Ernie Pitt.  The Chronicle was just the second African American newspaper in the city. The first was paper was The People’s Voice founded by former city alderman and founder of Russell Funeral Home, Mr. Carl Russell. It is through the legacy of..Read More

In 1976 Mazie Woodruff became the first African-American to be elected to the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners, on which she served for 14 years.  In 1997, when Woodruff died, she was known for standing up for those in need throughout the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County community. In 1998, the City of..Read More

The North Carolina Black Repertory Company was founded in 1979 by Larry Leon Hamlin.  It is the first professional Black theatre   company in North Carolina. The Company is universally recognized for its artistic and administrative achievements and its international outreach program, The National Black Theatre Festival.  Larry founded the Theatre..Read More

The newly constructed Winston-Salem  Coliseum is voted by the aldermen to name it after Lawrence Joel, a Black veteran who was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism while serving in the Vietnam War.