CRAVEN COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) – In 1862, Union troops seized New Bern. In that moment, more than 10,000 enslaved people chose to walk towards freedom. <\/p>\n
By 1865, nearly 3,000 of them had built something remarkable: a community called James City in honor of Rev. Horace James.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf any African Americans could make it here to the Trent River Camp \u2014 the Trent River Settlement \u2014 they were considered to be free,\u201d said James City Historical Society director Craig Allen. <\/p>\n
That promise of freedom became reality for thousands who would build a thriving community that still stands today as the oldest continuously thriving community founded by formerly enslaved people in the state. <\/p>\n
Allen teaches the history of the Circa 1850 Slave Quarters in James City. Inside the non-insulated walls, as many as 30 family members lived together. <\/p>\n
The wooden slave quarter was considered a luxury because house servants stayed here, separated from the enslaved people who labored in the fields.<\/p>\n
For more than 30 years, the James City Historical Society has been the keeper of this history, preserving two historical treasures: the Circa 1850 Slave Quarters and the Far Cemetery<\/p>\n
For Allen, this rich history is deeply personal. He has made it his mission to tell these stories.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just nice to be able to tell the stories and share the stories, and I get a kick out of it,\u201d Allen said. \u201cIt just sends chills to my body to be able to talk about the history of my hometown.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Allen and other society members aren\u2019t stopping at preservation alone. They\u2019re bringing these stories into classrooms, making sure young people understand not just what happened \u2014 but why it still matters today.<\/p>\n
At New Bern High School, that history is front and center. Students walk past banners featuring the faces of freedom fighters, the names of the formerly enslaved, and the timeline of James City\u2019s founding.<\/p>\n
William Hollowell Jr., chairperson of the James City Historical Society and an educator at New Bern High School, has taken this mission one step further. <\/p>\n
With funding from America 250 NC, the Historical Society launched the \u201cCreated Equal: From Bondage to Freedom in James City\u201d project \u2014 an initiative designed to bring these powerful stories directly into school libraries and classrooms.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs they read, they get a sense of deep and a known history of who they are and where the community came from,\u201d Hollowell said.<\/p>\n
For Hollowell and Allen, the story of James City is more than a page in a history book. It\u2019s a bridge that connects generations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole part of Black history is to bridge that gap \u2014 from the past to what is present, and then going into the future,\u201d Hollowell said.<\/p>\n
Holloway announced that on April 26, the Historical Society will hold a Founder\u2019s Day banquet at the Flame Restaurant in New Bern to honor the founding fathers of James City.<\/p>\n
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