By Nancy J. Figiel
The City of New Bern’s colonial and Civil War history is very well documented and known. Throughout our streets are markers identifying historic homes, people, places, and events. Our founders were Swiss, and the Berne bears we share with our sister city in Switzerland can be found throughout the city today. The reconstructed Tryon Palace was rebuilt as a beacon to its colonial past as North Carolina’s first permanent capitol. New Bern was a thriving river town, port, and prominent cultural center – the Athens of the South.
But there is so much more history to tell. In December 2023, Our State Magazine featured a digital article written by Hannah Lee Leidy on the Black Artisans who shaped New Bern from the late 1700s to mid-1800s. The article featured the stories of several black artisans; weavers, spinners, brick masons, and tailors, who used their skills to become not only respected members of New Bern’s urban southern society but also to emancipate themselves, their families, and others. They built a thriving black community in New Bern under an institution that limited their aspirations and denied them agency.
The stories told are captured from Catherine W. Bishir’s book, Crafting Lives – African American Artisans in New Bern, North Carolina, 1770-1900. After more than 30 years of research, Bishir had enough material to represent how black artisans of various trades in a single community not only thrived in a slave society, but also influenced New Bern’s past, present, and future history. Bishir’s stories tell how these artisans built many of the city’s buildings, provided industries vital to the city’s growth and sustainability, and established religious and civic organizations. She worked collaboratively with the staff of Tryon Palace, the Tryon Palace African American Advisory Committee, the North Carolina Department of (Natural and) Cultural Resources, and other organizations to compile these lesser-known stories into this book published in 2013.
The Our State Magazine article touches on the lives of John C. Stanly, Donum Montford, Asa Spellman, Amelia Green, and John Rice Greene. The QR code below provides a link to the article. These are only a few of the stories captured in Catherine Bishir’s book. For more on this little-known history, it is a recommended read.