Illustrated Histories

Desegregation in Wilmington was viewed by radicalized white organizations as a threat. Wilmington had operated as a racially segregated society after African Americans and Fusionist political leaders were forcefully uprooted during the 1898 Wilmington Coup. 

This moment (narrated by Dr. Eaton) occurred 72 hours after Carolyn Eaton et al vs. New Hanover Board of Education was filed, and portrays staunch opposition to the suit.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4th, 1968. Dr. King’s death contributed to a growth of resentment, racial violence, and the use of Black Power ideology in Wilmington by young African Americans. This moment, narrated by Mrs. Bertha B. Todd, occurred a day after Dr. King’s death at the “all-Black” Williston Senior High School on March 5th, 1968.