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Collections >> The North Carolina Experience >> Document Menu >> Summary W. E. B. Du Bois (William Edward Burghardt), 1868-1963 From World's Work, vol. 23 (Jan. 1912). [S. l.: s. n., 1912]. This article by the renowned African American author W. E. B. Du Bois was published nine years after , Du Bois's sociological and autobiographical treatise that introduced the concept of "double-consciousness" and argued that "the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line" (p. 5, p. 1). In "The Upbuilding of Black Durham," Du Bois sounds a hopeful note, praising a North Carolina town in which a flourishing black middle class had developed robust manufacturing and service sectors without white interference. Based on his first-hand observations, Du Bois describes a bevy of black-owned businesses including grocery stores, barber shops, drug stores, a bank, "a shoe store, a haberdashery, and an undertaking establishment," as well as factories that produced "mattresses, hosiery, brick, iron articles, and dressed lumber" (pp. 334-335).
He praises the industry and thrift of Durham's African American residents, noting that they own "a half million dollars' worth of property," though their "pretty and well-equipped homes" show "no evidence of luxury" (p. 335, p. 336). Perhaps the most notable business Du Bois describes in his essay is the North Carolina Mutual and Provident Association, later renamed the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company. Founded by C. C. Spaulding, whom Du Bois describes as "a sharp-eyed brown man of thirty," the insurance company quickly gained a strong reputation in the financial industry, and after reviewing its operations, South Carolina's Insurance Commissioner reportedly concluded that the business would "mean a great deal to industrial insurance in North and South Carolina, and especially a great benefit to the Negro race" (p. 335). In addition to the hard work and prudent guidance of black business owners and managers, Du Bois credits a non-threatening white population for enabling the growth of a prosperous black community in its midst.
"I consider the greatest factor in Durham's development," he writes, "the disposition of the mass of ordinary white citizens of Durham to say: ‘Hands off -- give them a chance -- don't interfere'" (p. 336). Du Bois attributes this benevolent stance in part to the presence of Trinity College (now Duke University), arguing that the "influence of a Southern institution of learning of high ideals; with a president and professors who have dared to speak out for justice toward black men . . . has made white Durham willing to see black Durham rise without organizing mobs or secret societies" (p. 338). Du Bois would not be the first or the last scholar to find Durham's black businesses notable. Toni Morrison later explained that she chose to open her 1977 novel Song of Solomon with a "North Carolina Mutual Life insurance agent" because "the insurance company is . . . a well-known black-owned company dependent upon black clients" (p. 3, p. xiii). Writing in 1912, Du Bois was pleased to note that "to-day there is a singular group in Durham where a black man may get up in the morning from a mattress made by black men, in a house which a black man built out of lumber which black men cut and planed;
he may put on a suit which he bought at a colored haberdashery and socks knit at a colored mill; he may cook victuals from a colored grocery on a stove which black men fashioned; he may earn his living working for colored men, be sick in a colored hospital, and buried from a colored church; and the Negro insurance society will pay his widow enough to keep his children in a colored school. This is surely progress" (p. 338). Works Consulted: Du Bois, W. E. B., The Souls of Black Folk (New York: Penguin Books, 1996); Gibson, Donald B., Introduction, The Souls of Black Folk, by W. E. B. Du Bois, New York: Penguin Books, 1996; Morrison, Toni, Song of Solomon, New York: Random House, 2004; />, accessed 4 Dec 2009. 1205-1207 ANGIER AVENUE- POPE MATTRESS CO. In toursThis building does not appear in any tours yet.Last updatedSun, 09/18/2011 - 10:05am by gary The intersection of S. Alston Ave. and Angier Ave., looking northwest from ~the railroad tracks. The intersection of E. Main and S. Alston is in the background.
Taken sometime in the 1950s. As Angier Avenue follows the railroad tracks and the southeast-northwest ridgeline they sit upon (while E. Main St. tracks in a more easterly direction) the streetcars of the early 20th century followed this path as well - heading east on E. Main St. until reaching Alston Ave. At that point, they would turn south for a block before turning east again on Angier Avenue. This area became small commercial nexus - at the turn of the line, and at the border between Edgemont and East Durham. On the southeast corner sat (and sits) the Branson Memorial Methodist Church while commercial enterprises occupied the other corners. This area faded along with the other neighborhood commercial areas. Ironically, the beginning of this commercial transformation is visible to the northeast - in the form of a new supermarket. Today, although the church remains in good repair, commercial structures have disappeared from the western corners. Abandoned structures remain on the northwest corner.
Looking northeast from S. Alston and Angier, 2007. Folks have been chomping at the bit to tear these buildings down. The city's RKG report - which I belatedly came to realize informs quite a bit of our decision-making - wholeheartedly endorses making these buildings go away. Frankly, I think right now the only reason they are still standing is that perhaps the city hoped the state would pay to get rid of them in widening Alston Ave. As you would expect, I think it's a mistake to get rid of these buildings. What I really can't understand sometimes in Durham is an odd pairing of mercantile boosterism with a complete lack of faith in the market to turn buildings like this around. Given the huge investments being made around this by HOPE VI (which is about to build several dozen single family homes 1-2 blocks to the west,) the city, and private developers, why would you believe that this needs to be destroyed? To my way of thinking, if you create stable neighborhoods and amenities around this, then people will want to live and work in this area.