PEOPLE & 



PLACES 



From Contraband to Colony 



During her childhood, Collins was well aware of the famous 

 lost colony — the 1 10 English colonists who disappeared from 

 Roanoke Island in the late 1580s. 



Each year, she and Bowser would usher at a special 

 performance of "The Lost Colony," the longest-running outdoor 

 drama in the country. 



"They used to have what they called 'Negro Day,' and that's 

 when all the black people from surrounding counties could go see 

 "The Lost Colony,'" remembers Collins, who, in 1995, became the 

 first black citizen to serve on Manteo's board of commissioners. 



The four women heard their elders talk about the Freedmen's 

 Colony, but only began researching it after meeting Patricia Click, 

 Manteo's historian-in-residence during the summer of 1981. Then- 

 mayor John F. Wilson had assigned Click a seemingly monumental 

 task — research a colony of former slaves that almost no one had 

 ever heard of or written about. 



"My stomach kind of sank," admits Click. 



As she completed a short paper about the colony that summer, 

 Click realized there was enough historical material — albeit 

 fragmented — to piece together a more detailed picture of the 

 Freedmen. 



Two decades later she published a book about the Freedmen's 

 Colony titled: Time Full of Trial: The Roanoke Island Freedmen 's 

 Colony 1862-1867. Tillett and friends credit Click — now a 

 professor at the University of Virginia — for sparking their interest 

 in researching possible family connections to the Freedmen. 



"It's very difficult for blacks to trace their families because 

 of slavery times," explains Tillett. After six years of research, she 

 traced her father's ancestry to the Freedmen, but still is working on 

 her mother's side. 



With no physical evidence of the colony left, her task is 

 daunting. 



After the Civil War began, nearly half a million former slaves 

 fled to the outskirts of Union camps scattered across the South, 

 writes Click. Union troops captured Roanoke Island on Feb. 8, 

 1862, under the direction of Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, and former 

 slaves began pouring onto the island. 



As the number of refugees swelled, an official "contraband" 

 camp was established on the island. As contraband, ex-slaves 

 became property of the Union and were protected from their former 

 owners. The camp grew rapidly, and within the first month the new 

 settlers built two churches and a school. 



In April 1863, the Rev. Horace James was appointed 

 the "Superintendent of all Blacks" in North Carolina, and he 



redesignated the camp as a 

 "colony." James organized the 

 former camp into three straight 

 avenues and 26 cross streets, 

 assigning plots of land to black 

 settlers, according to Click. The 

 colonists quickly built homes 

 and planted gardens. 



Based on the little 

 documentation that remains, 

 scholars believe the colony 

 was located on the northwest 

 portion of the island, possibly 

 from Weir's Point to Pork Point, 

 notes Click. 



By January 1 864, more 

 than 2,700 black residents lived 

 on the island, and the colony 

 had 300 families living in 

 homes, writes Click. 



Despite such progress, 

 daily life was difficult. Many 

 men enlisted with the Union, 



Freedmen's Colony 



leaving women, children and 

 the elderly to maintain the new 

 colony. Although families of 

 black soldiers were entitled 

 to compensation and rations, 

 lapses were common. The 

 soldiers' frustration is palpable 

 in an 1865 letter to the general 

 from Sgt. Richard Etheridge 



TOP TO BOTTOM: Patricia Click spoke at the 2005 Freedmen 's celebration. • Left to right: 

 Lindsey and Arvilla Bowser wrote Roanoke Island: The Forgotten Colony. • Freedmen 's Colony 

 Road is located at the northern tip of Roanoke Island. • Dellerva Collins, left, and Virginia Tillett 

 participated in the dedication of the First Light of Freedom monument to the Freedmen erected at 

 Fort Raleigh in 2001. 



26 HOLIDAY 2005 



— r*+i* 



