African American Lives on the Lower Cape Fear River in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries

Abstract

This study explores the lives of African Americans on the Lower Cape Fear, helping to note their accomplishments and contributions, but primarily reconstructing the warp and weft of daily lives.

Because of the fragmentary preservation of many sources, the story is not always complete. In addition, our reliance on civil records – the census, tax scripts, marriage and death certificates, for example – robs us of some of the complexity, but we hope the compilation provides a starting point for other researchers interested in exploring the lifeways of African Americans on the Lower Cape Fear.