Pender author and filmmaker bridging gaps by documenting Black community's unknown history
At Claudia Stack's home office in Rocky Point, the shelves are stacks are filled with books, and during a visit from Dr. Richard T. Newkirk, she was happy to add another one filled with stories about graduates from N.C. A&T State University.
They are always giving books to each other. As an award-winning author, educator, and filmmaker, Stack is no stranger to writing and documenting the past, especially Black history in Pender County and southeastern North Carolina.
As the New York City native is set to present a new film about history of a Pender school, she believes it's vital to keep highlighting this history.
"African-American families really built this county in many ways," she said.
Beyond slavery and toils such as building local railways, Stack said many of the most significant and accomplished people from Pender County are Black. Some of the many include artist Ivey Hayes; playwright Samm-Art Williams and executive producer for "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,"; Mattie Sharpless, an U.S. ambassador; and the Rev. Aaron Johnson, one of the people instrumental in making Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's birthday a federal holiday.
"There's a lot of influential and fantastic accomplished people from Pender County," she said. "I don't mean to sound obnoxious or anything, but it appears to me that it's not widely known."
A love for neighbors and their history
Her journey towards making documentaries and preservation work started in 2003. Several years ago, she began working with Newkirk, an educator, who also directed several films with her. Together they also make presentations about Black heritage, teaching strategies and inclusion. Newkirk mentioned how this includes telling the whole story.
"It's been partial," he said. "We have been invisible. We want to walk into the light."
He said it's an "awesome opportunity" when it comes to learning from the past.
"People talk about integration and I say integration didn't take place, desegregation did," Newkirk said. "In order for there to be integration, it has to be a collaboration. The process has to happen in Pender County, and throughout North Carolina in order for us to make progress, and that means you have to know what's going on."
Newkirk appreciates her interest.
"Sometimes, I'll tell Claudia, they'll listen to you, when they won't listen to me," he said about letting the public know about the history.
With more than 25 years in the education field, she's published books and articles on education and rural life. Through her company, Stack Stories LLC, her documentaries on Black schools were featured at film festivals, universities, and conferences. Some of their work includes "Lessons from the Rosenwald Schools," "Sharecrop," and "Under the Kudzu," which history on two Black Rosenwald schools in Pender County.
"I started to learn about the incredible education heritage of people in the area and the state, and as I did that, I became more and more frustrated that wasn't common knowledge," she said. "African American students have an incredible education heritage."
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One of them was Newkirk's mom, Carrie Mae Sharpless Newkirk. She made a documentary, "Carrie Mae: An American Life," about her. She became the first Black teacher in Southeastern North Carolina to integrate a white school. Stack said she was a great friend who always said, "Children know when you love them."
"She said that to me hundreds of times," Stack said. "You can't really love someone without getting to know them. That's where I feel like this whole process for me is personal. It's been a process where I've gotten to know some of my neighbors."
Rosenwald schools were built to educate Black students made possible by the work of philanthropist Julius Rosenwald and educator Booker T. Washington. Thousands of Rosenwald schools were built in the South and North Carolina had the most with 813 - more than any other state. Stack became aware of local ones in the early 2000s while working on a project with the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) for the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education.
"They paid their taxes and then they raised funds again to obtain schools for their children," she said.
A history of champions
Stack and Newkirk are looking forward to presenting their latest collaboration, "C.F. Pope: Where Champions Were Grown." Pender County Library is hosting a screening for the film from 6-7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26, at the main library, 103 S. Cowan St., Burgaw.
Released in 2022, the film was directed by Stack and Newkirk, who also narrated it. C.F. Pope was founded in 1891 by the Middle District Missionary Baptist Association as school for ministers. It later became one of only two high schools for Black students in Pender County. During the showing, attendees will be able to listen to stories about their experiences and family sacrifices.
"This certainly is not about the nostalgia for the days of segregation," she added. "It's simply about telling the whole truth and appreciating the whole truth."
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Reporter Chase Jordan can be reached at cjjordan@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Pender author bridges racial gaps by documenting local Black history
