A Pender teacher and filmmaker who championed local Black history dies

Cheryl M. Whitaker, Wilmington StarNews
Updated ·2 min read

A local educator, writer and award-winning documentary filmmaker has died.

Claudia Stack passed away on Christmas Eve after several years battling metastatic breast cancer. She was 57.

The Rocky Point resident taught in Pender and New Hanover schools. While teaching at New Hanover, Stack began researching Rosenwald school buildings, which Black families helped to build during segregation.

She raised awareness of various stories in Black history. Focusing on Rosenwald schools, Stack wrote and directed several films, which includes “Under the Kudzu,” and “Carrie Mae: An American Life." Many of those films and other research can be found on Stack's website at stackstories.com.

More: Pender author and filmmaker bridging gaps by documenting Black community's unknown history

Stack's education included St. John's College and Harvard Graduate School of Education.

In the fall of 2023, Stack was honored in person with tributes, sponsored by the Pender County Arts Council.

Claudia Stack, an educator, write and filmmaker who worked to preserve Rosenwald school buildings such as the one pictured in Rocky Point, died on Christmas Eve.
Claudia Stack, an educator, write and filmmaker who worked to preserve Rosenwald school buildings such as the one pictured in Rocky Point, died on Christmas Eve.

Stack's focus on Rosenwald schools culminated with her receiving major grants, producing documentary films, speaking at national conferences, and partnering with the University of North Carolina. She hosted numerous statewide conferences on Rosenwald schools.

Stack also documented other areas of Black history, including exploitation through the sharecropping tenant farm system.

Her last known research project, according to Michael Y Taylor, vice president of the Pender County Historical Society, was on the life of Isaac Murray Powers (1850-1936). Powers was an unknown but courageous black leader, minister and educator of Pender and Duplin counties before and after the 1898 tragedy.

Helen Probst Mills, Stack's sister, said Claudia Stack believed she was incredibly fortunate to be able to tell such important stories.

One local individual who was central to Stack's work was Dr. Richard Newkirk, her collaborator. Newkirk is featured on Stack's website, where his experiences are uplifted in the film "Lessons from the Rosenwald Schools." Newkirk and Stack recently gave a presentation in Yanceyville, which is north of Durham, for a series called Caswell History Speaks.

Claudia Stack will receive the MLK Trailblazer Award at the MLK Banquet that will be held Jan. 13 in Wilmington. Stack's husband, family and friends, including Newkirk, will be attending the banquet to receive the award on her behalf.

"She lived fully until the last making plans for the future," Taylor said.

To read more on Claudia Stack's legacy, you can view the obituary from Dunn Funeral Home and Cremation Services.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Pender native Claudia Stack, who wrote about Rosenwald schools, dies