German Moravians, a Protestant group, settled in the Piedmont in 1753 and established the town of Salem in 1766. As Salem prospered, the Moravian Church struggled to strike a balance between its acceptance of slavery and its concern for the spiritual welfare of the enslaved population. For generations to come, this moral dilemma shaped the freedom of African Americans to congregate and educate themselves. It also formed the culture which would sustain those rights.

The seeds of self-determination were sown in 1822 at the foundation of the African Moravian church known as St. Philips. Worshippers received limited freedom in exchange for obedience. Literacy was introduced at the Sunday school established by the Salem Female Missionary Society in 1827 and attracted hundreds of black "scholars" until 1831 when state law prohibited the teaching of literacy to slaves.

By 1849, Winston had been established as the Forsyth County seat. Years of growth fueled by the tobacco, furniture and textile industries followed the railroad linking Salem and Winston. Yet increasingly rigid codes of segregation threatened the delicate framework of opportunity erected by missionary efforts in the previous decades. The African American church movement was forced underground, while self-styled preachers traveled the countryside, bringing news to the slaves and inspiring faith in the land where it had taken root.




The church emerged from the Civil War at the center of African American cultural life, reuniting the spiritual welfare of the community and individual achievement. According to a census report of 1890, most blacks carved out a living in mills or factories. Some were tenant farmers, but many others plied a trade such as carpentry or masonry. A fortunate few had edged into proprietorship by catering to their neighbors. It was these craftsmen and entrepreneurs who galvanized the traditional ministry of hope into a bulwark of cooperative economic and social enterprise.

Between 1870 and 1900, African American congregational life in Winston and Salem enjoyed phenomenal membership growth, culminating in building campaigns and an effective role in policy-making as the "Twin City" government began to coalesce. In 1881, Israel Clement was the first of eight African Americans elected to the Winston Town Commission. In 1883, Winston organized its first school board, and the decision was made to create two public school systems. Foreshadowing Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), funding the separate projects proved equally challenging for both blacks and whites. Depot Street School, the first public school for blacks, finally opened in 1887 thanks to donations from philanthropists as far away as Boston.

Although Simon Green Atkins was not the first principal of Depot Street School, during his tenure (1890-1895) he impressed upon the emerging African American community its responsibility to "add to the moral and intellectual power of the race." He conceived institutions of higher learning that would support this goal. He founded Slater Industrial Academy in 1892 and Columbian Heights Graded School in 1905. Atkins High School, the city's first high school for blacks was named for him in 1931, and today Winston-Salem State University, the ultimate legacy of the Slater project, enrolls more than 3,500 students.

Atkins received an honorary doctorate from Howard University in 1928, recognizing him as a "responsible and trusted citizen" not only because of his vision as an administrator but his stake in the solvency of the community. Atkins was also a president and a founder of Twin City Building and Loan Association, one of two black-owned savings and loans. The other, Peoples Building and Loan Association, was established by J.S. Hill.



Hill had come to Winston-Salem for an education. In turn, he became a teacher and participated enthusiastically in the fundraising campaign to endow Slater Industrial and Normal School. This experience had lasting importance; for Hill and another Slater Industrial Academy graduate, Charles Jones, who, along with Francis Kennedy, founded the city's first black-owned bank, Forsyth Savings and Trust Co., in 1907.

William Samuel Scales, who became president of the Forsyth Savings and Trust in 1923, exemplified the entrepreneurial spirit of his era. Though he had little formal education and labored in the R.J. Reynolds factory on Third Street, as did most blacks, Scales had a flair for entertaining. With his earnings and the help of his family, he opened one café across from the factory and another across town on East 14th Street. The popularity and profitability of both businesses afforded him the opportunity to venture into night club ownership and bonding. He purchased the Lincoln, Lafayette and Rex Theatres, which showcased popular bands, plays and vaudeville acts.

In 1906, Winston Industrial Association, founded by R.W. Brown et al., issued its first policy to Susan Ann Snyder and within a few years offered coverage to African Americans throughout the state. By 1915, the company had merged with Mountain City Mutual Life in Asheville. The name Winston Mutual Life Insurance Co. was adopted in 1939, but headquarters did not return to Winston-Salem until 1969. The agency remained at its East Fifth Street location until its merger with Golden State Mutual Life in the mid-1980s.

L.C. Kerns organized the Colored Merchants Association (CMA), which was a vehicle for collective bargaining during the 1920s and 1930s. The CMA provided assistance and advice during the depression, which allowed many family-owned businesses to flourish, and assured jobs and fair prices in the community. Kerns, himself a grocer and real estate broker, continued informally to advise small businesses until his retirement in 1958. Likewise, Velma Hopkins devoted a lifetime to grassroots organizations. Her career as a union organizer and civil rights activist culminated in 1947, when workers, mostly black, went on strike at the Reynolds factory for a record 38 days.

Victory Credit Union was organized by the black clergy and business leaders of East Winston in 1946 to assist low to moderate income earners with loans and savings incentives. In 1984, Victory Credit merged with the Employees Credit Union of Winston Mutual Life, becoming Victory Masonic Mutual Credit Union. It is one of the oldest, black-owned businesses in Winston-Salem today.




In 1912, Winston passed an ordinance prohibiting blacks from living on the same street as whites. Blacks formed neighborhoods in proximity to their work. The oldest areas, Happy Hill, Salem and Belview, were often identified on city maps. Within the black community, however, more boundaries were defined by the shared values or relative prosperity of the residents.

Professionals connected to Winston-Salem Teachers College settled Columbian Heights, considered to be the first planned community. The Patterson Avenue area, known in the early years as Depot Street, was a business center, as well as a catalyst for the establishment and growth of the oldest churches. The Pond — so named after the city's reservoir collapsed in 1904 — was home to small business owners and factory workers. Rag Shakes and Reynoldstown, inhabited by domestic and factory workers, were some of the most densely populated areas.

It is said that Mrs. Jessie Hayes brought the bus to Winston-Salem. She sent a fellow named Pete Sadler to Detroit with the money to buy one and drive it home. Though it's not said what she did with the bus once she had her hands on the wheel, it seems likely that she offered women working as domestics on the other side of town something they'd prayed for — a lift.

So was born the network of jitney drivers who made public transportation for African Americans a reality. By the mid-1920s, demand for expansion of service was so great that C.T. Woodland, a civic leader of East Winston, organized a meeting of the jitney drivers to discuss incorporation. Exactly one month later in May 1926, the Safe Bus Company secured its charter from the state. Women continued, however, to shape the company's fortunes. Mary Miller Burns, daughter of founder Elijah Miller, became the first woman president in 1959 and was succeeded in 1960 by Delphine Morgan, widow of founder, Ralph Morgan. By 1968, the company boasted several hundred employees and claimed title to being "the largest black-owned transportation concern in the world."


Photos courtesy of Forsyth County Public Library Photography Collection