Page 16 - Robeson Living Winter2019

And while he sleeps a peaceful sleep newspapers like The Robesonian that luckily has been preserved.
His memory we shall always keep The first twenty-five years of the paper were destroyed when a
downtown Lumberton fire destroyed the newspaper offices. We
Memories are treasures none can steal can only imagine what news was covered during those years that
Death leaves a wound none can heal are lost forever. Many of the smaller newspapers in the county
They live with us in memory still are completely lost like “The Maxton Blade” that was owned by
Not just today, but always will African American Robert Russell. Russell’s daughter, Alice, was
an actress and the wife of director Oscar Micheaux.
You are gone, but not forgotten
Never will your memory fade My other main sources for my research come from first-hand ac-
Loving thoughts will ever linger counts often preserved in interviews, letters and diaries. It is so
‘Round the grave where you are load important that these resources that are in the hands of descen-
dants be preserved for future use. If you or family members have
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord these kinds of documents, I urge you to contact me or other local
And let perpetual light shine upon him historians to help you make them available to researchers.
May his soul rest in peace,
Amen

Surf spills over the roads at Carolina Beach during Hurricane
Hazel. Courtesy StarNews

Long Beach on Oak Island, NC before and after Hurricane
Hazel. Only 5 buildings remained out of the 357 buildings that
existed before the hurricane.

Justice Thurgood Marshall

During Hurricane Hazel the 11th annual convention of the North
Carolina National Association for the Advancement of Colored Appliance
People (NAACP) was being held in Lumberton. Over a three-
day period 250 delegates met at the South Lumberton First Bap- Parts &
tist Church and Sandy Grove Baptist Church. The guest speaker
for Friday night was Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall Repair
who at the time was director and legal counsel for NCCAP New
York City. The late Angus Boaz Thompson Sr. recalled that
Marshall’s plane was late landing because of the storm condi- Used
tions. The November 11, 1954 issue of Jet Magazine carried a
photograph of Marshall in Lumberton with the headline Thur- Appliances
good Conquers Hurricane. During the Friday night meeting, the
hurricane knocked out the power but just like Marshall never let THOMAS SUPPLY
nothing stand in the way of his mission to bring equality to his
people he didn’t let the lack of electricity stop him from spread-
ing his message. The church was lit by candlelight as the crowds 9886 US 301 N. ~ Lumberton
gathered to hear Marshall.
910-739-4724 or 910-739-1866
Much of my research comes from written sources mainly from
Robeson Living ~ Winter 2019