Fayetteville Street Planning Group

    Fayetteville Street is filled with history and fortunately some of it is still visible to us. On this page we'll explore some of Fayetteville Street's notable historic places, individuals, places, families, neighborhoods and events that contributed to the area's unique economic and social dynamic. 

   If you have family photos, articles or other information that you'd like others to know about,  we invite you to submit that info to us and we'll try to incorporate into the website.

 Fayetteville Street looking south around 1920

1712 Fayetteville Street

Source: History of the American Negro & His Institutions

            Arthur Bunyan Caldwell

     The story of 1712 Fayetteville Street tells a story much greater than that of an old house. By recognizing this house and its former residents, our community is commemorating the contributions of three families to our city, state and nation. Each family's story adds another thread to the tapestry of history which is woven through time. Although the families who lived there have physically passed on into history, we can celebrate their lives by honoring the house that was home to them all and the house that must stand to tell their stories -- and fix their place in the history.

     The historic house at 1712 Fayetteville Street has been occupied by at least three families since 1912 -- two of them related by marriage. Of those families, much more is known about the Rivera family whose patriarch, Alexander "Alex" Rivera was a world-renown photojournalist and NCCU publicist who lived in the house until 1996. The Edwards family, whose patriarch Gaston Alonzo Edwards is shown above, lived in the home with his wife Catherine Ruth (Norris) Edwards from 1929 until their respective deaths in 1943 and 1972.  Gaston Edwards' daughter Hazel Edwards was Alex Rivera's first wife and they lived in the home starting in the late 1940's upon the end of Rivera's war duty. And before the Edwards family, the home was first built in 1912 and occupied by the Joseph Harris family.

     The change in the home's ownership no doubt reflected the growing southeast Durham community on Fayetteville Street during the first two decades of the twentieth century. Drawn to the area by jobs, African Americans were workers and entrepreneurs. Hayti and Fayetteville Street were annexed into the City of Durham in 1901 and by 1910 respectively. Hayti was almost fully developed  by 1910 as construction pushed south of Umstead Street. The land to the south of Umstead Street in 1910 was originally a tobacco field owned by J. N. Umstead.

     The Southern Workman, a periodical published at Hampton Institute from 1872, had this commentary about African Americans in southern Durham. According to Clement Richardson's article "What are Negroes Doing in Durham" in the Southern Workman (1913, vol. 42):

"It is reported upon good authority that the proportion of colored people who own their homes outweigh the proportion of white people. Southern Durham is almost exclusively Negro property, as well as the property on Shaw, Mobile, Chester, Fayetteville, Whitted, and Proctor Streets, Fowler and Piedmont Avenues. Those who do not own their homes rent almost wholly from Negroes."

     The house at 1712 Fayetteville Street was one of many homes built between 1910 and 1920 on Fayetteville Street -- including 1218 Fayetteville Street         (F. K. "Movie King" Watkins house in 1915), 1406 Fayetteville Street (J. C. Scarborough House in 1916), 1211 Fayetteville Street (Napoleon Mills House in the late 1910's) and 1614 Fayetteville Street (Pratt house built around 1910). 

     Dr. James Shepard also purchased four blocks of Fayetteville Street on June 30, 1909 which today comprises the main campus of the then-National Religious Training School and Chatauqua (now North Carolina Central University).  The school opened in July 1910 with men's and women's dormitories, a dining hall, a classroom building and an administration building to accompany the auditorium.

Early buildings at the National Religious Training School and Chatauqua around 1910 -- classroom building (left) and gir's dormitory (right). Courtesy: Durham Public Library

Joseph Harris Family

     Deed transfers at the Durham Register of Deeds support the building boom going on along Fayetteville Street as Joseph Harris took title on June 15, 1912 from Richard H. Wright, local tobacco and industrial magnate. Wright was white and the Harris' were black. Census records from 1910 showed that Joseph Harris was born in 1870 along with his wife Lillie in Durham County. The Harris' were participants in Durham's growing tobacco and textile economy and in Durham's growing African American business sector at this time.

     The Durham NC City Directory also showed Harris working as a porter in 1915, as a janitor in 1919 at North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company and as a clerk in 1923 at the Mutual. Lillie Harris was listed as a millhand in the 1920 city directory and this is entirely possible since mills grew rapidly in Durham after 1893 -- employing  thousands of workers at that time.  Julian Carr's Durham Hosiery Mill No. 2 at E. Pettigrew and Dillard Streets (later Service Printing Company location) was the first successful factory in the nation to have black machine operators. Carr's factory started with fifty workers and expanded to around 4,000 in 1919 -- so it's highly probable that Lillie Harris worked in one of Durham's mills. The Harris' had two children, Joe W. Harris and Lillie P. Harris at this time.

     Sometime between 1923 and 1929, Lillie Harris was widowed and possibly was forced to sell 1712 Fayetteville Street. The deed transfer dated December 18, 1928 showed a transfer from Lillie B. Harris (widow) to H. O. Cash. Lillie Harris had held title with other family members, possibly the two children listed above and a third child, James Harris.

     Death records from Durham County showed a Howard Cash passing on August 24, 1934. This is probably the same H. O. Cash who was involved in numerous deed transfers prior to that date and whose activty ceased in the property records after this time. If Howard Cash and H. O. Cash were the same person, he was a farmer (and no doubt land speculator) born in Person County in 1860. He was widowed which might account for his showing up as single on the subsequent deed transfer to Gaston Edwards on June 10, 1929.

The Edwards Family

    The Edwards family celebrated many firsts. Gaston Edwards was documented as the first licensed African American architect in the state of North Carolina during his lifetime. He was also an instructor and architect at Shaw University,  president of Kittrell College, a principal of Lyon Park Elementary School and Whitted School and a designer of many homes and commercial buildings in Durham's African American community.

     Catherine Ruth Edwards was the founder and first chairman of NCCU's Music Department. She was a professor at the school from 1930 until her retirement in  1958. In 1976 NCCU named a new music building in her honor.

Gaston Alonzo Edwards   (1875 - 1943)

     Gaston Alonzo Edwards was born in Belvoir, NC (Chatham County) on April 12, 1875. His death certificate listed his birthdate as 1879 but these dates may be approximate since home births predominated at this time. He was one of six children of Mary Edwards (also listed as Mary Foushee) and William Gaston Snipes. His mother was black and his father was white. Like many African Americans born in rural nineteenth century towns, he lived in humble conditions and began working at an early age to help support his family. He cut wheat by day and hair by night to earn money toward his college education. His travels often led him past the Chatham County Courthouse in Pittsboro where his passion for the building's classical design inspired him to become an architect.

     In 1896 at age 21 he entered the Agricultural & Mechanical College for the Colored Race at Greensboro (now NC A&T State University). He graduated from the architecture program in 1901. Between 1901 and 1902, he pursued graduate studies in architecture at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Upon returning to Raleigh, Edwards taught at the Raleigh Institute for the Colored Deaf, Dumb and Blind and established the school's industrial department.

     Catherine Ruth Norris was born in 1889, graduated from Shaw University with a major in music and met her future husband there. By this time Edwards had accepted a teaching position in Natural Science at Shaw and later became the Superintendent of the men's industrial department at the school. He soon established himself as a capable educator and manager, started his academic career simultaneously with his architectural career and became known as Professor Edwards.

     Gaston Edwards and Catherine Ruth Norris were married on September 1, 1909 while she was still a music student at Shaw. They had five children, four of whom were born in Raleigh.

     Edwards' reputation as an architect spread throughout the country during this time and brought him notoriety. During Edwards' stay at Shaw, the university embarked on an ambitious building program for its medical school which was established in 1882 and had graduated nearly 400 African American doctors during its 32 year history. The first doctors graduated from Leonard Medical School on March 31, 1886 and Durham's first African American doctor, Aaron Moore, graduated from Leonard Medical School a few years later.

     Edwards was responsible for Shaw's building program during his fifteen year tenure there. He was the first African American to design and build buildings for the American Baptist Home Mission Society headquartered in New York. He also designed a Masonic Temple and other buildings in Raleigh. The Masonic Temple Building, located near the Shaw University campus, is a 3-story, brick and stone building with Italianate features. Constructed in 1907 to house the Widow's Son Lodge No. 4 and the Excelsior Lodge No. 21 of the Free and Accepted Masons, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

Leonard Hall (left) was built in 1881 and helped establish the school's legacy as both the first four-year medical school for black students in the United States as well as the first four-year medical school in North Carolina. The hospital building, Leonard Hospital (right) and a medical dormitory were said to have been designed by Gaston Edwards in 1910. 

Courtesy: Shaw University Archives

The Leonard Hospital building is still standing today on Shaw's campus as Tyler Hall. The building at one time housed the library, the Home Economics department and the Teacher's Club according to Shaw archives. In 1968 the building was remodeled to house the school's administration department.

Courtesy:  Shaw University Archives

       Perhaps the most notable building Edwards designed while at Shaw was the 25-bed Leonard Hospital building built in 1910. The commission was originally given to a white architect but Edwards discovered a life-threatening flaw in his design. Although he decided not to interfere, a dream in which several people died as a result of the flaw compelled him to inform the proper officials. Officials promptly fired the white firm and hired Edwards to complete the project. There were many instances when Edwards was hired by white clients to consult on others architects' work but was not hired outright because he was black.

     A 1908 article in the Afro-American Ledger newpaper cited Edwards as a "rising young Architect". His reputation as an architect was growing due in part to his "limited concern for frills and fads of architecture and strict adherence to the three F's in designing -- fit, firm, fair. As a result, he enjoyed a liberal patronage from whites as well as from blacks."

     On June 12, 1912 North Carolina Governor William W. Kitchin appointed Edwards as a delegate for the third annual Negro National Educational Congress held in St. Paul, Minnesota. Three years later on March 25, 1915, the General Assembly of North Carolina passed an act requiring all architects to be examined, licensed and registered. Edwards passed the exam successfully becoming the first registered black architect in North Carolina. He enjoyed this distinction until his death and advertised this fact by stating on his business card, "Never build without a plan, consult G. A. Edwards -- the only Negro licensed to do business in North Carolina."

     The Edwards family lived in Raleigh until 1917 when Edwards was elected president of Kittrell College in Kittrell College (Vance County). The small African Methodist Episcopal institution was established in 1886 and until 1917, when Edwards became president, had neither a high school nor a college rating. It owned 59 acres of land and had four buildings, all in disrepair. When he resigned on October 22, 1928, Kittrell's holdings were 275 acres with nearly a half-mile frontage on U. S. Route 1, the major highway from Virginia to Raleigh. The appraised value of the property increased from $60,000 to $ 1 million and the institution's rating had been raised from the standard of a high school to an industrial arts college.

Kittrell President Gaston Edwards (right) in 1925 with Dr. Sage and Mr. Nathan C. Newbold. Newbold was director of Negro Education for the state of North Carolina at this time. Courtesy: University of Virginia

          After twelve years at Kittrell College (now a Job Corps training center), Edwards moved the family to Durham to practice. The economic boom of the late 1920's led to many construction projects. Shortly after moving to Durham in 1929, however, the stock market crashed and the nation's Great Depression began. Construction projects throughout the country halted or were abandoned. Edwards, although a proud man, was also realistic and accepted a position as principal of Lyon Park Elementary School and later Whitted School. He continued to practice architecture in Durham and designed and built houses for many of Durham's leading families.

     Edwards was a prominent figure in Durham where he served on the board of directors of Mechanics & Farmers Bank, Bankers Fire Insurance Company and Southern Fidelity Insurance Company. He was an active member of the Durham Committee on Negro Affairs.  When he died of a heart attack on October 5, 1943, he was reported to be the only black architect licensed to practice in the state, a distinction he had enjoyed for nearly thirty years.  At his funeral in 1943, C. C. Spaulding, president of North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company and Mechanics & Farmers Bank, described him "as being a most important asset due to his wise counsel, cooperative spirit and even temperment."     

Sources: Shaw University Archives, African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary 1865 - 1945 submitted by Hazel Ruth Edwards, granddaughter of Gaston Alonzo Edwards and Black Biographical Dictionaries 1790 - 1950. 

Catherine Ruth (Norris) Edwards (1889 - 1972)

     While Gaston Edwards was president of Kittrell College, C. Ruth Edwards was a lecturer in music at Kittrell. After moving to Durham in 1928, C. Ruth Edwards came to North Carolina College (NCC) and organized its first music program. In 1931 she became the chairperson of the newly establish Music Department and remained so until her retirement in 1958.

     According to Brighter Leaves, Edwards received a B. A. from NCC in 1937 and an M. A. from the Teachers College of Columbia University in 1939. She also trained at Juilliard, the New England Conservatory of Music and the Shepherd Conservatory of Music. The music building, located adjacent to the Fine Arts Building, was erected and named in her honor in 1976 after her death on July 29, 1972. The building contains rehersal space and a small concert auditorium.

     Both Gaston and Ruth Edwards are buried  in Mount Hope Cemetery in Raleigh, North Carolina along with several of their children.  

The Rivera Family

Alexander McAllister "Alex" Rivera  (1913-2008)

     Luckily Rivera had established a reputation with the Washington DC  Tribune through his role with Howard's yearbook, which was published in the Tribune's office. His work with the Tribune afforded him his first work as a photojournalist for the paper. His coverage of Marion Anderson's concert at the Lincoln Memorial was his first major media event. Rivera worked at the paper until 1939 when he was invited by Dr. James Shepard, a close friend of his father, to develop a news bureau for North Carolina College (NCC). In exchange for his work he was allowed to resume his studies at NCC which he completed in 1941. 

     After graduating from NCC, Rivera left Durham for WWII military service with the Office of Naval Intelligence from 1941 - 1945 in Norfolk, Virginia. He worked for the Norfolk Journal and Guide after completing his military service and returned to Durham in 1945 to continue promoting NCC. It was at this time that he and his first wife Hazel Edwards Rivera moved to 1712 Fayetteville Street, which would be Rivera's home for next fifty years.

     The most significant period of Rivera's professional life was his time at the Pittsburgh Courier, one of the country's leading black-owned newspapers. Rivera was allowed to live in Durham while working for the Courier from 1946 to 1960   and he covered events in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia for the paper. These events included the Willie Earle lynching in South Carolina, the Isaiah Nixon lynching in Georgia and school desegregation cases of the 1950's. During this time, he also became the first African American reporter to be a regular member of a southern Governor's press team (Governor Kerr Scott), won the Journalism Achievement Award from the Global News Syndicate in 1955 and traveled with Vice President Richard Nixon on a trip to Africa in 1957.

    An article following the Global News Syndicate Award stated "[Radcliffe and Rivera] were cited for a series of articles on segregated schools. They pointed up the evil psychological effect upon children who are denied equal educational opportunity and they aroused public sentiment in support of the program to implement the Supreme Court Decisions of May 17, 1954 and May 31, 1955." His work and the work of other black and white photojournalists precipitated later events in the civil rights movement. Rivera was not only a photojournalist -- but an activist, a role that he inherited from his father.

      After returning to Durham, Rivera also shared a photography studio with his next door neighbor and fellow locall photographer Charles Stanback. It was also during this period that Rivera and his wife were persuaded by their architect friend Herlin DeLoatch to redesign the house at 1712 Fayetteville Street. In addition to the house's age, its renovation is now historic (over 50 years old) and was a factor in its designation as having statewide historic significance by the State of North Carolina. Alongside Rivera's accomplishments as a photojournalist, the renovation of his home by another African American architect also added to the historical significance to the structure.

     Rivera returned to NCCU in 1974 to head the school's public relations office, a position he held until his retirement in 1993. His enthusiasm for athletics and passion for photography led to his being instrumental in establishing the Athletic Hall of Fame at NCCU and managing its annual induction ceremony for fifteen years. The Hall of Fame is located in the upper corridor of the McLendon-McDougald Gymansium on Lawson Street. The photographic displays from NCCU's athletic history are predominantly Rivera's work and no doubt a labor of love for the university. Because of his work, images of NCCU coaches and players have been preserved for all time, including Coach John McLendon with five-time NBA All-Star Sam Jones and many others. Rivera also captured former US Olympic Committee President and NCCU Coach and Chancellor, Dr. Leroy T. Walker with his gold medal-winning hurdler, Lee Calhoun. 

     Rivera was inducted into the NCCU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984, into the CIAA Hall of Fame in 1988 and into the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame in 1996.  The NCCU Athletic Hall of Fame was renamed the Alex M. Rivera Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005 and Rivera received the first Lifetime    Achievement Award given by NCCU in 2005 at the Legacy Gala. When Rivera retired he was honored by Gov. Jim Hunt with the state's highest civilian honor, the Order of the Longleaf Pine in 1993.