From: Kathy Zinn
Sent: Thursday, October 3, 2019, 11:41:25 AM EDT
Subject: some things I have learned since moving here
This month marks 10 years since my husband and I moved to this wonderful county, from Virginia, to be near 4 of our grandchildren. I love it here, and I have learned many things during that time.
Here are two:
George Moses Horton, for whom Horton Middle School is named, was a poet who started writing when he was enslaved. (He was emancipated in 1865, with the end of the Civil War. He continued to write poetry after being freed. I have seen his portrait and writings in the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame, at Weymouth in Southern Pines).
2. Until the desegregation of county schools in 1970, the building now called “Horton Middle School” was the high school for Black students.
As a “move in”, I didn’t know these facts about our town and county (I live in the town of Pittsboro). If you have also moved here fairly recently, I wanted to share this information, which has enlightened me! If you are a native or long-time resident of Pittsboro/Chatham, I hope you already knew these facts. If I have gotten any part of these facts wrong, please correct me! There is so much to learn, every day.