There have been multiple efforts over the past few years to bring awareness to Davidson College’s historical ties to systemic racism. Some of these efforts have moved past solely focusing on the history of the college’s campus and towards the inclusion of the history of the town of Davidson into the greater narrative. The Justice Walking Tour of Historic West Davidson hosted by the college’s InterVarsity group is one of those efforts being made. The tour highlighted the strong Black community in West Davidson as well as the rich history they have to offer.
The Justice Walking Tour was held on a Sunday afternoon and began at Eumenean Hall on campus. The head tour guide, Tracy Mattison Brandon, Campus Staff Minister and head of InterVarsity, pointed out right away that enslaved people built Eumenean Hall and the surrounding buildings in the historic circle on the college’s campus. Starting the tour with how the college was connected to slavery in the past allowed a segue into talking about the town’s history. Joining Tracy as tour guides were two lifetime residents of Davidson. Marvin Brandon, chairman of the Board of Trustees at Gethsemane Baptist Church and Rubby Houston, a member of Davidson Presbyterian Church. Hearing from lifetime residents of the town made the experience much more authentic as these were people who have witnessed and lived through all sorts of changes, which emphasized the relevancy of Davidson’s history in the present.
Some of the most impactful stops on the tour for me included the Davidson Presbyterian Church and the empty areas on Griffith Street. The Davidson Presbyterian Church was the first Black church in Davidson and, as shared by Ruby, is a church centered on community support. We were shown the community building, a place that Ruby recalls spending time in as a teen during the teen nights. Marvin pointed out that teen nights were a way for the church to keep Black youth from getting into trouble in Main Street and on the college campus. Today, the building hosts many events for all members of the community, regardless of whether you’re a member of the church or not. When we reached Griffith Street, Marvin and Tracy shared with us that it used to be a lively neighborhood but after I-77 cut through the town, many thought that it would be unappealing for a neighborhood filled with lower-income Black residents to be the first thing someone sees upon entering the town. As a solution to this supposed problem, residents were encouraged to sell their houses and move elsewhere. One family, however, refused to sell their house and move. That family was the family of Garfield Carr, a former Davidson Town Commissioner. We were able to meet Garfield who spoke of his grandparents and their resilience. These two stops demonstrated the strength and powerful history of the community.
The tour was done to connect, engage, and bring awareness to the history of West Davidson. The choices of the stops for the tour and of the people who were serving as tour guides helped with keeping the group engaged and informed. Marvin, Ruby, and Garfield were all more than willing to interact with us and to share their stories and experiences. While many of the stories had sad or upsetting outcomes, they didn’t let those feelings interfere with their retelling of it. They spoke fondly of what once was and though they were critical of choices that were made by the town that affected their community, they voiced these opinions in a poised manner.
I really connected with the history of West Davidson. Learning about the history of Griffith Street was where I was able to connect. An area in my hometown is currently going through what Griffith Street went though. For Wilson, North Carolina our I-77 is U.S. Route 301. This route runs right through a predominately lower income area of the city where a majority of Black and Latino residents live. Over the years old stores and lots have been bought up and renovated to make the 301 more appealing. The apartments that were at the end of the street that I live on, a street that leads right into the 301, were cleared out and knocked down. In their place now stands a sign that reads “Building a Better 301”. The tour allowed me to connect past occurrences to present ones, specifically the patterns of gentrification in connection to systemic racism.