Includes talk about George Moses Horton, the famous slave poet of Chatham County who sold his poems to buy his freedom, and who according to historians lived in Philadelphia after freedom.
Who is George Moses Horton?
· The first black man to publish a book in the South – and he published two while living in slavery
· Horton sold love poems to students at UNC, at the farmers market there, to raise money to buy his freedom. He was a genius and an entrepreneur, recognized by governors, UNC presidents, and abolitionists.
· Chatham County’s first Black person honored in a State Historic Marker
The most important dates are (Highlighted ones are attached in graphics:
· 1829 – publishes his first book of poetry, The Hope Of Liberty
· 1845 – publishes second book, The Poetical Works of George Moses Horton, the Colored Bard of North Carolina
· 1865 – Walks away to freedom
· 1865 – publishes third book of poems, Naked Genius.
The history of local recognition of Horton:
· 1933-34 – Pittsboro Colored School becomes Horton School, later Horton High School, now Horton Middle School
· June 28, 1978 – Governor Hunt declares George Moses Horton Day
· Fall 1996 George Moses Horton was inducted into the NC Literary Hall of Fame.
· April 1997 Chatham County Commissioners declared Horton “Historic Poet Laureate” of Chatham County.
· 1999, the NC Division of Archives and History approved my request for a historic marker, the first for an African American in Chatham County. It’s at the corner of 15501 and Mt. Gilead Church Road. See photo, credit NC Division of Archives and History
· Fall 2000, the Horton Middle School and the Chatham County Arts Council hosted The George Moses Horton Project, 15 arts and humanities programs in the schools and community, including a black oral history project, a poetry contest, a George Moses Horton chorale for the school chorus, a poetry quilt, and a George Moses Horton Freedom Path Mosaic, each stepping stone based on an image in Horton’s poem “On Summer.”
· Sometime in the following years, the school board changed the name of the school road to George Moses Horton Road.
· 2007 UNC named a dorm for George Moses Horton.
· 2016, Black author Don Tate wrote and illustrated a children’s book, Poet, the Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton – a great gift for families with young children. (See book cover)