Feb 1

Feb 1 City of Lexington honoring barrier breakers for Black History Month

Black History Month banners hang outside of City Hall in Lexington. {Contributed photo/City of Lexington}

If you’ve driven down N. State St. within the past few days, your attention may have been drawn to the side of City Hall in Lexington. There you will see banners adorned with faces of people who have had a monumental impact on the city.

On Sunday, February 6 at 3p.m. a ceremony entitled ‘Black History Month with Love’ will be held at City Hall (on the N. State St. side) to officially “unveil” the banners. Featured speakers include Lexington Mayor Newell Clark, Lexington’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Manager, Dr. Patricia Smyre and honoree Rev. Dr. Arnetta Beverly.

For the past few years, the city has honored Black trailblazers during the month of February. Inside City Hall you would find sandwich boards with the names and pictures of Black women and men who were instrumental in various professions, organizations and communities. Posters of the honorees were also seen across town.

This year, Smyre, who started in October 2021, desired to take the recognition a step further.

“It’s so important for us to recognize our local history. Often, we put up the typical banners but I thought it would be special to highlight our local pioneers that really made defining moments in our community. Since this was our first collection, I wanted to utilize people who were first in their particular industries. Needless to say, we could’ve had a thousand banners up but we were limited to five.”

To increase the amount of representation, pictures are featured on both sides of the banners. Smyre collaborated with a committee to develop this year’s list of honorees. Members of the committee include Beverly, Tonya Lanier, Rosa Terry and Charles “Pic” Clark.

After February, Smyre hopes the banners will displayed at another location within the city possibly the Davidson County Historical Museum or the Davidson County Public Library. To further stress the importance of honoring local historians, a videographer will be present at Sunday’s ceremony. Smyre shared she would like to have an event soon to premier the video.

Going forward, Smyre stressed the fact that this list is not exhausted. She welcomes citizens submitting names for next year’s banners (as this recognition will be a yearly occurence) along with a short bio about the nominee. Anyone interested in joining the committee may contact Smyre.

“I’m really hoping we can get a tremendous turnout because that helps to validate why this was important.”

*From the City of Lexington:

Purpose:

The year 2022 marks the first collection that highlights pioneers and individuals who were first in their fields or are currently influencing positive change throughout our city. This years’ banner collection will be the first of many. We understand that this is not an exhausted list. We welcome others to submit names for future banners. We are proud to recognize the following and the role each has played in the history-making for Lexington, NC.

History-Makers:

Honorable Rosalind Baker – First Black Judge to serve the bench for Davidson and Davie counties.

Chief Leroy Pearson – First Black to serve as the Chief of Police for Lexington

Chief Thad Dickerson – First Black to serve as the Fire Chief for Lexington

Reverend Arnetta Beverly – First Black elected to the Lexington City Council.

St. Stephen United Methodist Church – Received their National Register of Historic places in Lexington NC

Dr. Lacy H. Caple, Sr. – First Black dentist to serve the City of Lexington and surrounding area. First Black to chair the Lexington City School Board

Bishop S.T. Green and Lexington Community Ministers Conference – Faith leaders that unite to pray for peace, equity and justice for all in the community.

Reverend Lois G. Hargrave and Elder Gloria Cross – Black female pastors that were true community advocates for positive change makers within the community.

Reverend A.T. Evans, Reverend Calvin Crump, Theodore Crump, and Sara Reid – Some of the founding members of the Davidson County Branch NAACP.

The historic renaming of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. – Lexington City Council with an overwhelming support from community members voted and renaming of Raleigh Road and West 6th Street between Young Drive and Salem Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard effective date of January 28, 2014.