Pat Winter Bricks Conference 1958

North Carolina

On April 1, 1958, Pat Winter (Oakes), Coral Gables, FL and Judith Dawn Smith (Greavu) Holly Hills, FL received letters from Rev. Maldwyn V. Parry "Uncle Mo", Advisor to Florida Pilgrim Fellowship, Avon Park, Florida, (Sponsored by the Florida Conference of Congregational Christian Churches) notifying them that he, Miss Dorothy Hampton, North Carolina, and Miss Annie Campbell, Atlanta, GA, while at a National Meeting discussed having representatives from their church conferences at the first United Senior High Conference at Bricks, June 8-14. 1958. They discovered that the National Office of Social Action would also provide scholarships to aid in two delegates from Southern and Florida Conferences. Since Pat and Judy had been alternate delegates to the National Migrant Youth Camp, it was decided to recommend them as the representatives. The scholarship would cover travel from Orlando to the conference and back, meals en route, $5.00 toward the $15.00 registration fee. The conference which included 39 total participants, was to be held at The Franklinton Center at Bricks in Whitakers, North Carolina, which has a rich history rooted in both the painful legacy of slavery and the pursuit of education and empowerment for African Americans. Initially a slave plantation, it transformed into a center for learning, first as the Joseph Keasbey Brick Agricultural, Industrial, and Normal School (1895) and later as the Franklinton Center. The Franklinton Center was formed to provide opportunities for Christian education, fellowship, and recreation.

Since Dorothy Hampton's bus travel arrangements ended in Raleigh, she arranged for Pat and Judy to stay overnight in Raleigh with a family that was bringing their daughter to Bricks, however, characteristic of Pat's dad, Robert Winter, he worked his magic and arranged elaborate bus reservations that would take them all the way to Bricks, hence they declined Miss Hampton's offer. Pat and Judy were to return a day early in order to make a report on their trip to the Senior High Conference in Avon Park.

In all of the correspondence related to the conference, there was no mention that it was to be interracial, likely done for security reasons. A search of newspaper databases yields no articles related to the conference, however All-Black conferences and meetings there are well covered.

Pat tells the following story: On the last leg of the bus trip, a Black girl got on the bus. She told the driver that she was going to Bricks. Pat's assumption was that she was likely part of the kitchen staff. Upon arrival she learned that the girl was her roommate. Pat, at that moment, recognized her racism, something she had been unaware of in her largely White Miami community. Below, I offer suggestions that the roommate could have been Ruth Agnes Davis or Floria Moore since Pat recorded their birthdays on the attendees list.

Judith Smith Greavu, who became a successful sculptor who taught at Ohio Northern University, recalls, "I do remember the visit to the tenant farmer camp and my social conscience was forever changed by those experiences and the Union Congregational awareness of another way to approach race relations beyond what was encouraged by most of the Florida population and even preached by many of the churches."

There were a number of field trips during the conference. One trip was to study tenant farm conditions. On these trips, Pat reported that they were accompanied with men riding shotgun, LITERALLY!

A newsletter "Builder" was published during the conference. You can see it with Pat's entry in the documents below.

Dorothy E. Hampton (Marcus), Conference Registrar, had a distinguished career working for racial justice. She wrote a book with her daughter, Kaypri, about her life: "I Didn't Know What I Didn't Know: A Southern White Woman's Story About Race."

 

 

 

 

The Conference Director was Rev. Gaylord B. Noyce from Raleigh, NC. More information about the remarkable man is below.

 

 

 

 

 

Card home from Pat.