Volume XX, Issue XXV: George Black
One of the more interesting historical markers in Winston-Salem, North Carolina tells the story of George Black. The son of former slaves, Black first came to Winston-Salem as a boy of ten. He found work at the Hedgecock and Hime Brickyard and learned the craft. “Back in those days all brick were made by hand; and we delivered them by mule.” Said Mr. Black. His employers gave him an old mud mill to take home for firewood – and here is where the story gets good. George took the mud mill home, but it never made it into the fireplace. Instead, Black began baking his own bricks. He took hand made brick to a high art, and as the industry mechanized, George felt there was no style in machine-made brick.
So he kept the art alive at home. In the 1930s the restoration began in Williamsburg, Virginia. When the restorers needed traditionally crafted brick, George Black’s reputation was already established. He would receive frequent orders from the historic restoration. The old Moravian town of Salem was restored and Mr. Black provided hand made brick for that project as well. He developed a reputation nationally for his skill as a traditional brick artisan. At the age of 92 he was sent by the US State Department to Guyana to teach people how to make hand made brick. Of course, he has kept the craft alive for restoration work in the United States. He died in 1980 at the age of 101.
Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; to show that the Lord is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.” – PSALM 92:13-15
Lost at Sea with the CDC
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What do fascism and the cruise industry have in common? This is a story almost every media outlet ignored. A parable of how COVID lockdowns are turning the CDC into the dictator of the high seas, this week on The Public Square®. (read more)
