Many years ago my professor Paul D. Escott at Wake Forest University introduced me to the politics and controversy that surrounded the 1898 Wilmington massacre and coup d’etat. His initial guidance on such an important but then overlooked topic hooked me, an eastern North Carolinian, to a career studying the history of the U.S. South. I thank him for his mentorship then and since.
Now I teach this same topic to my own students. Technology has changed and I have had the advantage of teaching with primary sources that were difficult to access when I was in college. This project has allowed me to introduce the history of the coup d’etat to my classes. The website is a digital archive that unfolded over several years of hard work with the East Carolina University Multimedia Center. The staff and students in this office possess not only superb design skills but also a commitment and devotion to history and historical sources. I am greatly indebted to the patience and skill of Laurie Godwin, David Jones, Eleazar Herrera, Mitch Pruitt and Tanner Jones. Sarah Hegler, an animation and interactive design student, has given the site a professional flair. But I reserve the greatest thanks to Ryyan Michelle Joye, a graphic design major with a budding artistic talent, keen technical acumen, and a historical understanding that reflects her own intelligence and well-grounded liberal arts background.
LeRae Umfleet, Chief Researcher of the 1898 Wilmington Race Riot Report, the document produced by the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources for the North Carolina General Assembly, has contributed heavily with her advice and keen eye. Professor Melton McLaurin provided generous feedback, constructive advice and critical resources to the project. We have also benefited from the advice and talent of Wilmington historians including Kenneth Davis, Beverly Tetteron of the New Hanover County Public Library, Janet Davidson and Sue Miller of the Cape Fear Museum, and Beverly Ayscue of the Bellamy Mansion. Other historians, including Darlene Perry of the North Carolina Maritime Museum and Connie Mason of the North Carolina Department of Commerce all contributed to this effort.
The History Department at East Carolina University contributed in historical expertise and funding. Key advisors to this project include Professors David Dennard, Anoush Terjanian, Christopher Oakley, Michael Palmer and Gerald Prokopowicz. The East Carolina University Faculty Senate provided a teaching grant. Graduate student Katie Shackelford offered time and help for a portion of this project. Dean Alan White and Joyce Newman at the Harriott College of Arts and Sciences provided significant support and advice, as well.
The Geography Department at East Carolina University offered specialists in cartography. Graduate student Jennifer Mann provided her special skills to the interactive map. It would not look nearly this professional without her help. Professors Derek Alderman and Karen Mulcahy offered advice, as well.
Further assistance came from Earl Ijames at the North Carolina State Archives, Matt Reynolds at the Joyner Library North Carolina Collection at East Carolina University, Aidan J. Smith and Matthew Turi at the UNC-CH Manuscripts Department, and the staff at the East Carolina Special Collections Department at Joyner Library.
This website has benefited from all this help, and any errors or omissions are my own. We hope to make frequent additions and corrections to this project on a regular basis. If you have any questions or comments, please direct them to the project director, Karin L. Zipf, Associate Professor of History at East Carolina University, zipfk@ecu.edu.
Karin L. Zipf
Greenville, NC
December 11, 2007