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The
FIRST
NEGRC
20
THE STATE. JULY 21. 1962
Raleigh can claim a "first" which
may have escaped most readers. It
held the first colored fair in the South,
a piece of pioneering so significant and
interesting that it was duly reported
throughout the nation.
This took place in 1880, and the
following is a condensed version of the
account published in December of that
year by Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper
of New York. The illustrations arc
sketches made at the fair by the staff
artist accompanying the writer.
In addition to accounts of the fair,
the side remarks about Raleigh arc of
interest to those of this generation.
But here is Leslie's:
Raleigh is chiefly composed of a
Main Street, rich in a brand-new post
office — the janitor of which, by-thc-
by. nominated Mr. Hayes for the Presi¬
dency — filled to the brim with Re¬
publican officials, to the gnashing of
the teeth of the solid out-in-the-cold
Democrats — and in rare old elms.
This street, about half a mik long, is
bounded on the north by the Capitol,
situated upon a gentle slope; and on
the south by the former gubernatorial
residence, styled "the palace, ” now a
normal school.
Raleigh boasts of three iron foun¬
dries and one boilershop; of ten
churches for white prayers and seven
for colored prayers, while even the
Jews rejoice in the possession of a
synagogue. Lducation is laid on at high
pressure, 1 .080 white and 1 .000
colored children being on the school-
lists. The city is presided over by a
mayor and a board of aldermen, one
of whom was the body-servant of Jef¬
ferson Davis, and with him to the
memorable surrender. There is a chief
of police and ten constables; a health
officer, a street superintendent, and
a street force of twenty laborers. The
city is lighted with gas and gasoline,
a light that merely serves to make
darkness visible.
Ten newspapers arc published in
Raleigh — three dailies, six weeklies
and one bi-monthly. The colored peo¬
ple "run" two of the weeklies, one of
them being a very creditably gotten
up industrial journal. The governmen¬
tal department of agriculture, presided
over by Colonel L. L. Polk — the
right man in the right place — is a
special feature of Raleigh, its museum
containing an exhibit of every prod¬
uct of the State, from the sparkling
Tokay, made from the famous Scup-
pernong grape to sheets of mica that
would glaze one of Tiffany's windows,
being well worthy a studious visit.
Close to the city are a State Lunatic
Asylum. Penitentiary — they hang for
burglary in North Carolina — and in¬
stitutions for the deaf, dumb and blind.
I paid my respects to the Governor
of the State, the Honorable Thomas J.
Jarvis, a portly gentleman with a
laughter-loving eye, who resides at the
Yarborough, and from him gleaned in¬
formation as to the raison d'etre of
the colored fair, and the general con¬
dition of the State.
"The Secretary to the fair, Mr.
Hunter." observed the Governor,
"came to me in Spring last to engage
my assistance in procuring the bar¬
racks out here, as the place where the
fair is being held is claimed by both
