Museum Report - Chatham Historical Museum
Been meaning to go...
In the downtown circle, in the old courthouse, we have the Chatham Historical Museum. I frequently see the inviting signs and cardboard cutout, and finally took advantage to visit.
Volunteer docent Rich met us as we entered, gave us a warm welcome. He showed us the county seal and talked about its symbolism, and explained the long history of the courthouse, burned down 15 years ago, and rebuilt into its current form. He then walked us through the main exhibit, giving an overview as we went. Later we also met another volunteer, Paul.
We learned the county is named for William Pitt, the Earl of Chatham. The town is named for William Pitt the Younger, a known defender of colonial rights in Britain. Numerous other places in the United States are named for both, such as Chatham County in Georgia, Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, and arguably, Pittsboro in Indiana. The latter location was actually founded by a man from Pittsboro, NC, and named in its honor (wiki).
The poet laureate of Chatham County is George Moses Horton. He was born into slavery in ~1797. In his 20s, he sold acrostic, romantic poems to students in Chapel Hill. In 1828, his first published poem, “Liberty and Slavery,” was printed in a Massachusetts newspaper, and he exchanged letters with abolitionists and advocated against slavery. He saved money from his poetry to buy his freedom, but the Horton family that owned him refused the money. He was later freed during the Civil War.
He was named the poet laureate of Chatham County in the 1990s, by the county commissioners. And today, we live across from the middle school that bears his name.
This is wild to read — was his poetry or advocacy a secret? His most famous poem opens with “Alas! and am I born for this, To wear this slavish chain?” How did he receive or send correspondence? ??? What was the story that led to naming him poet laureate??
The museum has great stories to tell and is a great resource for the community. The historical society has been working for decades to gather and preserve the history of the area. One fascinating project is the Cemetery Survey, ongoing since 1989, the society has worked to document grave sites throughout the county. We learned about this in our White Pines hike last month, when we briefly visited a small unknown graveyard in the nature preserve. Interestingly, at the time our guides said the identities of the persons buried there were unknown. Today at the museum, we looked up the site, and gained a single additional word of knowledge about the grave site — “Slaves.”
