WELCOME TO GOLDSBORO: A DIVERSE HISTORICAL COMMUNITY

BY ALLISON VAN TILBORGH

The Goldsboro Museum. The Florida Emancipation Day Bike Ride. The Goldsboro Heritage & History Tour. Anyone who has ears to hear has noticed that, once again, Goldsboro is a growing, thriving city. Some are calling these shifts an economic boom, others a renaissance. Much of this transformation is directly related to locals becoming empowered through their history, which is now more accessible than ever through the Goldsboro Museum. I sat down with “Golds boro Princess” Pasha Baker to engage in a conversation about Goldsboro’s history, its many cultural sites, and its promising future.

Pasha Baker, CEO of the Goldsboro West Side Community Historical Association Inc., shared with me that “more black businesses, more pride, more positivity, and knowing our history all led to the renaissance in Goldsboro.” The Goldsboro revitalization movement began around 2010 when Pasha’s aunt, Francis ColemanOliver, was visiting a local museum. She asked where she could learn more about the history of Goldsboro. After being told by the curator that “she had no history,” Coleman-Oliver defiantly invested her retirement funds into the first Goldsboro Museum, which showcased pieces she had collected over the course of 45 years. To this day, the museum has not been able to secure local tax dollars to fund the project.

At the time, her niece, Pasha, was enjoying the rewards of her business career in the big leagues of JP Morgan Chase and Verizon and even starting her own company. Pasha reflected warmly on her childhood in Goldsboro, sharing that she always felt a balance between her education, familial support, and hanging out with friends. “Just a really good childhood,” she told me, “full of amazing memories.” Seasoned with experience, Pasha later returned home to lead the Goldsboro West Side Community Historical Association Inc. with a growth business mindset.

She discovered that her background in government work and business was similar to grant writing and property acquisition. The Association quickly began accumulating more properties, which included the Goldsboro Art Square and Cemetery. Although by her calculations, she was by no means a natural, she fiercely believed (and still does) that mastery comes to those who put in the time. If Malcolm Gladwell is correct in his assertion that 10,000 hours toward a skill will make anyone a master, then Pasha has undoubtedly come to know mastery. Pasha shares that her strategic business decision to grow the association was driven by “always needing to expand, upgrade, and move forward.”

That shimmering vision for Goldsboro is still alive and becoming more and more real.

Founded by William Clark in 1891, the Goldsboro Township became the second incorporated black city in the United States just after slavery was abolished. Here, black mayors, tax collectors, lawyers, and construction workers disproved stereotypes that freed slaves could not read or write, let alone operate entire self-sufficient cities. They had not only a vision for what they could do alone but also what they could accomplish when they worked together.

Burgeoning initiatives like the Sanford Tours and Experiences and the Goldsboro Heritage & History Tour offer the chance for individuals to visit Goldsboro and learn of its rich (and dark) history while promoting financial development. These tours spur economic opportunities for local black businesses, such as barbers, restaurants, and even specialty clothing stores, keeping critical dollars within the community. For Pasha, today’s goal is not much different: “Keep growing, keep being a self-sufficient black community/city as it was intended to be by ancestors and founders.”

This economic development has changed dayto-day life in Goldsboro for the better. Pasha shared a story of the oldest living Crooms High School graduate, well into her 90s, who recently visited the Goldsboro Museum. “Boy, it’s busy on this street,” she told Pasha. “People are alive again.”

Learn more about Goldsboro’s rich history by visiting the Goldsboro Museum and educating yourself through their plethora of proprietary documentaries hosted on their YouTube channel, and the Goldsboro Heritage & History Tour. n