How Jim Crow Destroyed Thriving Black Community

By Leonard E. Colvin Chief Reporter New Journal and Guide

Since 2017 if you are commuting from Norfolk via the Midtown Tunnel into Portsmouth you will hit the Martin Luther King Freeway.

This stretch of the thoroughfare slices through the Pinner Point Industrial areas as well as offering a view of the massive Port Complex along the Elizabeth River.

You may pass by a cluster of small homes nestled in the area near Scotts Creek and what remains of Sugar Hill.

It is a patch of North Portsmouth that juts into the river. It evolved from a mostly Black rural area where Blacks and Whites, migrating to the region in the late 19th and early 20th century, called home. They created family homesteads, worked on farms, and for the railroad and other industries to make a living and feed their families.

In a recent presentation before the Portsmouth City Council, noted NSU Author and Historian Dr. Cassandra

Cassandra Newby Alexander

Newby Alexander provided a detail of her extensive research into how devious

HONORING THE LEGACY OF I.C.

PORTSMOUTH private-public schemes to erode the standing of Sugar Hill were concocted by political and business interests along with Jim Crow policies of Portsmouth, the state of Virginia and federal agencies.

As part of the Grand Reunion Celebration at Portsmouth’s Historic I.C. Norcom High School, alumni, staff, students, and visitors participated in placing a wreath, flag, and conch shell at the gravesite of Israel Charles Norcom, 1856-1916, gravesite in Mount Olive Cemetery. Pictured are (left) African-American Historical Society of Portsmouth President Charles Johnson (Class of 1967) and Bagpiper Thaddeus Coffey, who were part of the ceremony.The wreath-laying was part of a three-day Grand Reunion celebration of the 145-year-old school that bears his name.

Portsmouth City Councilman Dr. Mark Whitaker requested that Newby Alexander be contracted to research what happened to Sugar Hill.

Alexander presented her findings to Whitaker and his colleagues during a September 26 council meeting. Whitaker has a personal and civic interest in the old community. His grandfather migrated to the area to find work and start a family.

Annius Whitaker beat an abusive white overseer who would attack Black sharecroppers with a whip during a time years after slavery on a plantation near Scottland Neck, North Carolina. His family sewed him inside a feather mattress to hide him from a bloodthirsty White mob until they could put him on a train to Portsmouth. see Sugar Hill, page 6A

ALL THINGS ARE “PINK” AT RIVERS CASINO THIS MONTH

PORTSMOUTH Complementing an impressive entertainment lineup and gaming promotions, Rivers Casino Portsmouth is observing Breast Cancer Awareness Month with a series of initiatives powered by “Rivers Gives.”

“Rivers Gives” – the casino’s ongoing community engagement initiative –includes volunteerism, board service, in-kind contributions, corporate giving, and donation drives. Throughout October, team members will participate in efforts aimed at cancer prevention and treatment, and funding the cure.

The Casino will host the Chesapeake Regional Mobile Mammography Unit on Oct. 9 and will support various community events, including the Bra-ha-ha Awards Show & Auction on Oct. 13 and the Breast Cancer Awareness Walk with the Community Outreach Coalition on Oct. 21.

In addition to winning big on the gaming floor, casino guests will have an opportunity to pay it forward by donating chips, vouchers, and cash to support the month’s charity partner, the American Cancer Society (Making Strides Against Breast Cancer).

Further, for the month of October, Rivers Casino Portsmouth will turn the exterior lights and water feature pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

INSIDE:

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Show

Zoleka Mandela, Daughter of Nelson and Winnie Mandela, An Advocate for Cancer Awareness, Dies at 43 see page 5A