GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — Greensboro’s South Benbow District celebrates being listed on the National Register of Historic Places in December 2024.
A year later, historians are still trying to learn all that was taught in the area.
Funding continues to help collect oral histories from homeowners on Tuscaloosa Street, Broad Avenue, East End Avenue and more. Through oral history interviews and artifact collections, historians are building guides to communities steeped in Black history and Black firsts.
Eric Woodard of Preservation Greensboro said he was interested in the area because of its mid-century modern architecture. He then went on to discover that many of the homes were designed by black architects and built with black crews for black residents.
Architect Gerald Gray has some notable works in the area.
Woodard said digging into the neighborhood’s history shows that important civil rights figures met and lived in the homes to discuss plans that shaped the movement.
“Like Dr. Alvin Blount. He was one of the litigants in Simkins v. Moses Cohen, the lawsuit that desegregated America’s hospitals… They brought tremendous benefit to… the nation and… the world,” Woodard said.
Benbow Road is just minutes from downtown Greensboro, where the civil rights sit-ins were started by students at North Carolina A&T State University. Another North Carolina A&T student, Henry Frye, worked in the district for a time before serving in the state Legislature and being appointed the first black chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.
“With a digital record, virtually anyone around the world can access it, and they’ll be able to see … the stories of some of the incredible residents who blazed a trail,” Woodard said.
Woodard believes that keeping these stories alive to inspire the next generation is perhaps the most important part of detailing history.
“Some of these people have world-wide impact…If one kid can be inspired to keep going and follow their dreams,…it’s all worth it,” Woodard said.
Preserving and promoting the area’s history is a top priority for the Greensboro Museum, located just down the road in the Benbow District. Glenn Perkins is the museum’s curator of community history.
“There are a lot of famous people in this blog. Henry Frye, Kenneth Lee, Alvin Blount…these people are very important to the civil rights story of Greensboro, but what we’ve learned from…the history and more research involved in this project is just the way they were integrated into the network of the community,” Perkins said.
Perkins and Woodard agree that as they learn more about the region, it is critical to record and preserve this information for future generations.
“So I think it’s really useful for students to understand that…by working with neighbors, with friends, with classmates…you can really make some difference where you live,” Perkins said.
“The history of the United States is the history of all people… Hopefully this information will encourage people to think differently. I’m not asking you to completely change your mind, but at least there will be this information so you can make a more informed decision when you meet other people,” Woodard said.
The historic designation means people who live in the area in the future can receive funding to preserve the historic property.
Woodard said historians who are still gathering stories are also working to put up signage describing the area’s history.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports and streaming video, head to FOX8 WGHP.