WJBC PRESS RELEASE AND RUBRIC

                Press release                                                                                                                                                        Sept. 7, 2023

                    

                                      SYMPOSIUM COMMEMORATION OF 125th ANNIVERSARY of 1898 MASSACRE

                                                      Begins with Sept.9th 1898 Student Essay Competition

                [WILMINGTON, NC] The Wilmington Journal Breakfast Club (WJBC), a community service group in association with the Wilmington Journal newspaper, announced during a press conference at Gregory Congregational Church UCC on Thursday, Sept. 7th,  that in association with the R.S and T.C. Jervay Foundation, it is sponsoring a symposium commemorating the 125th anniversary of the 1898 Wilmington Massacre.

And, as part of that symposium commemoration, starting Sept. 9th, the WJBC is sponsoring the first Mary Alice Jervay Thatch Memorial 1898 Student Essay Competition, where New Hanover County students, grades 8 - 12, are challenged to write a 500-word essay about the 1898 Wilmington Massacre, and why learning about it is important to the community today.

The competition is named after the late publisher/editor of The Wilmington Journal newspaper, Ms. Mary Alice Jervay Thatch, who died in December 2021.

Veteran New Hanover County educator, and former co-chair of the 1898 Centennial Foundation, Dr. Bertha Boykin Todd, shared why she feels the student essay competition is an important part of the 1898 Wilmington Massacre 125th anniversary commemoration.

“For 39 years, I served as an educator in the New Hanover County Public School System,” Dr. Todd said in a statement. “During my tenure, nothing was ever mentioned regarding the atrocity of the massacre and coup that occurred in Wilmington, NC in 1898. Years later white and black students who graduated from Williston, Hoggard and New Hanover High Schools have questions regarding the reasons why educators did not teach them about the violence and successful coup. “My best wishes to you as your “Essay Competition” [will] aid in creating a greater awareness regarding this tragedy. “

Student participants can go to the website “1898symposium.org” to click the link for the entry rules, guidelines and application. There is no entry fee. Parental permission is required.

Students who compete will have the extra incentive of winning a $500.00 grand prize for the best 1898 essay. The prizes also include $300.00 for the second place essay, and $200.00 for the third place essay about 1898.

The student competition will officially begin on Saturday. Sept. 9th, and end on Saturday, Oct. 21st, 2023. The student winners will be determined by a panel of educators who will judge submitted essays based on an established scoring rubric for how comprehensive their submissions are.  The three student winners will be awarded on Nov. 11th during the symposium.

“While this year’s event commemorates 125 years of deferred justice, it also offers hope for a new lens perspective on how we might create divergent justice pathways,” says Christina Davis McCoy, of Blueprint NC and WJBC. “The Mary Alice Jervay Thatch Memorial 1898 Student Essay Competition will invite and engage voices of young people for whom Wilmington’s past intrinsically defines and informs their future. We are significantly excited to read their perspectives of the November 10, 1898, Wilmington events.” 

The 1898 symposium, the second in a series, will feature both nationally known and local panelists discussing how the community goes forward from the legacy of the 1898 Wilmington Massacre today. Those panelists include Bishop William Barber, president of Repairers of the Breach and co-convener of the national Poor People’s Campaign; Dr. Bertha B. Todd, retired educator and author of the book, Reflections on a Massacre and a Coup; atty. Irving L. Joyner, vice chairman of the 1898 Wilmington Race Massacre Commission; Ms. Inez Campbell-Eason, descendant of an 1898 Black family; Dr. Timothy Tyson, Duke University History professor and author of the book, The Blood of Emmitt Till; and  Rev. Robert Parrish, pastor of Gregory Congregational Church UCC.

The 1898 symposium will be held Saturday, November 11th, 1 to 4 p.m. at Williston Middle School, 401 South 10th Street. This community event is free and open to the public.

The goal of the1898 symposium, according to WJBC President Paul Jervay,  is to “Bring the 1898 Assessment Alive” through the District, consisting of Gregory Congregational Church, the Wilmington Journal, and the surrounding neighborhood; through restoring Gregory Church, and the Wilmington Journal buildings; through acting on the recommendations of the 1898 Commission to facilitate economic and social justice solutions; through revisiting 7-Solution Action Points recommended by Bishop William Barber II in 1998, and through reuniting dispersed people, resulting from the 1898 Massacre, with a new mission of Restoration, Reparation, and Repair.

         

             For more information, contact Paul Jervay, Jr. at prjervay@gmail.com, or Cash Michaels at submit1898@gmail.com.   

Mary Alice Thatch Memorial Essay, 2023, Scoring Rubric   STUDENT NAME________________________________  SCORE _______/80

Category	8-10	5-7	3-4	0-2
Thesis	Thesis is clearly stated and appropriately focused on the objective portraying a true account of the people, places and events, as well as the importance of  the 1898 Massacre.	Thesis is clearly stated and promises a true account of the people, places, and events, and the importance of  the 1898 Massacre.	Thesis is unclear, misleading, or does not introduce a true account of the 1898 Massacre.	No statement of thesis or objective is stated OR thesis  presents a false narrative of the people, places, and events surrounding the 1898 Massacre.
Information Sources	Information comes from at least 3 quality sources, which may include credible websites, videos, interviews with qualified historians, or printed materials which accurately portray a detailed account of the true narrative of the 1898 Massacre.	Information comes from 2-3 sources, which may include credible websites, video,  interviews with qualified historians, or printed materials providing details from the true narrative of the 1898 Massacre.	Information comes from at least 2 credible sources.  Details may be limited, but provide details from the true narrative of the 1898 Massacre.	Information comes from at least 2 sources. Details are limited, OR reveal that the writer relied on sites offering a false accounting of the details surrounding the 1898 Massacre.
Organization and Content	The narrative explains the sequence of events, compelling historical context, and the protagonists of the 1898 Massacre. Narrative is  presented in a clear and creative way so that the reader moves easily through the text.	The narrative includes the sequence of events, some historical context, and names the protagonists of the 1898 Massacre. Narrative flow is  clear enough to move the reader through the text without undue confusion.	References to the sequence of events, historical context, and protagonists may be vague or are given limited treatment.  Narrative does not flow naturally, and paragraphs may seem disjointed.	The information appears to be disorganized OR recounts a false narrative obtained from faulty research sources.
Writing Style and mechanics.	Sentences are varied in structure, and word choice  avoids redundancy.  No grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors.	Sentences are correct but not varied. Almost no grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors	Short, simple sentences prevail. A few grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors.	Sentence errors, such as fragments and run-ons, detract from the reading.  Many grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors.
Documentation of Sources	All sources of any type are documented internally according to the MLA format. (see links for help)	All sources are documented internally, but may not be in standard MLA format.	Essay references sources, but may not include standard internal documentation.	Sourced information may be included, but are not properly documented.
Formatting	Essay includes a title page with title, student name and grade level, and date submitted. Essay is not longer than 500 words, double spaced, with standard 1-inch margins. A separate Works cited page follows the essay with standard MLA-style citations for each resource used. (see links for free citation generators)	Essay includes a title page with title, student name and grade level, and date submitted. Essay is not longer than 550 words, double spaced, with standard 1-inch margins. A separate Works cited page follows the essay with standard MLA-style citations for each resource used. (see links for free citation generators)	Title page is incomplete; the essay is fewer than 300 words or more than 550 words long, and may not be double-spaced. Works Cited page is not standard format or information is incomplete.	Title page and/or Works Cited page is incomplete or missing; essay is fewer than 250 or more than 550 words long and/or does not follow required format.

https://www.whqr.org/local/2023-09-08/wilmington-journal-breakfast-club-announces-1898-massacre-memorial-student-essay-competition

Wilmington Journal Breakfast Club announces 1898 massacre memorial student essay competition

Thursday morning, members of the Wilmington Journal Breakfast Club announced plans for the 125th anniversary of the 1898 massacre, including a contest geared at students.

Camille Mojica

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WHQR 

Members of the Wilmington Journal Breakfast Club, a non profit, announcing the symposium. 

The Wilmington Journal Breakfast Club is partnering with the R.S. and T.V. Jervay Foundation, to sponsor a symposium commemorating the 125th anniversary of the 1898 Wilmington Massacre.

Spokesperson Cash Michaels announced that starting September 9, they would be sponsoring the first inaugural Mary Alice Jervay Thatch Memorial 1898 Student Essay. The goal? For students to learn about the history of 1898 in full, without any outside influence.

Michaels referenced the recent temporary removal of the book Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You by the New Hanover County school board:

“You know, we were all so concerned about who's going to teach our children what and so forth and so on. We're not doing that. We're letting our children teach us, Hey, man, we're letting them do the research," he said.

The five-hundred-word essays will be reviewed by three educators, and first, second, and third-prize winners will be chosen and awarded $500, $300, and $200 respectively.

Activist Sonya Patrick-AmenRa said the contest will teach students how the events of 1898 still affect the Wilmington community today. And, she noted that while money isn’t the main purpose, it’s not insignificant, and can be used for scholarships.

“We hope this essay contest will inspire future leaders, future journalists, future editors, and public officials of tomorrow," she said.

The Wilmington Journal Breakfast Club works in tandem with The Wilmington Journal, the oldest newspaper Black-owned newspaper for the Black community in North Carolina. The Journal is seen by many as a successor to The Daily Record, the Black-owned paper that was attacked and burnt to the ground during the 1898 massacre. 

Patrick-AmenRa spoke on the history of Black news in the region:

"The Journal was bombed by white supremacists in 1973. And The Daily Record was burned by white supremacists in 1898 ... We lost the Black press in '98. It would be a disservice to our community and to humanity to lose it again in 2023," she said.

Any student in grades 8-12 residing in New Hanover County can participate, including private, charter, and homeschooled students. Applications must be submitted with a parent or guardian’s permission and be found here.