Greensboro Daily Photo

February 1st is for Civil Rights........

Today is February 1st, the start of African American History Month. Greensboro is has much to celebrate with respect to civil rights. First, we have the International Civil Rights Museum on Elm Street. We have two historically black institutions of higher education. One of our crowning contributions to the civil rights movement in the 1960's was the Greensboro Sit-ins, which took place at the lunch counter at Woolworth's Department Store, downtown on Elm Street. Fifty-two years today, four freshmen at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College in Greensboro sat down and asked for a cup of coffee at the lunch counter at the Woolworth's Department Store. These four African-American college students, featured above in this order-- David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair, Jr., and Joseph McNeal-- refused to leave the "whites-only" lunch counter. Their peaceful, but tenacious, actions helped spark a movement that spread to other southern cities (read more here).

We feature this statue/monument at least once a year; however, one needs only to step foot on the NCA&T campus and look at this statue to realize the importance of the actions of these men.  From this vantage point, the four figures are imposing and make us realize just how small we are in comparison to their contribution of making the United States a more just and civil place. 

Today is ABC Wednesday and our cause for this round is civil rights. "C" is for CIVIL RIGHTS.

High Lonesome Strings Bluegrass Association

The High Lonesome Strings Bluegrass Association is a group of local musicians that meets to play bluegrass music. The organization is open to anyone with an acoustic instrument who is interested in the bluegrass genre. People of all playing abilities are welcome to join. The group meets once a month; in fall and winter, they meet on the bottom floor of the Greensboro Cultural Arts Center at 200 N. Davie Street. Members bring a an instrument and jam, jam, jam!. In May, they sponsor Pickin' in the Park at Hagan Stone Park in Pleasant Garden, where they meet from April-September.

On Sunday, some members were playing in the hallway, in the above circle. Others were in the concert room to the right, seated and playing. Somebody was selling CD's. Great fun was had by all. Seeing everyone standing around in a near-perfect circle, it reminds us of the song, "Will the Circle Be Unbroken". Grab your fiddle, rosin up your bow, and head on down. Nothing beats hanging out with people who share your common interests. Greensboro's bluegrass community is comprised of great people who will make you feel welcome.

Swan Song for Winterfest 2012

Piedmont Winterfest 2012 officially closed yesterday. The above ice-skating rink will be drained and, hopefully, like Frosty the Snowman, come to life again next year. The postcard-perfect, Winterfest was a successful, public-private partnership involving many local entities*. It was located in Festival Park on Davie Street near the Greensboro Central Library. We're not sure how the unseasonably warm weather impacted attendance; however, on the days we visited, there were many skaters.  Yesterday, many children were out trying their hardest to master skating. One of the most determined children was a little boy who was out there all afternoon. You can see him in the middle of the rink, next to the girl with blue pants. We're hoping next year's rink can be even bigger.

If you still want to ice skate in Greensboro, you can head to the Ice House off of West Wendover Avenue. They were one of the sponsors of this event and will be more than happy to see you on their home turf...ice. Skating is great exercise. Happy last-Monday-in-January, dear readers.

*read more here.

Eller Memorial Baptist Church

We took this photo of Eller Memorial Baptist Church late Tuesday afternoon as we were leaving the parking lot of McDonald's Restaurant on Summit Avenue. However, when we came home and began researching the church, we're thinking that the church-looking building behind this one, on 4th Street, is actually Eller Memorial Baptist and this is simply an office building. This flat-roofed structure circa 1960, we're guessing, was formerly an office building. We cannot find a website for Eller Memorial Baptist; however, the name Eller  is connected to the church history of Greensboro in the late 1800's and early 1900's.

William Hamilton Eller was born in Wilkes County, North Carolina in 1842. His parents moved their family, by covered wagon, to Iowa in 1852 to be with relatives and to distance themselves from slavery. William was quite precocious and had the good fortune of being surrounded by people who saw to it that he received a formal education. William served in the military, became a minister, teacher, editor, lawyer and judge. He objected strongly to drinking alcohol and at one time was part owner in Keeley Institute, a national organization, based in North carolina that treated alcoholics and drug addicts. In 1896, he entered the baptist ministry in Greensboro. Eller loved establishing churches and was instrumental in starting eleven churches. In 1923, the year after Eller's death, Cherry Street Baptist Church was renamed "The Eller Memorial Baptist Church"  In 1925, the new building was built on the corner of Walnut and Fourth Streets with 24 of the 25 thousand dollars for Eller Memorial Baptist being donated by Cone Mills. Herman Cone, while Jewish, was an ardent supporter of religious freedom and wanted to fund a church that served his mill community. Read more about the Ellers published by Lynn Eller in 1990 (reference).

Now, we're anxious to return and photograph what we're guessing is the main church building. In the meantime, enjoy today's photo, and, if you have any information, please post it in the comment section.

Guilford Courthouse National Military Park

When the winter weather is nice in Greensboro, nothing beats heading to one of our parks or the greenway for a bike ride. Here we are at the entrance of Guilford Courthouse National Military Park. The signage marks the 2 1/4 mile bike trail, clearly.  

Next month will be time for the reenactment of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. We recommend riding the trails this month to learn the lay of the land, so that on reenactment weekend, you will be able to move from point A to point B efficiently. Greensboro has many active cycling groups, check with one of the bike shops if you want to find a group of cyclists at your level. Have a great weekend everyone. Hope to see you out on the trail. 

Greenway Fisher Park Apartments

Construction is officially underway for a downtown apartment complex in the Northwest corner of the city. The Greenway Fisher Park Apartments (GFPA) are located on 4.2 acres at the former North State Chevrolet site near the baseball stadium. It is also adjacent to the Greenway loop and historic, Fisher Park. The Jones brothers are building five, three-story brick apartment buildings that will have a clubhouse, fitness center, a saltwater pool, and more. Costing about 10 million dollars, the facility is a major investment on a piece of property that has been dormant for a long time. It will be interesting to monitor the progress of this newest addition to the skyline. At least until the empty showroom/garage across the street is developed, GFPA residents will have a great view of the ballpark and the historic Jefferson Standard Building. To further orient you, notice the Paisley Street sign. We were standing here when the photo was taken.

We love seeing the insides of buildings before they get covered up by their façades. Right now, the construction site is looking beautifully green-- especially striking when the sun is low in the sky. See media coverage of the 196 high-end apartment complex here. We're sharing this with Skywatch Friday. It would be really nice to have some of those wires, lacing through the skyline, go underground.  Have a great weekend, dear readers!

Glenwood Coffee & Books

Glenwood Coffee & Books, located at 1310 Glenwood Avenue, is a great resource and retail space in the heart of the Glenwood community. Not only can you get a good cup of coffee there and find a great book to to buy, you can enjoy music and get involved in community events. Occupy Greensboro made many posters in the back room and continues to meet there. The space is likely to appeal more to the arts-loving, liberal-minded crowd. Every community needs good, independent bookstores. If you are interested in learning more about the bookstore, "like" their Facebook page or stop by when you get a chance. We hope to get by, soon, and interview the owner. He has been involved in indie bookstores for several, several decades. 

The bookstore is located very near the community garden in Glenwood (featured here in 2009). Where do you go to learn what is happening in Greensboro? 

B is for Blindness

Today's photo takes us to the Industries of the Blind (IOB), Inc. on West Lee Street. This building houses a stalwart group of people committed to being self sufficient and having a good quality of life even with being visually impaired. In our recent post, we mentioned that IOB has been doing great work in Greensboro for over seven decades. The above photo, taken with the bright, end-of-day sun behind us, contrasts greatly with our previous glaring, night shot. Above, a woman is turning because something caught her eye. We could tell by the pace at which she was walking and her quick, furtive look that she could see.

If you are reading this post without an adaptive device, count your blessings. If you are reading this with an adaptive device, count your blessings! According to the National Federation of the Blind, 1.3 million Americans are blind, 93,600 of whom are school-aged children. Over 20 million Americans have cataracts; 9 million have age-related macular degeneration; and over two million have glaucoma (reference). For Round 10 of ABC Wednesday, GDP us featuring A-Z causes; this week is B for blindness. In the previous post on the topic, Janis (of Southern California) typed a testimonial for the important work of IOB. CA Janis says........

"For each of the people IOB employs, a bucket full of self esteem is brought home. A productive job means the world to their well being. I know this for a fact because my Dad was almost totally blind. Since this was the result of a baseball injury at age 17 he knew what it was to work, to drive,to go to the movies on a Saturday night. First he groomed race horses and took them for their cool down walks at Santa Anita, later he was a Taxi cab dispatcher which was really perfect work for him since he knew the town well and everybody who lived here, after that he worked at a mobile home factory and the local school district.

His blindness was a gift to me. I learned to read aloud before I ever entered Kindergarten by reading him the sports pages and local news. He would tell me what to look for and sound out words with me. I learned geography and to love travel even though we rarely left California because he would pull out the big Map Book from Rand McNally and we would take armchair trips all over the world, gauging mileage, times, what to see, where to dine-- every little detail was planned. I was probably the only second grader who could navigate the way to Ames, Iowa but could not find the restrooms for the upper playground at lunch."