WILMINGTON IN
THE 1890's
Wilmington and surrounding counties
WILMINGTON IN
THE 1890's
Wilmington and surrounding counties
- Wilmington was the largest city in North Carolina in the 1890's, with an 1898 population of 20,055 (black 11324, white 8731).
- It was a prosperous port, though the economic center of the state had begun to shift from the coast to the Piedmont--a fact that greatly concerned local white business leaders.
Walking a tightrope in late
19th century Wilmington
- Blacks and whites were residentially integrated throughout the city, but the races were socially, economically, and educationally unequal.
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- The city was governed by a board appointed by the state legislature, composed of white Democrats, until 1897, when the new "fusionist" state legislature ordered new elections. These elections resulted in the installment of Mayor Wright and a fusionist Board of Alderman, three of whom were African Americans.