Artisans of African Descent Essays
LOCAL SCHOOL DRAWINGS & ESSAYS
Children at White Oak Elementary, D.F. Walker, Chowan Middle and John A. Holmes High schools were taught about local Artisans of African Descent and asked to draw a picture and/or write an essay. The winning essays from each school are listed below – simply click on the link to open the page in a new window. Below that, you can see a slideshow of all some of the drawings from the 1st and 2nd graders at White Oak Elementary (corresponding essays are shown below the slideshow). All of these children did an outstanding job!
Winning Essays:
White Oak Elementary – Joaquin Hunt, 2nd Grade
D.F. Walker – Shamiya Leary, 4th Grade
Chowan Middle – Na-Hajj Semaj Wilson, 8th Grade
John A. Holmes High School – Freya Kelsy, 9th Grade
Faith Mackenzie, 2nd Grade
Hi I am Joe Welcome. Last night the rain splashed on the windows like crazy. I could never even close my eyes once.
For breakfast I was really hungry so I ate three pieces of cornbread and three eggs.
Today I a going to Hayes plantation for work. I am a slave but for me I like working so I don't even care that I'm sweating. I am hired out but I don't get any money.
Today for work I'm going to build a stone house. I think it will be very fun but very sweaty.
Laura Beth Bryant, 2nd Grade
Hi my name is Miles Badham. I have to wake up really early in the morning and go to the well and get water for drink. Then I'll get all the eggs from the chickens and get breakfast. I'll save some for lunch.
At work i have to work really hard. I get really hot in the summer and freezing cold in the winter. Today I have to work the hardest and build the church called the Kadesh Church. And it is almost finished now.
Now I am on my way to another hot day of work. I pack a lot fo water because it is very hot. We have to work all day. I am here at work already and starting where I left off on the Kadesh Church. Now it is time for lunch. What good eggs. Now it is back to work.
I'm on my way home now. I am tired. What a long day. I'm sure when I get hoome there will be a nice meal set on the table. Now I am finished. Off to bed. Tomorrow is another hard day of work at Hayes Plantation! Good night!
Emma Parrish, 2nd Grade
Hi I am Miles Badham. I build homes and a lot of other stuff. I built a church called Kadesh Church. I'm a carpenter. I lived at 114 Gail St., Edenton, NC.
I build the churches that people use. They still use the church I built. Total, I think I've built 17 churches. I built them so that people could use it Sunday morning and also Wednesday nights.
I worked hard today, I felt nauseous because it was so hot that sweat was running down my face. I just want to rest.
Shelby Owens, 2nd Grade
I wake up every morning in Bertie County and get dressed. Go to the backyard and get water from the well and eggs for lunch. I go tot work every day, hot, warm or cold. No matter what, I have to go to work. I work all day and don't stop once. I am the carpenter of the Casper-Ward-Bazemore House. I only get to stop for lunch. And then I have to walk all the way home. Then I eat dinner and get a bath and go to bed. I am Jeremiah Bunch III and I am free.
Alex Smith, 2nd Grade
I am Joe Welcome, born in 1774.
I hopped out of my bed and ate eggs for breakfast. After that I had no ore time. I threw on my overalls to go to work.
I am a slave, I was just hired out. I have to work at Hayes Plantation to be a bricklayer, stonemason and a plasterer.
I feel very tired at the end of the day.
Leah Leary, 2nd Grade
My name is Joe Welcome. My job was a bricklayer, mason and plasterer. I was born in 1774. I built a church called St. Paul's Episcopal Church. The location I worked was Edenton, Raleigh, Asheville, Warrenton, Salisbury, Greenville, Greensboro, WInston Salem and Wilmington. I was a plasterer in Edenton, North Carolina.
Breanna Thatcher, 2nd Grade
Hi my name is Jeremiah Bunch.
This morning when I woke up I was in a fairly odd position on my cornhusk mattress. I got out of my bed with the cramp in my back and went to draw water from the well. Then I looked for some eggs to cook. Finally I found some, but just one and I took it home to cook on the fireplace. I took the old rusty pan and cracked the egg over the pan to cook the egg. I ate my egg and went to work on a house.
When it came time, it was 8 o'clock and I ate my dinner and went to bed.
Mason Griffin, 2nd Grade
My name is Miles Badham. I am an artisan. I've built Kadesh Church in Edenton, in Chowan County in North Carolina. I've built a lot of log houses. I am a brick mason and a carpenter.
When I go to work, I work so hard that I sweat more water than I drink. Today when I get home, I will kill a rooster and eat him for dinner. Then I'm going to sleep tight on my cornhusk bed.
Megan Rose, 2nd Grade
My name is Miles Badham. I woke up, I got dressed and got water from the well. I went to Hayes Plantation for an egg because I had no more. I went to work - it was very hot and I was sweaty. I had one hour lunch break no other breaks. Work here is hard.
Today I am making plans to build a church. I want Kadesh Church to be worth the hard work.
I want to go home so I can sleep because I am exhausted. I finally get to go home and I am having vegetables for dinner. I'm also having rosster with my vegetables for my dinner. I finally get to bed after a hard day's work.
Austin Roebuck, 2nd Grade
Hi my name is Jeremiah. I am waking up from a nap. I'm going to go to the barn to get me some yummy eggs to eat for snack. So I will be right back. Yummy!
I will be going to work now. I work at Bertie County so today I'm going to chop down a tree. I am going to build a building today I am calling it Bazemore house.
Today I am proud of what I did so it might take me some days to finish decorating it. I'm going to put some windows in the house tomorrow.
Catherine Howell, 2nd Grade
Hi, my name is Miles Badham and I'm going to share with you how my life was back then.
In the morning I have to fetch my breakfast eggs at the chicken coop. After that I get dressed for work.
I work as a carpenter. I work so hard that I sweat after work. I used to be a slave but now I am free.
One day at work I built the Kadesh Church but I am used to building log houses.
When I get home I will kill a cow and eat it. I am relieved to go to sleep.
Riley Respass, 2nd Grade
I woke up this morning and hopped in the kitchen to have my meal with Nehemiah on a dimly lit day in Bertie County. I had no time to lose. We had a potato for breakfast and got water from the well.
Since Nehemiah was already working on the Moses Gilliam house roof, I decorated the inside of the house and I did windows and doors. The Moses Gilliam house was almost done but Nehemiah and I had to cover the outside with bricks and paint them white to blend in with the rest of the house.
Once we were done, we had our meals and got a good night's rest for tomorrow.
Lily Winslow, 2nd Grade
Hi my name is Miles Badham and last night the wind blew harder in Chowan County than it has ever this fall. I didn't get much sleep last night.
I woke up and after I make breakfast it will be time to got to work at Hayes Plantation. I went out and got some eggs from the barn. I took the eggs inside and cooked them on the fire.
Now it is time to go to work.
Matthew Dewees, 2nd Grade
Hi, I am Miles Badham. I used ot be a slave but then I was freed. I did not like being a slave one little bit. I didn't own anything. I built the Kadish Church. When I built it, it was hard work. I had to cut down a lot of trees to get the wood to build the church.
Anjel Holmes, 2nd Grade
Hi, I am Joe Welcome. I helped to build St. Paul's Episcopal Church. I stacked brick on the outide. I am a slave. I work for people but they don't pay me. I have a hard day because I am always working. I helped build the Edenton Acandemy. I live in Edenton.
Hailey Roberson, 1st Grade
I am Joe Welcome. I woke up and I went downstairs. I made a cornbread and drank milk for breakfast. Then I go to work at St. Paul's Church. I am a slave and a bricklayer, stonemason, and a plasterer. After I work for a while I ate lunch then I went home and went straight to bed.
Nia Bembry, 1st Grade
Hi my name is jeremiah Bunch. I woke up and I packed my lunch. I went to work then I went home to fetch lunch. My brother and I were carpenters. We were free. We built a house in 1800. It was called Bazemore house.
Jillian Maier, 1st Grade
A Day in the Life of an Artisan
I am Joe Welcome and I would get up in the morning, eat breakfast and I would go to work at Hayes Plantation. I built a chimney. I did not get paid and that's why I was poor and had no oney. When I got home I would eat dinner and I would sit at a wooden table.
Reed Byrum, 1st Grade
I am Joe Welcome. I am going to tell you about my life. I woke up and went downstairs and ate my breakfast. Then I went to work. I've built a building called Hayes Plantation. I worked on the stairs today. When I was working on the stairs I put some coating on them. It was blue. Early at night I rode home in a wagon.
Elizabeth Ayers, 1st Grade
My name is Joe Welcome. I am a slave. I work on houses in Hayes plantation. I was born in Edenton, North Carolina. I was noted for being a bricklayer and stonemason and plasterer. I worked on the farm. I only ate porridge and eggs for breakfast. I got hired out. I have to wake up really really early. It is hard work. I go home and go to bed. I sleep on my back pack.
Josh Harvill, 1st Grade
I am Joe Welcome. I wake up early and I have to go outside and collect eggs from my chickens I also get fresh milk from my cows and I have breakfast in the morning. before work I get dressed to go to work.
I have to walk to work. I am a plaster and a stone master and a bricklayer so I am going to work to build some houses today.
I built St. Paul's Episcopal Church so people coul go to church.
Della Benavides, 1st Grade
I am Joe Welcome. I was a slave. I did not get paid. I only pot porridge and eggs for breakfast. I slept with my backpack. I lived on a farm. The rooster always woke me up in the morning. I worked as a bricklayer and a stonemason and a plasterer at Edenton Academy and St. Paul's CHurch.
Ayden Furlough, 1st Grade
I am Joe Welcome. I am a bricklayer and a stonemason and a plasterer. I made the walls on St. Paul's Church. Bricks are hard to pick up and put down. I was hired out to do this.
Avery White, 1st Grade
I am Joe Welcome. I was born in Edenton, North Carolina. I'm a slave but I got hired out. I work in Hayes PLantation building a chimney. It was very hard working on it. When I went home I ate my dinner which was cornbread. I would always get meat and bread and milk from the cow. I would wear overalls when I was milking the cow. It would be pretty hard to be me a long time ago.
Ava Bunch, 1st Grade
My name is Joe Welcome. I am a slave. I live in Edenton. It was morning. I woke up. I had grits for breakfast. I walk to work. I worked on a chimney today at Hayes Plantation. I had lunch which was only an apple. Then I worked some more and then walked home. I ate supper which was eggs. Then i went to bed.
Fisher Bobbitt, 1st Grade
I am Joe Welcome. I woke up and got some porridge and milk. I went to work and worked on a chimney. Then I ate an apple then started work again. When I finished work then I worked on the underpinning. I was at the house on Hayes Plantation.
Tucker Seal, 1st Grade
I am Joe welcome. I have to wake up really early in the morning. I packed my lunch which is corn bread and eggs. I work at Hayes Plantation. I walk to work. I worked on a brick floor.
Bowen Chappell, 1st Grade
My name is Joe Welcome. I was born in Edenton Chowan County, North Carolina. I wake up and I feed the chickens. And I eat breakfast and then go to work. I work hard then I go to lunch. I ate an apple and milk. Then I go back to work. I was a bricklayer at Hayes Plantation. After that I went to my house and I went to sleep.
Christian Craddock, 1st Grade
My name is Joe Welcome and I am a bricklayer, stonemason and plasterer. My job is hard but I am a hired out slave. I am also an artisan. A hired out slave means a slave's master sent him or her to work for someone else. Today I worked on St. Paul's Episcopal Church making a brick floor.
Myhari Bell, 1st Grade
I am Joe Welcome. I am a plasterer and I am going to make a house. I made a brick house. I woke up and put on my work clothes, then I ate eggs for breakfast. I rode in my carriage to work and I worked in the snow and had bare feet. I worked on St. Paul's Episcopal Church. At the end of the day, I go home very tired because I work hard as a builder making houses.