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500 people attend ceremony to unveil centennial marker

John Hinton/Winston-Salem Journal

About 500 people attended a ceremony Thursday to unveil a marker commemorating the consolidation of the city of Winston and the town of Salem on May 9, 1913.

Mayor Allen Joines told the audience that the merged community has a “strong moral fabric” that has helped the city prosper for the next 100 years.

“It’s a special day for Winston-Salem,” Joines said. “We celebrate this wonderful city.”

Joines led city officials in unveiling the marker that was placed on a pole on First Street, near the city’s stroll way. Joines called the marker a legacy to the city.

The ceremony, which was held in front of City Hall, was a prelude to three additional events marking the city’s centennial.

Before the unveiling, several members of the Winston-Salem City Council also praised the city for achieving a century of progress. They noted how the city thrived with its industrial base and how it has transformed into a community of arts and innovation.

Council member Vivian Burke thanked the city’s founders who persevered in convincing voters in Winston and Salem to approve the merger.

“We know they struggled 100 years ago,” Burke said. “It wasn’t easy.”

Council member Derwin Montgomery said the residents of Winston and Salem “worked together to overcome obstacles we faced as a city.”

U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-5th, said the city has a strong history.

“It has an extremely positive future,” Foxx said.

State Sen. Earline Parmon, D-Forsyth, read an N.C. House resolution that honors Winston-Salem on its 100th birthday.

Torre Jessup, district director for U.S. Rep. Mel Watt, D-12th, and Mike Finley, a field representative for U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., told the crowd that American flags were flown Thursday at the U.S. Capitol in Washington in honor of Winston-Salem.

The ceremony had a somber moment when Nonnie Egbuna, 15, a ninth-grader at Paisley Magnet School, talked about the city’s Jim Crow years during her performance with Authoring Action, a spoken word performance group for teens.

She mentioned the white only signs during the segregation era. Those signs, Egbuna said, “dictated the movement of a black man.”

The city has mostly overcome its legacy of injustice and bigotry to become an integrated, diverse community, she said.

During the ceremony, a fire truck with its red lights flashing and siren blaring sped down Main Street and turned right on First Street, on its way to a call.

Joines took the interruption in stride.

“It just demonstrates we have great city services in Winston-Salem,” Joines told the audience.