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 William “Smitty” Smith - Differences between Rock Masonry and Stone Masonry (clip)

William Smith: The term, “stone mason” is misunderstood. Sometimes, basically what we did in the local area is we were rock masons. Stone masons are different. Being a stone mason, you have to cut, shape, and make the stones fit. Rock mason is not that way. You just take a rock as it is and lay it…

 William “Smitty” Smith - Developing an Eye (clip)

William Smith: With brick and blocks everything is straight, it is dimensional. With stone it is not dimensional. You have to develop an eye and when we say eye, that means you can pick up a rock and find a place in the wall for it. You know? So, that is an ongoing thing. So, if you were, we’d never…

 William “Smitty” Smith - Learning Brick and Stone Masonry (clip)

William Smith: I had a masonry class in high school for one year and that was being a brick mason. Actually, I was trained as a brick mason, and I became a stone mason in the later years. Enjoyed doing stonework because it was very creative and that was the part that really interested me.

 William “Smitty” Smith - Pride in His Work (clip)

William Smith: I was not an academic person so building was something that I could do and I could look at it after it was finished and brag about it because it was hands on and I enjoyed doing things with my hands. Danielle Dulken: And when you say brag about it, you must have been very good at…

 Vernelle Brooks Jones and Charles Brooks - Young People Going into Construction Today (clip)

Charles Brooks: As far as young people getting into this right now. You don’t really see a lot of people going into the trades, like becoming plumbers, carpenters. For one thing the pay scale, I mean everything, it’s like everyone wants to do IT work, sit at home, got your computer, making a lot of…

 Vernelle Brooks Jones and Charles Brooks - Subdivision (clip)

Charles Brooks: For me, I would say a lot of hard work. Back then if you had your own business you had to put a lot of hard work into it and there was a lot to overcome as far as finances if you wanted to go out and do stuff on your own, it was kind of hard to get the financing to do things, so I…

 Vernelle Brooks Jones and Charles Brooks - Family Legacy (clip)

Vernelle Brooks Jones: I would say that you know they were very persistent in their trade. In spite of the lack of funds and lack of opportunities and all the other things that go around that, they ended up being successful builders. And to this day, the legacy of what they did years ago is still…

 Vernelle Brooks Jones and Charles Brooks - Giving Back (clip)

Charles Brooks: My father and grandfather, their pricing would always be a lot lower than if they had gone to a larger contractor. So, a lot of people we did work for, we, my grandfather and my father, saved them a lot of money. Vernelle Brooks Jones: So, I will just add to that, that unfortunately…

 Vernelle Brooks Jones and Charles Brooks - Working with Homeowners (clip)

Charles Brooks: I mean they would come to my father and grandfather with a set of plans, they would go from there. Sometimes you had to deviate from the plans to save money. But they definitely had to work hand in hand with the owners to find what they had and couldn’t have. They definitely dealt…

 Vernelle Brooks Jones and Charles Brooks - Differences between Contractors and Subcontractors (clip)

Charles Brooks: Subcontractors usually they are not licensed, especially for like my grandfather and my father, they were carpenters. So, like when I say they subbed that means they would go in once the foundation was put in on a house, they would go in and do all of the framing, do all of the…

 Vernelle Brooks Jones and Charles Brooks - Becoming Contractors (clip)

Charles Brooks: My grandfather and my father, they started out as subcontractors and they used to do a lot of work for like JP Co. Force Security Builders. They even did some framing for Tate Construction. In the early 70s my father ended up obtaining his contractor’s license and that is when they…

 Vernelle Brooks Jones and Charles Brooks - Segregation (clip)

Vernelle Brooks Jones: I will say, tell a little story about this. My father shared this with us, he always went with his dad wherever he went because he was the one that took up the building aspect of the business. He was browner in complexion, and he said he would go in downtown Chapel Hill to one…

 Vernelle Brooks Jones and Charles Brooks - Family History (clip)

Vernelle Brooks Jones: Because back, all the way back to my great grandfather who was also a builder. His, he was the first Charles David Brooks. And then my grandaddy was Charles David Brooks II. And onto my dad, Charles David Brooks III and my brother Charles David Brooks IV. And my nephew is…

 William E. "Smitty" Smith

 Collene Rogers - On her father's career in the trades

“At his (Walter Riggsbee) funeral, Reverend Manley said, “How many people had to call him at 1 o’clock in the morning, 2 o’clock in the morning, and he came?” I think every hand in the church went up.” - Collene Rigsbee This interview is part of the Marian Cheek Jackson Center’s Builders Series.…

 Eugene Farrar

 Vernelle Brooks Jones and Charles David Brooks - On their family history and business

"They had a very high reputation in the community. They did excellent work. One thing that my father always said, that when they finished their job, they didn’t have to go back…They did quality work, quality construction." -Vernelle Brooks Jones "I loved just doing things with my hands and then…

 Albert Washington - On his work as a builder

“Everything you do, just make it look good and have pride in what you do. And we had a lot of pride in what we did.” - Albert Williams Albert Washington is a former brick mason and Black business owner. He and his business partner, Barry Kelly, have been in business together for 37 years. Over that…

 Bishop Thomas L. Hoyt, Jr. at the Empowerment Banquet

Bishop Thomas L. Hoyt, Jr. holds William Graves, III (Bishop Graves grandson) at the Empowerment Banquet in November 1999. The banquet took place at the Ramada Inn Motel in Tupelo, Mississippi. Photo courtesy of Patricia "Pat" Jackson and St. Joseph CME Church.

 The 1999 Annual Conference of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church

This is a photo from the 1999 Annual Conference of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Front row (from left to right): Reverend Jenkins, Mrs. Jenkins, Rev. Flounoy, Daughter of Rev. Flounoy, Ocie H. Hoyt (Women Presiding Elder in a Mississippi district) Second row…

 Thanksgiving Day with the Hoyt Family

Bishop Hoyt and his family spent Thanksgiving day in 1999 at the home of his former secretary, Mrs. Hogan. From left to right: Thomas L. Hoyt, III, Doria, Bishop Thomas L. Hoyt, Jr., Harold (son-in-law), Mrs. Hogan (sitting in the background) Photo courtesy of Patricia "Pat" Jackson and St. Joseph…

 Bishops' Wives at Bishop Henry C. Bunton's Funeral

This is a photo of the wives of Bishops in the CME church at Bishop Henry C. Bunton's funeral in Memphis, Tennessee. The funeral took place in September 1999. From left to wife the women are: Yvonne Gilmore (Dallas, TX), Elizabeth Coleman (Retired), Ocie H. Hoyt (Shreveport, LA), Wylene Broomfield…

Soul in a Bowl Cookbook

This cookbook was created by members of St. Joseph CME Church in 2009.

Pamphlet from The 1995 Martin Luther King, Jr. Lecture/Preaching Series

Bishop Thomas L. Hoyt, Jr. was one of the featured speakers for the 1995 Martin Luther King, Jr. Lecture/Preaching Series. The series was presented by the Duke University Divinity School The Office of Black Church Affairs and the Black Seminarians Union. Photo courtesy of Patricia "Pat" Jackson and…