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injervibv of Ii$~ Mary ‚ane Wileon
	portirnotrt?i, Virginia	. /‘\>	~	~ ‚
	By ~ Thelzna DLUl8tOfl	~	/~f ~ ~ ~	~ • .
	NEGRO PIONE~ER TEACHER O~‘ PORTSMOUTH, YIRd~IA	~ ‚~ ..	~ ~ (_•~ 5~
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	~	One of the rooms in the Old Folks Home for Co~o~~ Ports~uth~ ‚Vir- ‚ (~S~%~ ginia is occupied by an ex-slave -- one of the firet Ne~o~ęaŕ~ki1i,e of Porte-
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c~? mouth.	.
On meeting Miss Mary Jane Wilson, very. little questioning was needed to get
		her to tell of her life. Drawing her chair near a small etove, abe said, “my
‚		Mother a~d Father was slaves, and when I was born, that made s~e a slave. I
		was the only child. My Mother was owned by one family, and ~y Father was
		owned by another family. My mother and father was allowed to live together.
		One day my father ‘s maatah took my father to Norfolk and put him in a Jail to
		stay until he could sell him. My miasue bought my father so he could be with
		 ~A â~e
		    ~ “Thiring this time I was small, and I didn‘t have so much work to do. I
		‘jus helped around the house.“
	~	     “I was in the yard one day, and I saw so many men come marching down the
		street, I ran and told my mother what I~d seen. She tried to tell me ~ehat it was
		all about, but t couldn‘t understand her. Not long after that we was free.“ . ~
		     Taking a long breath, the old wonian said, “My father went to work in the
		Norfolk Navy Yard as a teamster. He began right away buying us a home. We was
		one of the first Negro-land owners in Portsmouth after emancipation. . My father
		bulled his own house. It ‘e only two blocks from here, and it still stands with
		few improvements.“ . .
		     With a broad smile Miss Wilson added,“I didn‘t get any teachings ~ien ‘I
was a slave. Ihen I was free, I went to $chool. The‘ffrst,.school I went to, was
		held in a church. Soon‘ they builded a ibho~ building that was called, ‘Chest-
		nut Street Academy ‚ ‚ and I went there • After f inishing Chestnut Street Academy, ~
••:		~ went to Hampton Institute, In 1874, six years after Hampton Institute was
		started, I graduated.“
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