You are invited to join a six-part discussion group on the 2021 Pulitzer-Prize winning non-fiction book, Wilmington’s Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy by David Zucchino. Learn about our local history and be challenged by a different and broader perspective on the present. We will read, discern, and grow together.

The discussion group will meet on six consecutive Sundays beginning Jan. 30. Before the meeting, please read the Prologue and Chapters 1 through 4 (30 pages). If you have questions about the book and/or you would like to be part of this discussion group, please contact Associate Pastor Joanna Hipp, who will provide you with the Zoom link.

Book Summary, Atlantic Monthly Press, publisher:

“By 1898 Wilmington, North Carolina, was a shining example of a mixed-race community-a bustling port city with a thriving African American middle class and a government made up of Republicans and Populists, including black alderman, police officers, and magistrates. But across the state-and the South-white supremacist Democrats were working to reverse the advances made by former slaves and their progeny. They were plotting to take back the state legislature in the November 8th election and then use a controversial editorial published by black newspaper editor Alexander Manly to trigger a “race riot” to overthrow the elected government in Wilmington.

With a coordinated campaign of intimidation and violence, the Democrats sharply curtailed the black vote and stuffed ballot boxes to steal the 1898 mid-term election. Two days later, more than 2,000 heavily armed white nightriders known as Red Shirts swarmed through Wilmington, terrorizing women and children and shooting at least sixty black men dead in the streets. The rebels forced city officials and leading black citizens to flee at gun point while hundreds of local African Americans took refuge in nearby swamps and forests. This brutal insurrection is the only violent overthrow of an elected government in U.S. history. It halted gains made by blacks and restored racism as official government policy, cementing white rule for another seventy years. It was not a “race riot” as the events of November 1898 came to be known, but rather a racially-motivated rebellion launched by white supremacists.

In Wilmington’s Lie, David Zucchino uses contemporary newspaper reports, diaries, letters, and official communications to create a gripping narrative that weaves together individual stories of hate, fear, and brutality. This is a dramatic and definitive account of a remarkable but forgotten chapter of American history”–

Pastors Robb and Joanna are teaching a course called “Being Presbyterian” in which we combine officer training with new member orientation and adult education. It is a six-week course starting Sunday, October 31 at 9:45 am. We will meet in the Fellowship Hall. This is for new members and officers to learn more about the history of the PC(USA), Southport Presbyterian Church, and each other.

We also invite anyone in the church wanting a refresher of Presbyterian history/polity or anyone who is just interested in being together to join us.

Session 1: October 31 “Who We Are”
Session 2: November 7 “Church History”
Session 3: November 14 “Reformed Beliefs”
Session 4: November 21 “Presbyterian Polity”
Session 5: November 28 “SPC Mission Statement”
Session 6: December 5 “Officer Examination”

The Reading Race discussion group is starting a new book! New people are welcome to join us for this one book. We will meet on Zoom on Tuesday, Sept. 21, at 12:30 p.m. when we will discuss the Introduction and Chapter 1 of An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz. Contact Pastor Joanna Hipp for the Zoom link or for more information.