MORGAN, RUBY

Ruby Morgan was born on 12 March 1922 to James Morgan and Jennie Burnett Morgan.¹Ruby Morgan death certificate: North Carolina State Archives; Raleigh, North Carolina; North Carolina Death Certificates. Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/259347:1121.dll : accessed 16 Feb 2023. Original data: North Carolina State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics. North Carolina Death Certificates. Microfilm S.123. Rolls 19-242, 280, 313-682, 1040-1297. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina. The Morgans were an African-American family that lived in what was known as Durham’s 4th Ward.²North Carolina State Archives; Raleigh, North Carolina; North Carolina Death Certificates. Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/259347:1121.dll : accessed 16 Feb 2023. Original data: North Carolina State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics. North Carolina Death Certificates. Microfilm S.123. Rolls 19-242, 280, 313-682, 1040-1297. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina. James and Jennie were married on 24 September 1912.³Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Marriage Records, 1741-2011 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1286250:60548 : accessed 16 Feb 2023. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC. James worked as a janitor/cleaner at a college; Jennie did not work for much of their marriage.⁴US Census and Durham City Directories from various years.

At the time of Ruby’s birth, James and Jennie had two other children: Jennie Bell and Bessie.⁵Year: 1920; Census Place: Durham Ward 4, Durham, North Carolina; Roll: T625_1292; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 58. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/27179591:6061 : accessed 16 Feb 2023. Original data: Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: https://www.archives.gov/research/census. Note: Enumeration Districts 819-839 are on roll 323 (Chicago City). Jennie had been pregnant the year before, but went into early labor in January 1921. The baby, a male, did not survive.⁶North Carolina State Archives; Raleigh, North Carolina; North Carolina Death Certificate. Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/602294568:1121 : accessed 16 Feb 2023. Original data: North Carolina State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics. North Carolina Death Certificates. Microfilm S.123. Rolls 19-242, 280, 313-682, 1040-1297. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina.

Ruby died on 2 August 1922. She was only four months old. The cause of death was written as anasarca and acute chronic nephritis; in other words, extreme swelling of the whole body and inflamed kidneys. The kidney condition might have contributed to the swelling and Ruby’s eventual death.⁷Ruby Morgan death certificate.

Ruby’s original burial place was listed as Hickstown Cemetery on her death certificate. However, the Find a Grave website lists her as buried in Geer Cemetery.⁸“Ruby Morgan,” Find a Grave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/31370406/ruby-morgan : accessed 16 Feb 2023 Hickstown is now known as the Crest Street neighborhood in Durham, just minutes away from the Durham VA Medical Center.⁹“Hickstown / Crest Steet,” Open Durham. https://www.opendurham.org/buildings/hickstown-crest-street :accessed 16 Feb 2023. James and Jennie Morgan went on to have other children: a boy named Jessie, and three more girls named Annie, Charlene, and Peggie Ann.¹⁰Year: 1940; Census Place: Durham, Durham, North Carolina; Roll: m-t0627-02903; Page: 18A; Enumeration District: 32-31. Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/153243743:2442 : accessed 16 Feb 2023. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940. T627, 4,643 rolls.

James Morgan died at age 40, ten years after Ruby. He was also buried at Hickstown Cemetery.¹¹North Carolina State Archives; Raleigh, North Carolina; North Carolina Death Certificates. Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1843977:1121 : accessed 16 Feb 2023. Original data: North Carolina State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics. North Carolina Death Certificates. Microfilm S.123. Rolls 19-242, 280, 313-682, 1040-1297. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina. However, neither he nor any of Ruby’s other documented relatives are listed as being buried in or moved to Geer Cemetery. At this time, no explanation has been found for this apparent contradiction. Was Ruby’s body moved? Is one of these sources in error?

Whether Ruby rests in Geer or not, the story of displacement is one that is quite common in Durham, where African-Americans are disproportionately displaced—in life and death–for the sake of development. In the 1980s, over a thousand graves were moved from the original Hickstown Cemetery to New Bethel Memorial Gardens, Glenview Cemetery, and Beechwood Cemetery by the State Department of Transportation in order to expand the Durham Expressway, NC-147.¹²“Hickstown / Crest Steet,” Open Durham.

The expansion of the freeway also threatened the integrity of the Hickstown neighborhood. Initial plans involved providing housing relocation funds for residents to move elsewhere, but residents fought to keep their community intact. Rather than be destroyed, the whole neighborhood was relocated, with sixty-five houses moved to open land and more homes/apartments constructed. The story of the Morgan family and Hickstown neighborhood is only one piece of the larger history of displacement within Durham, but it emphasizes the need for documentary work to begin to repair harm done to both the living and the dead.

BORN: 12 Mar 1922.¹⁴Ruby Morgan death certificate.

DIED: 2 Aug 1922.¹⁵Ruby Morgan death certificate.

BIRTH PLACE: Durham NC.¹⁶Ruby Morgan death certificate.

DEATH PLACE: Durham NC.¹⁷Ruby Morgan death certificate.

SPOUSE: N/A

PARENTS: James Morgan and Jennie Burnett Morgan.¹⁸Ruby Morgan death certificate.

CHILDREN: N/A

OTHER FAMILY: N/A

FAMILY BURIED IN GEER CEMETERY: None.

OCCUPATION: N/A

CHURCH: N/A

AFFILIATIONS: N/A

ADDRESS: 122 Rowan Alley, Durham. ¹⁹1920 US Census Durham.

MILITARY SERVICE: N/A