An 153-year-old historic site in Edgecombe County held an event Saturday to celebrate new leadership taking over.
The Franklinton Center at Bricks' new executive director is Douglas Wooten. He replaced Vivian Lucas, who retired in 2022. The center has been repurposed over the years. It started out as a slave plantation in the 1800s and then became a school for Black students in 1871, after the Civil War.
Wooten said the center is sacred and has transformed many lives over the years.
“The Bricks school was a place where African Americans could come to refine their skills as individuals,” he said. “It was a place where they could come to learn to advance their knowledge in different things (such) as agriculture and different things (such) as manufacture work.”
Wooten said the Bricks school later merged with a Christian School from the town of Franklinton in Franklin County, but both schools closed in the 1900s.
“Now, the center is used for retreats to host different organizations,” said Wooten. “We're also a land innovation, where we actually provide produce for the community here in Bricks.”
Wooten said moving forward, he and his team plan to create an African American Museum at the center. A leadership ceremony was held Saturday at the Franklinton Center at Bricks for Wooten.
