The Asheboro/Randolph County NAACP is unveiling a new memorial Thursday honoring enslaved residents in observance of Juneteenth.
For the last four years, local NAACP members have searched through old deeds, census data, police records, newspaper articles and more to compile a list of enslaved Randolph residents.
They’re up to about 1,600 names. And using all of those documents, Chapter President Chip Foust says they were able to piece together stories for some of these individuals.
“People were brought up to believe that there were no slaves in this area, that this was the Quaker belt, and these people were against slavery," Foust said. "But what we now know through research is 10% of Randolph County's population in 1860 were enslaved individuals.”
The organization will be unveiling a memorial with all of their names outside of the Randolph County Courthouse at 10 a.m. on Thursday.
Local storytellers will be there to share what they’ve learned about their lives. The memorial will be open to the public through Saturday.