SANFORD, Fla. – The Race, Equality, Equity and Inclusion Committee for the city of Sanford plans to commemorate Goldsboro’s history through a storytelling quilt as part of its Pathway to Reconciliation Project.
On Saturday, the REEI Committee along with the city of Sanford held an event to collect historical narratives about Goldsboro, which will be incorporated into the commemorative quilt design.
According to the Goldsboro Museum, the community originally existed as an independent city, incorporated in 1891. However, in 1911, Forrest Lake orchestrated the dissolution of both Goldsboro’s and Sanford’s charters, resulting in Goldsboro’s absorption into the city of Sanford.
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Barbara Coleman-Foster, co-chair of the REEI Committee, said quilters from the Goldsboro community have volunteered their expertise for the project.
“It can be created or imagined in such a way that it tells a story that people can really take hold of and grasp,” Coleman-Foster said. “One of the key pieces of the Pathways to Reconciliation Project was about sharing history, and so the quilt will be a way to do that visually and in a way that is meaningful.”
REEI Committee member Kenneth Bentley expressed appreciation for the city’s willingness to acknowledge this chapter of its past.
“This is the Sanford where we represent the African American community and this is the Sanford where we have the African American community and this is the Sanford where we teach African American history. That’s what we have to do now. This reconciliation is a whole process of that,” Bentley said.
According to Coleman-Foster, once quilters finalize the design, the project could be finished within a few months.
Community members interested in contributing their Goldsboro stories to the quilt project can reach out to Sanford’s Community Relations and Neighborhood Engagement Director, Nicole Osburn at nicole.osburn@sanfordfl.gov.
[WATCH: Goldsboro Museum highlights ‘rise and fall’ of a once thriving all-black Seminole County town]