Tobacco & Community
Stephen Slade's creation of Brightleaf tobacco created a cash crop of the Piedmont, which became a critical part of the economies in Durham and Danville. Many members of Danville's Black community worked in the tobacco industry. This community played a significant role in Claudius 'C.B.' Claiborne's life and upbringing.
Claudius Barrett ‘C.B.’ Claiborne is a Danville, Virginia native who was born in 1947. His great aunt, who he knew as his grandmother, worked in the Danville tobacco plants producing Brightleaf. The production and sale of tobacco was a prominent part of Danville’s economy in the ‘50s and ‘60s when Claiborne grew up, and parts of the city smelled like tobacco constantly during the harvesting season.
Learn more about C.B. Claiborne's family here.
Interior of a tobacco warehouse in Danville, Virginia (postcard). Gilliam, Steve. “Tobacco: Brought Danville, Virginia, Fame and Fortune.” Danvile Register, 4 July 1976, p. 1.
https://ncccha.blogspot.com/2010/07/tobacco-brought-danville-virginia-fame.html
Danville’s Black community was incredibly devoted to fostering education in youth, and Claiborne encountered many elders who fought to nurture his talent and give him opportunities. As a high school student at John M. Langston, Claiborne was very academically dedicated and a member of the National Honor Society. Many members of Claiborne’s family were teachers and principals, and they raised him to get good grades and seek higher education. One of his high school mentors, Doris Wilson, encouraged Claiborne to take the national achievement exam that led to him receiving a presidential scholarship to college.
Caption: Doris Wilson, bottom right, was among Black faculty and staff with strong academic backgrounds who led segregated John M. Langston high school. This photo shows some of the teachers from the 1964-1965 academic year. John M. Langston High School. 'The Lion 1965'. 1965.
"There is no more eloquent expression of the racial climate in Danville...than what occurred at lovely Ballou Park..."
- Barry Jacobs, writer
Ballou Park had a court next to the Main Street that anyone could see. White and Black players would meet in Ballou Park on weekends and play. But one day, the police showed up. They took away the balls and then the hoops, where to this day, a bare strip of asphalt remains. This was how life was in "The Last Capital of the Confederacy".
Sports in Danville
Growing up, Claudius felt the influence of multiple sports. Jack Caldwell, a local Black coach, taught him tennis. Coach Caldwell hired Claudius and his friend William Flippen to paint the lines of Danville's segregated all-white courts. With Caldwell's knowledge, Claudius and Flippen often snuck onto the court to play in an act of civil disobedience, which led to the official desegregation of the city's public tennis courts. A picture of Claudius and Flippen playing can now be found at that same tennis court.
Baseball was originally Claudius' greatest athletic passion. Due to Danville's strict commitment to racial segregation, Black players in Major League Baseball(MLB) boarded with Black families such as the Claiborne's on the road and during spring training. Because his aunt hosted boarders at their home, Claudius spent a lot of time with baseball icons such as Felipe Alou and Willie Mcvoey, pioneers in the MLB's integration.
Caption: Claudius Claiborne and the basketball team at John M. Langston high school in 1965, which Claiborne was the captain of. Claiborne is 8th from the left and Coach Hank Allen is the bottom center. John M. Langston High School. 'The Lion 1965'. 1965.
It was not until Claudius and a friend attended a basketball tryout led by Ed Cheryl, a former player under the venerated coach Clarence “Big House” Gaines at Winston-Salem State, that he started playing basketball.
At John M. Langston High School, Claudius joined the basketball team and led the Lions to the VIA (The segregated Virginia Interscholastic Association) state championship game as a senior. The team was coached by Hank Allen, a mentor for the young student athlete.
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Basketball In Danville
Claudius Claiborne was encouraged to attend Duke by Coach Allen and Coach Bennie Dix, a graduate of The North Carolina College for Negroes in Durham (now North Carolina Central University). With a strong academic and athletic background, Claiborne wanted to be able to pursue engineering in college and also play basketball. Although Duke had integrated the undergraduate class with a few Black students in 1963, in 1965 they had not desegregated the athletic program. Hank Allen met with the Duke Director of Admissions, Fred Daniels, and worked out a deal for Claiborne to be admitted as a student and as a basketball player. However, as a part of this deal Duke did not grant Claiborne an athletic scholarship.
Hank Allen, Claudius’ coach and mentor. He was the one who negotiated the deal for Claudius to play at Duke.
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Hank Allen, Langston High Yearbook, 1965