Cape Fear Academy student wins Thatch memorial essay contest at 1898 Symposium

November 12, 2023

Conor Doherty,

WILMINGTON (WWAY) — This past Friday marked the 125th anniversary of the 1898 Wilmington Massacre, and the Wilmington Journal Breakfast Club held an event to honor and remember one of the darkest days in the city’s history.

The club held its 2nd 1898 Symposium at Williston Middle School Saturday.

As part of the symposium, the winner of the club’s inaugural Mary Alice Jervay Thatch memorial essay competition was announced. Emily Powell — an 11th grader at Cape Fear Academy — won out of a total of 26 students participating.

She says it was interesting to learn more about something that isn’t always talked about in school.

“I learned a lot of new things. I learned more of the facts about the event because it’s not really something widely talked about today and so, it was good to kind of learn all of the details about it and about what happened,” Powell said.

Also in attendance at the symposium were several PBS camera crews, who were getting video as part of “American Experience” — which will feature an episode about the massacre next November.