The scholarship is named after the Howe family, namely descendants Alfred Augustus, Anthony, Pompey, John Harriss, and Valentine. The Howes were skilled African-American builders and carpenters in the Wilmington area. Some members of the family were also prominent local educators, like Mary Washington Howe, after whom the pre-K center is named.
The scholarship is possible through the efforts of Lucy McCauley, a descendant of one of the 1898 coup d’etat perpetrators, William McCoy, and Cynthia Brown, a Howe descendant who has since passed away. McCauley initially funded the annual scholarship through her inheritance from the sale of the McCoy House, which one of the patriarchs of the Howe family, Alfred Augustus, built. Alfred Augustus also served as a member of the Board of Alderman, city assessor, and former director of the Freedman’s Saving & Trust Bank.
The North Carolina Community Foundation manages the scholarship endowment.
Kenneth Chestnut is on the St. Stephen AME Scholarship Committee, which will be evaluating the applicants. He’s from Wilmington and graduated from Williston High School in 1964. In 1968, he became one of Duke University’s first African American graduates from the College of Engineering.
“The idea is to get students interested in building careers, which could be architecture, any type of design, construction as a contractor, and that would include scholarships for students wanting to get a bachelor's degree or an associate's degree, because we don't see enough, particularly African-American students, interested in this field,” he said.
When asked about that lack of interest, Chestnut responded, “I think it's a matter of perhaps exposure or lack of role models,” adding that some might perceive these are low-wage jobs. He, too, offered his services as a mentor to this future scholarship winner in the hopes that he could share his expertise in construction services.
One previous scholarship winner, Kweli King, is now studying engineering at UNC Charlotte. This year’s scholarship recipient will be announced in June.
Click here for the application, due May 1, 2025
Links
Tragic history provides impetus for scholarship fund North Carolina Community Foundation
Editor's Note: This story has been updated to include information about NCCF.
