Manassa Thomas Pope (1858 - November 13, 1934) was an American doctor and businessman who lived in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

.https://raleighnc.gov/content/PRecRecreation/Documents/HRMPopeFamily.pdf He had mixed heritage on both parents' sides. His home in Raleigh is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. He was a candidate for mayor of Raleigh in 1919 during the

Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...

era. His father was Jonas Elias Pope (1827- 1913), a carpenter who owned land in Northampton County and

Bertie County Bertie County ( , with both syllables stressed) is a county located in the northeast area of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,934. Its county seat is Windsor. The county was created in 1722 as Berti ...

, some of it rented to

sharecropper Sharecropping is a legal arrangement with regard to agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range ...

s to grow

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

. His father was a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

. Manassa T. Pope was born free. He graduated from

Shaw University Shaw University is a private Baptist historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. Founded on December 1, 1865, Shaw University is the oldest HBCU to begin offering courses in ...

and then the Leonard Medical Center in 1886. He married Lydia Walden of Winton, North Carolina in 1887. They moved to Henderson, North Carolina in 1888. Pope served there as assistant postmaster, a position achieved by political appointment. He worked in Charlotte and co-founded Queen City Drug Company in 1892 and People's Benevolent Association, an insurance business. He was an officer and surgeon in the

Spanish American War Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

in 1898.

Pope moved to Raleigh in 1899, establishing his doctor's office on Fayetteville Street and later at 13 East Hargett Street. He built his two-story brick home at 511 South Wilmington Street in 1901. The last remaining home from a once segregated neighborhood of middle class African Americans, it is now the M. T. Pope House Museum. His wife died in 1906 and he married Delia H. Phillips, an educator, the following year. They had two daughters: Evelyn and Ruth who graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and became teachers. He helped organize Mechanics and Farmers Bank in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

. Facing abuse and discrimination from a rising tide of restrictions from an organized movement for

white supremacy White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White su ...

, he ran for city council in 1919. He was a classmate and friend of James H. Young whose regiment he served in. He was related to Pocahontas Pope and Cleero Pope.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pope, Manassa 1858 births 1934 deaths

Further reading

References