Johnny A. Wooten

Image source: Johnny A. Wooten, The Eppesonian, 1957, pg. 9

As band director at his high school alma mater, C. M. Eppes High in Greenville, Johnny Wooten impacted tens of thousands of students and community members during his thirty-year career as a music educator and performer. Wooten also played a pioneering role in the desegregation of East Carolina College through musical performances he participated in during the late 1950s following the ECC Board of Trustees’ decision to allow African American entertainers on campus. The latter decision was prompted by the unexpected appearance of an African American musician as part of a Dave Brubeck concert in early 1958. While the line had been crossed, the Brubeck concert presented desegregation in unexpected and unofficial ways: one of the band members had fallen sick, resulting in a substitute musician who happened to be African American. Student response to the surprise development on stage was overwhelmingly supportive, encouraging the Board of Trustees to approve, officially and publicly, African American performers on campus. The first all-black band to perform, The Cavaliers, played at East Carolina that summer, and then returned in the fall of 1958 for a concert in Wright Auditorium. Johnny Wooten, a Greenville native, played trombone for The Cavaliers in their pioneering appearances.

Two years later when Senator John F. Kennedy visited Greenville on Sept. 17, 1960 for a campaign stop at East Carolina’s College Stadium, Wooten and the Eppes Marching Band were the first musical talents to greet him as his motorcade crossed the Tar River. The Eppes Band, arranged on the west side of Greene Street across from the Sycamore Hill Baptist Church (Wooten's church), played “Carolina in the Morning” for Kennedy’s entourage. Later, the white suit Wooten wore that morning was put on permanent display at the C. M. Eppes Cultural Heritage Center in Greenville. The prominent role given Wooten and the C. M. Eppes Marching Band in hosting the appearance of Senator Kennedy, then a president candidate, was unprecedented in the history of Greenville and Pitt County. Once again, through his exceptional musical talents and relentless love for sharing them, Wooten helped pioneer the desegregation of East Carolina and the larger community.

Sources

• “Brubeck Plays Thursday.” East Carolinian. January 23, 1963. Vol. 38, no. 24. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/38792
• “Cavaliers To Perform Here October 29.” East Carolinian. October 23, 1958. Vol. 34, No. 5. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/38611
• “First Negro Entertainers on Campus.” East Carolinian. May 14, 1959. Vol. 34, no. 25. P. 3. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/38631
• Grabar, Henry. “How Dave Brubeck Used His Talents to Fight for Integration.” CityLab. December 5, 2012. https://www.citylab.com/equity/2012/12/dave-brubecks-real-legacy-integration/4080/
• Lilly, Nancy and Margeart Geddie. “Cussin' N' Discussin.'” East Carolinian. February 13, 1958. P. 2.
• “Minutes of the Board of Trustees, February 25, 1958.” University Archives # 01-01-25 February1958. P. 221. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/10269
• Reflector Staff. “Wooten portrait unveiled.” Daily Reflector. November 10, 2014. https://www.reflector.com/news/wooten-portrait-unveiled/article_e2fc2bb7-5ff9-5bf8-a00f-bc005bb61fa7.html
• Reflector Staff. “C. M. Eppes Chorus presents musical.” Daily Reflector. December 20, 2020. https://www.reflector.com/news/c-m-eppes-chorus-presents-musical/article_c78442d4-c4cf-547b-bcc7-89ecaee0f8e9.html
• Reflector Staff. “Church honors living legends.” Daily Reflector. November 24, 2014. https://www.reflector.com/news/local/church-honors-living-legends/article_35e80049-9b3d-522e-b309-4c521604d967.html
• Reflector Staff. “Eppes puts uniforms on display.” Daily Reflector. June 19, 2015. https://www.reflector.com/news/local/eppes-puts-uniforms-on-display/article_1b7a922a-dfa7-506c-ab74-78575343ccdc.html
• Reflector Staff. “Music broke down barriers.” Daily Reflector. November 16, 2014. https://www.reflector.com/news/local/music-broke-down-barriers/article_0b0d5340-0a90-5618-b877-df9737f35c80.html
• Johnny Wooten faculty photograph. The Eppesonian, 1958, p. 9. https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/39017

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