The Peter Oliver Project with Jessie Tefft '90 and Sandra Brown

In the late 18th century, a young enslaved man named Peter Oliver was sold into the Moravian community of Bethania, North Carolina. He eventually served as a potter under the direction of master potter Rudolph Christ in the thriving town of Salem. By all accounts a talented and tenacious man, Oliver was able to save enough money to buy his own freedom, and later had a farm adjacent to Salem until his death in 1810. There are plans to share Oliver’s inspiring story at an outdoor destination called the Peter Oliver Pavilion Gallery in downtown Winston-Salem, on the land that he farmed over 200 years ago. Today, Jessie Tefft, a Wake woman helping make this a reality, is joined with Sandra Brown, a descendent of Peter Oliver, to talk about his story and the monument planned to honor him.