The Reuben Brown House Preservation Society, Inc. (RBHPS) is a non-profit organization with a mission to encourage and promote awareness, participation and appreciation of cultural, historic and fine arts in Columbus County and to preserve the Reuben Brown House and other local historic buildings. Reuben Brown House is open by appointment and is available for small group meetings, special programs, art exhibits, community, civic and educational events.
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We are thrilled to announce Reuben Brown House Preservation Society (RBHPS) received a 2025 Brunswick Electric Membership Corporation (BEMC) Community Grant for $2,500 to fund the RBHPS living history program and a community event celebrating America 250 NC at Reuben Brown House on April 11, 2026. Pictured left to right at Reuben Brown House is the RBHPS executive committee president Dr. Dan Strickland and committee members Donna Scott, Stuart Rogers, Nan Leggett, Tom Leggett, Pat Ray and Lisa Epperson. Missing is Margo Wright.
2025 Brunswick Electric Membership Corporation (BEMC) Community Grant
RBHPS members celebrated a successful year of community, civic, and literary projects on Tuesday, March 25, at the annual membership dinner catered by Whiteville Woman’s Civic League at the Columbus County Arts Council Art Studio.
Dr. Dan Strickland, president of RBHPS, welcomed everyone and asked each committee chair for a brief report. The evening program included a poetry reading by special guest Jeffrey Cox, nephew of the late prominent poet and Whiteville native A.R. Ammons, and an update by Pat Ray on the successful A.R. Ammons Poetry Contest award ceremony at Celebrate The Arts student art festival held March 22 at South Columbus High School.
RBHPS Historic Landmark Plaque chairperson Donna Scott recognized Jess Hill and Brett Burroughs for their support of the plaque program. As of March, 22 historic properties have been awarded with RBHPS landmark plaques, with several pending.
Hill spoke about the importance of preserving Columbus County’s history and gave a brief account of his connections with newly awarded landmark properties, including the Historic Columbus County Courthouse, Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church, and his father, Attorney Jim E. Hill, Jr.'s law office located in Whiteville’s Courthouse Square.
Burroughs shared the story of his family’s landmark plaque property Burrough’s Station, built by his grandparents Lizzie and Garland Burroughs in 1927. The historic gas station and grocery, one of just a few still standing in Columbus County, is located on Highway 701 near Williams Township. The Burroughs family ran the business until 2021. Grandsons Brett Burroughs and Layne Burroughs are restoring the property that played a prominent and historical role in the community for many years.
RBHPS Treasurer Tom Leggett reported on the 2024 and proposed 2025 budget, which was discussed and approved unanimously.
Vice president Lisa Epperson announced a $2,500 award granted by Brunswick Electric Community Grants for funds to create a living history program for student visitors and for the upcoming America 250 NC family event scheduled for April 11, 2026,
Annual Meeting
at Rueben Brown House. The event will include a visit by Moore’s Creek colonial soldier reenactors, living history cooking demonstrations, and characters in period dress telling stories of life in historic Columbus County. Epperson confirmed the 2025 slate of officers with Dr. Dan Singletary as president, Lisa Epperson as vice president, Tom Leggett as Treasurer, and Nan Leggett as Secretary.
Stuart Rogers reported the Rebuen Brown House exterior was painted in November. Repairs during the year included replacing damaged siding and porch decking, shutter adjustments, and plumbing, as well as minor repairs to the fence, smoke house, and detached kitchen. A picket fence painting project is scheduled for Oct. 4, 2025.
If you are interested in being a part of RBHPS historic preservation efforts and literary events in Columbus County, donate to RBHPS, or join our email list, please visit reubenbrownhouse.org/join-rbhps for more information or email reubenbrownhouse@gmail.com.
The Columbus County and Whiteville City Schools, Reuben Brown House Preservation Society and Columbus County Arts Council hosted a free poetry workshop on November 13 and 14. In preparation for the annual A.R. Ammons Poetry Contest, the workshop included sessions for students, teachers, and adults interested in poetry.
Special guest poet Gideon Young led three sessions with students on November 13, and teacher and adult poetry workshops on November 14.
Recent work by Young has appeared in Callaloo, Our State Magazine, The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku (2023), Best Spiritual Literature 2022 (Orison Books) and Black Fire—This Time, Vol. 2 (Willow Books, 2024). He has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize.
Poetry Workshop
Special guest poet Gideon Young. Submitted photo.
The Dr. J.D. McLean Cottage, built in 1918, is located at 208 Lakeshore Drive in Lake Waccamaw. Rob Kelly Jr. and Pam Kelly own the cottage, and the Kelly family has owned the home since 1934.
On August 31, 2024, approximately 80 Kelly family members attended the historic plaque presentation and family reunion held at the home to celebrate the 106-year-old landmark.
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Above: The Dr. J. D. McLean cottage, built in 1918, is located at 208 Lakeshore Drive in Lake Waccamaw.
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Left:
L to R are Dr. Dan Strickland (President Reuben Brown House Preservation Society), Donna Scott (chair of the RBHPS historic plaque committee), and homeowners Pam and Rob Kelly, Jr.
McLean/Kelly Cottage Plaque Presentation
Whiteville Garden Club hosted a bake sale and exhibit showing photography by Fred Meekins at Rueben Brown House during the annual garden tour Saturday, June 4. Vinson Bowers was on-hand to sign his new book, Midnight Terror.
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E. L. Vinson Bowers grew up in Whiteville, North Carolina, and graduated from North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina's Young Executive Program. He has enjoyed a fulfilling career in construction sales. Bowers is an outdoorsman, golfer, and lives in New Bern, North Carolina. In his novel Midnight Terror, Bowers attempts to uncover the truth of National Airlines Flight 2511 crash in 1960.
Whiteville Garden Tour 2022
Annual Meeting and Spring Social
During the 2022 Annual Meeting and Spring Social, the Ruben Brown House Preservation Society members were able to enjoy each other's fellowship in the newly renovated kitchen. Amanda Bible Worley is pictured presenting a framed copy of a note including a painting by A. R. Ammons with Margo Wright (Vice President) on her left and Richard Wright (President) on her right.
Doug Sasser -
Southwind Photography Show
Resident Superior Court Judge Douglas Sasser of Hallsboro presented a showing of his photography showcasing southeastern North Carolina at Reuben Brown House.
National Book Award Winner Jason Mott-
Book Signing
National Book Award winner Jason Mott presented excerpts from his works and conducted a book signing on April 24th, 2022, for Columbus County residents. In his award winning fictional novel, Hell of a Book, Mott combines the point of view of a young black boy and a young author on book tour to discuss racial issues in the United States.
Mott provided exuberant amounts of inspiration to aspiring writers. His dream of become an author had been evolving from the age of 14. One of the reasons he delayed pursuing a writing career was due to of the lack of author role models in his community growing up; but he didn't want to regret not pursuing his dream to become a writer. Columbus County is proud to have Mott as a role model to future writers in our community. To learn more about Jason Mott or to discover his books please click here.
A virtual visit with
Jaki Shelton Green -
NC Poet Laureate
N.C. Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green presented a virtual program on February 18, 2021, for Columbus County residents. The distinguished writer will appear on Southeastern Community College’s EDU-Cable TV station.
Green is in a two-year appointment from Gov. Roy Cooper to act as the state’s ambassador of poetry.
The Society hosted the virtual visit, using CARES Act funds obtained from the N.C. Arts Council.
You can view Jaki Shelton Green's SCC Presents visit here.
Jaki Shelton Green -
NC Poet Laureate
N.C. Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green visited the DREAM Center and Central Middle School to speak to children and youth in February 2020. She spoke again at a community event at Southeastern Community College. Her visit was sponsored by the Reuben Brown House Preservation Society, Southeastern Community College, The North Carolina Humanities Council, a statewide nonprofit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and The North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, a state agency.
An evening with
U.S. Poet Laureate - Tracy Smith
U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith visited Columbus County in 2018 and spoke at Southeastern Community College to a packed auditorium. Smith is the author of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize-winning collection Life on Mars. She is a professor at Princeton University.
The poet’s visit to Columbus County was arranged by the Reuben Brown House Preservation Society as a special way of celebrating the 25th anniversary of the A.R. Ammons Poetry Contest. Numerous corporate and private sponsors contributed to the expenses of bringing Smith.
Doug Sasser -
Southwind Photography Show
Resident Superior Court Judge Douglas Sasser of Hallsboro presented a showing of his photography showcasing southeastern North Carolina at Reuben Brown House.
The A.R. Ammons Poetry Contest
with Jaki Shelton Green - NC Poet Laureate
A little bit about the A.R. Ammons poetry contest...
In 1993 RBHPS member Susan Wood came up with the idea for establishing a student poetry contest to encourage Columbus County’s students to develop an appreciation for the art of poetry and to explore their own talents at reading and writing poetry.
The poetry contest committee asked renowned poet and Columbus County native son A.R. Ammons for permission to name the contest the Annual A.R. Ammons Student Poetry Contest for Grades K – 12. Ammons agreed to the proposal and was pleased to lend his name to the event. The first contest was held in 1994. In 2011 another division was added for college students statewide. On average 700 students participate each year in five separate divisions based on grade groupings. RBHPS hosts an annual awards program to recognize the winning student poets and invites them to read their poems aloud to the audience.
Ammons was born and grew up on a Columbus County farm just outside Whiteville, NC. He left his home county to serve in World War II on a naval destroyer. He later received undergraduate and graduate degrees from Wake Forest University and the University of California at Berkeley. Although he never returned to Columbus County to live, he came back often to visit family and friends over the years. And his poetry often reflected places, experiences, and personalities from his earlier life on the farm and life in Columbus County.
Today the poetry contest thrives in Columbus County thanks to a strong community-wide effort spearheaded by RBHPS. Additionally, major partners include The News Reporter, public and private schools, businesses and civic organizations, banks, and other generous donors.
RBHPS welcomes the opportunity to encourage and recognize student poets and their poems and to honor A. R. Ammons, an extraordinary poet from the past whose poems continue to touch our souls.
A virtual visit with
Jaki Shelton Green -
NC Poet Laureate
N.C. Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green presented a virtual program on February 18, 2021, for Columbus County residents. The distinguished writer will appear on Southeastern Community College’s EDU-Cable TV station.
Green is in a two-year appointment from Gov. Roy Cooper to act as the state’s ambassador of poetry.
The Society hosted the virtual visit, using CARES Act funds obtained from the N.C. Arts Council.
You can view Jaki Shelton Green's SCC Presents visit here.
Jaki Shelton Green -
NC Poet Laureate
N.C. Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green visited the DREAM Center and Central Middle School to speak to children and youth in February 2020. She spoke again at a community event at Southeastern Community College. Her visit was sponsored by the Reuben Brown House Preservation Society, Southeastern Community College, The North Carolina Humanities Council, a statewide nonprofit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and The North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, a state agency.
U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith visited Columbus County in 2018 and spoke at Southeastern Community College to a packed auditorium. Smith is the author of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize-winning collection Life on Mars. She is a professor at Princeton University.
The poet’s visit to Columbus County was arranged by the Reuben Brown House Preservation Society as a special way of celebrating the 25th anniversary of the A.R. Ammons Poetry Contest. Numerous corporate and private sponsors contributed to the expenses of bringing Smith.
An evening with
U.S. Poet Laureate - Tracy Smith
Doug Sasser -
Southwind Photography Show
Resident Superior Court Judge Douglas Sasser of Hallsboro presented a showing of his photography showcasing southeastern North Carolina at Reuben Brown House.