Cleopatra Harker Lawton, speaking at the Nov. 20 Craven County Board of Education meeting, urged the board to advance a proposal titled "Together We Stand" to save the West Street (F.R. Daniels) Historic School and convert it into a museum chronicling African American education in New Bern.

"I'm Cleopatra Harker Lawton. I've been before you before. I live at 1706 Cove Street, New Bern, North Carolina," Lawton told the board. "I'm here representing over 600 plus citizens of our city of New Bern and others who have petitioned you to save our first school for free slaves, West Street...as the American Museum of the History of African American Education." She asked the board for a status update on the group's proposal.

Lawton cited local precedents and neighborhood impacts in urging action. She told the board that, in recent research shared with her group, some properties had been conveyed to schools for nominal sums and that a nearby block, Craven Terrace, has one of the city's higher crime rates. "A museum there would improve that whole area," she said.

The petition includes involvement from a local preservation nonprofit and its coordinator, Patrick Hart, whom Lawton named during her remarks. Lawton also noted her ties to the West Street community and said the proposal had gathered broad community support.

Board Chair acknowledged Lawton's remarks and thanked her for coming; the board did not take action on the petition at the meeting. Lawton asked for consideration and review of the group’s proposal; the board's agenda moved on to routine business and other items.

The petitioners asked the board to confirm next steps and clarify whether local board authority could support a transfer or other mechanism to secure the site as a museum. The transcript does not record a staff response or a timeline for staff follow-up.