From the Navy B-1 Band to South Ayden High School: The Lasting Legacy of Mr. Huey Lawrence

In 1942, 44 young musicians marched into history as members of the Navy’s first all-Black unit band. After the war, many B-1 Band members returned to North Carolina to find that conditions hadn’t changed at all.

One of those band members was Mr. Huey Lawrence. *An Ayden legend, Trumpeter Huey Lawrence took a job at South Ayden High School, where he taught, coached football, and served as band director for 25 years.

Mr. John W. Ormond, aka Professor Ormond, the principal recruited Mr. Lawrence to teach at South Ayden High School, the black school in southern Pitt County. Mr. Lawrence stayed in Ayden, contributing greatly to the lives of his students through history, as a US History teacher and through music as the band director. His knowledge and love of music permeated his life.

 “He ended up teaching in Ayden because he saw a need,” says his daughter Evetta Lawrence-Davis. “He never knew about the negative. He focused on the positive.” Even after he lost his vision to glaucoma, Lawrence remained as upbeat as his favorite song, “What a Wonderful World.” And his trumpet was a constant companion. “He played every day. He played in churches. In the neighborhood. Ringing in the new year,” Lawrence-Davis says. “He played his trumpet until the last three months of his life. He was 93.”

Approximately 249-270 Black high schools in North Carolina were closed or consolidated, primarily between the late 1960s and early 1970s, due to desegregation and integration laws. South Ayden High School was one of these. These schools were pivotal to their communities. My daddy, Thomas H. Reeves, played trumpet in the South Ayden High School Band. He often talked about playing under Mr. Lawrence and the wonderful memories he had in the band. The influence he had on my daddy spoke for itself. It was no accident that all of my siblings and I (all 5 of us!) became band kids. Mr. Lawrence’s influence reached far beyond South Ayden High School, shaping generations of students and families—including those who moved away but ensured their own children experienced the band program he inspired. It was no accident that South Ayden’s musical legacy continued—my music teachers Mr. Willie L. Morris, Jr. and Ms. Rebecca S. Norcott, who were also South Ayden High School Music Faculty, carried that influence forward at Ayden Middle School after South Ayden High School was closed as part of desegregation efforts.

I played in the Ayden-Grifton High School Band with Mr. Lawrence’s daughter, Evetta. Mr. Lawrence was a constant and unwavering presence at so many of our band events. He and his wife sat faithfully in the audience, listening and supporting us band kids. He always made time for the band. I am deeply thankful for his legacy and the lasting impact he had on all of us.

Mr. Huey Lawrence’s story is not just about one man or one band. It is about how music became a lifeline in spaces where opportunity was limited but hope was abundant. It is about educators who understood that teaching notes and rhythms was also teaching discipline, pride, and possibility. Even as schools like South Ayden High were closed and communities were reshaped by desegregation, the spirit of those programs did not disappear. It lived on in the students, the families, and the generations of musicians who followed.

Today, every band room that values community, every student who finds belonging through music, and every educator who shows up with consistency and care carries a piece of that legacy forward. Mr. Lawrence may no longer sit in the audience with his trumpet nearby, but his influence still echoes—through the musicians he taught, the lives he shaped, and the music that continues to be played because he once saw a need and answered it.

And that, perhaps, is the truest measure of his impact

South Ayden High School Band

Ayden History

Black History

Credits:

1. Banding Together – Our State Magazinehttps://www.ourstate.com/banding-together/

2. East Carolina University Digital Collectionshttps://digital.lib.ecu.edu/8041

3. Pitt County Schools: History of South Ayden High Schoolhttps://www.pitt.k12.nc.us/about/history-of-pitt-county-schools/south-ayden-high-school