2549 Fayetteville Street-Edna A. and Dr. James M. Mason House

Dr. James Madison Mason and Edna Adams Mason were the original owners and occupants of 2549 Fayetteville Street. Dr. Mason was born in Chatham County and lived in Durham before moving to South Boston, Virginia. Dr. Mason attended Shaw University for his medical degree. He then established a medical practice in South Boston, per the advice of notable Durham doctor, Dr. Aaron McDuffie Moore. Dr. Mason and his wife, Edwina Wilson Mason, made a home in South Boston, where they had their two daughters, Edna Mae Mason and Doris Mason Gomez. Sadly, Edwina passed away soon after she gave birth to Doris. Dr. Mason eventually remarried to Edna Adams Mason, a musician, in 1926. Edna and Doris considered Mrs. Mason a mother, and she raised them as her own.

Mrs. Mason was born in Covert, Michigan, and attended public schools in Covert until she was 15. From then on, she attended the 

Chicago Conservatory of Music, where she studied Vocal Music as a Lyric Soprano. She went on to perform throughout North America, in the United States and Canada, in her role as a Missionary Nurse. She also wrote numerous religious plays throughout her life. 

The Masons were a dynamic duo, working together to better their community. While in South Boston, the couple worked together to operate an annex of the South Boston Hospital. Together, they also established the Business and Professional Men’s Association in South Boston.

Dr. Mason eventually returned to Durham in the 1940s, where he had the home at 2549 Fayetteville Street built. Mrs. Mason and the two Mason daughters lived in the home, while Dr. Mason continued to work at his practice in South Boston, and came to Durham on the weekends. Dr. Mason passed away in 1952, leaving the house to his family. Mrs. Mason lived in the home until she died in 1972. 

Doris Mason Gomez, the youngest of the Mason girls, lived in the home for a brief period of time while attending North Carolina College and the Lincoln Hospital School of Laboratory Technology. She then moved to Alabama, where she worked at the Tuskegee Institute as a staff mender. She married Dr. Clifton Gomez in 1952, and the couple eventually moved to Union Springs, Alabama, where Doris spent the rest of her days.

The Masons’ oldest daughter, Edna, also lived at 2549 Fayetteville Street. Edna attended Palmer Memorial Institute, a notable school for African American children. She then attended Hampton University for a year, then Duquesne University for a year, before coming to Durham to finish her secondary schooling at North Carolina College (now North Carolina Central University). She graduated from North Carolina College’s Business School in 1940. Edna proudly represented NCCU throughout her life, organizing the 1940 graduating class’s 50th-anniversary reunion in 1990.

After Edna graduated from North Carolina College, she immediately entered the job force, working for North Carolina Mutual Insurance Company as a clerk in the Statistical Division of the Actuarial Department. Edna eventually became the Supervisory Clerk of the Claims Department. Edna worked her entire career at North Carolina Mutual, retiring in 1982 after 41 years of service. 

Edna made a lasting impact on the Durham community through her support of numerous organizations. Edna was dedicated to working for organizations that benefited the children of Durham, as a board member and assistant secretary of the board of the Scarborough Nursery, a Girl Scout co-leader, and as executive secretary and a member of the program planning committee at the Harriet Tubman YWCA. 

She was also dedicated to women’s organizations. She joined the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. while she was at North Carolina College. She then co-founded the Alpha Kappa Sigma Chapter, the Delta Sigma Theta Durham Graduate Chapter, now the Durham Alumnae Chapter. The organization recognized Edna with the Merrick-Fisher-Spaulding award in 1987. This award is given to a member of Delta Sigma Theta who has made an outstanding contribution to the community, and Edna noted it as “the most memorable event among her sorority memories.” She was also an active member of the National Council on Negro Women, and was recognized by the organization in 1992 for her work with the Deaconess Board at White Rock Baptist Church. 

Edna was also a devoted member of numerous community garden clubs, notably the Year-Round Garden Club. Mrs. Mason and Edna sometimes hosted the Year-Round Garden Club at their home at 2549 Fayetteville. In her self-written obituary, Edna noted that the Year-Round Garden Club was “one of her most treasured organizations.” She participated in the club for a large part of her life. When she could no longer drive herself to the meetings, one of her friends drove her so she could continue to be active in the organization.

Religion was an important part of the Masons’ lives. Mrs. Mason was originally a member of the Church of God faith, but when she married Dr. Mason, she became a Baptist to align with his religious views. In Durham, she was a dedicated member of the Oak Grove Free Will Baptist Church and was involved with the church as chairman of the program planning committee. Edna was also a Baptist and was a longtime member at White Rock Baptist Church. She went on to be a founding member of Beacon Light Missionary Baptist Church, and supported the church as a trustee and member of the choir.

Edna passed away in 2021 at 101 years old.  Pattie Brown, whom the Masons helped to raise, and Pattie’s husband, Leroy Brown purchased the home in 1998. The home is now owned and occupied by Pattie and Leroy’s daughter, Cheryl Brown, who continues to honor the legacy of the Masons through her stewardship of the home.