Search Results

< Back Frank Calvin Mann was the hidden genius behind much of Howard Hughes’ success in the world of aviation and mechanics. ​ *Photo:Frank Mann, Waco, Tx with his Bio-Plane* Mr.Frank Calvin Mann, Hidden Genius The Black Engineer Behind Howard Hughes He’s been ignored and cast aside much like new home hunters touring a property covered in wallpaper. Scholars have left him out of the history books and Hollywood couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge his existence either. He was Howard Hughes’ top engineer and lifelong best friend. This is about Frank Mann, the hidden genius behind much of Howard Hughes’ success in the world of aviation and mechanics. Frank Calvin Mann (November 22, 1908 – November 30, 1992) was an African American engineer who was known for his participation in many Howard Hughes's projects including the Spruce Goose. He also starred in the Amos 'n' Andy radio show. Apparently, his lifelong friendship with Hughes was instrumental in opening doors for Mann's exceptional talents. A native of Houston, Texas, Frank Calvin Mann's parents wanted him to become a schoolteacher, but from childhood, he had a natural ability to fix things. At age 11, he had his own mechanic shop. As a teenager, he worked alongside airplane mechanics, repairing engines. By the ago of 20, he had designed and built several of his own Model-T cars. It was unheard of in the 1920s for a Black man to have anything to do with cars, trains, or airplanes. His life-long friend Howard Hughes was instrumental in opening doors for Mann's exceptional talents. Mann attended the University of Minnesota and UCLA where he earned a mechanical engineering degree. World War II equipment that revolutionized military weaponry would not exist if not for his involvement. Incredibly, few Americans are aware of Frank Mann. He was the first Black commercial pilot for American Airways. He was also a distinguished military officer. In 1935, following Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia, Frank Mann flew reconnaissance missions for the Ethiopian army. He served in the World War II Army Air Corps and was the primary civilian instructor of the famous Tuskegee Airmen in 1941. He left Tuskegee after a rift with the U.S. government, which didn't want the Squadron, an all-Black unit, flying the same high caliber of airplanes as their White counterparts. An angry Mann had refused to have his men fly old "World War I biplane crates," because his airmen had proven themselves as equals. Though they were being given inferior equipment and materials, their squadron never lost a plane, bomber, or pilot, and they were nicknamed the "Red Tails.” After the war, Mann was instrumental in designing the first Buick LeSabre automobile and the first communications satellite launched for commercial use. His pride and joy was a miniature locomotive enshrined in the Smithsonian Institute, He was an avid live steamer. Mann built two large 1.5 inch scale steam locomotives, one of which resides in the Smithsonian Museum. Mann also played a principal role in the Amos ‘N’ Andy radio show. He moved back to his hometown in the 1970s. Frank Mann died November 30, 1992 in Houston. ----- Credit to Dianne Washington who posted Mr. Mann's story on November 22, 2017 via her fb page Source:http://ibls.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Frank_Mann Source:http://bostonlifemagazine.com/.../hidden-genius-black.../ Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Mann_(engineer) Previous Next

< Back Amy Littlejohn Roberts (1878-1935)-was able to attend, complete her course of study and graduate from Elizabeth City Colored Normal School in 1895. ​ Photograph: Amy Littlejohn Roberts (1878-1935)-was able to attend, complete her course of study and graduate from Elizabeth City Colored Normal School in 1895. The college is now Elizabeth City State University. One of North Carolina's Public HBCU's, Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Her father, Alpheus Littlejohn was enslaved on Somerset Plantation and was not allowed by law to gain an education. Elizabeth City Colored State Normal School would later become, Elizabeth City State University. ESCU Is on of North Carolina's 12 HBCU's. Somerset Place is a former plantation near Creswell in Washington County, North Carolina, along the northern shore of Lake Phelps. It is now a State Historic Site that belongs to the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Somerset Place operated as a plantation from 1785 until 1865. Before the end of the American Civil War, Somerset Place had become one of the Upper South's largest plantations. In 1969, Somerset Place was designated as a State Historic Site. In 1986, descendants of African American slaves from Somerset Place planned a gathering known as Somerset Homecoming. The event inspired a book titled "Somerset Homecoming" written by the property's former manager Dorothy Spruill Redford, who retired in 2008. Somerset Plantation Labor needs dictated the number, age, gender, and skills of the first workers brought to Somerset. This enslaved work force included 167 men, women, and children. Mostly, they were young, strong men in their late teens and early twenties. Some young women worked beside them in planting and harvesting crops but tasks such as uprooting tree stumps and hauling mud away from the farm's ditches were seen as "men's work." This initial enslaved labor came from three basic sources. Almost half—including a man named Guinea Jack; his wife, Fanny; a man named Quaminy; and 77 others—were brought to the plantation directly from their homeland in West Africa. Others included 49 people from neighboring counties and states, women like Sucky and Rose, who cooked and washed. The remaining men and women were artisans already in Edenton: a carpenter named Lewis, a brick mason named Joe Welcome, and others who were joiners, cobblers, millers, and weavers. Only 113 of those 167 survived to be counted in the census of 1790; but within those few years, the swampland at Somerset was transformed into a prosperous plantation. Elizabeth City State University- HISTORICAL TIMELINE 1891 January 26: Legislation to establish institution introduced by the Honorable Hugh Cale (1835 - 1910), a black Pasquotank County Representative in the North Carolina General Assembly. March 3: Cale's Bill enacted into law; State Board of Education directed to establish school 1892 January 4 "Elizabeth City Colored Normal School" began operations on Roanoke Avenue with 2 teachers and 23 students, $900. appropriation, and Peter Weddick Moore as Principal.. Hattie A. Newby is the first person to graduate, completing her post graduate program. 1896 May 29: Graduating class of six students First Graduates After moving to Herrington Road in 1894, six students graduate from the State Normal School. The five men and one woman graduating are: Emic Coleman Cooper, James Edward Felton, Richard Copeland Jacocks, Charles Edward Physic, Joanna Outlaw Rayner, and Charles Smythn Yeates. (no graduates, 1893 - 1895). 1912 September 9: Institution began operations at present location with two brick buildings; Lane and Symera Halls Photograph Source: https://www.facebook.com/.../a.15840.../1927844827335847/... ECSU Historical Timeline Source:http://www.ecsu.edu/.../archives/historical-timeline.html Previous Next

< Back Sarah Marshall Boone (Boon) was an American inventor who on April 26, 1892, obtained United States patent number 473,563] for her improvements to the ironing board. Boone's ironing board was designed to improve the quality of ironing sleeves and the bodies of women's garments. ​ Mrs. Sarah Boone (Boon) born Sarah Marshall was born in 1832, near New Bern, Craven County, North Carolina. Sarah died in 1904 (aged 71–72), in New Haven, Connecticut. Sarah Boone was an American inventor who on April 26, 1892, obtained United States patent number 473,563] for her improvements to the ironing board. Boone's ironing board was designed to improve the quality of ironing sleeves and the bodies of women's garments. The board was very narrow, curved, and made of wood. The shape and structure allowed it to fit a sleeve and it was reversible, so one could iron both sides of the sleeve. Along with Miriam Benjamin, Ellen Eglin, and Sarah Goode, Boone was one of four African American women inventors of her time who developed new technology for the home She was born enslaved and was the daughter of Caleb Marshall and Sarah (Sally) Morgan. On 25 Nov 1847, at the age of 15, Sarah married James Boone, (sometimes listed as Boon) in New Bern. James was a free African American brick mason and bought Sarah’s freedom. They eventually had eight children. Just prior to the Civil War, by ways of the underground railroad, the Boone family moved to New Haven, Connecticut. Sarah’s mother, Sally Morgan Marshall who was a widower by this time went with them.. Sally appears in New Haven in the city directory of New Haven in 1861. James Boone along with his wife Sarah and family appear in 1862. Sally Morgan Marshall died in New Haven on 1 Aug 1868 and James Boone, Sarah's husband, died 18 Jan 1876. After her husbands and mothers' deaths, Sarah Marshall Boone continued to live in New Haven and on April 26, 1892. She was one of several women in the 1890’s to submit patents for domestic machinery. Sarah was a seamstress and designed a narrow and curved ironing board that had collapsible legs and a padded cover. The first ironing board patents initially appeared in the 1860’s but these were boards that were designed to be placed on two chairs or a table. The narrow board Sarah designed was the size and fit of a sleeve common to women’s dresses at the time and was reversible so that one could iron both sides of the sleeve. It could also be folded and put away in a closet or other place in the home. Sarah’s design was quite sophisticated and the precursor to ironing boards in modern times. Sarah's redesign would make it easier to press sleeves without introducing unwanted creases. In her patent application, she wrote as quoted by biography.com that the purpose of her invention was “to produce a cheap, simple, convenient and highly effective device, particularly adapted to be used in ironing the sleeves and bodies of ladies’ garments.” Sarah Marshall Boone died 29 Oct 1904 and she is buried along with her mother and husband in a family plot in Evergreen Cemetery, New Haven. This is not the end of Sarah's story as there are many questions regarding Sarah Marshall Boone’s early years in New Bern. Some sources say she was born in Mississippi rather than New Bern. Her death certificate indicates her father was James Marshall, not Caleb. Where were Sarah and her parents enslaved at? When were they freed? Who were the parents of James Boone, Sarah’s husband? What became of her children? Source: https://www.newbernmagazine.com/sarah-marshall-boone/ Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Boone Previous Next

< Back Charles S. L. Baker modified the steam radiators being sold at the time in order to find a less expensive way to heat homes and businesses. ​ Note: Charles S. L. Baker did not invent the steam radiator, he modified the ones being sold at the time in order to find a less expensive way to heat homes and businesses. The radiators that were in use, was created by Franz San Galli, a Prussian born inventor. -End Note- . Photograph shows inventor Charles S.L. Baker and another man, possibly Baker's brother Peter, standing behind heating (radiator) system. One man is holding a knob that is attached to two wires. This photograph is in the section Entitled: The Start of super heating union / Bode, 5th and Felix Sts., St. Joseph, Mo. Creator(s): Photographer Bode, Martin W., 1871-1947 Date Created/Published: c1906. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print. ----- Charles S. Lewis Baker was born on August 3rd, 1859, in Savannah, Missouri. His mother, Betsy Mackay, died when he was three months old, leaving him to be brought up by the wife of his "owner", Sallie Mackay, and his father, Abraham Baker. He was the youngest of five children, Susie, Peter, Annie, and Ellen, all of whom were freed after the Civil War. Baker later received an education at Franklin College. His father was employed as an express agent, and once Baker turned fifteen, he became his assistant.[ Baker worked with wagons and linchpins, which sparked an interest in mechanical sciences. Baker worked over the span of decades on his product, attempting several different forms of friction, including rubbing two bricks together mechanically, as well as using various types of metals. After twenty-three years, the invention was perfected in the form of two metal cylinders, one inside of the other, with a spinning core in the center made of wood, that produced the friction. Baker started a business with several other men to manufacture the heater. The Friction Heat & Boiler Company was established in 1904, with Baker on the board of directors. The company worked up to 136,000 dollars in capital, equal to nearly 4 million dollars in 2018. Mr. Baker claims that the particular motive power used in creating the friction is not essential. It may be wind, water, gasoline, or any other source of energy. The most difficult part of the inventor's assertions to credit is that his system will light of heat a house at about half the cost of methods now in use. At 21, Baker married the 19-year old Carrie Carriger on the 12th of December, 1880, in Adams County, Iowa. They had one child, born on the 3rd of January, 1882, named Lulu Belle Baker. Little else is known about his life. Here is a death notice that we found. Baker, Charles S. L. (1860-1926) Charles S. L. Baker, widely known St. Joseph negro inventor, died Wednesday at the home of his daughter, 1712 Messanie street. He is survived by the daughter, Mrs. Belle Hardy, he is survived by two sisters, Mrs. Ellen Sherrell and Mrs. Samuel Todd, St. Joseph. The funeral service will be conducted Saturday at 2:30 o'clock p.m., and burial will be at Savannah . . . Death notice source: https://cousin-collector.com/.../3947-baker-charles-s-l... Source: Wikipedia Source:http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2011660047/ Source for details concerning his patent claim: https://www.rawthoughts.net/?p=2199 Previous Next

< Back Stephen, an enslaved Black man, discovered the process which created the “bright leaf” yellow variety of tobacco. ​ excerpt of essay on historical account for marker: North Carolina, 1839, An enslaved Black man named Stephen discovered the process which created the “bright leaf” yellow variety of tobacco. Stephen was enslaved on the farm of slaver Abisha Slade near the Virginia border in Caswell County, North Carolina. He worked as a blacksmith on the Slade farm. Another of his jobs was overseeing the curing process of the tobacco crop. On one occasion, due to the warmth created by the fire, Stephen fell asleep during the process. A few hours later, he woke up to find the fire almost completely out. To try to keep the heat going, he rushed to his charcoal pit (part of his blacksmithing operation) and threw hot coals on the fire which created a sudden, immense heat. The heat from the charred logs cured the tobacco quickly, leaving it with a vivid yellow color. Source: North Carolina Highway Historical Markers/North Carolina Office of Archives & History — Department of Cultural Resources. . Full Essay: Essay: In 1839, a twist of fate led to one of the most important breakthroughs in North Carolina agriculture history. Tobacco had always been a major crop for the region, but not until the accidental development of the “bright leaf” variety did the market for the product really start booming. Stephen was a slave on the farm of planter Abisha Slade near the Virginia border in Caswell County. He worked as a blacksmith on the Slade farm. Another of his jobs was overseeing the curing process of the tobacco crop. On one occasion, due to the warmth created by the fire, Stephen fell asleep during the process. A few hours later, he woke up to find the fire almost completely out. To try to keep the heat going, he rushed to his charcoal pit (part of his blacksmithing operation) and threw hot coals on the fire which created a sudden, immense heat. The heat from the charred logs cured the tobacco quickly, leaving it with a vivid yellow color. The trade press in the late nineteenth century investigated the discovery of the process, interviewing those still living with firsthand knowledge of the events. The account is one which has fascinated North Carolinians for generations. The flue-cured tobacco became known as bright leaf tobacco and the variety became popular with smokers. Other farmers learned of and used the new process as well. Although the discovery took place on a piedmont plantation, farmers in the coastal plains soon adopted the process and constructed curing barns by the hundreds. By 1857, Abisha Slade was harvesting 20,000 pounds annually and making some of the highest profits ever. Bright leaf tobacco led North Carolina to a dominant position in the tobacco industry. . References: Nannie May Tilley, The Bright-Tobacco Industry, 1860-1929 (1948) Southern Planter (May 1876); Gold Leaf, November 10, 1887, and other articles cited by Nannie May Tilley Letters from Nannie May Tilley, December 10, 1971; O. A. Smith, January 13, 1972; Dot Slade, September 10, 1973 (marker files, Research Branch, North Carolina Office of Archives and History, Raleigh) Point of View (PBS) website: http://www.pbs.org/.../brightleaves/special_tobacco.html . Source: North Carolina Highway Historical Markers/North Carolina Office of Archives & History — Department of Cultural Resources. Previous Next

< Back Jerry Lawson, the mind behind the first home video gaming system, an eight-way digital joystick, and a pause menu, with interchangeable game cartridges. ​ Today’s (Thu. Dec. 1, 2022) Google Doodle celebrates the life and legacy of Jerry Lawson. Whether you're an avid PlayStation fan, a 2000s-era Nintendo Wii kid, or any of the millions of other at-home consoles, you should lend your thanks to one man: Gerald "Jerry" Lawson, the mind behind the first home video gaming system, an eight-way digital joystick, and a pause menu, with interchangeable game cartridges. Lawson was born on Dec. 1 in 1940, and to celebrate what would have been his 82nd birthday, Google has created an interactive homepage Doodle (as well as a short documentary) that lets users simultaneously learn and build alongside Lawson's legacy. Short documentary by goggle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLQO_RWCOoQ&t=2s The playable Goggle Doodle begins with a quick history lesson on Lawson, featuring an 8-bit representation of the electronic engineer moving through a classically retro video game world. Once completing the basics, players get to join in the fun and become gaming engineers themselves. After the tutorial is complete, players unlock a menu featuring five different customizable games — select your favorite and hit "edit" to join in the fun. The Doodle was designed by guest artists and game designers Davionne Gooden, Lauren Brown, and Momo Pixel. https://www.google.com/.../gerald-jerry-lawsons-82nd... ---- Born: December 1, 1940, Brooklyn, New York, NY Died: April 9, 2011, Santa Clara, CA. Gerald Anderson Lawson was an American electronic engineer. He is known for his work in designing the Fairchild Channel F video game console as well as leading the team that pioneered the commercial video game cartridge. He was thus dubbed the "father of the videogame cartridge" according to Black Enterprise magazine in 1982. He eventually left Fairchild and founded the game company Video-Soft. @IrememberOurHistory® Lawson was born in Brooklyn, New York City, on December 1, 1940. His father, Blanton, was a longshoreman with an interest in science, while his mother, Mannings, worked for the city, and also served on the Parents-Teachers Association for the local school. His grandfather had studied to become a physicist but was unable to achieve a career in physics, instead working as a postmaster. His parents ensured he received a good education and encouraged his interests in scientific hobbies, including ham radio and chemistry. In addition, Lawson said that his first-grade teacher encouraged him on his path to be someone influential, similar to George Washington Carver. He lived in Queens as a teenager, and he earned money by repairing television sets. At the age of 13, he gained an amateur ham radio license and then built his own station at home with parts from local electronic stores bought with his money. He attended both Queens College and City College of New York, but did not complete a degree at either. In 1970, he joined Fairchild Semiconductor in San Francisco as an applications engineering consultant within their sales division. While there, he created an early coin-operated arcade game called Demolition Derby in his garage. Completed in early 1975 using Fairchild's new F8 microprocessors, Demolition Derby was among the earliest microprocessor-driven games. In the mid-1970s, Lawson was made Chief Hardware Engineer and Director of Engineering and Marketing for Fairchild's video game division. There, he led the development of the Fairchild Channel F console, released in 1976 and specifically designed to use swappable game cartridges based on technology licensed from Alpex. At the time, most game systems had the game programming built into the hardware so it could not be removed or changed. Lawson and his team refined and improved technology developed at Alpex that allowed games to be stored as software on removable ROM cartridges. These could be inserted and removed repeatedly from a console unit without any danger of electric shocks. This would allow users to buy a library of games, and provided a new revenue stream for the console manufacturers through sales of these games. The Channel F console featured a variety of controls, including a new 8-way joystick designed by Lawson and a "pause" button, which was a first for a home video game console. The Channel F was not successful commercially but the cartridge approach was popularized with the Atari 2600 released in 1977. While he was with Fairchild, Lawson and Ron Jones were the sole black members of the Homebrew Computer Club, a group of early computer hobbyists that included several who became well-known including Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Lawson noted he had interviewed Wozniak for a position at Fairchild, but did not hire him. In 1980, Lawson left Fairchild and founded Videosoft, a video game development company that made software for the Atari 2600 in the early 1980s, as the 2600 had displaced the Channel F as the top system in the market. @IrememberOurHistory® Videosoft closed about five years later, and Lawson started to take on consulting work. At one point, he worked with Stevie Wonder to produce a "Wonder Clock" that would wake a child with the sound of a parent's voice, though it never made it to production. Lawson later collaborated with the Stanford mentor program and was preparing to write a book on his career. Around 2003, Lawson started having complications from diabetes, losing the use of one leg and sight from one eye. On April 9, 2011, about one month after being honored by the IGDA, he died of complications from diabetes. At the time of his death, he resided in Santa Clara, California, and was survived by his wife, two children, and his brother. In March 2011, Lawson was honored as an industry pioneer for his work on the game cartridge concept by the International Game Developers Association (IGDA). @IrememberOurHistory® Lawson was honored with the ID@Xbox Gaming Heroes award at the 21st Independent Games Festival on March 20, 2019 for leading the development of the first cartridge-based game console. There is a display of Lawson's contribution to the gaming industry on permanent display at The World Video Game Hall of Fame at The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York. The Los Angeles Unified School District named Elementary School #11 Gerald A. Lawson Academy of the Arts, Mathematics and Science. A short documentary on Lawson and his development of the Fairchild Channel F was produced by The Czar of Black Hollywood director Bayer Mack and released by Block Starz Music Television as part of its Profiles of African-American Success video series. He was also featured in the first episode of the Netflix limited-series documentary High Score, released August 19, 2020, with his story told by his children Karen and Anderson. @IrememberOurHistory® The first episode of Season 6 of Command Line Heroes, "Jerry Lawson: The Engineer Who Changed the Game", covers his work on the Channel F. Lawson is also prominently featured in the second episode of the second season of History's The Toys That Built America "The Birth of Video Games" along with other pioneers of the early video game industry Nolan Bushnell and Ralph Baer. University of Southern California's Games Program and Take Two Interactive established the Gerald A. Lawson Fund in May 2021 to support Black and indigenous students enrolled in the University's programming seeking careers in the video game industry. Microsoft also began contributing to the fund in August 2021. @IrememberOurHistory® The Google Doodle on December 1, 2022, was dedicated to Lawson to celebrate what would have been his 82nd birthday, allowing the user to make games and modify existing in-built games. Source: Wikipedia Previous Next

< Back Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner was the woman who invented the sanitary pad, which was first a sanitary belt, a precursor to the adhesive maxi pads. Jane Crow’s White American racial discrimination prevented its adoption for thirty years. ​ Inventor and visionary Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner was the woman who invented the sanitary pad, which was first a sanitary belt, a precursor to the adhesive maxi pads. Jane Crow’s White American racial discrimination prevented its adoption for thirty years. It’s hard to imagine a world for women without sanitary pads and napkins. Today, grocery and drugstores keep them in stock. Her invention would have brought women into a comfort zone from using rags, sheep’s wool, and even grass to absorb menstrual blood. In the 1920s however, Mary B. D. Kenner changed women's menstrual challenges forever. Her invention would’ve revolutionized how women handled that time of month during the social changes of the "roaring twenties", but because of Jane Crow White American racism her invention did not get patented and popularized until more than three decades later in 1956. Companies became disinterested due to Kenner being a Black woman. However, that did not stop Kenner who once said that her inventions were never about money, she just wanted to help make life easier for people. She was born in 1912, in Monroe, North Carolina and credited her father, Sidney Nathaniel Davidson (June 1890-November 1958), with giving her a thirst for discovering things. Her sister, Mildred Davidson Austin Smith (1916–1993), was also an inventor, and together they created several useful inventions to help people. Kenner’s innovative mindset can be credited to her family full of inventors. Her father Sidney Nathaniel Davidson had invented the pants presser, which was later patented in 1914. Her sister, Mildred Davidson, broke into the board game industry creating “Family Treedition.” While her paternal grandfather, Robert Phromeberger invented the tricolor light signal for trains among his many creations. From childhood to becoming an early adult, Kenner was consistently creating things. She created a sponge tip to adhere to umbrella’s to stop water from dripping on the floor, a portable ashtray for cigarettes and a convertible roof for cars that could protect all passengers from weather ailments, all before she entered college. In 1931 she enrolled at Howard University to cultivate her creative mindset. Soon after, she was unable to afford tuition and ended up dropping out. Nonetheless, Kenner holds the most patents for any African American woman in history. Between 1956 and 1987 she received five patents for her household and personal item creations. She also had invented a bathroom tissue holder and a back washer that mounted onto shower or bathtub walls, to help people clean parts of their back that were hard to reach. Mary also patented the carrier attachment for an invalid walker in 1959, which included a hard-surfaced tray and a soft pocket for carrying items Kenner’s sister Mildred loved music and became a professional singer. She married and had two sons, then fell seriously ill with multiple sclerosis. Largely confined to her home in Washington, D.C., she had lots of time to think. She came up with a game to teach family relationships, for which she received a patent in 1980. She got a trademark on the game’s name, “Family Treeditions,” and copyrighted its written instructions. Mainly designed for young people to help them understand their place in the extended family, the game became popular with adults. Early sales were strong, but Smith’s marketing and distribution methods did not make her rich. She did recover part of the money spent getting her product marketed. It was created in several languages, including Braille. As she continued inventing helpful items, Mary also worked as a professional floral arranger and had her own business in the Washington DC area. Mary was the more prolific inventor of the two sisters, as she eventually filed five patents in total, more than any other Black woman in history. The two sisters did not have any professional training, and they never became rich from their inventions. They made inventions ultimately to improve the quality of life for people. The sisters were both born in the town of Monroe, N.C. Mary was born May 17, 1912, and died on January 13, 2006 in Sibley Memorial hospital in Washington, DC at the age of 94. Mildred was born January 31, 1916, and died in 1993. Previous Next

< Back Benjamin Banneker was a largely self-educated mathematician, astronomer, compiler of almanacs and writer. Banneker was a free black man who owned a farm near Baltimore, Banneker was largely self-educated in astronomy and mathematics. ​ On October 9, 1806, Benjamin Banneker passed away in Oella, Catonsville, MD. He was born November 9, 1731 in Baltimore County, MD. During a time when most black people living in America were enslaved, Banneker built a name for himself as a self-taught mathematician and astronomer. In 1753, Banneker completed a wooden clock that struck on the hour and continued to work for the rest of his life. After rheumatism forced him to retire from cultivating tobacco in his fifties, he developed an interest in astronomy and went on to learn enough about mathematics and astronomy to create his own almanac. While white scientists expressed shock at Banneker’s accomplishments based on their perceptions of race, Banneker had a different perspective, as he stated, “I am annoyed to find that the subject of my race is so much stressed. The work is either correct or it is not. In this case, I believe it to be perfect.” ----- Benjamin Banneker was a largely self-educated mathematician, astronomer, compiler of almanacs and writer. Synopsis Benjamin Banneker was born on November 9, 1731, in Ellicott's Mills, Maryland. A free black man who owned a farm near Baltimore, Banneker was largely self-educated in astronomy and mathematics. He was later called upon to assist in the surveying of territory for the construction of the nation's capital. He also became an active writer of almanacs and exchanged letters with Thomas Jefferson, politely challenging him to do what he could to ensure racial equality. Banneker died on October 9, 1806. Background and Early Years Born on November 9, 1731, in Ellicott's Mills, Maryland, Benjamin Banneker was the son of an ex-slave named Robert and his wife, Mary Banneky. Mary was the daughter of an Englishwoman named Molly Welsh, a former indentured servant, and her husband, Bannka, an ex-slave whom she freed and who asserted that he came from tribal royalty in West Africa. Because both of his parents were free, Benjamin escaped the wrath of slavery as well. He was taught to read by his maternal grandmother and for a very short time attended a small Quaker school. Banneker was primarily self-educated, a fact that did little to diminish his brilliance. His early accomplishments included constructing an irrigation system for the family farm and a wooden clock that was reputed to keep accurate time and ran for more than 50 years until his death. In addition, Banneker taught himself astronomy and accurately forecasted lunar and solar eclipses. After his father's passing, he ran his own farm for years, cultivating a business selling tobacco via crops. Interests in Astronomy and Surveying Banneker's talents and intelligence eventually came to the attention of the Ellicott family, entrepreneurs who had made a name and fortune by building a series of gristmills in the Baltimore area in the 1770s. George Ellicott had a large personal library and loaned Banneker numerous books on astronomy and other fields. In 1791, Andrew Ellicott, George’s cousin, hired Banneker to assist in surveying territory for the nation’s capital city. He worked in the observatory tent using a zenith sector to record the movement of the stars. However, due to a sudden illness, Banneker was only able to work for Ellicott for about three months. Popular Almanacs Banneker's true acclaim, however, came from his almanacs, which he published for six consecutive years during the later years of his life, between 1792 and 1797. These handbooks included his own astronomical calculations as well as opinion pieces, literature and medical and tidal information, with the latter particularly useful to fishermen. Outside of his almanacs, Banneker also published information on bees and calculated the cycle of the 17-year locust. Letter to Jefferson Benjamin Banneker's accomplishments extended into other realms as well, including civil rights. In 1791, Thomas Jefferson was secretary of state and Banneker considered the respected Virginian, though a slaveholder, to also be open to viewing African Americans as more than slaves. Thus, he wrote Jefferson a letter hoping that he would “readily embrace every opportunity to eradicate that train of absurd and false ideas and opinions which so generally prevail with respect to us." To further support his point, Banneker included a handwritten manuscript of an almanac for 1792, containing his astronomical calculations. In his letter, Banneker acknowledged he was “of the African race” and a free man. He recognized that he was taking “a liberty” writing to Jefferson, which would be unacceptable considering “the almost general prejudice and prepossession which is so prevalent in the world against those of my complexion.” Banneker then respectfully chided Jefferson and other patriots for their hypocrisy, enslaving people like him while fighting the British for their own independence. Jefferson quickly acknowledged Banneker's letter, writing a response. He told Banneker that he took “the liberty of sending your almanac to Monsieur de Condorcet [secretary of the French Academy of Sciences]...because I considered it as a document to which your whole colour had a right for their justification against the doubts which have been entertained of them.” Banneker published Jefferson’s letter alongside his original piece of correspondence in his 1793 almanac. Banneker's outspokenness with regard to the issue of slavery earned him the widespread support of the abolitionist societies in Maryland and Pennsylvania, both of which helped him publish his almanac. Below is a letter from Jefferson to Banneker dated August 30, 1791 from the Library of Congress: I thank you sincerely for your letter of the 19th. instant and for the Almanac it contained. no body wishes more than I do to see such proofs as you exhibit, that nature has given to our black brethren, talents equal to those of the other colours of men, & that the appearance of a want of them is owing merely to the degraded condition of their existence both in Africa & America. I can add with truth that no body wishes more ardently to see a good system commenced for raising the condition both of their body & mind to what it ought to be, as fast as the imbecillity of their present existence, and other circumstance which cannot be neglected, will admit. I have taken the liberty of sending your almanac to Monsieur de Condorcet, Secretary of the Academy of sciences at Paris, and member of the Philanthropic society because I considered it as a document to which your whole colour had a right for their justification against the doubts which have been entertained of them. I am with great esteem, Sir, Your most obedt. humble servt. Th. Jefferson Later Life and Death Never married, Benjamin Banneker continued to conduct his scientific studies throughout his life. By 1797, sales of his almanac had declined and he discontinued publication. In the following years, he sold off much of his farm to the Ellicotts and others to make ends meet, continuing to live in his log cabin. On October 9, 1806, after his usual morning walk, Banneker died in his sleep, just a month short of his 75th birthday. In accordance with his wishes, all the items that had been on loan from his neighbor, George Ellicott, were returned by Banneker’s nephew. Also included was Banneker’s astronomical journal, providing future historians one of the few records of his life known to exist. On Tuesday, October 11, at the family burial ground a few yards from this house, Benjamin Banneker was laid to rest. During the services, mourners were startled to see his house had caught on fire, quickly burning down. Nearly everything was destroyed, including his personal effects, furniture and wooden clock. The cause of the fire was never determined. Benjamin Banneker’s life was remembered in an obituary in the Federal Gazette of Philadelphia and has continued to be written about over the ensuing two centuries. With limited materials having been preserved related to Banneker's life and career, there's been a fair amount of legend and misinformation presented. In 1972, scholar Sylvio A. Bedini published an acclaimed biography on the 17th-century icon—The Life of Benjamin Banneker: The First African-American Man of Science. A revised edition appeared in 1999. Previous Next

< Back Cover of Trade of Puerto Rico - Personal explanation - speeches of Hon. George H. White of North Carolina, in the House of Representatives, Monday, February 5, and Friday, February 23, 1900. Image: Cover of Trade of Puerto Rico - Personal explanation - speeches of Hon. George H. White of North Carolina, in the House of Representatives, Monday, February 5, and Friday, February 23, 1900. There are 17 pages in this publication. Summary: In speaking about trade with Puerto Rico, White, an African American congressman from North Carolina, protests the treatment of American Blacks who have been murdered, disenfranchised, and deprived of their constitutional rights in the South, without any action by government. White introduces a bill to enable the federal government to enforce civil rights rather than to leave enforcement to individual states. A second speech contains a discussion about lynchings and a North Carolina newspaper editorial attacking White as unfit to represent whites of North Carolina. Published by: Washington : [U.S. Govt. Print. Office], 1900. Source: LOC Source link: https://www.loc.gov/resource/lcrbmrp.t2112/?sp=1 . Previous Next

< Back Lyda D. Newman was an inventor, as well as a Black women’s rights activist. She applied for and was granted a patent for her modified hairbrush design at age 14, the youngest Black woman to have done so at the time. ​ Lyda D. Newman, was born in Ohio c. 1885, the year of her death is unknown. It is known that she was living in NY. She was an inventor, as well as a Black women’s rights activist. She applied for and was granted a patent for her modified hairbrush design at age 14, the youngest Black woman to have done so at the time. She spent the majority of her life living and working in Manhattan, New York City, specifically in the neighborhood San Juan Hill. Records indicate that she may have been of mixed race as she was cited interchangeably recording her race as mulatto and black on various papers. Throughout her life, Newman's primary occupation was hair care as she listed “hair specialist” or “hairdresser” in various New York City Directories and US Government Federal and New York City censuses. In addition to her work in New York City, Newman appears to have worked with hair in Newport, Rhode Island, during the Summer season. The Newport Daily News contains the following advertisement in its July 20, 1903, edition: “Lyda NEWMAN, OF NEW YORK. HAIR and SCALP SPECIALIST, Begs to announce that she has arrived for her ninth season in Newport and will be glad to receive calls from those desiring treatment. My original method of magnetic manipulation positively cures nervous exhaustion. Shampooing a specialty. 56 BATH ROAD. In the late 1800s, Newman invented a hairbrush that used synthetic bristles instead of the animal hairs commonly used for brushes at the time, making it more durable. It could also be taken apart easily for cleaning because it contained a compartment at the bottom that could be removed from the back and be cleaned. The U.S. Patent 614,335 was filed on July 11, 1898 and granted on November 15, 1898. The hairbrush she invented is described in her patent as "simple and durable in construction" and being "very effective when in use". (See Photo collage with this post for diagram of the hairbrush) #IrememberOurHistory Newman was familiar with the United States Patent Office prior to filing for a patent for her brush. In the July 17, 1894, issue of the Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, page 126, the issuance of Trademark number 25,022 is noted for the name "VIDACABELLO, 'A PREPARATION FOR THE HAIR AND SCALP.' LYDA D. NEWMAN, New York, N.Y. Filed June 19, 1894. The 'Essential feature' of the Trademark is the word 'VIDACABELLO.' Used since August 1892." As well as creating her patented invention, Newman was an active community member and organizer for women's suffrage in the early 20th century. As a suffragist, she spent her time canvassing neighborhoods in New York City, hosted street meetings to educate passing people, and to support the Woman Suffrage Party, Newman started the Negro Suffrage Headquarters in Manhattan. On August 29, 1915, the New York Times noted under "Suffrage Centre for Negroes", "The Woman Suffrage Party is to open a suffrage headquarters for colored people at 207 West Sixty-third Street on Wednesday. This will be in charge of Miss Lyda Newman, who is doing excellent work for suffrage among her own people. The headquarters will be gayly decorated with suffrage posters, flags and streamers. Many colored women have been asked to play hostess at the new headquarters while Miss Newman goes canvassing among voters in the neighborhood (sic)." On Thursday, September 2, 1915, the New York Times followed up with a second news blurb under, "Negro Suffrage Headquarters", "Headquarters for the work of the negro suffragists were opened at 207 West Sixty-third Street last evening with a big open-air meeting outside the building. Miss Lyda D. Newman is in charge of the work, and will continue canvasing and organizing street meetings through the thirteenth Assembly District from now until election day. Dr. Mary Halton and Miss Portia Willis were among the speakers last evening. Sixty-third Street was opened yesterday as a play street with no traffic from 3 to 9 P.M., and mothers are invited to the headquarters and watch their children play from the windows (sic)." In 1924, seven years after women's suffrage was achieved in the year 1917, Lyda Newman can be found on the 51st election district for New York City voter list as a registered voter Source: Wikipedia --- From Find A Grave Website: Lyda D Newman invented a improved brush and received patent #614,335 on 11/15/1898. Born in Ohio in 1885, Newman was the daughter of a steelworker and a housewife. Not much is known about her early life. By the time she was 13 she was living with her family in New York City. She applied for a patent for her hairbrush design at 14, the youngest Black woman to have done so at the time. Even more remarkable, the patent was granted. Newman lived and worked in Manhattan in New York City. The hairbrush she invented is described as "simple and durable in construction" and being "very effective when in use". Widely separated slots allow for hair to flow through the brush easily. The brush could then be removed from the holder and be cleaned. Lydia Newman was also one of the most active Black women's rights activists of her time. She worked closely with suffragettes to raise awareness for the women's vote. She was involved in canvassing the boroughs of New York City as a young woman. She was instrumental in eventually securing the vote for women. Very little information is known about her personal life, primarily due to the fact that she was a Black woman during a period in which Black and women's history was not documented extensively. ---- From Massachusetts Institute of Technology Website: Lyda Newman Hairbrush with synthetic bristles CONSUMER DEVICES Lyda Newman was a remarkable Black woman inventor who patented the first hairbrush with synthetic bristles. She is the third Black woman to ever receive a patent. She is also known for her activism in the women’s voting rights movement of the early 20th century. Lyda Newman was born in Ohio sometime between 1865 and 1885. Little is known of Newman’s personal life because women, especially Black women, were treated with disregard at that time. However, census records show that she spent most of her life living in New York City, working as a hairdresser, specifically in the neighborhood San Juan Hill. Newman’s decision to improve the design of the hairbrush derived from her own experience as a Black woman and as a hairdresser. She wanted the process of brushing hair to be more hygienic and efficient. Most hairbrushes at the time were made using animal hair, but the material was too soft to effectively treat the thicker texture of African American hair. Newman used synthetic fibers which were more durable and easier to clean. The brush contained evenly spaced rows of bristles with open slots to clear debris away from the hair into a recessed compartment. The back could be opened with a button for cleaning out the compartment. Newman received a patent for her invention on November 15, 1898. ---- Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyda_D._Newman Source: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/133599307/lyda-d_-newman Source: https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/lyda-newman Previous Next

< Back The Banjo's Roots, Reconsidered ​ The Banjo's Roots, Reconsidered "My father was born with this instrument," Laemouahuma Daniel Jatta says. "This is part of our history." Jatta, 55, is from Gambia, a member of the Jola people. He's holding an akonting: a three-stringed instrument with a long neck and a body made from a calabash gourd with a goat skin stretched over it. Jatta's father and cousins played the instrument, but he didn't think much about it himself until 1974, when he was visiting the U.S. from Gambia, attending a junior college in South Carolina. He recalls watching a football game on TV with some of the other students. "When the football ended, there was this music program from Tennessee, and they called it country music," Jatta says. "I watched the program and saw the modern banjo being used. And the sound just sounded like my father's akonting." That experience put Jatta on a journey to explore the banjo's connections with the instrument he grew up with. The banjo came to America with the slaves, and musicologists have long looked in West Africa for its predecessors. Much of the speculation has centered on the ngoni and the xalam, two hide-covered stringed instruments from West Africa that bear some resemblance to the banjo. But they're just two of more than 60 similar plucked stringed instruments found in the region. Over the next two decades, while he pursued undergraduate and graduate degrees in the U.S., Jatta learned everything he could about the origins of the banjo. Eventually, he reached a conclusion. "Among all the instruments ever mentioned as a prototype of the banjo from the African region," he says, "the akonting to me has more similarities, more objective similarities than any other that has ever been mentioned." For one thing, the akonting looks like a banjo. It has a long neck that, like those of early banjos, extends through the instrument's gourd body. It has a movable wooden bridge that, as in banjos, holds the strings over the skin head. But for Jatta and other banjo scholars, most convincing is how the akonting is played. Players use the index finger to strike down on one of the long strings, and the thumb sounds the akonting's short string as the hand moves back upward. When Jatta looked at early banjo instruction books from the mid-1800s, he found that they described an almost identical playing style. "What struck me was when they mentioned the ball of the thumb and the nail of the index or middle finger, I knew straight away my father was using this same style," Jatta says. "This was never a surprise to me, because I have seen this since I was 5 years old." That early style of playing predates the three-finger style used today by nearly all bluegrass banjo players. Something similar is still used by folk and country musicians who play in a style sometimes called frailing or clawhammer. After doing 10 years of research supported by a Swedish university, in 2000, Jatta presented his findings first in Stockholm, and then a few months later at a banjo collectors' convention in Boston. Greg Adams is a banjoist and graduate student in ethnomusicology at the University of Maryland; he says Jatta's findings on the akonting have forced many scholars to rethink their assumptions about where to look for information on the banjo's ancestors. "A lot of the emphasis up to that point was focused on griot traditions, which is extremely important as part of the conversation as we look to West Africa," Adams says. "But what the akonting did was open up a new line of discourse." The ngoni and xalam are instruments typically played by griots — praise singers who enjoy special status in many West African tribes. Adams says the akonting is a folk instrument, played not by griots, but by ordinary people in the Jola tribe. In terms of which tradition has the most direct connection to the banjo, Adams says it's a mistake to think of it as an either/or proposition: "Each of these traditions deserves to be explored, experienced, examined on their own terms." Jatta plans to continue his work, documenting the akonting musical tradition and its connections to the banjo and other areas of Jola culture, through a research and education center he's founding back home in Gambia. *Photo credit:Laemouahuma Daniel Jatta plays the akonting, an African instrument that may be a precursor to the banjo. Courtesy of Chuck Levy Source:https://www.npr.org/.../139.../the-banjos-roots-reconsidered Previous Next

< Back Black Farmers & Agriculturalists Association staged a “prayer vigil and sit in.” ​ On Mon, 07.01.2002, the Black Farmers & Agriculturalists Association staged a “prayer vigil and sit in.” Black farmers from Georgia, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi and other southern states, and the national president of Black Farmers & Agriculturalists Association (BFAA), Gary R. Grant, participated. The first of five protests took place at the Farm Services Agency (FSA) offices in Brownsville and Bolivar, Tennessee. It was in support of Black farmers who had been denied or delayed operating loans. At the time of the sit-in, corn was ready to be harvested, cotton plants were setting their blooms, and vegetable crops were ripe for picking. Many Black farmers who had applied for operating loans to plant their 2002 corps had not received their loan proceeds in Haywood and Hardeman Counties, Tennessee. "The main thrust of the Prayer Vigil and Farmers' Sit-in is to garner public and ultimately congressional support for the establishment of a Separate but Equal lending agency specifically for African American borrowers. To do otherwise will all but guarantee the demise of the African American farmer in the United States," charges Tom Burrell of the Tennessee-BFAA Chapter. Black farmers who prevailed in the April 14, 1999 Pigford v Glickman (USDA) class action lawsuit are entitled to operation loans. They are still being denied access to loan benefits, which were made available to them by the Consent Decree, signed by Judge Paul Friedman. Reference: The Associated Press permissions 450 W. 33rd St., New York, NY 10001. Jet Magazine Johnson Publishing 820 South Michigan Avenue Chicago IL 60605 B.F.A.A. ---------------- And Then, In 2014, The Black Farmers Protested Again! --- Black Farmers Protest Government Behind Lawsuit Craig D. Frazier | 4/24/2014, Three years ago, after years of protests, numerous failed congressional bills and dozens of lawsuits, President Barack Obama signed the bill authorizing compensation for discrimination in farm lending at the hands of the United States Department of Agriculture. The settlement benefits thousands of Black farmers who say they were denied loans and other assistance for years by federal agriculture officials because of their race. Thousands of farmers received payments as part of a 1999 class action settlement in a case known as Pigford I. This second round of payments (Pigford II) is part of legislation designed to pay farmers who missed the filing deadline for Pigford I. Obama, who supported the settlement when he was a senator, signed the bill into law in December 2010. “The U.S. District Court’s approval of the settlement between the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and plaintiffs in the Pigford II class action lawsuit is another important step forward in addressing an unfortunate chapter in USDA’s civil rights history,” said Obama. “This agreement will provide overdue relief and justice to African-American farmers and bring us closer to the ideals of freedom and equality that this country was founded on. I especially want to recognize the efforts of Secretary [of Agriculture Tom] Vilsack and Attorney General Eric Holder, without whom this settlement would not have been reached.” Recently, Black farmers protested in front of the USDA office in Montgomery. The farmers say they’re not getting their payments and their complaints are going unanswered. “We have findings of discrimination, breaches of contracts, and we also want to continue to farm the land. We are coming to stand today to fight for justice, because the USDA has destroyed all our lives and discriminated against us across the country,” said Michael Stovall, a Black farmer from Alabama who has been fighting the USDA for 20 years. The protests are not just in Alabama. Similar demonstrations are being held nationwide. “I have been advocating for justice for Black farmers for the past 30 years. I went to Congress and successfully campaigned for three bills,” said John W. Boyd Jr., a fourth generation Black farmer, businessman and civil rights activist. He is the founder and president of the nonprofit National Black Farmers Association, a position that has frequently placed him in the national spotlight. Boyd said Congress lifted the statute of limitations for his group’s claims in 1998. In 2008, Congress passed a bill allowing the claims of late filers to be heard. Then, in 2010, Congress approved $1.25 billion in payments to compensate the Black farmers. “The struggle seems never to be over for Black people. We won in court. We won in Congress. Now that we have prevailed, playing by all the rules, the game is suddenly flawed.” Source:http://amsterdamnews.com/.../black-farmers-protest.../ Previous Next

< Back Windser E. Alexander received patent number 3,541,333 for his System for Enhancing Fine Detail in Thermal Photographs. His invention provides a device and thermal enhancement method that detects, discriminates, and more effectively displays differences in infrared radiation, thus resulting in increased resolution and an increase in the effective dynamic range of the infrared observation system. ​ On November 17,1970, Winser E. Alexander received patent number 3,541,333 for his System for Enhancing Fine Detail in Thermal Photographs. His invention provides a device and thermal enhancement method that detects, discriminates, and more effectively displays differences in infrared radiation, thus resulting in increased resolution and an increase in the effective dynamic range of the infrared observation system. His research furthered expertise in the area of digital signal processing. Alexander was a professor of electrical and computer engineering at North Carolina State University. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from North Carolina A&T University in 1964 and his Master of Science degree in 1966 and Ph. D. in 1974 from the University of New Mexico. A thermographic camera (or infrared camera) detects infrared light (or heat) invisible to the human eye. That characteristic makes these cameras incredibly useful for all sorts of applications, including security, surveillance and military uses, in which humans are tracked in dark, smoky, foggy or dusty environments. Archaeologists deploy infrared cameras on excavation sites. Engineers use them to find structural deficiencies. Doctors and medical technicians can pinpoint and diagnosis problems within the human body. Firefighters peer into the heart of fires. Utility workers detect potential problems on the power grid or find leaks in water or gas lines. Astronomers use infrared technology to explore the depths of space. Scientists use them for a broad range of experimental purposes. There are different types of thermal imaging devices for all of these tasks, but each camera relies on the same set of principles in order to function Human eyes are wonderfully complicated and intricate organs. They're made for seeing visible light. This light reflects off of objects, making them visible to us. Light, which is a type of radiation, comes in more flavors than just the visible kind. The range of light spans an entire electromagnetic spectrum, comprised of visible and invisible light, as well as X-rays, gamma rays, radio waves, microwaves and ultraviolet light. By understanding infrared, we can use thermal imaging devices to detect the heat signature of just about any object. Nearly all matter emits at least a little bit of heat, even very cold objects like ice. That's because unless that object is at absolute zero (minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit or minus 273.15 degrees Celsius), its atoms are still wiggling and jiving, bumping around and generating heat. Previous Next

< Back Thomas L. Jennings was awarded a patent on March 3, 1821 (US Patent 3306x) for his discovery of a process called dry-scouring which was the forerunner of today's modern dry-cleaning. ​ Thomas L. Jennings was awarded a patent on March 3, 1821 (US Patent 3306x) for his discovery of a process called dry-scouring which was the forerunner of today's modern dry-cleaning. Thomas L. Jennings (1791 – February 12, 1856) was an African-American tradesman and abolitionist in New York City, New York. He operated and owned a tailoring business. Jennings became active in working to better civil rights for the African-American community. In 1831, he was selected as assistant secretary to the First Annual Convention of the People of Color in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which met in June of that year. He helped arrange legal defense for his daughter, Elizabeth Jennings, in 1854 when she challenged a private streetcar company's segregation of seating and was arrested. She was defended by the young Chester Arthur, and won her case the next year. With two other prominent African-American leaders, Jennings organized the Legal Rights Association in 1855 in New York, which raised challenges to discrimination and organized legal defense for court cases. He founded and was a trustee of the Abyssinian Baptist Church, a leader in the African-American community. Thomas L. Jennings was born free to a free African-American family in New York City. As a youth he learned a trade as a tailor. He built a business and married a woman named Elizabeth, who was born in 1798 in Delaware into slavery and died March 5, 1873. Under New York's gradual abolition law of 1799, she was converted to the status of an indentured servant and was not eligible for full emancipation until 1827. Children born to enslaved mothers before 1827 were considered to be born free, but were required to serve apprenticeships to the mothers' masters until they reached their mid- to late 20s. He and his wife had three children: Matilda Jennings (b. 1824, d. 1886), Elizabeth Jennings (b. March 1827 d. June 5, 1901), and James E. Jennings (b. 1832). Matilda Jennings was a dressmaker and wife of James A. Thompson, a Mason. Elizabeth Jennings was the wife of Charles Graham, whom she married on June 18, 1860. James E. Jennings was a public school teacher. Jennings built a business as a tailor, and was well-respected in the community. He spent his early earnings on legal fees to purchase his wife and some of their children out of slavery. Their daughter Elizabeth Jennings was born free in March 1827 and became a schoolteacher and church organist. Jennings also supported the abolitionist movement and became active in working for civil rights of free African-Americans. He was active on issues related to emigration to other countries; opposing colonization in Africa, as proposed by the American Colonization Society; and supporting expansion of suffrage for African-American men. Thomas Jennings was the first African American to receive a patent, on March 3, 1821. His patent was for a dry-cleaning process called “dry scouring”. ... Thomas L. Jennings Dry Scouring technique created modern day dry cleaning Jennings was a leader in the cause of abolitionism and African-American civil rights. After his daughter, Elizabeth Jennings March 1827-June 5, 1901, was forcibly removed from a "whites only" streetcar in New York City, he organized a movement against racial segregation in public transit in the city; the services were provided by private companies. Elizabeth Jennings won her case in 1855. Along with James McCune Smith and Rev. James W.C. Pennington, her father created the Legal Rights Association in 1855, a pioneering minority-rights organization. Its members organized additional challenges to discrimination and segregation, and gained legal representation to take cases to court. A decade after Elizabeth Jennings won her case, New York City streetcar companies stopped practicing segregation. Previous Next

< Back Herbert Smitherman is the inventor of the most popular Proctor and Gamble’s Products. ​ Dr. Herbert Smitherman the inventor of the most popular Proctor and Gamble’s Products. Crest Toothpaste, Folgers Coffee, Bounce Fabric Softener and Safeguard Soap were all created by an African-American Man? I have talked about Dr. Herbert Smitherman Sr. before on The African History Network Show before.. Dr. Herbert Smitherman was a pioneering executive and professional chemist at Proctor & Gamble who led the way for other African-Americans at the prestigious company in the 1960s. He was the first black person with a doctorate hired at Proctor & Gamble. With a Ph. D in physical organic chemistry, Dr. Smitherman developed a number of incredibly popular patents, including Crest toothpaste, Safeguard soap, Bounce fabric softeners, Biz, Folgers Coffee and Crush soda, to name a few. Not only are they still on the shelves, but many of them are on display at the Cincinnati Museum Center in the featured exhibit, “America I AM: The African-American Imprint.” Dr. Smitherman spent 29 years there before turning in his labcoat to work as a professor at Wilberforce University. But after serving at the historically black college, Smitherman turned his attention to starting a high school called the Western Hills Design Technology School to help black students perform better in math and science. A child of the south, Dr. Smitherman’s family lived in Birmingham, Alabama, where his father served as a reverend. A young Smitherman would see his father’s church burn down twice during their push for voting registration and voting rights. He died on Oct. 9, 2010. Previous Next

< Back Henry Edwin Baker Jr. (September 1, 1857 – April 27, 1928) was the third African American to enter the United States Naval Academy. He later served as an assistant patent examiner in the United States Patent Office, where he would chronicle the history of African American inventors. ​ Henry Edwin Baker Jr. (September 1, 1857 – April 27, 1928) was the third African American to enter the United States Naval Academy. He later served as an assistant patent examiner in the United States Patent Office, where he would chronicle the history of African American inventors. . Words on image: Left image: The Colored Inventor: A Record of Fifty YearsBy Henry E. Baker - Published: 1913 - Pages: 22. Right image: Portrait of Henry Edwin Baker circa 1902. Source of portait: Baker, Henry E. (1902) "The Negro as an inventor" in Twentieth century Negro literature; or, A cyclopedia of thought on the vital topics relating to the American Negro,, Naperville, Ill., Toronto: J.L. Nichols & Company, pp. 398–413 - By Daniel Wallace Culp . Born: September 1, 1857, in Columbus, Mississippi, United States Died: April 27, 1928 (aged 70), in Washington, D.C., United States Alma mater: United States Naval Academy, Ben-Hyde Benton School of Technology, Howard University School of Law. Occupation: Patent examiner Known for: Historian of Black inventors Notable work: : The Colored Inventor . Early Life And Education Baker was born on September 1, 1857, in Columbus, Mississippi, and attended the Columbus Union Academy there.[1] He received an appointment at the Naval Academy but encountered racial hazing. After two years, he transferred and completed his education at the Ben-Hyde Benton School of Technology in Washington, D.C., graduating in 1879.[1] He went into law, graduating in 1881 from Howard University School of Law, a historically Black college, at the top of his class. He also completed post-graduate work there in 1883. Naval Academy Baker was nominated by Congressman Henry W. Barry while he was living in Columbus, and was sworn in as a cadet midshipman on September 25, 1874.[2] Like his predecessors James H. Conyers and Alonzo C. McClennan – the first and second African Americans to attend the Naval Academy, respectively – Baker faced racist attitudes and harassment by other midshipmen. Baker was a social outcast, isolated by white cadets; his only social interaction with another midshipman – "except on occasions when he was defending himself against their assaults" – occurred when a midshipman from Pennsylvania came to Baker's room at midnight and offered Baker a slice of birthday cake.[3] In order to allay Baker's suspicions, the midshipman showed him a letter from his mother "in which she requested that a slice be given to the colored cadet who was without friends".[3] A fellow plebe from North Carolina, James Henry Glennon, put Baker on report for calling Glennon a "son of a b**ch" on October 26, 1874.[2] The Superintendent of the Naval Academy, C.R.P. Rodgers, convened a board of inquiry under Commander William T. Sampson to investigate the incident. Glennon had not heard Baker, but other plebes testified that they had heard it and admitted that they referred to Baker as the "nigger" within his hearing.[4] The board found that Baker had said it, but that he was "incited so to act by the bearing of the other cadets".[4] Another board was convened to investigate a report of disobedience during a seamanship drill, when Baker stood still after receiving conflicting orders, but it found no misconduct. In January 1875, Baker ran into academic trouble when he failed his semi-annual exams in math and French, and the Academic Board recommended dismissal. While awaiting a final ruling, Baker was involved in another altercation on February 7, 1875.[5] While marching back to quarters after supper, Baker was struck from behind by a snowball. Baker shouted, warning those behind him to "[t]ake care at whom you throw snow balls".[5] John Hood, a plebe from Florence, Alabama, asked Baker whom he was addressing, and when Baker replied, "You", Hood struck him in the face.[5] Another midshipman, Lawson Melton of South Carolina (who received his appointment from Robert B. Elliott, a Republican African-American congressman) joined in the attack. Baker escaped and reported the incident. The following morning Hood and Melton, armed with clubs, waylaid Baker and beat him about the head before he could break free and make his escape; he reported this incident to the officer in charge.[5] In lieu of an investigation, Hood and Melton wrote letters of explanation in which they justified their assault on Baker, with Melton writing: I have been taught never to receive an insult, and now when it was offered by a Negro, I could not help striking him. I also admit, that it was ungentlemanly, thus to strike a Negro, and I deeply regret having lowered myself thus. I think Sir, that I would repeat it, on the slightest provocation."[6] Superintendent Rogers recommended that the Secretary of the Navy, George M. Robeson, dismiss Hood and Melton for their misconduct and disregard of Baker's rights, as well as their stated intention to renew the violence; Robeson agreed.[6] (Hood was eventually reappointed by Representative Goldsmith W. Hewitt, and graduated second in the Class of 1879.) To forestall additional violence, Rogers punished the freshman with additional marching, extra drills, and restriction to quarters on Saturday evenings; these steps were effective in reducing harassment of Baker.[6] Baker's studies improved and he passed his annual examinations in June 1875, but the Academic Board recommended that he and twenty other classmates repeat plebe year, and Robeson approved.[6] Around the same time, Baker was attacked after supposedly saying "oh Lord" to Charles Renwick Breck, a classmate from Mississippi, "in a very insulting tone".[6] Breck was dismissed, but Admiral Rogers believed that Baker's defiant attitude was partially to blame. In October 1875, Baker was involved in a mess hall quarrel with Frederick P. Meares, a plebe from North Carolina.[7] Meares objected to Baker removing an empty seat between them and, when it fell beneath the table, classmates pushed the chair into Baker's leg. Baker blamed Meares and warned him that there would be violence if he continued. Baker was placed on report for using foul language during the altercation. A board of inquiry found that, despite his protestations to the contrary, Baker had called Meares a "God damned son of a bitch", but had been goaded into doing so.[7] Admiral Rogers recommended that Baker be dismissed and Robeson agreed. [7] Political pressure forced Robeson to reverse his decision; however, the harassment resumed after Baker's reinstatement. He resigned permanently.[8] Due to disfranchisement of Blacks in the South and the lack of Black Congressmen, no other Blacks were appointed to the Naval Academy for the following six decades.[9] . Baker on his time at the Academy "I was several times attacked with stones, and was forced finally to appeal to the officers, when a marine was detailed to accompany me across the campus to and from mess hall at meal times. My books were mutilated, my clothes were cut, and in some instances destroyed, and all the petty annoyances which ingenuity could devise were inflicted upon me daily, and during seamanship practice attempts were often made to do me personal injury, while I would be aloft in the rigging. No one ever addressed me by name. I was called the "Moke" usually, the "damn nigger", for variety. I was shunned as if I were a veritable leper, and received curses and blows as the only method my persecutors had of relieving the monotony ..." —Henry E. Baker, quoted in Washington 1901 . Patent Office After earning his law degree, Baker joined the United States Patent Office in 1877 as a copyist. He rose through the ranks to Second Assistant Examiner by 1902.[1] He wrote a book and articles on the history of Black inventors. Writings Baker, Henry E. (1913). The Colored Inventor: A Record of Fifty Years. New York City: The Crisis Publishing Company. Baker, Henry E. (1902). "The Negro as an Inventor". In Daniel Wallace Culp (ed.). Twentieth Century Negro Literature; Or, A Cyclopedia of Thought on the Vital Topics Relating to the American Negro. Naperville, Illinois; Toronto: J.L. Nichols & Company. pp. 398–413. ISBN 9780598621122. Baker, Henry E. (January 1, 1917). "The Negro in the Field of Invention". The Journal of Negro History. 2 (1): 21–36. doi:10.2307/2713474. ISSN 0022-2992. JSTOR 2713474. The 1899 list - 'List of coloured inventors in the United States as furnished for the Paris Exposition, 1900. Source: Wikipedia . READ Mr. Bakers book, The Colored Inventor: A RECORD OF FIFTY YEARS By HENRY E. BAKER. Assistant Examiner United States Patent Office. Here via the Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/.../epub/21281/pg21281-images.html Previous Next

< Back Alfred L. Cralle (September 4, 1866 – May 3, 1920) was an African-American businessman and inventor of the "Ice Cream Mold and Disher". ​ Alfred L. Cralle (September 4, 1866 – May 3, 1920) was an African-American businessman and inventor of the "Ice Cream Mold and Disher". Cralle was born in Kenbridge, Virginia in 1866 just after the end of the American Civil War (1861–1865). He attended local schools and worked with his father in the carpentry trade as a young man, becoming interested in mechanics. He was sent to Washington, D.C.where he attended Wayland Seminary, one of a number of schools founded by the American Baptist Home Mission Society to help educate newly freed African-Americans after the Civil War. After attending the school for a few years, Cralle moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he worked as a porter at a drugstore and at a hotel. While working at the hotel, he developed the idea of the ice cream scoop. It came to him when he noticed ice cream servers having difficulty trying to get the popular confection desired by the customer into the cone they were usually holding. The ice cream tended to stick to spoons and ladles, usually requiring the server to use two hands and at least two separate implements to serve customers. Cralle responded to that problem by creating a mechanical device now known as the ice cream scoop. On 10 June 1896, Alfred applied for a patent on his invention. He was awarded patent 576,395 on 2 February 1897. The patented "Ice Cream Mold and Disher," was an ice cream scoop with a built-in scraper to allow for one-handed operation. Alfred's functional design is reflected in modern ice cream scoops. Cralle’s invention, originally called an Ice Cream Mold and Disher, was designed to be able to keep ice cream and other foods from sticking. It was easy to operate with one hand. Since the Mold and Disher was strong and durable, effective, and inexpensive, it could be constructed in almost any desired shape, such as cone or a mound, with no delicate parts that could break or malfunction. Cralle was also a successful Pittsburgh business promoter as well. When local black investors created the Afro-American Financial, Accumulating, Merchandise, and Business Association in Pittsburgh, he was selected as assistant manager and then was promoted to general manager. He did not become famous for his inventing of his ice cream scoop. It spread widely so quickly that people soon forgot or never knew Cralle as the inventor. Thus he never profited from his invention. Married and with three children, Cralle experienced a number of personal tragedies. His wife and one of his daughters died in 1918 of a communicable disease. In 1920 he lost his only son to another disease. With their deaths, Cralle’s only surviving immediate family member was daughter Anna Cralle, born in 1910. Later in 1920, Cralle himself was killed in an automobile accident in Pittsburgh. Sources: "Afro-American Notes". The Pittsburgh Press. February 14, 1897. Retrieved May 28, 2018. "The Gifts of African American Innovation". Desmond Tutu Foundation USA. February 12, 2014. Retrieved May 28, 2018. "The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed". www.blackpast.org . Retrieved 2018-09-05. "United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) : nombre de brevets délivrés à certains quelques opérateurs de télécommunications". United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved 2018-09-05. "History of Ices & Ice Cream". What's Cooking America. Retrieved May 28, 2018. "A. L. Cralle Ice Cream Mold and Disher Patent Number 576395". U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved May 28, 2018. Stradley, Linda (2015-05-14). "Ice Cream History, Whats Cooking America". What's Cooking America. Retrieved 2018-09-05. Previous Next

< Back Abner Sessoms was North Carolina's for Black policeman. ​ Ahoskie, NC Had State's First Black Cop. Shared from Cultivator Bookstore fb page. Previous Next

Time Out This page isn’t available right now. But we’re working on a fix, ASAP. Try again soon. Go Back

Time Out This page isn’t available right now. But we’re working on a fix, ASAP. Try again soon. Go Back

Environmental Racism PCB landfill protest ​ Read More Environmental Racism PCB landfill protest in Afton, North Carolina, September 1982. (Jerome Friar/UNC Libraries) ​ Read More Environmental Racism Dolly Burwell is considered the Mother of the Environmental Justice Movement Against Environmental Racism. ​ Read More Gianna Floyd. George Floyd's daughter. ​ Read More Back to Social Justice & Activism Environmental Racism

Back to Fashion & Fabrics Hat Makers & Milliners Harold Cotton owned and operated Bob’s Hat Shop in Greensboro, North Carolina, from 1953 to 2005. ​ Read More Vanilla Beane, is a milliner, or hatmaker, known for her custom-made pieces adorned by civil rights activist Dorothy Height. ​ Read More Vanilla Powell Beane (September 13, 1919 – October 23, 2022), ​ Read More

Back to Fashion & Fabrics Seamstresses, Tailors & Designers André Leon Talley was born October 16, 1949. He is an African American fashion news director/journalist and businessman. ​ Read More Combo AKA Jenny ​ Read More Willie Otey Kay (b.1894 – d.1992) , Was A Renowned African American Raleigh Designer. ​ Read More Willie Otey Kay (b.1894 – d.1992) , Was A Renowned African American Raleigh Designer. ​ Read More Willie Otey Kay (b.1894 – d.1992) , Was A Renowned African American Raleigh Designer. ​ Read More

Newspapers & Magazines Back to Arts & Entertainment Alex Manly Alex Manly was the owner of "The Daily Record" before it was burned by white supremist in 1898 and was he forced out of town. Read More Ebony Magazine EBONY Magazine's first edition, which came out November 1, 1945. Read More Freedom's Journal, the first Black newspaper. John B. Russwurm and Freedom's Journal, the first Black newspaper. Read More Kenneth Edmonds Kenneth Edmonds, the current publisher of The Carolina Times. Read More Kenneth Edmonds Kenneth Edmonds, Publisher of The Carolina Times Dies, Possibly Marking The End Of The Historic Durham, NC Paper Read More Mary Alice Thatch At the helm of The Wilmington Journal, Mary Alice Thatch pushed to cover issues affecting the Black community that had been ignored by the mainstream press. Read More Orgen Printing Company Raleigh's first Black American weekly newspaper. Read More P.B. (Plummer Bernard) Young, Sr P.B. Young, The Dean of the American Black Press Read More The Carolina Times The Carolina Times was founded as The Standard Advertiser in 1921 by Charles Arrant, who was killed in 1922. In 1927 the newspaper was purchased by North Carolina Central University alumnus Louis Austin in Durham, North Carolina. The paper continues to be published today by Austin's grandson, Kenneth Edmonds, and is the only black-owned and operated newspaper in Durham. Read More The Carolina Times Thanks to funding from an IDEA grant from UNC Libraries, the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center is pleased to now have the full run of 1951 issues of the Carolina Times digitized. Read More The Carolina Times-Durham, NC The Carolina Times-Durham, NC -Saturday December 2, 1950 Read More The Daily Record Original Copies Of 1898 black-Owned Newspaper Rediscovered Read More The Daily Record, Angry white supremacists burned down "The Daily Record," a black-owned newspaper, on Nov. 10, 1898. Read More The North Carolina Mutual Photograph: The North Carolina Mutual's three founders: John Merrick, C. C. Spaulding, and Dr. Aaron Moore, are pictured in this 1903 publication.. Read More

Artist, Sculptors, Photographers & Painters Addison Scurlock Addison Scurlock was an African American photographer. Read More Alma S. Adams Photo Credit: Congresswoman Alma S. Adams. Taken at the 1991 opening of The African American Atelier, INC Art Gallery in Greensboro, NC Read More Amy Sherald's and Artist Kehinde Wiley's official portraits of Michelle and Barrack Obama. ​ Read More Ben Watford and Jim McDowell Facing Their Ancestral Legacy: The Pottery of Ben Watford and Jim McDowell By Michael Ausbon, Curator of Decorative Arts for the North Carolina Museum of History Read More Black History-White Artists-Black Models ​ Read More Charles Alston Charles Alston-Painter-Sculptor, Illustrator, Muralist-Teacher And A Member Of The Harlem Renaissance Artists Group. Read More David C. Driskell (1931 – April 1, 2020) ​ Read More Dr. Selma Burke Photograph: Mooresville, NC native, Artist/Sculptor/Educator Dr. Selma Burke won a competition to create a relief sculpture of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1943. Read More Dr. Tamara Holmes Brothers Dr. Tamara Holmes Brothers Named Deputy Director Of The NC Arts Council May 5, 2020 Read More Ed Wilson Ed Wilson was an African American sculptor, and was known for figurative works that are typically created in metal. Read More Ernie Barnes Painting - "Friendly Friendship Baptist Church" Read More Ernie Barnes Painting - "The North Carolina Roots of Artist Ernie Barnes" Read More Ernie Barnes Ernie Barnes credits his mother not only with guiding him toward formal scholastic education but also with being the source of his internal psychological balance that gave him the scope to excel as an artist. Time and time again, Barnes names emotional insight as the key to artistic greatness. Read More Ernie Barnes Born and raised in Durham, North Carolina, Ernie Barnes is the artist behind the iconic image, "The Sugar Shack," featured on the series, Good Times, and Marvin Gaye's album, "I Want You!"-Image: The Sugar Shack. Copyright © Ernie Barnes Family Trust Read More Ernie Barnes Ernie Barnes is one of the best known African American artists. He played professional football before devoting himself to art. He gained national and international popularity with his painting "Sugar Shack" which appeared on the television show "Good Times" and a Marvin Gaye album. Today, his ‘mannerist’ painting style has been copied by numerous young Black artists. Read More Harry Roseland's "To the Highest Bidder" ​ Read More Jamaal Barber Jamaal Barber-printmaker from Littleton, North Carolina Influenced by Elizabeth Cattlett. Read More John Biggers John Biggers was a muralist who came to prominence after the Harlem Renaissance and toward the end of World War II. Read More Malvin Gray Johnson Self-Portrait Read More Malvin Gray Johnson "Roll Jordan Roll" -1930 Oil on canvas 38 1/8 x 30 1/8 inches Read More Minnie Evans She is known as a southern folk artist and as a surrealist and visionary artist as well. Read More Minnie Evans She died in 1987, but her work is so connected with the site that local artists created a memorial sculpture garden within Airlie in her honor. Read More Minnie Evans Minnie Evans Garden Chapel Read More Minnie Evans "I have no imagination. I never plan a drawing, they just happen. In a dream it was shown to me what I have to do, of paintings. Read More Minnie Evans The paintings and drawings of Minnie Evans depict scenes from the artist's private dream world. Read More Selma Burke Sculptor and educator who received national recognition for her relief portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, which was the model for his image on the dime. Read More Selma Burke Selma Burke - sculptor Read More Tarish Jeghetto Pipkins Tarish Jeghetto Pipkins, is a puppeteer, social activist, artist, and a story teller Read More Titus Kaphar-"Behind the Myth of Benevolence"- 2014 ​ Read More Vinnie Bagwell ​ Read More Vinnie Bagwell ​ Read More Vinnie Bagwell ​ Read More Vinnie Bagwell ​ Read More Vinnie Bagwell ​ Read More Vinnie Bagwell ​ Read More Vinnie Bagwell ​ Read More Vinnie Bagwell ​ Read More Vinnie Bagwell ​ Read More Vinnie Bagwell ​ Read More Vinnie Bagwell ​ Read More Vinnie Bagwell ​ Read More Vinnie Bagwell ​ Read More Vinnie Bagwell ​ Read More Vinnie Bagwell ​ Read More Vinnie Bagwell ​ Read More Vinnie Bagwell ​ Read More Vinnie Bagwell ​ Read More Vinnie Bagwell ​ Read More Vinnie Bagwell ​ Read More Vinnie Bagwell ​ Read More Vinnie Bagwell ​ Read More Vinnie Bagwell ​ Read More Vinnie Bagwell ​ Read More William Artis The Gifted Hands Of Sculptor William Artis Read More William E. Artis Untitled (Idealized Head of a Woman) Read More Winslow Homer's "A Visit from the Old Mistress. ​ Read More Back to Arts & Entertainment

A Chantey is a style of choral singing associated with black slave labor in the early United States. Chanteys, Worksongs With Roots From Africa That The Enslaved Black People Sang On Plantations, In Prison, And While Working On Boats-Harbors Read More A Hayti mural depicting bluesman John Dee Holeman and friends, painted by Emily Eve Weinstein and community volunteers. The Living Legacy of the Piedmont Blues The music that grew out of Durham’s tobacco manufacturing plants influenced some of the most widely recorded musicians of the last 65 years—and still does today. Read More Laemouahuma Daniel Jatta Laemouahuma Daniel Jatta is playing the akonting, an African instrument that may be a precursor to the banjo. Read More "Dancing The Slaves" - A Look into the inhumane treatment of Africans aboard slave ships In periods with good weather, the slaves on most slave ships would be brought up on deck in the mornings. Normally the women and children would be allowed to move freely around the deck. The men would be chained together, because it was commonly believed that they would be the ones that would cause violence and resistance. Read More "Jazz Band on Truck" "Jazz Band on Truck". 1920’s - Moore County. Pinehurst N.C. Read More Al Smith Original artwork "Wade In The Water" Read More Algia Mae Hinton Algia Mae Hinton was an American Piedmont blues guitarist and vocalist. Read More Altovise Davis Altovise Davis. was an African American actress and dancer. She also was the wife of Sammy Davis Jr. Read More Band of the Jaw-Bone John-Canoe Sketches of Character in illustration of the Habits, Occupation and Costume of the Negro Population in the island of Jamaica. Read More Ben E. King On September 28, 1938, soul and R&B singer Benjamin Earl Nelson better known as Ben E. King, was born in Henderson, NC. Read More Billy Kaye Born in Wilson, N.C. in 1932, drummer Billy Kaye has performed with jazz titans like Billie Holiday, Thelonious Monk, Lou Donaldson, and George Benson. This summer he performed in his hometown for the first time ever. Meet Billy Kaye. Read More Billy Strayhorn Innovative Composer And Jazz Pianist Read More Billy Taylor Billy Taylor was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster, educator and jazz activist. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and from 1994 was the artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Read More Blind Boy Fuller Fuller was famous for playing a steel-bodied National guitar that was a natural resonator before amplification. Along with Reverend Gary Davis, Fuller dominated the Bull City’s blues scene, attracting and influencing many musicians. Read More Carol Brice Carol Brice became one of the first African American classical singers with an extensive recording repertoire. Read More Clyde McPhatter In 1953 Clyde McPhatter & Drifters recorded Big Hit “Money Honey.” Read More Coltrane Project Moves Forward in High Point Once nearly forgotten, the childhood home of jazz legend John Coltrane is slated for preservation and extended new use as an historic site. Read More Dizzy Gillespie He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but adding layers of harmonic and rhythmic complexity previously unheard in jazz. His combination of musicianship, showmanship, and wit made him a leading popularizer of the new music called bebop. Read More Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten Remembering Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten, who was born on this day back in 1893. Cotten was a self-taught, American folk and blues musician. She was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, in the “Early Influence” category. Read More Etta Baker As with many other Black musicians, Etta Baker influenced countless White musicians, we've Always "influenced" white musicians, and many times our sounds have been stolen in an attempt to replicate them. Read More Eva Narcissus Boyd - Little Eva Little Eva hit the top of the charts with her recording of “The Loco-Motion.” Read More Freeman Vines For nearly half a century, the North Carolina native has created instruments out of found wood—including some from a notorious hanging tree Read More Guitar Shorty - Blues Real name: John Henry Fortescue In the early 1970s, a one-of-a-kind artist lived near Elm City—the blues guitarist, singer, and musical storyteller John Henry Fortescue. Known as Guitar Shorty, Fortescue—who was originally from Belhaven, also the hometown of Little Eva of “Loco-Motion” fame—was a small man who played a big guitar spangled with flower decals. Read More Gullah Geechee Community Finally Credited With Song “Kumbaya" Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters, who share the oral traditions of Southeastern Georgia and the Gullah Geechee community all over the world. Read More Harold Nicholas Harold Nicholas Was A Tap Dancing Legend and one half of the Nicholas Brothers. Read More In The Ring Shout, Some Of The Oldest African American Music Freddie Palmer, right, leads the McIntosh County Shouters during a recent performance at the Lucas Theatre in Savannah. Read More Jackie "Moms Mabley" Moms Mabley, was born on 3, 19 1897. She was an African American vaudeville performer and comedian, the first Black woman to establish herself as a single act in standup comedy in America. Read More Jacqueline Avant, Wife Of Music Executive Clarence Avant Clarence Avant, is known as the “Godfather of Black Music” and was recently inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Read More James Timothy Brymn James Timothy Brymn was an African-American conductor, arranger, composer, and pianist who generally performed northeastern hot style jazz. He was usually credited as Lieutenant James Tim Brymn, and was sometimes billed as "Mr. Jazz Himself" Read More James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson Even though the Johnson brothers were not from NC, we felt their song (The Black National Anthem) deserved to be added to our NC Music gallery. It was a Gift to all American Black people when the brothers wrote and arranged it. Read More John Coltrane Though he died at age 40, Coltrane released nearly 50 studio albums and almost 20 singles during the course of his career. Read More John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Read More John Coltrane On July 17, 1967, legendary jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane died. Born in 1926 in the small Richmond County town of Hamlet. Read More John Coltrane John Coltrane, who was a legendary American jazz saxophonist. Read More John Coltrane Mural John Coltrane mural at 29th and Diamond streets in North Philadelphia, designed by artist Ernel Martinez Read More Libba Cotten Elizabeth ‘Libba’ Cotten-Master of American folk Music-an American blues and folk musician, singer, and songwriter. Read More Maceo Parker "Maceo! Blow your horn!" Parker's name can be heard again and again in James Brown's classic recordings, as he drives his musicians to reach the highest levels of excellence. Read More Maceo Parker On February 14, 1943, saxophonist Maceo Parker was born in Kinston, NC, and is best known for his work with James Brown, Parker brought his funk style to the soul music of the James Brown Band. For nearly 20 years, Brown’s call “Maceo, I want you to Blow!” summoned his unique sound. He also collaborated with a host of artists including George Clinton, Prince, Ray Charles, James Taylor, the Dave Matthews Band and the Red Hot Chili Peppers Read More Mary D. Williams The gospel singer, historian, and educator has a voice and a presence that demand attention. Read More Max Roach Throughout his career, drummer Max Roach constantly sought to extend the boundaries of jazz, both stylistically and in the service of political change. Read More Millie McCoy and Christine McCoy Millie McCoy and Christine McCoy were American conjoined twins who went by the stage names "The Carolina Twins", "The Two-Headed Nightingale" and "The Eighth Wonder of the World". The Twins traveled throughout the world performing song and dance for entertainment. Read More Moses Lee Rascoe Southern Blues musician, Moses Lee Rascoe, began playing blues at the age of 13 in Windsor, Bertie County, NC. He spent his teen years playing juke joints around the South, literally singing for his supper. Read More Mr. Melvin Parker One Of The Greatest Drummers To Live, Who Flew Under The Radar. Read More Ms. Bessie Alberta Johnson Whitted This photograph is of the North Carolina Mutual Glee Club in 1929. Bessie Whitted is on the far left, front row. Read More Nat Jones How many times have you sung 'I feel good, like I knew I would' by the great James Brown? Did you know it was musically arranged by a Washington, NC PS Jones High School Band teacher named Nat Jones? Read More Nina Simone "She was one of the most extraordinary artists of the twentieth century, an icon of American music. She was the consummate musical storyteller, a griot as she would come to learn, who used her remarkable talent to create a legacy of liberation, empowerment, passion, and love through a magnificent body of works. Read More Nina Simone This is the cover of a book written about Nina Simone's life for children. Read More Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon professionally known as Nina Simone - singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and civil rights activist. , age 17, circa 1949. Read More Nina Simone Lyrics to BackLash Blues Read More Nina Simone Rashid Johnson, Julie Mehretu, Adam Pendleton and Ellen Gallagher are working both to preserve and transform the North Carolina house where she was born. Read More Pigmeat Markham Pigmeat Markham was an African American comedian extraordinaire, from Durham, North Carolina. Read More Reverend Gary Davis, also Blind Gary Davis Reverend Gary Davis, also Blind Gary Davis (born Gary D. Davis, April 30, 1896 – May 5, 1972), was a blues and gospel singer who was also proficient on the banjo, guitar and harmonica. Read More Richard Lewis Spencer In 1969, Mr. Spencer wrote and sang the Grammy award winning song, “Color Him Father,” which reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart. He is also the owner of the famous Amen break featuring a drum solo by G.C. Coleman. There are some who claim that this piece of music helped to launch hip-hop and the electronic subcultures. Read More Roberta Flack The Grammy-winning singer and pianist, now 85, “plans to stay active in her musical and creative pursuits,” the announcement said. Read More Roberta Flack Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and pianist Roberta Flack Read More Shirley Caesar Shirley Caesar, Gospel voice and Minister Read More Shout Because You're Free: The African American Ring Shout Tradition In 2011, the Geechee Gullah Ring Shouters set the Guinness World Record for leading the largest recorded ring shout, during the “Word, Shout, Song” exhibit at the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum in Washington, D. C. Read More The Badgett Sisters Connie B. Steadman of the Badgett Sisters, an a cappella gospel trio of tremendous depth, not too well known outside of North Carolina, where they sang in “folklife festivals, churches, schools, prisons and mental hospitals” according to the notes on their first LP. Read More The Banjo’s African American Heritage Caption for picture The Old Plantation, South Carolina (between 1785 and 1790) the oldest depiction of African American dance and music (A banjoist, drummer swing dancers) Read More The Barrino Brothers The Barrino Brothers was an American soul music group formed in High Point, North Carolina, in the late 1960s. Read More The Bull City Soul Revival The Bull City Soul Revival is a collaboration of musicians and scholars to showcase the history of Soul in Durham. Read More The Clouds of Joy Gospel Group This is the Clouds of Joy gospel singing group that sang at the local radio station as well as other places in Chatham. Read More The Gullah descendants of Mende people from Sierra Leone. This amazing 1998 documentary shows how the Gullah descendants of Mende people from Sierra Leone preserved an old mourning song in the Georgia Sea Islands, in their ancestral language, though they no longer understood the words or the meaning. Read More The Menhaden Chanteymen The Menhaden Chanteymen is a musical group based out of Carteret County, North Carolina. They are a group of retired African-American commercial fishermen who publicly perform the work songs they used when hauling nets. Read More The beginning of the Northern Neck Chantey Singers in 1991 is celebrated on this date. On Monday, 12.16.1991 The Northern Neck Chantey Singers organized and began preserving African American work songs. Read More The musical family of John Wesley Allen Pictured here is the musical family of John Wesley Allen. Read More Thelonious Monk Thelonious Monk, was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser", "Ruby, My Dear", "In Walked Bud", and "Well, You Needn't". Monk is the second-most-recorded jazz composer after Duke Ellington, which is particularly remarkable as Ellington composed more than a thousand pieces, whereas Monk wrote about 70. Read More Young Men’s Institute Jazz Band Young Men’s Institute jazz band, c. 1900 Ashville, NC Today, the Young Men’s Institute (YMI) is arguably one of the nation’s oldest African American institutions. Read More [Three] colored boys with banjos back of Swannanoa Hotel, Asheville, NC Glass negative showing three young African American men posing in front of a wooden fence behind the Swannanoa Hotel. Read More “Band of the Jaw-Bone John-Canoe” by Isaac Mendes Belisario Jonkonnu, (pronounced John Canoe) is an African American holiday celebration whose roots can be traced back to Jamaica and to the slave ships from West Africa. Read More Music, Musicians, Bands, Instruments, Comedians, Songs, Dances & Dancers Back to Arts & Entertainment

Back to Arts & Entertainment August Wilson BY AUGUST WILSON 20 YEARS ON WILSON'S 'GROUND' | JULY/AUGUST 2016 | OPINION JUNE 20, 2016 Read More Earle Hyman Earle Hyman (born George Earle Plummer; October 11, 1926 – November 17, 2017) was an American stage, television, and film actor. Read More Filming Location for The Color Purple "When Anson County Went Hollywood during the Summer of 1985" Read More Francine Everett Francine was an actress and singer who is best known for her performances in "race films", independently produced motion pictures with all-Black casts that were created exclusively for distribution to cinemas that catered to Black audiences Read More JaMeeka Holloway-Burrell Assistant Director for PlayMakers Repertory Company's upcoming world premiere of Leaving Eden. Read More Jester Hairston Jester Hairston was an African American choral composer and actor. Read More Loften Mitchell, A Theatrical Icon African American playwright, historian, and writer. Read More Michael Evans Michael Jonas Evans (November 3, 1949 – December 14, 2006) was an American actor, best known as Lionel Jefferson on both All in the Family and The Jeffersons. Read More Mike Wiley Mike Wiley has dedicated his life's work as a cultural preservationists from North Carolina. Read More Pam Grier An opinionated African American actress. Read More Pam Grier African American Actress. Read More Richard Berry Harrison He was an African American actor, teacher, dramatic reader, lecturer, and elocutionist. Read More Rose McClendon A Builder Of The Black Stage Read More Theatrical Icon, August Wilson African American Playwright and Activist. Read More Zora Neale Hurston Zora Neale Hurston on NCCU campus (cropped). Standing is Zora Neale Hurston, famous Black novelist, playwright, folklorist & anthropologist at a football game at then N.C.C. for Negroes. She was also a professor in our drama dept. from 1939-40 Read More Continue scrolling for more great content Actors/Playwrights/Directors/Producers

Quilters Back to Fashion & Fabrics Belinda Mack Alston's "THE DECIMATION OF THE BLACK FAMILY" Read More Bertha Eugenia Bridges made this “fan” quilt ca. 1935-1945. Ms. Bridges worked as a domestic worker in Shelby, NC. Read More Cathey Alston-Kerney's "MARKET FORCES I : CELEBRATING ENTREPRENURSHIP AND INNOVATION" Read More Donna Choate and her husband Sabe standing in front of a quilt draped on a wooden fence behind them. Read More Elizabeth Keckley's image on the left is a portrait of her, an engraving from Elizabeth Keckley's autobiography. Read More Gail Richardson's "THE FATAL STORM OF INJUSTICE" Read More Hassie Brodie's "A TASTE OF FREEDOM" Read More Hassie Brodie's "THE TRIO" Read More Heritage Quilters Read More Heritage Quilters Read More Heritage Quilters Read More Heritage Quilters Read More Heritage Quilters Read More Ihsan Abdin's "MOTHER'S ARMS" Read More Ihsan Abdin's 'KALEIDOSCOPE OF LIFE" Read More Jereann King Johnson is a quilter in Warren County who is a textile and cultural heritage specialist Read More Jereann King Johnson is congratulated by Gov. Roy Cooper after he awarded her the Old North State Award. Read More Jereann King Johnson's "HOPE IN IMPOSSIBLE ODDS Read More Jereann King Johnson's Flash of Spirit: African Design #1 Read More Jereann King Johnson's Flash of Spirit: African Design #2 Read More Jereann King Johnson's Flash of Spirit: African Design #2 Read More Jereann King Johnson's Flash of Spirit: African Design #2 Read More Jereann King Johnson's creation, Mr. President: Black, White and Blue Read More Laura Pettiford Hayes made this quilt ca. 1955, The quilt was for Jimmy Brooks, son of Ms. Pettiford Hayes’ Read More Mamie Lee Parks Bryan was born in 1900 in Alleghany County, North Carolina. She married Leonard Bryan in 1914, and they lived in the vicinity of Sparta, North Carolina. Read More Margret Woods-Bullock's "CHAOS IN A PERFECT WORLD" Read More Marjorie Diggs Freeman's "DIFFERENT TARGETS...WHY?" Read More Mary Barnes hand-sewed this “Martha’s Choice”-pattern quilt ca. 1875-1900. Read More Nancy Cash (designed, pieces and quilted) and Marylin Cash-"THE POWER OF WORDS" Read More Sandra Epps decided to turn her negative into a positive after surviving three near-death experiences due to lupus. Read More Sauda A. Zahra's "MOURNING" Read More Sauda Zahra'S "STAND FOR ME" Read More Teena Crawshaw's "SOMEBODIES WATCHING YOU" Read More Viola Canady Read More Wallace Evans' "SCRAPPY SQUARES" Read More Wallace Evans' 'GONE TOO SOON" Read More

< Back Charlie Holcombe’s own 1939 interview with an employee of the Federal Writers’ Project Charlie Holcombe’s own 1939 interview with an employee of the Federal Writers’ Project (Excerpt from newspaper article connected to Mr. Charlie Holcombes oral history-article is cited at bottom of page) "When Charlie was a little boy, in the elections of 1894 and 1896, an interracial “Fusion” coalition won every statewide office in North Carolina, swept the legislature, won the governorship and both U.S. Senate seats. They championed local self-government, rather than the white conservatives’ program of having the state government select local officials. The Fusionists pushed free public education, the principle of “one man, one vote,” regardless of race, and modest regulation of the monopoly capitalism preferred by railroads, banks and corporations. These commercial interests, outraged by this democratic excess and wooed by secret promises to slash corporate taxes, bankrolled the White Supremacy Campaigns of 1898 and 1900 and furnished the “Red Shirts,” conservative paramilitary forces, with state of the art weapons. The conservatives overthrew the state government by blocking roads to polling places with armed guards; slanderous and lavish propaganda featuring “black brutes” unfit for freedom, let alone citizenship; intimidation, racial terrorism, and mass murder in the streets of Wilmington. By the time Charlie was twelve, the state no longer allowed black citizens to vote, and the rest of the South had followed its lead. Lynching had become commonplace and lynch mobs unpunished. North Carolina passed Jim Crow segregation laws, barred black North Carolinians from most well-paid jobs, and created a one-party racial state. Charlie’s grandfather told stories to instruct him on how a black boy could survive in an eastern North Carolina where the color line was increasingly drawn in blood." -------- Charlie Holcombe’s own 1939 interview with an employee of the Federal Writers’ Project "The pine-board shack in which Charlie Holcombe spent his childhood in the late nineteenth century rested on top of a red clay hil about a quarter of a mile fromthe main road in Sampson County, North Carolina. His father, a tenant tobacco farmer, rose each morning at four o’clock,laid the logs for a fire, and roused the children, while Charlie’s mother prepared a breakfast consisting of a pot of grits and a slab of salt pork. It was important to be in the field at sunup during the growing season as the soil was poor and the labor that much more demanding. They worked until sundown. Grandfather Holcombe did not work in the field; he had “de miseries” in his back and walked with a stick. But he performed other chores, slopping the hogs and feeding the chickens. Charlie Holcombe, considered too young and frail to fork in the fields, helped his grandfather with the chores and often accompanied him to the nearby creek to catch “a mess o catfish” for supper. As they sat there, waiting for the fish to bite, Grandfather would “do a heap o’ thinkin’.” And sometimes he shared his thoughts with Charlie,his youngest grandson, often imparting practical lessons drawn from his own life on how a black boy might hope to survive in the South less than half a century after emancipation. Charlie remembered one lesson in particular. After catching a large catfish, Grandfather Holcombe toyed with it for a time, admonishing his grandson to watch him. He carefully lifted the fish out of the creek, let it thrash about, then lowered the line and returned the fish to the water. It would swim again, but not for long Grandfather suddenly pulled it out on the bank where it thrashed about until it died. “Son,” his grandfather observed, “a catfish is a lot like a nigger. As long as he is in his mudhole he is all right but when he gits out he is in for a passel of trouble. You '‘member dat, and you won’t have no trouble wid folks when you grows up.” Neither Charlie’s father nor his grandfather had owned the land they worked. But as a young man Charlie Holcombe aspired to improve himself and be independent of whites, and he possessed an abundance of confidence about his ability to succeed. He vowed to break with a bleak past of arduous and mostly unrewarded labor. “I thought I could manage my business better and dat I was gonna be able to own a place o’ my own someday…I was a high-minded young nigger and was full of git-up-and-git Dey wan’t nothin in de world dat I didn’t think I could do, and I didn’t have no patience wid niggers what didn’t look for nothin’ but sundown and payday.” After his parents died, Charlie moved to Johnston County, North Carolina, took a job on public works, saved some money, and married. In 1909 he settled down on a farm, determined to make it his own. But like so many aspiring young blacks- the children and the grandchildren of slaves- he confronted formidable obstacles in his struggle to be independent.“Dey was always sumpthin’ come along and knocked de props from under my plans.That “sumpthin’”might be the worms, dust,or blight consuming the tobacco plants or more often than not, poor and declining prices and the rigid controls exerted by white men over black income. The only certainty was that by the time the landlord had taken his share and deducted the cost of the fertilizer and the money or credit advanced he had made, “dey wan’t but jist enough to carry on till de nex’ crop.” But Charlie persisted,and one year he seemed primed to break out of this cycle of indebtedness. After selling his tobacco and settling with the landlord he had something for himself-or so be thought. That was when “the man” called him back and told him he had underestimated the amount Charlie owed him for are house charges. The tactic was all too familiar, and Charlie’s inability to read the books made and legal protest impossible. “I knowed it wadn’t right, and it made me so mad I jist hit him in de face as hard as I could. Den Ikinda went crazy and might nigh beat him to death.” The judge sentenced Charlie to a year’s labor on the roads- a lenient sentence for an interracial altercation. His wife and children did what they could to make a crop, but was not enough to meet expenses. The landlord agreed to carry them over and it took Charlie three years to pay him back.“By that time I knowed it wan’t no use for me to try to ever make anything but jist a livin’.” Although Charlie Holcombe made his accommodation, he wanted something better for his oldest son, Willie. “I was ‘termined my oldest chile was gonna hab a chance in dis world, and I sent him all de way through high school.” That was more education than any Holcombe had known. But after completing high school, Willie wanted to go to college, arguing that it would enable him to improve his economic prospects significantly. At considerable sacrifice, the Holcombes sent their son to the Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina in Greensboro. Willie worked hard, made good grades, and in the summer returned to help his parents with the crop. He would take the tobacco to market, carefully scrutinize the accounts, and invariably return with money in his pocket. As Willie progressed in college, however, his horizon widened and he became more ambitious. Increasingly dissatisfied with the tobacco business, he told his father this was no future for a black man with an education. He did not want to return to the farm. “Dat hurt me,” Charlie Holcombe confessed. “’cause I had counted on Willie helpin’ me but I wanted him to do what he thought was best.” Willie Holcombe graduated near the top of his class. That, remembered Charlie, “was when de trouble started.” Despite his education, Willie found few opportunities open to him. He returned home from college, disillusioned with his life and bitter over his limited prospects. When he “started settin’ around and drinkin’ and gittin’ mean,” Charlie tried to reason with him, but little he could say would alleviate the disappointment and frustration. That ffall Willie took a load of tobacco to the warehouse and returned home angry and sullen;the next day he insisted on taking another load to the warehouse. Near dinnertime he had not yet returned. A neighbor finally appeared to inform Charlie that there had been a fight at the warehouse involving Willie. When Charlie reached the scene, he spotted his son lying on the ground, a puddle of blood around his head, and a group of white men standing nearby. “I knowed he was dead de minute I seed him.” For a while Charlie just stood there, not knowing what to do He looked at the crowd and could not find a friendly or sympathetic face. “Right den I knowed dey wan’t no use to ax for no he’p and dat I was jist a pore nigger in trouble.” Holding Willie in his arms, Charlie couldsee that his son’s head had been bashed in.“Dey was tears runnin’ down my cheeks and droppin’ on his face and I couldn’t he’p it.” He placed his son in the wagon, tied the mule behind it, and began his journey down the road. Reaching home, he washed Willie’s head and dressed him in his best suit Charlie and Dillie Holcombe then buried their son at the foot of the big pine tree near the well and planted some grass on the grave. Charlie Holcombe was never the same again. The spirit had had once shown in his determination to succeed no longer animated him. “For a long time atter dat I couldn’t seem to git goin’, and dey was a big chunk in de bottom o’ my stummick dat jist wouldn’t go away.I would go out at night and sit under de pine by Willie’s grave, and listen to de win swishin’ in de needles, and I’d do a lot o ’thinkin’.He knew his son had been killed because of an argument, no doubt over the “settlin’ price” for the tobacco Willie had delivered.But Charlie blamed himself for his son’s death. He had failed to heed his grandfather’s admonition.“I got to thinkin’ ‘bout what gran’pappy said ‘bout de catfish, and I knowed dat was de trouble wid Willie. He had stepped outen his place when he got dat eddycation. If I’d kept him here on de farm he woulda been all right. Niggers has got to l’arn dat dey ain’t like white folks, and never will be, and no amount o’ eddycation can make ‘em be, and dat when dey gits outen dere place dere is gonna be trouble.” When in subsequent years Charlie would encounter some “young bucks” dissatisfied with their lives and wanting to “cut loose and change,” he would listen to them, then take them out to see Willie’s grave. No other Holcombe child would be sent to college. They all settled down with their families and accommodated to the New South in the same way their father- and grandfather- had accommodated. They went about the business of surviving. “Dey don’t hab much, but dey is happy,” Charlie Holcombe said of his remaining children, the advice of his grandfather still vivid in his mind. “Niggers is built for service, like a mule, and dey needn’t ‘spect nothin’ else…A nigger’s place is in de field and de road and de tunnel and de woods wid a pick or shovel or ax or hoe or plow. God made a nigger like a mule to be close to nature and git his livin by de sweat o’ his brow like de Good Book says.” Resigned to his “place,” Charlie no longer worried that much about the price his tobacco might bring him. The children came by occasionally to help him with the crops. He now had ample time to engage in his own “heap o’ thinkin’,”and his final years were increasingly reflective. Sitting by the fireplace, his mind often wandered back to his childhood. “And I ‘member how my gran’pappy used to take me fishin’ wid him. Seems like when a feller thinks back he only ‘members de good parts." ---- The story of Charlie Holcombe evokes the contradictions of black life and coming of age in the New South- the initial hops and aspirations, the often heightened expectations, as well as the frustrations the terrors, the tensions, the betrayals, and the necessary accommodations. What came to be impressed on several generations of black Southerners the first born in freedom and coming to maturity in the 1890s and the early twentieth century- was the material, political, and military superiority of white people, the extraordinary power white men and women wielded over black lives and prospects in virtually all phases of daily life. “The only thing that you would be thinking of,” remembered Ardie Clark Halyard, was “that they were the ones that had everything.” And they maintained their dominance, she sensed, because “all the time they were taking advantage- you could see that.” The New South into which a new generation of African Americans would be born had clearly drawn racial boundaries and modes of behavior based on centuries of enforced custom and thought. Every black child would come to appreciate the terrible unfairness and narrowness of that world- the limited options, the need to curb ambitions, to contain feelings, and to weigh carefully every word,gesture, and movement when in the presence of whites. To learn to live with this kind of harsh reality became no less than a prerequisite for survival. “In this perilous world,” Benjamin Mays recalled of his childhood in rural South Carolina, “if a black boy wanted to live a halfway normal life and die a natural death he had to learn early the art of howto get along with white folks.” Any deviation from white expectations invited instant and often violent reprisals." NOTE: We could not locate a photograph of Mr. Charlie Holcombe, we used this one instead. Photograph: Black woman sharecropper and her children. Tillery,NC 1938 PHOTOGRAPH BY LIBRARY OF CONGRESs Source: Charlie Holcombes oral history- Litwack, Leon. Trouble in Mind Black Americans in the Age of Jim Crow Source: Excerpt of newspaper article- https://www.chathamnewsrecord.com/.../at-the-hands-of... Previous Next

< Back This is a Title 01 This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Want to view and manage all your collections? Click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. Here, you can make changes to your content, add new fields, create dynamic pages and more. You can create as many collections as you need. Your collection is already set up for you with fields and content. Add your own, or import content from a CSV file. Add fields for any type of content you want to display, such as rich text, images, videos and more. You can also collect and store information from your site visitors using input elements like custom forms and fields. Be sure to click Sync after making changes in a collection, so visitors can see your newest content on your live site. Preview your site to check that all your elements are displaying content from the right collection fields. Previous Next

< Back This is a Title 02 This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Want to view and manage all your collections? Click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. Here, you can make changes to your content, add new fields, create dynamic pages and more. You can create as many collections as you need. Your collection is already set up for you with fields and content. Add your own, or import content from a CSV file. Add fields for any type of content you want to display, such as rich text, images, videos and more. You can also collect and store information from your site visitors using input elements like custom forms and fields. Be sure to click Sync after making changes in a collection, so visitors can see your newest content on your live site. Preview your site to check that all your elements are displaying content from the right collection fields. Previous Next