Homer Jarrett
230 Alleghany St. City
2700 Kenwood Ave
March 8, 1904
Homer;
Your letter was handed me at supper and don’t you know, that I was rather glad to hear from you. I did not answer your letter before, because I thought you were tired of hearing such “silly” “little” letters. You have managed nicely to keep yourself out of sight lately, since I’ve come to think of it, I think it has been about a month – don’t you?
I heard of the bad news that you had from home and Homer I send you my sympathy. Are they better now, I mean the ones that were ill?
In regards to my music, why I suppose I am getting on quite well. My tutor flatters me and tells me that I am doing “Oh, so nicely”, but I don’t believe one half of what is told me. Do you know I’ve changed from the guitar to the piano? You must think me the most changeable person Homer, but I get so tired of everything so very soon, you know.
Aren’t you tired of this stuff Homer? Well I am.
Good-bye
Pearl
****
My grandmother also sang in the church choir and at other community events.
You can see an article after the event here -> Pearl Reed Sings in Concert
My grandmother, Pearl Doris Reed, was born in Lebanon, Kentucky in 1886. She was the youngest of the eight children of A is for Anna Allen Reed. The four youngest, including Pearl, were the children of Buford Averitt, a white physician. The older children had different fathers. By 1888 Pearl’s oldest brother, George, had moved to Indianapolis Indiana to work at Van Camps cannery. The rest of the family soon followed. She graduated from high school and took music lessons. In 1903, Pearl was nineteen years old. She lived with her mother and older brothers in North Indianapolis, Indiana.
Homer Jarrett was a cousin of Minnie’s husband, James Mullins. He was born in Harris County, GA in 1882. He completed 8th grade. During the time of the letters he was moving around a lot, from Indianapolis, to Pine Bluff Arkansas to St. Louis MO and back to Indiana. He eventually moved to Boston, MA where he made his living in real estate. He never married. According to his draft records, he was short, slender, tan complexion, black hair and blue eyes, . He died in Boston in 1959 at 77.
You can see the full list of letters here -> Pearl Reed Cleage’s Letters 1903-1905
There was a technical problem with my host server that is blocking comments at the moment. It seems to be cleared up on this Sunday morning.
It’s interesting to think of that kind of program being put together and offered to the community. I wonder if it was attended by only church members or members of the broader community.
The program was sponsored by the colored YMCA, so it was a community program even though it was held in a church. It was widely attended by the black community in Indianapolis.
That’s a wonderful portrait of Pearl. Her letter is fun to read and makes her seem a very bold personality. All this past week I’ve been reading news reports on concerts just like hers. It’s amazing how many communities in this era promoted amateur musicians. Thanks for correcting my post this weekend on the prevalence of segregation in schools. My perspective comes from living in Virginia, Georgia, and North Carolina and I forget that it was not adopted by northern states.
The letters showed me a whole different side of my grandmother.
After I posted my response to your post I thought of even more people among my grandfather’s friends who also attended majority white schools in the north.
What a sweet letter Pearl wrote to Homer. I wonder how it is in the collection of her letters if it was indeed sent to Homer…did he (or relatives?) return it to her at some time?
It was in Homer’s collection of letters. There were many letters in his collection that she wrote to him, among all the other correspondence he saved. I only found it when his collection was sold and the letters she wrote ended up in the University of Georgia and I was able to get copies through them.