Category Archives: sepia saturday

Ipperwash Canada – 1960

May 15, 2014Biography, memories, sepia saturdayKristin

My sister and I running by the dunes at Ipperwash, on Lake Huron in Canada. It was 1960. I was 14 and would start Northwestern High School in September. Pearl was 12 and would start McMicheal Junior High School. The lake is in the background but the strange distortions at the top make it difficult to tell what is there.

My mother and Uncle Henry had been trying to find a place to spend weekends and vacations out of Detroit. That weekend we had driven through various towns and country to reach Ipperwash. There was a wide beach and cars could drive on it. The beach itself was all open to the public. I remember the house we looked at was like a big farm house and had beds all over, in the attic and in the several bedrooms. We spent the night at a cabin the realtor had and left early the next morning. They decided not to buy there because of the cars on the beach and the public.

I remember driving either there or home through a rainy day, looking through the window at the towns we drove through, everything summer green, but grayed by the gloomy day.

Lake Huron Ipperwasy beach — Lake Huron Ipperwash beach – a Wikie Commons photo.

The Ipperwash Crisis – While looking for photo of the beach, I found that during WW 2 the Canadian Federal Government expropriated the land of the Stoney Point First Nation with promises to return it after the war. The war ended, the land wasn’t returned. In 1995 members of the Stoney Point First Nation occupied the land in protest. There was a cemetery located in what was now called the Ipperwash Camp. During the protests an unarmed member of the protesters was shot and killed. The land was to be returned to the Stoney Point First Nation but it hasn’t been completed yet. You can read more about it at the link above.

2014.04W.40 — For other Sepia Saturday Offerings, CLICK!

Marion Lucy Pettiford – Graduation 1919

May 9, 2014Cleages, sepia saturday#KalamazooKristin

I found this postcard in my Cleage family photographs. She is not a relative. Her family lived down Balch street from my Grandparents while they lived in Kalamazoo. Her father and my grandfather also belonged to some of the same groups. The Dunbar group for the uplift of the Race was one of them. My grandparents moved to Detroit in 1915 but must have kept in touch with the Pettifords.

Marion was the third child of Joseph Pettiford and the first child of Joseph and his second wife, Mary A. Brown Pettiford. All of the children were born in Kalamazoo. I was able to fill in some of the questions using Ancestry.com but it was when I started looking through historical newspapers that I found out much to flesh out the bare bones of the family.

Joseph Wilson Pettiford was the son of Young Pettiford who was the son of Edmund Pettiford, born in 1795 in North Carolina into a community of free people of color. The family moved to Ohio, where Joseph was born, and later to Indiana, where Edmund died.

By the 1890s, Joseph and his family were living in Kalamazoo, MI. Located in the SW corner of the state in Berrien County. He worked as a custodian (not a janitor, he informed the local paper) in the county Courthouse for over 20 years. It was an elected position. He was very active in the Masons, holding local and state posts. Both he and his wife were active in 2nd Baptist Church. He could cook up a good possum dinner, according to the local paper, The Kalamazoo Gazette.

In 1922 Mary Pettiford suffered a fatal stroke while out fishing with her husband near South Haven. Her funeral was well attended. Marion was listed among the children and that is the last I can find of her. In 1928 Joseph died. Unfortunately the obituaries after 1922 are not online for the Kalamazoo Gazette. I’m sure it was a long one after all his years at the courthouse and perhaps it mentioned what happened to Marion.

I checked the 1930 census, the 1940 census. All of her siblings in the 1930 and 1940 census. The marriage records online at Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.com. I checked newspaper articles at Ancestry and at GenealogyBank.com. So far, no luck. I will continue to check back now and then and report any new findings.

Eighth Grade Graduates Exercises at Vine School

The eighth grade graduates of the city schools will hold their graduating exercises at the Vine Street school auditorium, Friday morning at 9:15.

The program will include:
“Star Spangled Banner” – Francis Scott Key
“Keep the Home Fires Burning”- Ivor Novello
Prayer – Rev. Thomas Hollaway
“Winter Song” – Thomas Facer – Class
“Sabre and Spurs” – Hohn Phillip Sousa – Junior High Orchestra
“Rockin’ Time”, Gertrude L. Knox – Girls’ Chorus
Address – Rev. I.J. Hansen
“Hym of Peace ” (Arr. from Fifth Symphony) – Beethoven – Class
Violin solo, Mazurka Charles Allen – Mary Brooks
“Cowboy Song” – Frank Kotte – Boys’ Chorus
Presentation of Certificates
“The Union Jack” Stephen Adams – Class
“America”

lakestreetschool1910_big — Lake Street School, from which Marion Lucy Pettiford graduated in 1919.

For more information and photos of the early Pettifords, Weavers and other free people of color visit – The Weaver Settlement

For a beautiful picture of an extended Pettiford family reunion in 1935 – Pettiford reunion photo from 1935

Northwestern Modern Dance Group -1964

May 2, 2014Cleages, sepia saturday#Northwestern High School, #Pearl CleageKristin

This is the modern dance group at Northwestern High School in Detroit in 1964. The photo is from my year book. There is my sister Pearl, 3rd from the left, first row leaning back. She was in the dance group all through high school and also participated in the All City dance group and even contemplated a career in dance but writing won out. Ms. Carty was their advisor/teacher.

Pearl remembers “I remember this number. It was to “Elijah Rock” and we thought the costumes were so cool. Choreography was great, too. We had a whole Martha Graham thing going!

“I think Craig Carter took it from the track that ran around the gym so he was looking down at us“

dancers — For more May Sepia Saturday posts CLICK!

Dancing To The Jukebox – 1956

April 24, 2014sepia saturday#1950s, #central congregational, #youth fellowshipKristin

A Central Congregational Church Youth Fellowship dance held in the basement of the parsonage at 2254 Chicago Blvd, Detroit. You can see the jukebox there, right under the clock. I was too young at the time to go to Youth Fellowship, but at other times my sister and I went into the big, empty room with the pictures of the hunt on the wall as we roamed around the huge house. Those Youth Fellowship members looked so grown t0 10 year old me. Now they look so, so young. Frozen in time. Dancing to the jukebox.

The Dells singing “Oh What A Night” from 1956.

Henry Rototilling Garden at Old Plank

April 18, 2014Cleages, sepia saturday#Henry Cleage, #Hugh Cleage, #Old PlankKristin

Henry Cleage rotilling the garden at Old plank which Hugh Cleage watches. — Henry Cleage rotilling the garden at Old plank while Hugh Cleage watches.

examiningpotatoesoldplank — Picking potatoes at Old Plank.

To see more about Old Plank read this post from the past:

Picking Beans – Old Plank 1963

Playing Poker at Old Plank – 1962

Old Plank road in Shadow – 1962

4 Bonus Postcards – Sepia Saturday

April 10, 2014A-Z Challenge 2014, Cleages, sepia saturday#Albert B. Cleage Sr, #Pearl Reed CleageKristin

For this weeks Sepia Saturday foursome, I put together 4 postcards that my grandfather sent my grandmother that I am not able to fit into my A-Z Challenge format. They were all sent by him the summer he worked on the steamer Eastern States between Detroit and Buffalo. I wonder what he meant when he wrote that he sent her a song on two of the cards. The messages match the pictures in the same space – top left, bottom right etc.

Top left.

Buffalo – 7/28/’09

Dear Pearl – I see that a new danger has arisen about which I must warn you – beware of the waves as well as of snakes and ___. I guess you remember my advice. A.B.C.

Top right.

Aug 21 – ’09

I mail you a “song” I heard yesterday & liked. Don’t laugh at my taste, the sentiment is what appealed to me. A.B.C.

Lower left

Buffalo – 7-20-’09

Dear Pearl – I was disappointed yesterday and today in Buffalo in not getting a letter – “If a body write a body and get no reply, is it wrong for a body to write a body and ask the reason – Why? Albert

Lower right

Detroit

Sept 3 – 09

Hope you will like the accompanying music. I do. Your letter and the P___ will be mailed to you Sunday. Albert

2014.03W.52-1 — For More Sepia Saturday foursomes, click!

Atlanta Flood of 2009 – SepiaSaturday #221

March 28, 2014sepia saturdayKristin

My flood photographs are not sepia but they do involve cars and a flood. In 2009 my daughter’s Atlanta apartment complex flooded as a result of days of rain, flooded Peachtree Creek and blocked drains. My daughter didn’t have to stay in a hotel because she has family in town. The quotes below are her comments.

“Yesterday they put up notices on half of the buildings, all the ones that didn’t have steps to the first floor apartments, that their leases were terminated and anything left in the apartment would be thrown away today! They haven’t let any of us back in and we are free to break our leases. Today we were told it will be 60 more days before they are able to let people back in. No one has to pay rent until they can move back in, and they are putting people in hotels until they can get back in but how can anyone move back to a place that has flooded this badly twice in 5 years (and they didn’t tell anyone about the previous flood)???”

“Some photos I took off of news websites like CNN and local tv… others I got from folks who were there and some were taken by Ayanna and Daddy… I didn’t have my camera with me. Most of the photos were very early in the flood. The three buildings to the far left ended up with over 3 feet of water in them… and in this photo the water hadn’t reached them yet.”

10224_1120205888870_58906_n — “With Our Cars and My Apartment.”

: “Getting the kids out… Wading through the waters to the drier side of the parking lot…”

Old County Building and Mary V. Elkins

March 21, 2014Cleages, Detroit, Grahams, sepia saturday#Henry Cleage, #illustrated news, #Mary V. Graham ElkinsKristin

When I saw the prompt, I immediately thought of some photos of a building in Detroit that my uncle Henry Cleage took. I found them in the first place I looked (amazingly). They aren’t labeled or dated but looking at a few old Detroit buildings I found they are of the old County Building. I would date them around 1950 from the people and cars. These are only a few of the many. Court was held in the building and Henry was a lawyer. Perhaps he had some cases there.

“The cornerstone was laid Oct. 20, 1897, in a ceremony that the Detroit Free Press called at the time “simple but impressive.” Under a headline in capital letters proclaiming, “It is laid!”, the Free Press wrote that it had rained all morning the day of the ceremony, but just at 2 p.m., as officials were gathering at Old City Hall, the sun broke and the clouds parted. A band led the procession down Cadillac Square to a platform decked out in American flags in front of the county building, where Judge Edgar O. Durfee had the honor of laying the cornerstone. Judge Robert E. Frazer gave what the Free Press called a “stirring address,” and Mayor William C. Maybury also participated.” Go to Old Wayne County Building – Historic Detroit to read a detailed history of the Old County Building.

“One of the building’s most prominent features is the pair of large sculptures flanking its center tower and portico. The copper sculptures are known as quadrigae, a Roman chariot drawn by four horses. The pieces were done by New York sculptor J. Massey Rhind, who intended the quadrigae to symbolize progress. They feature a woman standing in a chariot led by four horses with two smaller figures on either side.” From Old Wayne County Building – Historic Detroit

Mary Vee 1940 - In front of Plymouth Congregational Church. — Mary Vee 1940 – In front of Plymouth Congregational Church.

My mother’s sister, Mary V. Elkins, got a job at the County Building in 1940.

“June 10, 1940 — Mary Virginia has just gotten (through Jim and May) a good job at the County Bldg — God is so good to us. M.V. won high honor in her business Institute for typing and short hand.” Fannie Mae Turner Graham’s little diary.

Mary V. attended business school after she graduated from Eastern High School, then worked for awhile at her cousin’s Newspaper office until he helped her get a job in the old county building. She held the job for many years and received a proclamation from the City of Detroit for her service to the city during a Family Reunion when she was in her 80s.

Wayne County Courthouse (2) — Wayne County Courthouse

Old Wayne County Building could soon be allowed to seek buyers. “A Wayne County Commission committee approved a nonbinding agreement today that would settle a nearly 3-year-old lawsuit against the owners of the Old Wayne County Building and allow the owners to seek potential buyers.” From an April, 2013 article in the Detroit Free Press.

Memories of the Detroit Main Library

March 15, 2014memories, sepia saturdayKristin

When I was growing up, this was the entry way to the Detroit Main Library. It opened onto Woodward Ave. We probably started going soon after we moved back to Detroit when I was 4. There was a man who stood there, a very friendly older man who looked at your books when you were going out to make sure you had checked them out. Younger than I am now, he was very friendly and always smiled at my sister and me. He wore a blue suit and had a round head, with little hair.

entry_old_library — Woodward Entry. Click to enlarge.

To the right was the check-out counter. The door you can see to the right led into the children’s room. The picture books and early reading books were right inside the door to the left. Straight ahead, against the back wall were the books for older readers – “Invisible Island”, the Narnia books and others. My mother brought us here often, interspersed with trips to libraries closer to our home.At the time I don’t remember noticing the high ceilings and the murals specifically, but they were the background for my library experience. In 1963, an addition was added on the Cass side of the library. With building and lawn, it occupies the entire block. For reasons I don’t understand, most of the books were moved into the new area, leaving the old one behind. The book checker moved to the new side of the building and continued to sit there all day and look at books. He was there when I studied on the new side all through college and he was still there in 1972 when I started taking my two year old daughter to the library. I wonder what his name was.

To read more about the Main library

I Met My Husband in the Library “I usually studied in the sociology room of the Main Library, which was in the middle of Wayne’s campus. As I was leaving to go to my next class that day, a guy came up and asked if I was Rev. Cleage’s daughter. I said I was.”
Detroit Public Library “Designed by Cass Gilbert, the Detroit Public Library was constructed with Vermont marble and serpentine Italian marble trim in an Italian Renaissance style. His son, Cass Gilbert, Jr. was a partner with Francis J. Keally in the design of the library’s additional wings added in 1963. Among his other buildings, Cass Gilbert designed the United States Supreme Court Building in Washington, DC, the Minnesota State Capitol and the Woolworth Building in New York City.”
Historic Detroit Library “In March 1910, after some surprising opposition, the Common Council voted to accept an offer from steel magnate Andrew Carnegie to provide money to go toward improving the Detroit library system. Following two years of court cases and legal mumbo jumbo, the city finally got the go-ahead to start issuing bonds and moved ahead with building a replacement for the structure downtown, a building that was still only 35 years old.”

Men Wearing Hats in Poppy’s Yard – 1961

March 6, 2014Grahams, sepia saturday#backyard photosKristin

On May 21, 1961, my grandparents, Fannie and Mershell Graham, lined up their guests for the ritual photographs in their Eastside Detroit backyard. These are streaky polaroids. One of the first things I noticed about the lower photograph is the uncut grass. I don’t remember ever seeing it like that.

"Theodore backyard Rance Allen" — Verso: “Our backyard 9-21-1961 (right to left) John Wesley, John Bishops son, Ernest and Shell”

In the photo above (from left to right), my grandfather Mershell stands on the left. Ernest and John Bishop’s son are in the middle and my grandmother’s first cousin, John Wesley Allen is on the far right. I don’t know who Ernest, John Bishop or his son were and I don’t have enough information to look into the matter right now. John Wesley was visiting from Chicago with his wife, Bobbie, who appears in the women’s line below.

"theodore backyard bobbie visits" — Verso: “Bobbie, Bluetta, Mrs Bishop, Daisy, Fan, Alice, Abbie. Taken by John Wesley Allen in our back yard 9-21-61. Daisy passed 11-24-61. Her last picture.”

We start this picture with my 2x great Aunt, Abbie Allen Brown on the left end. Abbie was aunt to my grandmother and her sisters and to John Wesley Allen in the other photo. Next to Abbie is my grandmother’s youngest sister, Alice Turner; then my grandmother Fannie Turner Graham; sister Daisy Turner. Next in line are two women I don’t know. I’m not sure the one second from the right is named Bluetta but that’s what it looked like to me. On the far right is John Wesley Allen’s wife, Bobbie Conyer Allen.

All of my direct family members in these photos were born in Alabama. Bobbie was born in Sumter county Georgia. Their ages range in age from Alice, who was 53 up to Aunt Abbie, who was 85. Daisy died unexpectedly from an aneurysm on November 11 of that same year. This was her last picture. After that Alice moved in with my grandparents and Aunt Abbie.

This weeks prompt shows a row of fenced yards with three men in hats standing in the alley.

Finding Eliza

Family history blog