Category Archives: sepia saturday

Long Ago – House War Workers March – 1942 Detroit

April 13, 2013A-Z Challenge 2013, sepia saturdayKristin

March in Detroit in support of housing for black workers during WW 2 in the Sojourner Truth Housing Project. — March in Detroit in support of housing black workers in the newly built Sojourner Truth Homes during WW 2.

This is the twelfth post in the April A-Z Challenge and also in response to the prompt for Sepia Saturday #172. I am posting about a long ago march held in Detroit in 1942. I remembered this photograph in my Cleage family collection after seeing the post on Tony Zimnoch’s blog, The Last Living Rose, which he did in response to Sepia Saturday and the death of Margaret Thatcher.

There is no information written on the photo about when or where it was taken. When I first looked at this photo, I thought that the signs were saying house war workers, as in people who worked in the house. I soon realized the march was about housing for war workers, after reading several articles about the housing shortage in Detroit during World II.

When thousands of Southern workers, black and white, flooded into Detroit to take jobs in the auto industry, they found a city with both highly segregated housing and a lack of housing. Most African Americans were crowded into a 30 block area, with inadequate housing, and rates of pneumonia and tuberculous that were much higher than those for whites.

In 1941, the Federal Housing Commission authorized the building of a housing development for black workers. It was to be called the Sojourner Truth Homes after the abolitionist and former slave, Sojourner Truth. They decided to place it in a white neighborhood. The residents were not happy. They were even angrier when they found that the FHA would no longer guarantee loans to houses near the Sojourner Homes. White reaction caused the Federal Housing Commission to change it’s mind and announce Sojourner Homes would be a white housing project. The idea of an integrated project never entered anyone’s mind, as far as I can tell. Detroit Mayor Jefferies spoke out on the side of keeping the project black. That is why, in the march above, banners say, “Support the Mayor”.

In January, after the housing was completed and black families were preparing to move in, over 700 white men turned out to bar the way. They blocked cars, they stoned vehicles and they refused to let the people move in. The police were unable or unwilling to stop it. Meanwhile, back in the black community, word came and black men came to support the people moving in. A riot ensued and over 200 people were arrested, almost all of them black, although the violence had largely been on the white side.

In February, 1942 Federal troops were called out to make sure black residents were able to move in. Eventually 168 black families lived there. The violence was over for the time being.

mass_meeting_flyer — Flyer to protest the decision to make the Sojourner Truth Homes for white workers and exclude black workers.

1188.preview — A flyer asking white men to come out and keep black people from moving into the Sojourner Truth Homes.

From Life Magazine - March 16, 1942. — From Life Magazine – March 16, 1942

A pretty horrifying article, with photographs, from Life Magazine, March 16, 1942 – Detroit has a race riot as whites bar negroes from new homes in u.s. housing unit You can enlarge the article by clicking on the enlarge icon.
Short History (2) – a more recent recounting of the history surrounding the riot.

2013.03W.34 — To see other Sepia Saturday Posts – CLICK.

Postcard To My Grandmother From Her Niece – 1909

April 7, 2013Reeds, sepia saturday#Busby, #Pearl Reed CleageKristin

This postcard was written to my grandmother, Pearl Reed, after a visit to two of her sisters in Benton Harbor, MI in 1909. Pearl was 23 and her niece was about 15. I wonder why she chose a picture of the Ohio Penitentiary.

Dear Pearl,
I am glad you got home and I worst (sic) you were here know (sic).
Margaret Busby

Miss Pearl Reed
2730 Kenwood
Indianapolis, Indiana

I didn’t have any castles in my photo stash, but this morning I remembered this postcard of the Ohio Penitentiary that my grandmother Pearl’s niece sent to her in 1909. Surrounded by stone walls, like the castle below, it is my entry for Sepia Saturday 171. I did post this in 2010 but I don’t think anyone ever saw it, so here it is again. The Penitentiary was demolished in 1998. To see photos of then and now – including a photograph that shows a little tower – go to Old Ohio Penitentiary.

To see more Sepia Saturday posts - CLICK! — To see more Sepia Saturday posts – CLICK!

No More Photographs

March 23, 2013Cleages, sepia saturday#Albert B. Cleage JrKristin

My father took many photographs that now help me document my family’s life. There are photographs houses, street scenes and my mother in San Francisco and Los Angeles. In Springfield, MA he took pictures of my sister, my mother, me and along with those of St. John’s Congregational Church and members. For the first few years after we moved back to Detroit, there were photos and then, he stopped taking pictures.

Taking photographs - 1940s. — Taking photographs – 1940s.

A few months ago I noticed that my father took no more photographs of our family after we moved from 2212 Atkinson to 2254 Chicago Blvd. Pictures taken during that time were not taken at home. We were at one of my grandparents houses, or in Idlewild. And the photographer was not my father, my mother or other family members were. I wondered what happened during that time that made him stop.

In 1953, at the time we moved from Atkinson to the house on Chicago, there had just been a church split and my father, a minister, was involved in building a new church from the ground up, something he hadn’t done before. This involved finding a church building and raising the money to purchase it. New members had to be found and a program that would get those new members involved and feeling a part of the church, had to be developed. There were constant meetings at our house, a combination parsonage/church activity building. And my parent’s marriage was ending. My parents separated in 1954. Maybe, on top of everything else, his camera broke and he couldn’t afford to replace it because he kept donating his salary back to the church.

______________

You can see some of the photographs my father took in these earlier posts:

You can read more about the church split in this post – A Church and Two Brothers – Two Splits.

The Freedom Now Party 1964

March 15, 2013Biography, Cleages, sepia saturday#Albert B. Cleage Jr, #Henry Cleage, #meKristin

Today’s post is about the Michigan Freedom Now Party. My photographs were taken during the first convention, which took place in Detroit in September 1964. It was held at Central Congregational Church, now the Shrine of the Black Madonna. To read an interview with Henry Cleage about organizing the party and what happened during the election, click this link – Freedom Now Party,.

fnp_central_church_group — Freedom Now Party Convention.

On the far left, back of my sister’s head and the back of my head. Standing in the checked shirt is Oscar Hand. Behind Mr. Hand, in the white shirt, is Richard Henry (later Imari Obadele) Writing on the wall is Leontine Smith. Against the wall in the white dress is Annabelle Washington. I cannot name the others.

Henry Cleage reading platform. Grace Lee Boggs in left corner.

majority report of platform — Preamble to the Freedom Now Party Platform

Freedom Now party candidates — Four of the many candidates on the Michigan Freedom Now Party slate. From left to right: Loy Cohen, secretary of state; James Jackson, lieutenant governor ; Albert Cleage (later Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman), govenor and Milton Henry (later Gaide Abiodun Obadele), representative of the 14th Congressional District.

For more about my family and elections go to these posts: More From Elections of Yesteryear and Wordless Wednesday – Elections Past.

2013.02W.49 — To see more posts about crowds and more – click this link!

The Afram River and Freedom School – 1964

March 6, 2013Photographs, sepia saturdayKristin

The articles below originally appeared in the official organ of the Group on Advanced Leadership (GOAL), Now! News of Detroit and the World. It was published by Imari Obadeli, known as Richard Henry, at the time. It was printed at Cleage Printers, my uncle Hugh’s and Henry’s printing shop. The first article was written by my aunt Barbara Cleage Martin, who was Barbara Smith in 1964.

The only think I really remember about the Freedom School, which I attended between high school graduation and entering college, is the visit to the ship, the Afram River and the gift certificate to Vaughn’s Bookstore that my sister and I received for being #1 students. I don’t know what we did that made us outstanding.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the rest of the article, but I know that Marcus Garvey organized the first Black Star Line. You can read more about it here – The Black Star Line.

I don’t have a photograph of myself with the Afram River. What were they thinking? We should have all been lined up next to the ship and photographed. It would have been a great photograph. This is the only photograph I have of myself that summer. I am seated on the left, front. Next to me is my cousin Dale Evans. The other seated person on the right is the twin of the young man standing next to my father on the right. Their sister is behind the seated twin. I can’t remember their names or the name of the other youth on that side. On the other side of my father (reading the book and then known as Rev. Albert B. Cleage, JR) is my cousin, Ernie. Next to him is my sister Pearl. I can’t remember the name of the person behind me on the end but I know she became an actor for at least awhile.

2013.02W.31 — To find other watery posts, click.

Moving Day Springfield to Detroit 1951, Revisited

March 4, 2013Biography, Cleages, Investigations, sepia saturday#me, #Pearl Cleage, #SpringfieldKristin

Back in November of 2011 I wrote Moving – Springfield to Detroit 1951 for Sepia Saturday 102. I mentioned that I remembered the little girls in the photograph, but I couldn’t remember their names. Well, I found them!

movingday02 — Moving day (note the boxed up stuff behind me) L to R: Kristin (me), Lynn, Sherrie, Pearl and in the back is Mrs. Johnson. I still have the rocking chair back there.

movingday — Left to right – Kristin (me), Lynn, Sherrie and Pearl

During February, I was working on a post about turtles I have owned, when I came across the photograph below.

Funds_us_1952 — Mr. and Mrs. Funn with me (Kristin) in front and my mother in the middle holding sister Pearl.

I recognized them as the Funns and realized that the other man’s name that I remembered from Springfield, “Lindsey”,must be the name of the father of the girls in the photographs. How could I find the last name? I decided to Google “Lindsey St. John’s Congregational Church, Springfield, MA”. The first item that came up gave me his last name, Johnson. I Googled “Lindsey Johnson, Springfield, MA” and came up with several articles. This was them! Sherrie was the oldest daughter, the one who poured milk in my dinner on that day so long ago. Below are some of the articles I found and some photographs of the Johnsons and also an article about Mr. Funn. Goggle and newspapers – it’s hard to beat them sometimes.

Lindsey_Johnson_collage — Articles about Lindsey Johnson and family. The house they talk about is the one I visited with my father in the winter 1968. Click to enlarge and read.

2013.02W.24 — To see more posts about boxes and other things, click!

The Black Arts Convention – 1966

February 27, 2013Biography, Family History Writing Challenge, February Photo collage Festival, sepia saturday#Detroit, #James E. Williams, #meKristin

The photograph for today was taken during the Black Arts Convention in Detroit. It was 1966. I was 19 and Jim was 21. This was LaSalle Park, which was located a few blocks from my father’s church on Linwood. I don’t remember why this session was held at the park, but I do remember walking back to church where other closing activities were held.

lasalleprk1966#2 — Black Arts Convention 1966 at LaSalle Park, Detroit. That is Jim and me over in the lower left corner.

jim and kris 1966 — Me looking adoringly at Jim. Click to enlarge.

During that week, from Thursday through Sunday, The Black Arts Convention was held at Central United Church of Christ. There were workshops on the visual arts, theater, literature, religion and politics. There were arguments and sincere discussions. People from all over the country attended. I was going to write it all up, but I cut my finger last night while cooking dinner and typing is s-l-o-w today.

I am linking to this article, A Report On the Black Arts Convention, by Dudley Randall from The Negro Digest, Aug. 1966, on Google Books. It is a very good description of the convention.

blk_ar_tcon_vaughn_thnk_let — A letter of thanks from “Forum ’66”, the group that organized the Black Arts Convention.

This is the 27th post in the February Photo Collage Festival and the Family History Writing Challenge. It’s hard to believe that tomorrow is the last day of both challenges and that I’ve posted every day.

Beating Rugs

February 22, 2013Mystery, Photographs, sepia saturdayKristin

This is the 22nd post in the February Photo Collage Festival and a Sepia Saturday offering. Today I am sharing a mystery photograph from my Graham collection. This week’s prompt is “unknown people”.

I don’t know who they are. I assume they are friends of my grandparents from Montgomery, Alabama who spent the day beating carpets and then posed for this photo. The older woman doesn’t look very happy about any of it. I would date them in the early 1900s.

We were beating carpets and don't we look like it. — “We were beating carpets in the backyard and don’t we look like it.”

verso_strangers — Verso of the photo above.

This seems to be the same family on a different day.

2013.02W.11 — To see more unknown people, click.

Poor Pete and PJ

February 16, 2013Cleages, Family History Writing Challenge, February Photo collage Festival, sepia saturday#meKristin

This is the 16th post in the February Photo Collage Festival and the Family History Writing Challenge. Today’s prompt includes a ~~turtle~~ tortoise. None the less, I am going to write about my experience with turtles. My sister and I owned several turtles when we were growing up. We always named them PJ and Pete and they always got soft shells and died. They lived in a little plastic turtle scape much like this one. We added small, colorful rocks to the bottom.

Their bowl sat on top of our bookcase in the bedroom. The room was bright but there wasn’t any direct sunshine there. The turtles were fed a diet of dried food that came in an orange little container. Sometimes we supplemented it with a fly we caught, or some lettuce. As the shells began to go soft, we would try to get them to drink some cod liver oil and moved their island home into the sunlight. All to no avail. They all died. I don’t remember any turtle funerals but there might have been at least one. Perhaps my sister will remember. Pearl says, yes we did bury some of them. I don’t remember being upset, or even minding, when they died.

Our mother didn’t want any ~~real~~ large pets, like cats or dogs, because nobody was home during the day. Maybe because both of her childhood dogs died rather sad deaths too. She was happy to buy us fish and turtles. I think the turtles replaced the fish because it was easier to keep their habitat clean. Once my sister and I took them out on the porch for a walk with strings tied around their shells. Not a big success.

I have since learned that turtles are salmonella carriers. Luckily we never had that problem. My children never had turtles for pets but my husband used to find turtles trying to cross the road and bring them home for them to see before releasing them into the nearby woods or lake. After writing this, I have to wonder if they were disoriented from being moved like this. In fact, this whole thing sounds like the torture of turtles.

Pearl and Kristin pretending to race on the upper front porch. Notice the well kept houses in the background. — My sister Pearl and I pretending to race on the upper front porch of the flat on Calvert. This was the house and the ages we were when we had turtles.

2013.01W.74 — To see more turtles and other stuff, CLICK!

To read more about living on Calvert go to “C” Is For Calvert.

Hugh Marion Reed Averette – US Navy Experience 1898 – 1901

February 10, 2013February Photo collage Festival, Reeds, sepia saturday#Hugh ReedKristin

This is the 10th post in the February Photo Collage Festival and the Family History Writing Challenge, and the last post in the present series about the Hugh Marion Reed Averette family. Today I am going to write about Hugh Reed Averette’s US Navy experience.

Hugh joined the US Army on July 13, 1898 in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was discharged on November 13, 1898 in Willets Pointe, Queens, New York. He joined the US Navy a month later on December 8, 1898 in New York City. He worked as a Coal Passer on the USS Newark. The Newark saw action in South America and Asia. In 1900, Hugh was in China. Here is a description of the ship’s activity during the time Hugh was a member of the crew from The Dictionary of American Fighting Ships.

The USS Newark

Departing New York 23 March 1899, the cruiser steamed down the coast of South America on patrol, stopping at numerous ports along the way. In the middle of her cruise 7 April, she was ordered to proceed through the Straits of Magellan to San Francisco. The ship, low on coal, was forced to put into Port Low, Chile, from 31 May to 22 June to cut wood for fuel. Finally arriving Mare Island Navy Yard 4 September, Newark underwent repairs and then sailed 17 October via Honolulu for the Philippines arriving Cavite 25 November. The warship took station off Vigan, Luzon, landed troops for garrison duty, then moved on to Aparri 10 December, receiving the surrender of insurrectionists in the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, and Bataan.

crew_newark — Random crew members of the USS Newark

On 19 March 1900, she sailed for Hong Kong to rendezvous with monitor Monadnock 22 March and convoy that ship to Cavite, arriving 3 April and staying there until sailing for Yokohama 24 April, arriving 3 days later. The ship then hoisted the flag of Rear Admiral Louis Kempff, Assistant Commander of the Asiatic Station and sailed 20 May for China to help land reinforcements to relieve the legations tinder siege by the Boxers at Peking. Arriving Tientsin 22 May, Newark operated in that port and out of Taku and Chefoo, protecting American interests and aiding the relief expedition under Vice Admiral Seymour, R.N., until sailing at the end of July for Kure, Japan, and then Cavite where she hoisted the pennant of the Senior Squadron Commander in the Philippines. She sailed for home in mid-April 1901, via Hong Kong, Ceylon and Suez, arriving Boston late July 1901. She decommissioned there 29 July.