My grandparents – Albert B. Cleage & Pearl D. Reed in 1909.
For this year’s April A-Z Challenge I will be blogging everyday using items taken from the letters written by my grandfather to my grandmother from 1907 to 1912, starting with “A” and moving right through the alphabet to “Z” during April.
Will write a letter this P.M. 6/20/09 Arrived in Detroit yesterday at 4:00PM, and left for Buffalo via “Eastern States” Steamer on which I am at work at 5. Was lucky. Am well – found two old school friends on same boat.
A.B.C.
My grandfather had gone from Indianapolis to Detroit to get a summer job as a waiter on one of the steamers that went between Detroit and Indianapolis. He was successful and had even found several friends who were medical students at other schools who would also be working on the steamer with him. It was a good way to earn money for school. Some worked as porters or waiters on passenger trains.
In 1910, just a year later, Detroit’s population reached 465,766. 5,741 (1.2%) were African American. Cass Technical High School graduated it’s first class of 6 students. Other high schools were Central (located in what is now Old Main on the campus of Wayne State University), Eastern and Western.
This would have been the Detroit my grandfather saw as he spent his free time walking around Detroit. Click to enlarge.
Detroit History “During the early 1900s Detroit was referred to as the Paris of the West for its beautiful gilded age architecture, and Washington Boulevard, which was electrified by Thomas Edison. Detroit emerged as a transportation hub and a growing manufacturing city which prompted Henry ford to build his first automobile in a rented workshop on Mack Avenue. Ford Motor Company was soon to follow in 1904. Other auto manufacturers such as William C. Durant, the Dodge brother, Packard, and Walter Chrysler further reinforced Detroit as the world’s automotive capital and giving it the nickname the Motor City.”
My grandparents – Albert B. Cleage & Pearl D. Reed in 1909.
For this year’s April A-Z Challenge I will be blogging everyday using items taken from the letters written by my grandfather to my grandmother from 1907 to 1912, starting with “A” and moving right through the alphabet to “Z” during April.
May 27, 1910
My dear Sweetheart:
…Had I known you were coming back to evening services would not have gone visiting – I went to Bethel Church Monday night to a musical- Messrs. Lewis and Thompson each sang a solo and also Mrs. Maud Beatty and Miss Myrtle Broadie each sang a solo and the two a duet – I didn’t enjoy program much, Wednesday I also attended the state convention of the federation of women at Baptist church. Program was fair – do you think you can go with me to our church June 7th or were you joking? Have you seen the comet yet? I really have this time…
The Return of Halley’s Comet. “What’s more, this particular pass of the comet (in 1910) was an especially close one. The comet came within 14 million miles (21 million km) of Earth at one point during its May approach, and Earth briefly passed through the tail of the comet. This, of course, was amazing for scientists, allowing them to study many details of the comet ‘up close’ as it were. The close pass was reportedly spectacular in the sky, the comet easily visible.
The downside of this close pass and the new observations made was that a panic briefly overtook much of the world’s population. Scientists had noticed a poisonous gas known as cyanogen that was present in the composition of the tail, and while they assured the public that the gas would be much too diffuse to have any effect during Earth’s pass through the tail, many people still panicked and assumed the worst. In addition, the comet was connected to several events that it could not possibly have caused, such as the death of King Edward VII in England and the death of Mark Twain. This brief hysteria faded when the Earth passed through the comet’s tail without problems, but many people were coerced into buying expensive comet protections or otherwise suffered from the panic.”
For this year’s April A-Z Challenge I will be blogging everyday using items taken from the letters written by my grandfather to my grandmother from 1907 to 1912, starting with “A” and moving right through the alphabet to “Z” during April.
My grandparents – Albert B. Cleage & Pearl D. Reed in 1909.
3/8/09
Miss Reed: – I found your book today and fearing you might need it, will bring it to you Wed Eve at 8 p.m. unless notified that you do not need or desire it.
A.B. Cleage
Click to enlarge.
What was the book that my grandfather wanted to return? When I knew my grandmother she read or had read many books, including Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undsett, who I was named after. But that wasn’t published for decades. It doesn’t sound like a novel because why would she “need” a novel? Of course, it may have been a ruse to get to see her and he knew she didn’t need it. Here are some books that were popular in 1906 and 1907.
There were many articles in African American newspapers at that time about Booker T. Washington and W.E. B. DuBois so maybe it was The Negro in the South by Booker T. Washington and W.E. Burghardt DuBois. Or maybe it was one of the novels of the time:The Jungle by Sinclair Lewis about the horrors of the meat packing industry in Chicago. Perhaps it was a hymnal or other book of songs because Pearl D. Reed sang in the church choir and at other community events. Beyond the Rocks is a 1906 novel by Elinor Glyn, which was later adapted into a 1922 silent film in which Gloria Swanson and Rudolph Valentino. In the Days of the Comet (1906) is a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells in which humanity is “exalted” when a comet causes “the nitrogen of the air, the old azote,” to “change out of itself” and become “a respirable gas, differing indeed from oxygen, but helping and sustaining its action, a bath of strength and healing for nerve and brain.” The result: “The great Change has come for evermore, happiness and beauty are our atmosphere, there is peace on earth and good will to all men.”
My grandparents – Albert B. Cleage & Pearl D. Reed Taken from a 1909 group photograph at Witherspoon United Presbyterian Church.
Today begins the 2014 April A-Z Challenge. I will be blogging everyday using items taken from the letters written by my grandfather to my grandmother from 1907 to 1912, starting with “A” and moving right through the alphabet to “Z” during April.
Albert B. Cleage’s letters begin in 1907, shortly after he met Pearl D. Reed. The letters end in 1912 as they prepare for a move from Indianapolis, IN to Kalamazoo, MI. This is the first letter in the collection.
Monday, 9 a.m. at school
Miss Reed; – I have lots to say to you, but will refrain from writing, and beg of you the opportunity to call Wednesday evening at 7:45 P.M.
Albert B. Cleage
Albert B. Cleage. This photograph was enclosed in a later letter.
My grandfather was born Albert Cleage in Loudon County, Tennessee on May 15, 1883. He was the 5th and youngest child of Louis and Celia (Rice) Cleage. His parents were born into slavery and were free after the Civil War. They married in Athens, TN in 1872. By 1880 the family was living on a farm in Louden County, TN. Louis sharecropped 15 acres.
By 1891, the family was back in Athens. Albert was 8 years old. His parents were divorced and in 1897 his mother was married to widower Roger William Sherman, a successful carpenter. His father worked at laboring jobs in various places, from the railroad to the mines of Birmingham, AL.
In 1902 my grandfather graduated from Henderson Normal and Industrial College in Henderson, NC where his brother-in-law was teaching. He attended Knoxville College 4 years where he played football and wrote for the school paper in addition to studying. On the way to one of these schools my grandfather decided that he needed a middle name and chose the name of “Buford” from a sign he passed on the train going to school.
In 1906, after graduating from Knoxville College, he followed 2 of his older brothers to Indianapolis, IN and attended the Indiana University Medical School. In 1907 Albert, his brothers and my future grandmother all signed a petition asking for the formation of Witherspoon United Presbyterian Church. During the summer of 1909 he worked as a waiter on the steamer, Eastern States which ran from Detroit to Buffalo NY. The money he earned funded his college education. He graduated with his MD on September 1, 1910. He received appointment as an intern at the City Dispensary. On September 21 he and Pearl Doris Reed were married at her home.
In 1911 Pearl’s mother died and the first of their 7 children was born – Albert B. Cleage Jr, my father. In 1912 the family moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan where my grandfather set up in private practice. And that takes us to the end of the time covered in these letters.
I wrote this soon after the birth of my second daughter, Ife in 1973. We had been in Atlanta almost a year. Jim was printing and I was working at the Institute of the Black World doing clerical work. My sister Pearl and her husband lived within walking distance. Jilo attended preschool at Martin Luther King preschool.
Birth day. Why isn’t she wrapped up like a little burrito? Poor baby.
March 29, 1973 – 9am – 8lbs 3 ounces – Holy Family Hospital, Atlanta, GA
I continued working at the Institute of the Black World until Monday, March 27, when the braxton hicks contractions were too uncomfortable. For the next three days I slept until 1 or 2 PM or later. Jilo was at school and Jim at work. We were living in a duplex at 2600 Cascade Rd. SW in Atlanta.
At midnight of the 28th the contractions became regular. I threw up. They were not too hard. Jim timed them. He’d read a chapter of a book about birthing this time. Daddy called about 12:30. At 4:10 we called Dr. Borders. Contractions were 8 minutes apart. Pearl and Michael took us to the hospital. Jilo stayed with them. I had one contraction on the way, about a twenty minute trip.
I was checked in, shaved with a dull razor, given an enema. It seemed like the contractions were gone forever. They weren’t. Jim was a lot of help saying don’t panic, don’t breath so fast. I really didn’t need to pant except when they were checking the dilation then it was so cold. In fact the room was freezing and next time I’ll wear a sweater.
Dr. Borders checked every half hour. At 8:30 am, I felt a mild desire to push and told Dr. Borders. She said go ahead and I was moved to the delivery room. Although I had been drowsy I immediately woke up alert and not at all tired. However once again the contractions disappeared. No one panicked though, they just sat and waited. At this time I kept expecting Dr. Borders to say it was taking too long and she’d have to give me a spinal. The nurses tried to help find the right breathing breath, breath push and confused me at first. The contractions were mild and not strong, they said, so gave me something to strengthen them. The one nurse pushed down on the stomach while I pushed. Jim was there in blue but didn’t get to say much. I was quite discouraged, but Dr. Borders said it was coming along and finally THE HEAD CAME OUT! I didn’t feel it come down or anything, it just popped out, I had an episiotomy. The cord as around her neck, but Dr. Borders got it off and out came Ife. It was something as I said before. They showed her to me and they hit her heels and she started crying. She had dark hair. They took prints, cleaned her nose, etc. And it was cold again. I got a heated blanket and we all congratulated each other. It took awhile to get stitched. I felt fine. I didn’t go to recovery, just to the room. Ife was supposed to come with me, both my doctor and her pediatrician okayed it, but the nurses never brought her. They told me her temp had to stabilize.
I felt fine, excellent, never really bothered by stitches. Roommate was weird, had a c-section and kept saying morbid things and complaining. A real drag. I had rooming in. I nursed her when she wanted and was never engorged.
I hadn’t realized before that my first daughter’s birth had been so messed up by the hospital staff coming in every five minutes like it as a public event, my Doctor’s lack or interest and knowledge of natural childbirth, Jim’s absence and lack of knowledge of how to help, the length of labor.
In Ife’s birth all of these things had an influence on me, which I hadn’t realized until labor really started. If I had known I was only going to be 4-5 hours in labor at the hospital instead of 14 and that Ife would indeed get herself born without forceps, etc. I would have been more relaxed and could have enjoyed it more. Things to remember next time-take a sweater, take a bag or breath under covers to avoid hyperventilation, which puts you out of it. THE BABY WILL COME OUT! Get a single room, leave as soon as possible, the hospital that is.
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.”
“With Our Cars and My Apartment.”
“Getting the kids out… Wading through the waters to the drier side of the parking lot…”
This is my second year doing the A-Z Challenge. Last year I used the broad theme of my blog – family history.
This year my focus will be the letters and postcards written by my future grandfather, Albert B. Cleage to my future grandmother, Pearl D. Reed. from 1907 – 1911. I will be using people, places, addresses and events mentioned in his correspondence, to learn more about my family and the times.
I have more of a head start this year. Although I have not yet written any posts, I am researching and narrowing down the scope of posts. As I go along, I may change the word for the day if something else draws me in. Now to see what others have planned.
Click to find more blogs participating in the reveal!
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.
Old Detroit County Building
“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.
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
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.
Prompt for week #28 in The Book of Me is – My Parents, This is a very surface description of my parents. I have written other posts about them. Links to two are below.
Dr. Albert B. Cleage Sr and son Albert Jr – about 1913
My father, Albert, was born in 1911 in Indianapolis Indiana. His parents, Albert and Pearl Cleage, met in 1907 when his father came from Athens, TN to attend Medical School. His mother was born in Kentucky and moved to Indianapolis with her family before 1900. In 1912 my father and his parents moved to Kalamzaoo, MI where his father started his practice. By 1915 they were in Detroit where they remained. He was the oldest of 7 children. His nickname was Toddy and his friends and those who knew him in his youth continued to call him that throughout his life. My father was one of the most intelligent people I have known. He was well read and could think and understand both history and current events. I wonder what he would have to say about the state of the world today.
My mother with her father – 1924
My mother, Doris, was born in Detroit in 1923, the third child of Mershell and Fannie Graham who came to Detroit from Alabama in 1917. She lived in Detroit, in the same house on Theodore, until she married in 1943. The only nickname she had was “Stubs”, and the only person I heard call her that (a name she wasn’t fond of.) was her sister’s husband, my uncle Buddy Elkins. My mother was one of the most independent people I have known. She taught in Detroit elementary schools for almost 20 years. She taught reading during the last years before she retired and loved helping children discover reading.
They met at Plymouth Congregational Church and were married there in 1943. In the early years of their marriage they moved several times – to Lexington, KY, to San Francisco and then Los Angeles, CA, to Springfield, MA and then back to Detroit. Judging from letters my father wrote home, their marriage seemed to be one of shared interests and activities, until I was born. At that point, it seems to me, that my father expected my mother to become a traditional wife and mother while he continued the interesting life of organizing and running the church.
They were divorced in 1954. They remained on friendly terms. We saw a lot of my father as he was home during the week so my sister and I ate lunch at his house during school week. When we were older, we spent the weekend with him frequently.
In 1960 my mother married my father’s brother, Henry. They remained together until her death April 30, 1982. My father never remarried. He died February 20, 2000.
My father, me, my mother, Henry. Photo by my sister Pearl Cleage. 1966.
Prompt #29 from The Book of Me – What sort of purse do I carry and what is in it?
I usually carry this bag with me. I made it from scraps of mud cloth several years ago. It’s lined with some navy blue fabric I had on hand but it should have been lined with black. There is plenty of room for the items below, plus my camera, a notebook, a book or whatever else I need at the time.
Altoids case – actually has various pills in case I get caught out at dinner time without them.
Bimah case with drivers license, debit card, cash.
Two ball point pins.
A pencil from Ikea.
A dime.
A striped case holding my checkbook and various papers.
A glass case for my distance glasses.
A glass case for some extra reading glasses.
My keys with a reindeer horn thing from Norway and the car open/closer.
My cell phone.
I usually carry this bag with these things in them. I keep meaning to make a very small, under my coat/jacket/shawl bag just large enough for cell phone, keys and license. Unfortunately, I don’t remember until I’m on my way out the door.
My grandfather had gone from Indianapolis to Detroit to get a summer job as a waiter on one of the steamers that went between Detroit and Indianapolis. He was successful and had even found several friends who were medical students at other schools who would also be working on the steamer with him. It was a good way to earn money for school. Some worked as porters or waiters on passenger trains.
