“Belle Isle. Grandma Graham – Mary Virginia – Clifton – Mershell Jr + Fan
This photograph was taken about two years after the one of my grandmother Fannie at Sugar Island. Grandma Graham was my grandfather, Mershell Graham’s adopted mother. Mary Virginia was born in April 1920 so she would be 2. Clifton was the son of my grandfather’s adopted brother, Clifton. Mershell Jr was born in June of 1921 so he must be about 1 year old. My mother was born in February, 1923 so my grandmother may have been just pregnant with her here. The park tables and benches are so unanchored. They are all cement now.
My 5 year old uncle Henry with his hands over his head, far left. You can just see my grandmother Pearl Cleage at the end of the row on the left, in a dark hat with flowers. I believe that is my grandfather Albert B. Cleage Sr. reclining next to her. Cousin Helen Mullins next with the checkered dress. Baby Barbara in front of Helen?
Henry looking across Lake Idlewild. About 1925. What was he thinking?Same year in Idlewild. Hugh in front, Barbara in the middle. Louis in the back and Henry on the beach. Maybe they rowed away and left him looking out.
“Sugar Island Group” My grandmother, Fannie Mae Turner Graham is lounging in the middle front. She had moved to Detroit with my grandfather in 1918 after their marriage in Montgomery, AL.
“Sugar Island is a small island in the Detroit River between Grosse Ile and Boblo Island. Sugar Island is part of Grosse Ile Township, Wayne County, Michigan, USA, and lies about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) west of the border with Canada. Currently the island is uninhabited and was recently converted to wildlife refuge by the US Fish and Wildlife service (see below). The majority of the island is wooded and it is known for its white sandy beaches and easy access by boat.” From Wikepedia
“The A.A.O.C. Club Bunch (I don’t know what the initials stand for_
This is a double exposure that I found in my Cleage photos. It was probably taken by my grandfather since my father was only about 8 or 9 years old. It is in the batch with other photographs taken in Athens, Tennessee around 1919. There seem to be sheets on a clothesline in the foreground. Athens is in the foothills of the Great Smokey Mountains and was my Grandfather Albert B. Cleage Sr’s hometown. He took his family back for a visit most summers when they were growing up.
There are links to other photos from trips to Athens below.
#1 During the 1960s my Uncle Louis and various family members and friends traveled to Mexico. They stayed in out of the way hotels and places. Louis became very proficient in Spanish and was happy to talk to any of us in Spanish. Unfortunately, I never was invited on any of these trips. The above photo is an unmarked photo from the Cleage collection. I think it was taken in Mexico. Then again, maybe it was taken in Michigan in the country during the 1940s.
#2 I posted this article about a horse jumping through a windshield in 2011. Thought I would give it another go. Victor Tulane was my great grandmother’s sister Willie’s husband. He was a successful Montgomery businessman.
Horse Jumps through Automobile Windshield
Considerable Excitement Attends Runaway On Court Square Tuesday Afternoon.
Much excitement and some damage was the result of a run-away horse crashing into an automobile in front of Alex Rice’s store on Court Square late yesterday afternoon.
The horse, which was pulling a buggy, became frightened on the first block of South Court Street and dashed toward Montgomery Street. An automobile belonging to Theo Meyer was parked in front of Alex Rice’s and the front feet of the horse went through the wind shield.
Beyond sustaining several minor cuts, the horse was unhurt and the damage done to the automobile, too, was small.
My grandmother’s older sister is wearing a cameo broach here, but is otherwise unadorned. Louise Reed was born about 1873 in Lebanon, Kentucky. She was the fourth child of Anna Allen Reed. Her father was Palmer Reed. In 1889, her sister Sarah married James Busby and moved to Benton Harbor, Michigan. On June 10, 1891, Louise married Michigan native, Solonus Shoemaker, in Berrien County, Michigan. She lived the rest of her life there and died in 1938 at the age of 65. Daughter, Mildred, was born in 1899. Son, Floyd 4 years later in 1903. She is buried in Chrystal Springs Cemetery in Benton Township, Berrien County.
Mrs. Shoemacker, Berrien Resident For 44 Years, Dies
Obituary
“Mrs. Lillian Louise Schoemacker, 63 died at 4:30 a. m. today at her home, 693 Maiden Lane. She was born at Lebanon, Ky., October 27, 1874. She was married to Solumun Schoemacker on June 26, 1891, in Berrien county where she had been a resident for 44 years.
Mrs. Schoemacker leaves a son and daughter, F.E. Schoemacker and Mrs. Mildred Wright, both of Benton Harbor; three sisters, Mrs. Sarah Busby of Benton Harbor, Mrs. Minnie Mullen and Mrs. A. B. Cleg of Detroit; three brothers, H.M. Reed, Clarence Reed of Chicago, George Reed of Indianapolis, Ind.
Friends may view the body at the Reiser mortuary. Funeral arrangements are incomplete.”
Note: The last name is spelled “Shoemaker”. “Cleg” is spelled “Cleage”.
For other jewelry laden photographs, or in some cases pet laden, visit Sepia Saturday click the photo below of a woman wearing more jewelry than anybody in my family album wore.
Nursing students Sylvia and Jacqui Vincent, my 2nd cousins once removed, appeared on the cover of the June 15, 1961 issue of JET magazine. After reading the article about my cousins I noticed the many short articles about the Freedom Rides that appeared throughout the magazine. The first Freedom Ride took place on May 4, 1961, just a few weeks before this issue. Integrated groups boarded two buses in the north with plans to defy the segregated seating on the buses and the segregated waiting rooms when they got to the south. They met violence as they entered Alabama. They were beaten and the bus was set on fire. I found the following horrifying description of that first ride in this article Get On the Bus: The Freedom Riders of 1961.
My 2nd cousins once removed. Their grandmother was my great grandmother’s sister – daughters of Eliza and Dock Allen.
Johnson Publishing Company’s web page describes JET Magazine as follows:
JET is the No. 1 African-American newsweekly and has more than 7 million readers. As Editor-in-Chief of the magazine and its website, JETmag.com, Mitzi Miller continues the legacy of serving credible and entertaining information to the Black community.
Initially billed as “The Weekly Negro News Magazine”, JET is noted for its role in chronicling the early days of the American Civil Rights movement from its earliest years, including coverage of the Emmett Till murder, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Our wedding announcement section “Black Love” and “Beauty of the Week” are a long-standing traditions in JET magazine.
The publication has been a staple in homes and businesses of Black Americans since 1951, bringing life to its popular catchphrase: “If it isn’t in JET, it didn’t happen.” JET is the beloved bible of America Americans and ranks number 4 in reader engagement.
In September of 2012 members of the family met in Detroit to celebrate my Aunt Gladys (my father’s sister) 90th birthday. On Memorial Weekend we again gathered, this time to celebrate my Ernest’s and Susan’s 25th wedding anniversary. Some of the same people were at both, some were at one and not at the other. It was wonderful to see cousins and cousins spouses, once again at a celebratory event. The younger cousins are getting to know each other. The aunts are getting a chance to see each other and older cousins are getting a chance to see each other outside of facebook! I hope we can continue to meet often to celebrate family. Often enough that the children will not just know they’re family, but feel it.
Cleage family members who gathered at Ernest and Susan’s in May of 2013 – cousins, aunts, children, grandchildren, spouses.
I hope I didn’t leave anybody off. If I did, please advise and I will add them. The header photo is from the September gathering, put them together and you have almost the whole Albert and Pearl Cleage branch of the family. One day maybe we can get those missing family members there too!
The photograph below was taken in 1981 when we lived on St. John Road in Simpson County, Mississippi. You can read more about that time in this post P.O. Box 173 1/2. I was 35 and pregnant with my fifth child, who turned out to be my first son, James. Tulani and Ayanna (with a piece of gum hanging out of her mouth) are in the photo with me. My husband, Jim, was the photographer. He was about to go to Boston for an organizers workshop. He was working for the Woodcutters Union at the time and not making a living wage. My son seems to wear a similar expression sometimes. Maybe I passed it on. I’ve added a photo of my father and grandfather.
1981 – with two daughters.
That son 30 years later.
Me, at about 20, and my father, Albert B. Cleage Jr., 1966
My grandfather, Albert B. Cleage – 1909. About the time he graduated from Knoxville College.
