A taste of black history

One of the truly satisfying results of my auction finds are the pieces of African American history that I come across on the auction tables. From photographs to vintage records to books to artwork, each has revealed a little bit of history that is extremely valuable.

I wrote about some of those items in an article today in my old newspaper, the Philadelphia Inquirer. Each of them – and the stories behind them – had appeared in my blog. This was my opportunity to share them with even more people, because their history is worth passing along:

 

Patterson-Greenfield car, believed to have been the first built by an African American.

Family photos, defying stereotypes, a look at a proud middle-class family from the 1920s.

A social reformer, photograph of Frederick Douglass taken by Cornelius M. Battey, who headed the photography department at Tuskegee University in 1916.

Soldiers and the Civil War, letter written in May 1864 by Union soldier Joseph O. Cross to his wife in Connecticut.

Tuskegee Airmen, pilot Lt. James Wiley was one of 24 pilots of the 99^th Fighter Squadron who landed in North Africa in 1943. They were the first African American pilots in the war.

Lots of books, Langston Hughes’ “First Book of Negroes” (1952), a chronicle of the history of black people across the world. “The H.P. Dream Book” of numbers, published by Prof. Uriah Konje in 1927

Like at most newspapers, there’s never enough space for all you want to say. Here are some other items that I had to leave out of the story:

 

Artists. The works of some interesting artists have popped up at auction: Reba Dickerson Hill, who painted using the Japanese ink process called sumi-e; pioneer impressionist Allan Freelon; painter Columbus P. Knox, who was a fixture at the Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show in Philadelphia, and sculptor and painter Earl A.T. Wilkie. Two of my best historical finds were an oil painting by Delaware artist Ed Loper Jr. and two original prints by nationally known artist Eldzier Cortor.

Sculptor Augusta Savage’s work “The Harp,” created for the 1939 New York World’s Fair, was pictured in a magazine produced by the French during the fair. I learned of Savage’s life in Saugerties, NY, through the remembrances of a woman who as an 8-year-old had spent time with her after the sculptor settled there in 1948.

Art Smith jewelry, works by an artisan considered the first African American jewelry designer.

First American magician, a magic pencil used in the act of a white female magician led me to the discovery of the country’s first successful magician – a black man named Richard Potter.

Reproduction Wedgwood anti-slavery pin, original was created by Josiah Wedgewood around 1787 as a symbol of resistance to slavery.