I wasn’t exactly sure what the leather notecards were when I saw them in the glass case at the auction house, so I asked to see them. Handing the tray of cards to me, the…
Month: August 2016
When I first saw the tin pieces in the furniture room at the auction house, I thought of the seed pods from the 1956 sci-fi movie “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” There were two of…
‘Mississippi Washer’ was no relief for black washerwomen
Posted in African American women, Black history, Equipment, Home, and Work
When I saw the wooden barrel in the rear yard of the auction house, I thought it was a planter, just like the ones I had at home, but much bigger and wider. As I…
The last house where Paul Robeson lived
Posted in Art, history, Music, Performers, Plays, Sports, and theater
Arcenia McClendon was telling a story about the time she met Paul Robeson: She was a young school teacher in her early 20s and she passed the house at 50th and Walnut Streets in Philadelphia on her…