I don’t know Jeniece Andrews or Natalie DuBose, but I do feel for these two women whose livelihoods were upended in the aftermath of the grand jury’s decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the…
Category: African American women
At auction, artwork is always the first draw for me. I immediately head over to the paintings to first see an image that transfixes me and then an artist’s name that I recognize. Finding new and old…
A book of “My Spirituals” by Eva Jessye
Posted in African American women, Books, and Music
On its website, the auction house was advertising a massive sale of books, 3,000 of them. The idea of so many books was so overwhelming that I wondered if it would be worth the effort…
Questions I can’t answer – Lillian Yarbo, ram’s head
Posted in African American women, Animals, jewelry, Movies, and Reader questions
Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of the items that they own. I’m not able to appraise their treasures, but…
Hair perm machine leads to black female inventor
Posted in African American women, Beauty Products, and Hair
The monstrous machine with the painfully looking tentacles was the first thing that captured my eye when I entered the auction house. It looked like a lamp with a round dirty globe, but I wasn’t…
Brimfield – African American tintypes and a lot more
Posted in African American women, Books, collectibles, Photos, Tins, and travel
I listened as the owner of the booth told a customer about his radio show and how he could guess a caller’s collectible or antique item without seeing it. I found the notion unbelievable, and…
A black church’s first female minister
Posted in African American women, and Religion
Rev. Ralinda Golback’s heart was so full of praise that it was palpable. You could almost take it in both your hands and hold it, feel it, hear it, wrap yourself in it. She had…
A Josephine Baker record album
Posted in African American women, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, Music, and Performers
I recognized the profile on the album cover as soon as I saw the name. Who wouldn’t know the stacked buns and long black ponytail that was the trademark hairstyle of the incomparable Josephine Baker. It’s not often that…
Store-bought weaves for a pittance
Posted in African American women, and Hair
As I approached the auction table, my first thought was that some women would kill for this. That’s an exaggeration, but the unopened packages of dark hair weaves, buns and extensions were the stuff of…
Unmasking the legacy of women
Posted in African American women, and Women
Sometimes while researching one auction item, I’m led to the history of another that’s just as fascinating. That’s truly been the case in my discovery of the contributions of women. Many of them have touched the way…