“This is what you’ve been waiting for,” the auctioneer said directly to me. He was as much a regular at auctions as me – him working as both an auctioneer and a big spender on items he…
Category: Black history
Sojourner Truth’s ‘Ain’t I A Woman’ on a ‘76 poster
Posted in African American women, Black history, and Ephemera/Paper/Documents
At first, it was hard to distinguish the image featured in the dark marks that seemed to be scattered in the center of the poster. The artist Marlene E. Miller had sketched a face in thick intersecting…
S&H Green Stamps sign evokes memories of Don Lee poem
Posted in Black history, Books, and Signs
I could see the S&H Green Stamps sign clear across the room, hanging on a peg wall with its red, white and green colors pocked with a few black spots and nicks. The sign was…
How to get more African American artists on Wikipedia
Posted in Art, Black history, and history
Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. I’m not able to appraise their treasures, but I can do…
Woman tries to reclaim her home in 1930s Jim Crow South
Posted in Black history, and Ephemera/Paper/Documents
“I am a poor Colored Woman trying to have a home for living in my old age My husband and I have put all our life earnings in this place and now it is taken…
The big hunk of a dictionary was resting on the auction table like a giant paperweight. From the look of it, I could tell that it was ancient. So I wondered how this old storehouse of American language…
American Red Cross Clubs for blacks in WWII Paris
Posted in Black history, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, history, and Military
The map with the red cross was innocent enough. Anyone seeing the symbol would automatically know that it represented the American Red Cross before seeing the name across the top. I didn’t think much about…
Reader asks about Ebony greeting cards for Black History Month
Posted in Black history, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and history
Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. I’m not able to appraise their treasures, but I can do…
‘Selma’ impact is deeply felt
Posted in Black history, history, and Movies
I finally went to see the “Selma” movie, but I didn’t know what to expect. My friends had indicated that it moved slowly, and in my mind, that meant plodding. So I settled back in…
I had spent much of my time at the preview of the museum exhibit of African American art looking at the works on the walls. I recognized most of the artists, and had seen some of their works…