An African American baker named Cyrus Bustill baked bread for George Washington’s troops during the Revolutionary War. That’s what the documents showed, but family historian Joyce Mosley wanted more verification. So she decided to join…
Auction Finds Posts
Fannie Lou Hamer & the 1964 Democratic convention
Posted in Black history, and civil rights movement
As the Democratic Party holds its convention this week, I’m reminded of a relief kit that I came across at auction a few years ago. There was a box of them, unopened, each bearing the…
Tuskegee Airmen artifacts show up far from home
Posted in Black history, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, history, and Military
William S. Powell Jr. must have been mighty proud to be a Tuskegee Airman. He kept his brown leather flight jacket with the 99th Pursuit Squadron patch, his helmet, his graduation diploma, flight wings, training…
Folding screens in very distinct forms
Posted in Decorating, and furniture
The folding screen with the jazz band was the first that stopped me as I previewed some auction items online. It showed three men on stiff board looking as if they were rocking and swaying…
How us auction enthusiasts miss ‘being’ there
Posted in Auction, Black history, Books, collectibles, and Decorating
Previewing the online auction, I only saw a few books that looked promising. Two lots of about three books each already had bids on them at prices way beyond what I was willing to pay.…
Cutouts of baseball fans carry on tradition of ‘dummy boards’
Posted in Antiques, collectibles, Culture, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and history
Have you ever heard of “silent companions?” I hadn’t heard of them until my friend Rebecca mentioned them in light of the move by the Philadelphia Phillies and other baseball teams to fill their stands…
Like the movement, John Lewis was beaten, bloodied but unbowed
Posted in Black history, civil rights movement, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and history
You cannot understand the greatness of John Lewis unless you know the struggles that he and other civil rights activists endured during the 1960s. He was in his 20s when he bravely marched and protested…
What artifacts will tell the story of 2020 protests?
Posted in Black history, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Photos
In March 1968, striking black sanitation workers marched along the streets of Memphis demanding higher wages and better working conditions. They carried signs emblazoned with “I AM A MAN” to express their anger at not…
Revisiting Ebony’s 1965 “White Problem in America” issue
Posted in Black history, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and history
Several years ago, I was lucky to find an issue of Ebony magazine from 1965 that was devoted solely to race in America. This was the middle of the civil rights movement, and John…
African American ceramics artists lost in history
Posted in Art, Black history, and pottery
A young Isaac Scott Hathaway had slipped away from his father and sisters at the Cleveland museum. He went looking for a specific sculpture that he was certain would be there. Finally, the Rev. R.E.…