Category: Geraldine Wilson
-
From Mother to Daughter: “What Do I Tell My Children Who Are Black?”
History helps us to understand who we are and how deep our roots have grown. It teaches us that we are a people with a glorious past that had its beginning in the dark corners of African civilizations centuries ago and spread to the lighted civilizations of today. In the following pages you will discover…
-
BHM 2015: Findings in the Geraldine Wilson Papers Collection
Today marks the beginning of Black History Month for 2015. As this day approached, I was thinking of ways to honor BHM; however, it hit me–I always and, at this point in my life, only write about black history. Then I thought perhaps I could focus on the Flowers family and their role in black…
-
Victims of Hate, Part II
Image Source Lt. Col. Lemuel Penn, July 1964 People commit crimes like this because they are ignorant. They need to be educated. Georgia Penn, wife of Lt. Col. Lemuel Penn In the summer of 1964, Lt. Col. John D Howard, Major Charles E. Brown, and Lt. Col. Lemuel Penn travelled from Washington, D.C. to Fort…
-
Victims of Hate: Geraldine’s Newspaper Collection During the 1960s
Read Geraldine’s biography here. Image taken from the Geraldine Wilson Papers Collection at the Schomburg Center During her time with Freedom Summer, Geraldine kept record of the events occurring in the South involving missing and murdered blacks and civil rights activists. Most of the newspaper articles within her private archival collection were from The Student Voice,…
-
The Family Poet: Mrs. Geraldine Wilson
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture holds the largest archival holding of information regarding the Flowers family, particularly letters between Rachel and her niece, Geraldine, and documents and artifacts Geraldine collected throughout her lifetime. This includes her academic writings, personal collection of newspapers, personal writing, and even her poetry collection. The next few…
-
Findings in the Archive
I enjoy doing research, at times a bit too much, but I truly am a researcher. This past Thanksgiving, I spent time at the Museum of American Indians in New York City, Broadway shows (Pippin and Motown…where I met Phylicia Rashad and Bobbi Jones performed on stage!), and I also spent two days at the Schomburg…
-
It’s Official!/New Findings
Will edit this post in the morning. This past week has been hectic. As you may or may not have known, I have moved to Boston and start work in the morning (graduate school does not start until September). My remaining time at home was spent packing and hanging out with my family. This does…
-
The Return of the Flowers Family History
Photo from the Messiah College Archives The history of the first international students to attend Messiah College is officially done. It has been a good, long break away from the Flowers family. Two months to be exact. With the help of a former professor there has been a few leads including the official date as…
-
Letters From Rachel
In Geraldine Wilson’s unprocessed collection, there are numerous letters between her and her Aunt Rachel. This is my first encounter with Rachel’s handwriting. Transcription: Dear Jerry, You had said over the phone that you would contact me when you returned to New York. I did not contact you because Harry told me you were…
-
Mississippi Summer Project
Source I grew up watching movies documenting the Civil Rights Movement such as Mississippi Burning, PBS documentaries, and reading books on the topic. My interest in African American history is not new, it has always been an interest of mine, but never a college major until recently. When I realized Geraldine Wilson was part of…
Diary of a Historian 