Tag: Black History
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A New Find: The Death Record of Nancy J. Sawyer
A few months ago, Pennsylvania released the state’s death records from 1906 to 1963. I must have overlooked the death record of Rachel’s mother, Nancy Sawyer, in my initial research…#iamafailure. This is a relatively short post, I just wanted you to see what I discovered about Nancy. 1. Her middle name–Throughout the majority of my research, I never had…
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A Race Against Time: The Quest for a Living Descendant
Vincent Flowers at Messiah Academy, Courtesy of Messiah College Archives Vincent Flowers, Rachel’s brother passed away in 2002. Edna Wiggins, Rachel’s sister-in-law, died in 2004. About seven years later, Paul Stevenson passed away in 2011. He was Rachel’s nephew. A great amount of history is lost with each death that occurs within the Flowers’ family. I…
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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Reintroducing the Flowers Family
If you are new to this blog, you might be wondering, Who are the Flowers?. Since 2012, I have been conducting research on this family’s history beginning with Rachel Helen Flowers, the first African American student to attend my alma mater. Uncovering her biography led to an even greater story of her family’s vast and…
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What Became His Wife’s War: The Battle for Civil War Pension
I am a researcher, yet some days I wish I were not. You see, I dive into multiple topics within African American history from slavery to the present encountering countless historical figures and seeking to learn their stories. The issue comes with time, a luxury I do not have. Despite this fallback, there exist a few stories and historical…
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Personal Thoughts: Selma
I do not believe there are any spoilers I could give in this post for we already know what happens. History is essentially history. I am a fan of David Oyelowo and his portrayal of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was outstanding. He gained weight and studied the man he played from Dr. King’s diction…
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Behind the Lens: Gordon Parks
A few days ago, I received an e-mail from the Museum of Fine Arts which caused a huge grin to rush across my face. It read: It may be cold outside—but not inside the MFA! The new year brings a slew of new art, exhubitions, lectures, and courses to cozy up to this moth. Discover…
Diary of a Historian 