Tag: family history
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Chapter Two: “What Have You To Say”
With the completion of chapter one of my thesis, I move on to the introduction (backwards I know) and chapter two, the biography of Rachel Flowers. Photo Source: Messiah College Archives This image first introduced me to my research. Messiah College archivist placed the image’s date between 1916 to 1918, the years of her enrollment.…
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Joseph J. Sawyer and Zion Sabbath School, 1868-1870
First thesis chapter submitted and still no break–PhD application time! Joseph J. Sawyer’s legacy rested largely in the Florida AME Church. He stood as a pioneer of the church and as a reverend who pushed for the funding of the denomination’s first church school in the state–Florida Divinity High School (Jacksonville, FL). I also wanted…
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Thesis Writing
Photo Source I am writing my thesis, the long awaited thesis. I entitled the project “Our Children’s Children Live Forever”: The Educational Activism of the Sawyer-Flowers Family in America From 1866-1988. It is exciting, but it is a bit scary. Scary because I am writing the history of a family I have never met. Scary because it…
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A Tribute to Queen Mother Moore from Geraldine Wilson
Miss Moore came to be called Queen Mother during a trip to Africa years ago, when a tribe in Ghana awarded her the honorary title. In Africa, as she once put it, “I felt the lash on the backs of my people.” Her outrage over the suffering of blacks in America led to years of…
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From the Schomburg: Geraldine Wilson’s Resume
Undated photo, Geraldine Wilson Papers, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture I concluded my summer travels…YAY! Panama was beautiful (will post later about that), gentrified Harlem treated me well, and Pennsylvania was full of reunions and research. I am still processing my research notes from the Schomburg. This time I carefully searched and read through her…
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Sawyer and The AME’s Christian Recorder
This blog is a continuation of my previous post on Joseph Sawyer and his articles within The Christian Recorder. I will continue to share bulletins which referenced Sawyer’s work in Florida. This is my first time reading these pieces; therefore, I highlighted information that caught my attention. Also I am in Panama this week and will…
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An Unexpected Surprise: New Findings on Rev. J.J. Sawyer
Still searching for a living descendant. I spent the majority of my research this month on compiling primary sources about Reverend Joseph J. Sawyer. Sawyer is a recent addition to my research; therefore, I need to ensure there is a good amount of information for his biography. I wrongly assumed a lot about his life and he proved…
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Its All In The Name
Vincent Allen Flowers 1906-2002 My thesis does not include the biography of Vincent Allen Flowers. To make my research more practical in two semesters, I focus on the biographies and more specifically the educational activism of Reverend Joseph J. Sawyer, Rachel Helen Flowers, and Geraldine Louise Wilson. Nonetheless, I continue to research all of the…
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Geraldine Wilson’s Statement of Purpose
When she applied to graduate school at New York University, Geraldine resided in Jackson, Mississippi where she worked with the state’s Head Start Program. As I researched Geraldine’s biography, I connected with her story, her resilience, and her passion for the education of African American children. It helps that her archival collection at the Schomburg…
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May 2016
With three semesters of graduate school under my belt, I finished with a 4.0 GPA (look at God!). Honestly, this past school year was full of many challenges whether it was lack of motivation, regret, family, or extreme exhaustion. Nonetheless, I made it and I also passed my thesis proposal defense. I neglected this blog…
Diary of a Historian 