Digging for History

Grandma Maggie

I was looking for an interesting person to share in this posting and put my stacks of history books away and decided to stick with the theme of sharing history through my own personal stories. This is what I know of my Grandma.  She was born Mary Magdalene in Ripley, Tennessee in January  1899.  She did not like her name and called herself Magalene, then Maggie L. , then Maggie.  What I knew of my paternal grandmother was that she lived in Memphis and had been a teacher in a one room school house.  

Grandma's teaching certificate dated July 1918.

She was married twice and had two children from her first marriage.  One of the children was sadly killed in a fire.  

The child on the left is my Daddy the girl is his sister Mary.  

I knew  my Grandmother was active in her church and was a woman of faith.  As I dug for more clues about her I found them in her bible.  Her bible had keepsakes, a dried leaf, newspaper clippings family history (names of relatives) and book marks that held the place of familiar readings.  I remember summer visits with my Grandma and her taking us on outings to show us off to her friends.   I wish I knew more about her.  She passed in the 70's . I wonder if I was like her at all.   Maybe it was her DNA that influenced my becoming  an educator also.  I gifted my daughter with her name linking her to our family history.  We carry our elders with us sometimes by choice and sometimes by who we become.  

Guest Blogger Magdalene Linck: Meet Victoria Spivey

Victoria Regina Spivey was a  Texas born blues singer whose career spanned nearly 40 years. The child of working class parents, Spivey was raised in a musical household and her siblings, Addie “Sweet Peas” and Elton Island each enjoyed a  level of success as recording artists. Victoria worked as a piano player in various nightclubs and bars throughout her teens before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri at the age of 20. It was in St. Louis that Spivey was signed to Okeh Records. Her first recording featured original songs and went on to become a best seller. At the time, Okeh Records was gaining notoriety as a recorder and publisher of ‘Race’ Records featuring Black artists such as Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Lucille Bogan, and Hattie McDaniel.

Victoria Spivey ‘Any-Kind-A-Man’ 1934 on Vocalion Records

When the Great Depression hit the United States, countless musicians found themselves out of work and record labels began to flounder. Despite this, Spivey continued working in the record industry. In 1929 she had a role in the MGM film, Hallelujah—which was one of the first films with an entirely Black cast released by a major motion picture studio. Spivey continued working as an artist taking roles in vaudeville shows, musicals, and stage productions until her ‘retirement’ in the early 1950s. 

Trailer for MGM’s Hallelujah 1929 directed by King Vidor

With the revival of folk music a decade later, Spivey returned to performing. During the 1960s Spivey played at numerous festivals and recorded songs with other aging blues musicians, such as Alberta Hunter and Lonnie Johnson. It was also during this period that Spivey worked with jazz historian Len Kunstadt to found Spivey Records—a label specializing in blues and jazz. The label was in operation until the mid-1980s and recorded musicians such as Roosevelt Sykes, Big Joe Turner, Otis Rush, and Sippie Wallace. Despite its vast number of prominent blues recordings, the label is perhaps best known for the LP ‘Three Kings and the Queen’ which featured a young Bob Dylan on harmonica and backing vocals in March of 1962, just prior to the release of his debut album.  Victoria Spivey passed away in October 1976.

‘Sitting on Top of the World’ by Big Joe Williams featuring Bob Dylan on backing vocals and harmonica. 

For more recordings check out:

Document Records

For a complete discography of Victoria Spivey’s early recordings check out:

Red Hot Jazz

A complete discography of Spivey Records can be found HERE.

Through a Lens Darkly

The Independent film "Through A Lens Darkly " explores Black photography and aired on PBS's Independent Lens yesterday (2/22/2015).  The film was shown in St. Louis during the St. Louis Film Festival in November of 2014.   PBS' Nine Network teamed with the film maker, Thomas Allen Harris, to bring the Digital Diaspora Family Reunion Roadshow to St. Louis and offered participants an opportunity to share family photos and stories. It was the similar theme of the project/exhibit I did in 2013 "As If We Weren't There" that led PBS to contact me to be a part of the DDFR Roadshow.  It was an honor for my small body of work to be recognized and to be invited to participate.
Below is the film I created for my exhibit:

Click here to see an article about the Digital Diaspora Family Reunion Roadshow that appeared in the St. Louis American.  

 Related video

Our History

I have been writing and talking about Black History for a while.  I name Black History as the history of ALL of us.  It is the often forgotten story that is missing in the American narrative that gives a more accurate picture of our country growing, working and struggling together. I returned to my family photographs.  As I looked through the pages of photos, first I realized how lucky I was to have these treasures.  Second, I wondered if these old photos shaped how I view history.  I suspect most people view  'history' as what is offered in the text books in school, with carefully selected, incomplete chapters that round out curriculum requirements.  This is only a part of our history.  Instead I have come to believe that history is where our stories begin-  in our homes.  History is where our stories and lives intersect.  When you grow up with old photographs you begin to see yourself as a part of history.  You can see first hand how your elders worked, played and worshiped.   We all have time lines and events that shape us.  We have people we look up to and admire for their leadership, skill, craft and character.  We are surrounded by people who have inspired,  mentored and lead us to our better selves in our homes, communities, schools, churches and work places. We know writers, artists, orators, athletes, musicians and people with strong moral fiber.  We don't need products and posters and awards to name our personal heroes.  In sharing history I look for those people, the un-named, and celebrate their gifts and talents.  I take pride in naming my own heroes and she-roes.  Learn your history, dig out the old photographs, record your history, listen carefully to the stories of your elders.  Think about the people and events that helped shape you.   Where does your history begin?  Where does your story intersect in the American story, the story of ALL of us?

The Negro Leagues....wait, who's she?

African Americans began playing baseball in the late 1800s on military teams, college teams, and company teams.  They eventually found their way to professional teams with white players.  With existing "Jim Crow" laws and racism prevalent Black players formed their own teams, "barnstorming" around the country to play anyone who would challenge them.  In 1920, an organized league structure was formed under the guidance of Andrew" Rube" Foster- a former player, manager, and owner for the Chicago American Giants.  The Negro Leagues played until the 1960s.  An historic baseball and civil rights event that is credited with the Negro League teams folding is the recruitment of Major League Baseball's first African American player-Jackie Robinson in 1945.  Robinson was recruited from the Kansas City Monarchs and shortly after the best Black players were also recruited for the Major Leagues.
But, did you know the story of Marcenia Lyle?

"In 1937, at the age of sixteen, Marcenia  Lyle began her career as a pitcher with the Twin Cities Colored Giants.  From there she moved on to semiprofessional and minor league Negro teams, including the  San Francisco Sea Lions and the New Orleans Creoles.  As Marcenia's playing took off, she changed her name to Toni Stone. The name Marcenia "was just too cute for baseball," she said.
In 1953, when she was thirty-two years old, Toni's dream of playing professional baseball came true.  She signed to play second base for the Negro League Indianapolis Clowns,  filling the position vacated by Hank Aaron's move to the Major Leagues.  This made Toni the first female member of an all-male professional baseball team."
Excerpt from the Afterword in "Catching the Moon" by Crystal Hubbard illustrated by Randy DuBurke
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President's Day 2015

In January of 2009 I attended the Inauguration of President Obama.  For the museum collection I began a collection that I titled  "All Things Obama."  The collection includes books, t-shirts, posters, buttons, magazines and other odd artifacts.  Pictured are a few of the items from the collections in honor of President's Day.  

Comic Genius

I was recently going through my African American History books and found that I had several comic book/ graphic novels written to teach Black History as well as entertain a variety of readers.  It was a connect-the-dots of sorts as I pulled the books out and remembered purchasing them because I grew up loving comic books.   I thought I'd share a few and you might add to the conversation  if you know of other comic books that teach African American history.
The first book is Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story.  This book went to press in December of 1957 with more than 250,000 copies printed. It was circulated during the civil rights movement with the intent to educate readers on Gandhi's methods of nonviolence as well as acquainting readers with the origin story of Dr. Martin Luther King.  The book was released by an organization known as Fellowship of Reconciliation or ( FOR ).

*The NAACP released two of its own comics.  "The Street Where You Live," by cartoonist Tom Feelings and "Your Future Rests...in your Hands!"

  

   Other books in the collection include The Golden Legacy Illustrated History Series .  Bertram A. Fitzgerald is the publisher of the Golden Legacy series of Black History Comic Books.  During the decade between 1966 and 1976 he acted as editor and publisher for the series and wrote almost half the books.  

Patricia McKissack and Fredrick McKissack Jr. wrote an historical fiction graphic novel, "Best Shot in the West."  Born into slavery in 1854, Nat Love, grew up to become the most famous African-American cowboy in the Old West.  A contemporary and acquaintance of Bat Masterson and Billy the Kid, Nat was widely know as an expert roper and driver, and real Wild West character.  

Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell and Congressman John Lewis published the graphic novel  March: Book One in 2013.  This  is a first-hand account of Congressman Lewis'  ongoing struggle for Civil rights since the days of Jim Crow and segregation.  March:  Book Two was released January 21st of 2015.   

"The Harlem Hellfighters is a graphic novel written by author Max Brooks with illustrations done by Caanan White.  It is a fictionalized account of the experiences of the entirely African American 369th Infantry Regiment, nicknamed the "Harlem Hellfighters"  by German soldiers, during the First World War."  (written by Max Brooks)

My latest discovery is "Strange Fruit:  Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History words and pictures by Joel Christian Gill.  Strange Fruit, Volume I is a collection of nine stories from African American history whose stories are not often found in history books.
 Many of us who strive to live and present outside the boundaries of "Black History Month"  continue to encourage others to make American history a more inclusive history of ALL of us and integrate Black History throughout the year.  Mr. Gill created a Twitter Hash tag that invites folks to post about all the wonderful accomplishments of African Americans.  Read here about #28DaysAreNotEnough.

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