Teaching is in our blood

     Mary Magdalene Carson was born in 1899 in Ripley, Tennessee.  Mary disliked her name and instead changed it first to Magalene then to Maggie L.  Friends and neighbors called her Miss Maggie.  We visited Grandma Nelson (what my siblings called her)  in the summers down in Memphis, Tennessee.  She would proudly take us around and introduce us to her friends. Grandma sent us to church on Sundays and tied  money for church in the end of our handkerchiefs. Miss Maggie had a beautiful garden and a big front porch where the grown ups sat in the evening on her rocking chairs and my personal favorite, a glider.  Inside her home I remember  a grandfather clock, a piano, a fancy telephone chair,  and a beautiful vanity in her bedroom and a dining room table with clawed feet.  Her closet was filled with old Jet magazines we'd spend hours looking through.  In the morning the house smelled like bacon and coffee, Grandma even let us have coffee with our breakfast.  (A lot of milk and sugar with a splash of coffee).  There are fond memories of many summer trips.  After she died   I found out more about my grandmother that I failed to ask when we visited.  I had known from an early age that I wanted to teach and my Mother was an educator.  To my surprise and delight I found that Grandma Nelson had been a teacher.  She taught in a one room school house with a mixed age group of students.  Grandma received her teaching license in July of 1918.  Who knew?  Teaching is in our blood. 

                                A framed  Mother of pearl vanity set given to my Grandmother
                                        as an Anniversary gift.

Playground fun back in the day

I was looking through the late Patricia C. McKissack's book, "Let's Clap, Jump, Sing and Shout; Dance, Spin and Turn it Out!" Games, Songs and Stories from an African American Childhood and was at once transported back in time to the playground and playing outside.  A good part of our childhood was spent outside creating things, building screen houses, having mud pie teas and making up games. Songs, chants, jump rope rhymes and hand claps were a huge part of childhood play. I often wondered why after the Doctor and the Nurse were unable to heal you why they called on The Lady with the alligator purse.  Who was she?  What training did she have?  No matter the situation when in doubt, call for The Lady with the Alligator purse.  I have fond memories of our neighborhood playground in walking distance of our first home. I didn't realize it at the time but Handy park, in St. Louis, was named after a famous African American.  On June 22, 1960 W.C. Handy Park was dedicated in honor of William Christopher  Handy (1873-1958), the world famous composer of the "St. Louis Blues."  At Handy park I learned to swing and mastered pumping my legs to make the swing go higher, we climbed on the jungle gym and  spent endless spins on the metal merry-go-round.  We conquered fears of going on the high metal slide and hanging on the arch shaped monkey bars.  We'd walk home from the park feeling tired and very proud of our accomplishments.  If you get a moment, check out Patrica McKissack's book, it's a treasure trove of childhood memories.  

The Importance of an Education

     Mama believed in education.  Born in 1925 she grew to understand that education was a way out of poverty.  Kathryn Bryan was born in Detroit, Michigan and moved at the age of three to Memphis, Tennessee.  Her Big Mama ( grandmother) taught her to read before she started school.  For a time she attended an experimental school.  A white woman who had worked at a finishing school for young white girls wondered if African American children could learn the same as white children. Kathryn excelled.  She went on to attend Booker T. Washington high school in Memphis where she graduated with honors.  Kathryn's hard work paid off, she earned a scholarship ($75.00) to attend LeMoyne Owen college.  Upon graduation she left Memphis for New York to study Social work and Religious studies at Columbia College and Union Theological Seminary. Kathryn Bryan received her Masters in Social work and Religious education.  Education was a way out and she taught that to her children.  At age 13 I knew what I wanted to be....an Educator.  With Mama as a role model the choice was simple, I never changed my mind.  

     

 

Martin Luther King

 

                                      
     I was in Elementary school when Martin Luther King was assassinated.  Long before Martin Luther King's legacy was framed by the now iconic "I have a dream speech" at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in August of 1963, he was  well respected in the African American community.  To many, he was a welcomed figure who spoke eloquently about the struggles of African Americans and was one of many leaders in the modern Civil Rights movement that spanned from 1954-1968.  I remember my father listening to "The Great March to Freedom" over and over in our home (his copy pictured above). I remember Ebony magazine highlighting Dr. King's life and the magazine on our coffee table.  My mother had a copy of a comic book that featured Dr. King and talked about the Montgomery Bus Boycott.  I remember being fascinated by the comic with all the Black people in it,  featuring a real life person I knew from the news.  We learned about Dr. King as a key figure in the Civil rights movement.  We also learned that it was not a movement that was just about him but a movement of the people.  Martin Luther King was such an important figure that he was memorialized on velvet, decoupage, posters and plates that allowed many African American homes to display King's portrait in a place of honor.  He offered hope to a people and his message resonated with not just the African American community.  When sharing Dr. King's legacy I like to remind learning communities that Dr. King was an ordinary person who lived an extraordinary life.  He gave many speeches, some more moving the than the "I have a dream speech"  that still continue to inspire.  He was dedicated to  making life better for everyone.  He was profound and a great example of a servant leader that reminds us of the gift of Hope. 

An intersection of Black and History....Happy Black History Month!

     Every year I strive to  share more Black History outside the month of February.  The month comes and it's time to celebrate again with new goals to meet, sharing the history of all of us.  This year I thought I'd try a new spin.  Black History month 2019 I will share some collections from the Hands on Black History collection, artifacts, books, photos and  and my own personal stories in Black History.  My hope is to help readers understand how history is living, it has a past a present and a future. As always I hope to educate and stimulate along the way.  Please check in this month to see how the story progresses.  Happy Black History Month!

Gathering Museum treasures

I am often asked, "Where do you get all that 'stuff' for your museum project?  The answer is lots of places.  I have been a collector for many years of a wide variety of items.  When I began this project I borrowed items I owned to enhance lessons that I shared with my school community.  Once the project took off I then began collecting things separately that could be used to educate students that they could view up close and some they could  actually touch.  The collection quickly became obsession, passion, and mission all rolled into one. So back to the 'Where', I shop- in Thrift shops, Antique Malls, Flea markets, and garage sales both in the St. Louis area and when I travel.  When vacationing, I try to find  African American history in the area and collect pamphlets, take pictures and visit museum gift shops. Over the years fellow collectors have gifted me items they feel could be used within my collection rather than their own; I love this.  That way my community is growing the collection with me, they are taking an active part in helping me to educate children and adults with hands on materials.   Some collecting is random but many times I am looking for items that tell a story or can be connected to a story.  I've recently rediscovered some items I bought and thought it might be fun to feature some of the museum collection in the museum blog, on Facebook as well as Instagram.
Here's an example-  I found this book on the March on Washington.

  I was able to purchase a picture on line from the March. 

In ,papers from my Mother's work with the church I added these items to the collection:

The U.S. Postal service released this collection of stamps commemorating the March on Washington.

This collection, along with several story books, and just like that a collection of artifacts compliment one another and are perfect for teaching about the March on Washington.  

Black History Museum Highlights (2018)