Sharecroppers

 A Glimpse into the Hardships of Troup County Sharecroppers in 1930

In a photograph taken around 1930, a powerful image captures a family of sharecroppers standing outside their one-room, cabin-style home in Troup County, Georgia. This evocative picture, now preserved in the National Archives, offers a window into the challenging living conditions faced by countless families in the rural South during the throes of the Great Depression. The modest structure, a cabin with simple wooden walls and a small porch, symbolizes the persistence and resilience of a lifestyle forged in hardship.

During this period, sharecropping dominated the agricultural landscape of the American South. Under this system, landowners provided land, tools, and seeds to farmers, who, in return, agreed to cultivate the fields and share a portion of their harvest as payment. For many families like the one captured in this image, life was a constant balancing act. They were tied to land they did not own, eking out an existence on thin margins, and often finding themselves in cycles of debt and dependency.

The expressions of the family members in this photograph are a study in strength and stoicism. Their clothing, simple and well-worn, and their postures speak of long days spent laboring under the Georgia sun. Yet, amidst the signs of weariness, there is a distinct air of determination and pride in their faces. Despite the hardships they faced, the family exudes a quiet dignity that underscores the perseverance required to navigate such trying circumstances.

The one-room cabin that looms behind them, small yet sturdy, provides a glimpse of what home meant for sharecropping families. These homes, often hastily built and minimally equipped, were a far cry from comfort. Still, they served as a refuge and symbol of family solidarity, a place where life continued against all odds.

Photographs like this one do more than merely document history; they tell the stories of the individuals who experienced it. The image of the Troup County family is a stark and vivid reminder of the impact the Great Depression had on rural communities. Beyond the statistics of economic downturns and market crashes lies the reality of everyday lives spent in quiet struggle and perseverance.

James Earl Jones

The historic Cort Theatre has been renamed the James Earl Jones Theatre, honoring the legendary actor’s 64-year Broadway career. Jones made his Broadway debut in 1958 and remains celebrated in theater, film, and television. The $47 million renovation marks a significant tribute to his ...?

James Earl Jones (January 17, 1931 – September 9, 2024) was an American actor. A pioneer for black actors in the entertainment industry, he is known for his extensive and acclaimed roles on stage and screen. Jones is one of the few performers to achieve the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony).^[1][2][3][4] He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1985, and was honored with the National Medal of Arts in 1992, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2002, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2009, and the Academy Honorary Award in 2011.^[5][6]

Born in Arkabutla, Mississippi during the Jim Crow era, Jones overcame a childhood stutter. A pre-med major in college, he served as an officer in the U.S. Army during the Korean War before pursuing a career in acting. His deep voice was praised as a "stirring basso profondo that has lent gravel and gravitas" to his projects.^[7][8] Jones made his Broadway debut in the play Sunrise at Campobello (1957) and gained notoriety starring in several productions with Shakespeare in the Park including Othello (1964), Coriolanus (1965), Hamlet (1972), and King Lear (1973).^[9]

For his roles on Broadway, Jones won two Tony Awards for Best Actor in a Play for playing a boxer in the Howard Sackler play The Great White Hope (1968) and a working class father in August Wilson's Fences (1987). He was a Tony-nominated for his roles as part of an elderly couple in On Golden Pond (2005) and a former President in The Best Man (2012). He also acted in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (2008), Driving Miss Daisy (2010–2011), You Can't Take It with You (2014), and The Gin Game (2015). He received a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2017.^[10][11]

On film, Jones made his acting debut in Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove (1964). He reprised his role as a boxer in the film adaptation of The Great White Hope (1970), earning a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He gained international fame for his voice role as Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise. He also acted in The Man (1972), Claudine (1974), Conan the Barbarian (1982), Matewan (1987), Coming to America (1988), Field of Dreams (1989), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Sneakers (1992), The Sandlot (1993), The Lion King (1994), and Cry, the Beloved Country (1995).

Lest we forget - Roberta Flack - and the airmen

 

Tuskegee Airmen in front of their P-40.

Just remembering some more important black people for black history month, which is the shortest month of the year. But that doesn't mean just 28 people should be honored each year. The work and acclaim of many black people continues year round.

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This week we lost a golden voice, a woman of song, Roberta Flack.

Roberta Flack was born here in Black Mountain NC (though she was raised elsewhere.) Love her two winning songs.

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

NPR posted this:

Flack's superstardom didn't always translate to critical praise. NPR's Ann Powers points out that she was winning over audiences at a time when songwriters were getting most of the attention. "The idea that you had to write your own material was was held up as the gold standard," says Powers. "For much longer interpreters were the greats, and Roberta Flack stands with Sinatra, with Ella Fitzgerald, with so many great interpreters of the 20th century, as someone who made every song she approached original."

In the mid-'70s, Flack's pace in the studio slowed slightly as she scored for film and TV, worked in music publishing and record producing and engaged in graduate-level coursework in education and linguistics. She returned with Blue Lights in the Basement in 1977, and continued releasing albums from the late '70s through the early '00s, including another album featuring Hathaway, a duet album with Peabo Bryson and a Christmas album. Flack continued performing around the world, though she suffered some health setbacks in the 2010s.

In 2022, Flack announced that she had ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), popularly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The following year, she came out with The Green Piano: How Little Me Found Music, a children's book about the time her father restored an old piano so that little Roberta could practice at home, co-written with Tonya Bolden.

Throughout her career, Flack built a musical legacy by working outside the confines of genre. She was known for helping to shape and define "quiet storm" R&B, and laid the groundwork for the rise of neo-soul. But her celebrated work as an interpreter of songs included elements of rock, folk, jazz, classical, Latin and more, continually challenging racialized conventions about popular music and influencing generations of artists.

"My main interest is in telling my story through a song — whether mine or someone else's," Flack told NPR's Ann Powers in 2020. "Tell the truth with clarity and honesty so that the listener can feel their story."

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St Augustine Movement 1963-4

 

When she joined a "swim-in" in St. Augustine, Florida on June 18, 1964, then 17-year-old Mamie Nell Ford had little idea that her picture would soon be seen around the world -- and help spur the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. On that day, seven civil rights activists, including Ford, jumped into the segregated pool at the Monson Motor Lodge to protest its 'whites-only' policy. As journalists looked on, the motel owner's James Brock responded by dumping acid into the pool in an effort to drive them out. Ford recalls that her immediate reaction was "I couldn't breathe," and a photo of her with an alarmed expression as Brock pours acid nearby appeared in newspapers around the world. When people learn about the incident today, Ford says, "I'm often asked, ‘How could you have so much courage?’ Courage for me is not ‘the absence of fear,’ but what you do in the face of fear.”

The campaign to challenge segregation in St. Augustine in 1963 and 1964, known as the St. Augustine Movement, is considered one of the bloodiest of the Civil Rights Movement. Students staging "wade-ins" to challenge segregation on the beaches were violently beaten and, after several black children were admitted into white schools due to the Supreme Court's decision outlawing school segregation, several of the children's homes were burnt to the ground by local segregationists. Martin Luther King, Jr. was even arrested on the steps of this same motel only a week prior to the pool "swim-in," after being charged with trespassing when he attempted to dine at the "whites-only" Monson Restaurant.

Prior to the pool "swim-in", Ford was already an experienced civil rights activist in her hometown of Albany, Georgia. When Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference came to Albany to recruit activists to support the movement in St. Augustine, she immediately signed up. “When they asked for volunteers to participate in the swim-in demonstration, I said, yes, because, despite segregation, I knew how to swim,” she says. While they knew it was likely they would be arrested, no one expected the owner to pour acid into the pool. "It is as fresh in my mind as the morning dew, because when the acid was poured in the pool, the water began to bubble up," Ford recalls. Although the group was arrested shortly thereafter, their protest had the intended effect: as it made headlines worldwide, President Johnson said in a recorded phone conservation: "Our whole foreign policy will go to hell over this!" Within 24 hours, the civil rights bill that had been introduced a year before and had been stalled in the Senate won approval, leading directly to the passage of the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964.

After being released from serving jail time for the swim-in, Ford made a powerful statement urging the people of St. Augustine to keep fighting: “Don't lose heart now because you're the ones on whom this movement rests. People will come and go because they live somewhere else, but you live here and you make this thing happen.” She returned home and went on to join five other black girls to lead the desegregation of the formerly all-white Albany High School, where she graduated with honors in 1965. Ford, who later changed her name to Mimi Jones, then went to college in Boston where she spent her career working in the Department of Education.

Although less well known than school segregation, the long legacy of segregation in swimming pools still lives on today. After legal challenges and actions like this one in St. Augustine forced the end of segregated pools, in many towns, especially in the South, 'white flight' from public pools to private clubs often led to their closure. The impact of first segregation and later pool closures over generations has led to a major gap between white and black Americans in swimming ability, with whites being twice as likely to know how to swim as blacks. This difference is also reflected in the CDC finding that black children are three times more likely die from drowning than white children. For these reasons and the long legacy of racism at swimming pools, Simone Manuel's victory at the last Olympic Games took on special meaning for many African Americans -- a significance the young swimmer alluded to after she became the first African-American woman to ever win an individual Olympic gold in swimming: “The gold medal wasn't just for me," she said. "It's for a lot of people who came before me.”

To read more about Mamie Nell Ford's incredible story on NBC News, visit http://nbcnews.to/2ke7U6W -- she is also one of the subjects of a new documentary about the St. Augustine Movement, “Passage at St. Augustine,” at http://bit.ly/2kl4tjL

For an excellent novel about the fight over a segregated pool in one girl's Mississippi town, we highly recommend "Glory Be" for ages 8 and up at http://www.amightygirl.com/glory-be

For more books for children and teens about the courageous girls and women who helped lead the fight for equality, check out our new blog post, "40 Inspiring Books on Girls & Women of the Civil Rights Movement," at http://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=11177

Teen and adult readers can learn about more courageous activists in the fascinating book "She Takes A Stand: 16 Fearless Activists Who Have Changed The World," for ages 12 and up, at http://www.amightygirl.com/she-takes-a-stand

For an insightful book about the history of social change and swimming pools, check out "Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America" at http://amzn.to/2lDsQJY

And, to introduce your children to the true stories of women who fought for their rights and the rights of others, visit our "Activist Biographies" section at http://amgrl.co/1R6cGAu

Late for Feb 20, Ansel Adams and Georgia O'Keefe

 Happy Birthday Ansel Adams! #BornOnThisDay in 1902, Adams was one of the most influential photographers and environmentalists of the 20th century. Through his lens, he spent a significant amount of time capturing breathtaking views of the High Sierras and other vistas, finding endless beauty in the landscapes and the people living there.

Adams first met Georgia O’Keeffe in Taos, New Mexico, in 1929. The two were connected to natural forms and inspired by their surrounding landscapes. Pictured here, Adams captured O'Keeffe with Orville Cox, the head wrangler at Ghost Ranch, on the rim of Canyon de Chelly in 1937. In 1938, Adams and O’Keeffe joined a group of friends on a camping trip to Yosemite. While Yosemite was a regular subject for Adams, he described visiting this familiar place with O’Keeffe in his journal as a “revelation.” Adams and O’Keeffe found much inspiration in journeying through the outdoors, and they remained lifelong friends.

Thank you Ansel Adams for sharing this photograph with us!

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Georgia O’Keeffe and Orville Cox, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona, 1937. Photograph by Ansel Adams.

George Handel

 Feb 23

It's the birthday of composer George Handel, who wrote the great oratorio Messiah, born in Halle, Germany (1685). His dad wanted him to be a lawyer, not a musician, so as a child he waited till his father went to sleep, then crept up to the attic and secretly practiced his instruments.

A duke who heard Handel, aged seven, play the organ was so impressed that he handed the boy fistfuls of gold coins. Handel's dad repealed the music ban and the boy was able to study with the town's church organist. He was a child prodigy, and his tutor announced when Handel was 11 that it was time to turn professional. So he went to Berlin.

In 1741, he was asked to do a benefit in Dublin. He decided to write a new oratorio for the performance, and he worked on it zealously, often neglecting to eat or sleep. In 25 days, he'd created the score for the Messiah, which was composed of 50 separate pieces. When he was finished he said, "I think God has visited me."

Polio Vaccine

 It was on February 23 in 1954 that the first mass inoculation of children for polio began in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The vaccine was developed by Jonas Salk, a doctor at the University of Pittsburgh.

Polio was first described in the 18th century, but it wasn't identified until 1909. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, regular polio outbreaks terrified Americans — polio was highly contagious and mostly affected children. In 1921, the disease struck 39-year-old Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His wife, Eleanor, said, "Probably the thing that took most courage in his life was his mastery and his meeting of polio." Roosevelt's money and fame transformed the fight against polio. He created a foundation called the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, which later became the March of Dimes. He convinced his good friend and law partner, Basil O'Connor, to run the foundation. Throughout the war years, the March of Dimes gained public support with Roosevelt as its public image, Hollywood celebrities and war generals promoting it, grassroots chapters, and a simple fundraising platform: a dime at a time.

The March of Dimes devoted a lot of its budget to research. Researchers had been hard at work on a "live" version of the vaccine — using the living virus, but weakening it so much in a lab that it wouldn't cause disease. But live vaccines were hard to stabilize, and progress was slow. March of Dimes director Basil O'Connor was interested in another approach — a "killed" vaccine, in which the virus was inactivated with heat, chemicals, or radiation before being made into a vaccine. A killed vaccine would be less potent and require booster shots, but it was easier to stabilize, didn't require refrigeration, and was safer because there was no danger that it might revert back to the original virus. Most promising, there had been a successful killed vaccine for influenza during World War II. O'Connor talked to the doctor who had pioneered the influenza vaccine, and that doctor suggested young Dr. Salk as a good candidate to work on a polio vaccine. So the March of Dimes recruited Salk.

Meanwhile, the polio epidemic was growing worse. Various attempts at controlling the disease were not working, including quarantining children or putting them in metal respirator tunnels called iron lungs. The worst outbreak in America's history hit in 1952, with 58,000 cases reported; more than 3,000 people died and more than 21,000 were left with some degree of paralysis. Schools closed, the public grew desperate, and pressure on scientists increased. That same year, Salk announced that he had discovered an effective vaccine but that he needed to test it on a large scale. So he set up a field trial involving more than 220,000 volunteers, 20,000 physicians, and 1.8 million schoolchildren. On this day in 1954, the first group of children were vaccinated, 137 students at Arsenal Elementary School in Pittsburgh. Dr. Salk gave each vaccination personally in a makeshift lab set up in the gymnasium.

On April 12, 1955, the monitors of the test held a press conference and made an official announcement: the vaccine was safe and effective. The announcement was a huge national event. Stores broadcast the event on loudspeakers, and judges even stopped trials in the middle so that everyone could listen. After they heard the news, churches across the country rang their bells, factories took a break for a moment of silence, and spontaneous celebrations broke out all over the country. It was 10 years to the day after the death of Franklin Roosevelt.

When asked whether he had applied for a patent for the vaccine, Salk replied: "There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?" Salk has been praised for this selfless approach, and it may have been his personal belief, but also the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis had already looked into applying for a patent and determined that it would not qualify.

Summary of George Washington's life

 It's the birthday of the first president of the United States, George Washington, born in Westmoreland County, Virginia (1732). He came from a prosperous family, but when he was young, his father died after a long inspection of his plantation in terrible weather. His mother gave up on plans to send her son to school in England, and instead he was educated by his half-brother Lawrence, 14 years older. Lawrence introduced George to his neighbor Lord Fairfax, one of the most powerful men in Virginia. George wasn't very educated, but he was strong, handsome, pleasant, and good at math. Fairfax offered Washington a job surveying land in the Shenandoah Valley. Washington was good at surveying, and he was happy to get away from his family, earn a decent income, and see some more of the country.

Photo borrowed from another blogger. Painting: Gilbert Stuart's 1810 Allentown Portrait of George Washington.

At the Fairfax estate, 16-year-old Washington met Sally Fairfax, the young wife of a member of the Fairfax clan. She was beautiful, charming, and well-educated. Sally took it on herself to teach the young man from the countryside how to behave in high society. She taught him about literature, world politics, history, and spelling, but also how to converse with wealthy politicians and dance the minuet. Washington fell in love with Sally. In the meantime, his half-brother Lawrence died and left George his estate of Mt. Vernon, next door to the Fairfaxes. Washington went off to fight in the French and Indian War, where he distinguished himself — he managed to survive despite having two horses shot out from under him and four bullets go through his coat. After the war, he returned home and was soon engaged to Martha Custis, the richest young widow in Williamsburg, who brought to the marriage $100,000 worth of land and two children. After his engagement, Washington wrote Sally Fairfax a letter and confessed his love for her: "'Tis true I profess myself a votary to love. [...] You have drawn me, my dear Madam, or rather have I drawn myself, into an honest confession of a Simple fact. Misconstrue not my meaning, 'tis obvious; doubt it not, nor expose it. The world has no business to know the object of my love, declared in this manner to you, when I want to conceal it. One thing, above all things, in this World I wish to know and only one person of your acquaintance can solve me that, or guess my meaning — but adieu to this till happier times, if ever I shall see them." Sally didn't acknowledge what Washington was saying, and after he and Martha settled at Mt. Vernon, the two women became friends.

The next few years were quiet ones for Washington. He retired from the military, had a seat in the lower Virginia legislature, and enjoyed life as a gentleman farmer. But resentment of the British was growing; the revolutionary excitement took awhile to reach the Southern colonies, but by the early 1770s, Washington was a strong supporter of American independence. In 1774, he was elected as a delegate to the First Continental Congress. A year later, he arrived for the Second Continental Congress dressed in a military uniform, and was elected commander in chief of the Continental Army. In addition to his military experience and natural leadership style, he was a Virginian, and the New England revolutionaries knew they needed the strong support of the South. Washington spent the next six years leading an army of poorly trained, poorly equipped soldiers. Although he lost as many battles as he won, his use of guerrilla warfare and his strategic decisions about which battles to fight eventually wore down the British army. In 1783, America officially gained its independence, and Washington resigned his position as commander in chief. He was excited to retire back to Mt. Vernon. But the newly formed Congress wanted to make him president of the new United States, and after months of hesitation, he reluctantly accepted and was elected unanimously.

After serving two terms, Washington was exhausted by politics. He gave a farewell address urging Americans not to fall into the trap of partisanship, and to remain focused on American interests above foreign alliances. He finally retired to Mt. Vernon in 1797, where he oversaw his estate and started a whiskey distillery. In 1798, he wrote to Sally Fairfax, now living in England; her husband had died, she had not inherited the aristocratic title she was expecting, and her health was suffering. He wrote: "Such changes in men and things have taken place, as the compass of a letter would give you but an inadequate idea of. None of which events, however, nor all of them together, have been able to eradicate from my mind, the recollection of those happy moments, the happiest in my life, which I have enjoyed in your company." Washington died the following year; much like his father, he became sick after inspecting his plantation on horseback in snow and freezing rain. The whole country mourned — the Army wore black armbands for 30 days, more than 700 eulogies were given, towns staged mock funerals, and many regular Americans dressed in funeral attire.

Thanks Writer's Almanac