Traces in the Dust

Melvin LeRoy Green Macklin

Description

(From the Preface) Traces in the Dust focuses upon the African American families and residents of Carbondale since the founding of the Carbondale Township (1852). It is meant to provide a glimpse of the growth, progress, and development of the Black American community in the city through the exploration of recorded data and oral history.

Sujets

• Civil War Period
• Histoire
• African-American history
• Jackson County
• United States
• Carbondale
• History
• Comté de Jackson

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 01 janvier 2001
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781681622163
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Traces In The Dust
Carbondale s Black Heritage 1852-1964
Melvin LeRoy Green Macklin
Edited by Dr. Elizabeth I. Mosley-Lewin
Illustrated by Chan Oi Lin Cat
Cover Design by Leslie Wallace
Ingenuity Press Magnolia, Texas
Traces In The Dust: Carbondale s Black Heritage, 1852-1964. Copyright 2001 by Melvin LeRoy Green Macklin. No part of the materials appearing in this publication may be duplicated or reproduced without the permission of the author or Ingenuity Press.
ISBN: 978-1-68162-215-6
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Macklin, Melvin L. G.
Traces In The Dust: Carbondale s Black Heritage, 1852-1964. A history of the African American residents of Jackson County and Carbondale, Illinois from the founding of the city (1852) through the year 1964.
Includes:
General Index
Bibliographical references
1. African Americans in Jackson County, Illinois--History (1807--1900).
Slavery in Jackson County, the 1800s--Slave owners.
Registers--African American births, marriages, and deaths in Jackson County--Genealogy.
Demography--Jackson County--Population growth and expansion.
2. African American Settlement of Carbondale, Illinois (1852--1964)
Demography--Expansion--History.
Early black families and residents--Genealogy--Heads of families and households.
Registers--African American births, marriages, and deaths in Carbondale--Civic and Community Leaders
Ingenuity Press Magnolia, Texas
For nine courageous African American women of Carbondale whose lives and teachings helped anchor my past and steady me for the future--
Ernell Marie France Glasby
Allean Brown Gordon
Martha Green
Estelle Chappell
Misanna Ikard
Bertha Mitchell
Luella Davis
Wanda Perkins Haynes
Julia Mae Thompson
Dedication
This book is dedicated, with love, to Ernell Marie France Green Glasby, a mother who was always there--a mother filled with warmth, understanding, compassion, and forgiveness.
In Memorial
To the memory of Momean and all the others of Carbondale who have gone before, leaving behind the marvelous treasures of their memories, wisdom, and inspiration.
To the memory of Cousin Jenny, who would heal the sick and us young uns suffering from the flu, colds, and other maladies with her many strange, but then quite common, home remedies and concoctions. Her potent medicines of cow manure and hog hoof teas; health rubs, and tablespoon size doses created from mutton and goose grease; and dish water washes were guaranteed to do the trick.. But, just in case, as she used to say, left in ready reserve were coal oil and sugar mixes; camphor salves and various poultices; leaf filled asphyxia bags which hung about the neck; and special balms she would mix herself. All these she made with herbs and different roots and grasses from places in the back woods known only to her and a few other of the highly respected healing women.
In Appreciation
To Johnetta Jones, whose treatise on the Negro settlement of Jackson County added much to my limited knowledge, and P. Michael Jones for his lifetime devotion to keeping alive the history of Southern Illinois and shedding much light on the Black experience in Murphysboro and the surrounding area.
Acknowledgements
Rarely is a literary work solely the result of the efforts of one person, especially a text which purports to be historical in nature. Over the past six years, many persons have unselfishly shared with me their time, effort, and knowledge in the creation of this book. It is their collective strengths, grounded in the grace and goodness of our Almighty Father, which have proven to be my greatest source of inspiration.
To my mother, Ernell Marie France Glasby, who taught me to trust God for the things I desired from life--and who provided every conceivable type of assistance including putting in much of the leg work in the Carbondale community--I give my love and thanks. Without her moral and financial support and laborious endeavors, this work truly would not have come to fruition.
I wish to thank my sister, Sherlene; my Aunt Dean, Gloria Aiken; my cousin, Arthur Chappell; and my dad, Leonard Glasby, for doing all they could to help me reach the end of an arduous journey. I am also grateful to my cousin Patricia Pat Chappell for her vision in helping me to solidify the aims and objectives of the book; my niece, Ulisa Bowles, for her diligent review of the text; and William Irvin Smith and Barbara Tender for aiding in the gathering of resources. Special thanks is extended to my former Attucks classmate Gwendolyn Cavitt Gails, who has been a behind-the-scenes dynamo taking on every responsibility from the day Traces In The Dust was first conceptualized, and to Margaret Jean Nesbitt, Everlene Chambers, and my uncle, William Chappell, for their honest appraisals and additional contributions.
I remain indebted to historian Kenneth E. Cochran for reviewing the manuscript and author P. Michael Jones for his observations and comments. Likewise, I am grateful to my long time friends and comrades in the cause, Hardin Allen Davis and Tommie Bell, whose advice and suggestions resulted in the culmination of a broader and more cogent text; and to Marilyn Tipton Brown for her kindhearted efforts and knack for getting things done. Most of all I am grateful to all those special persons who took the effort to provide contributions of oral histories, photos, articles, and biographies on the northeast community and its subsequent Black development and expansion in Carbondale.
Bob Thornton, Nettie Hayes, Louberta Cavitt, Louvenia McKinley, Virginia Clark, Stella Ivy, and my Aunt Mary, the wife of the late James Arthur France, allowed me unrestricted use of their rare and treasured collections of documents and photos. Verna Roseman, Hortense Edward, Gloria Aiken, and Mrs. Helen Greene-Jennings brought additional materials and information to the manuscript. Many other residents of the former New Addition, where I grew up, gave wonderful stories and accounts of the people who lived among us and the events that took place in our part of town--much of which I had long since forgotten.
Thanks is extended to the wonderful people at the Jackson County Historical Society who went far beyond the call in navigating me through the foundation s myriad of files and records. In addition to that of Ken Cochran, the enthusiasm and camaraderie of Phoebe Cox, Clifton Swafford, and Robert Morefield added many moments of fun and spontaneity to the otherwise laborious job of research.
Appreciation is extended to Dr. Elizabeth I. Mosley-Lewin for consenting to edit Traces; and to Yolonda Johnson Gregory; my cousin, Hazel Chappell Law ( Little Ludy ); Ernell Glasby; and Gwendolyn Gails for undertaking the tedious tasks of technical proofing. Again, thanks is extended to Mike Jones for sharing with me so much of his experiences and vast knowledge on the era of the Negro slaves in Southern Illinois; and to Johnetta Jones for allowing me to tap into her pioneer research and discoveries on local black lore and history.
I wish to express my deep bond of affection and appreciation to my lifelong friend, Cozette Bell Spinner, who, after finding such joy and delight in reading one of my previous writings, 1393-K, helped inspire me to make the final commitment to write Traces.
I can not end without adding a word of appreciation to my former graduate professors at Prairie View A M University of Texas: Drs. Edward Mason, Joan Clark, and Ollie J. Davis, for showing me how to develop and further enhance my skills; Professor Darlington I. Ndubuike, for helping me to fully appreciate the beauty and significance of our African ancestry; and Professor Clarissa Gamble Booker, for opening my eyes to one of the greatest of gifts: the insight to understand the tremendous power of books and the unlimited rewards of reading.
If Traces In The Dust stirs our imagination and recalls for us days of laughter and fond memories, I will be delighted; if it encourages us to remain forever vigilant against the tyranny of prejudice and societal neglect wrought by man and the dust of time, I will be grateful. However, if it teaches us to cherish the proud past given to us by our forefathers and to appreciate the present, which has been bought and paid for by the sweat of their black brows, I will be thankful--for only then will this work have truly accomplished its purpose.
Significant contributions to this work came from several persons who, sadly, are no longer with us. I am very grateful that our lives touched here on this earth:
Beulah Mae Brown; Clubs and Organizations
Kathleen Thornton; Early Life and Public Welfare
Reverend Loyd C. Sumner; Religion and The African American Church
Mary Priss Bell; Expansion of Development theast Community
Albert Flat top Mason; Early Residents and Families
Della Matthews; Early Carbondale and Families
Michael Wayne France; Early History of Southern Illinois: The Development of Little Egypt
Cardella Scott; Social Institutions, Organizations, and Public Welfare
Cora Gibbs; Early Carbondale-Expansion and Development
Dorothy Marie Mackey McAttee, St. Louis, Mo.; Families and Residents
Special thanks to:
Kenny Swafford, President, Jackson County Historical Society: Murphysboro, Illinois
Dr. Elizabeth Mosely-Lewin, Superintendent; Carbondale Elementary School District 95
Judy Travelstead, Librarian, Southern Illinoisan Newspaper; Carbondale, Illinois
Katharine A. Salzmann, Archivist, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
The James France family; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The City of Carbondale, Development Services
Morris Library, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
Dr. Robbie Lieberman, Professor of History, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
Fred Wills, President, The Spirit of Attucks Organization; Carbondale, Illinois
Delores Albritton; Director, Eurma Hayes Center; Carbondale, Illinois
Julia Ann Thomas Brown, Elgin, Illinois
Carbondale Main Street