Category: Black History Month

A Brief Memory of Justice Marshall

The announcement of the film “Marshall“, to be shown in the Collington auditorium on Monday, reminded me of the one time I was lucky enough to even be in the same room with him

When I was in law school, our teacher Tony Lewis, arranged for us to hear a Supreme Court argument, and then to meet with the Justice.

Before we met Marshall, we were reminded that we should never, ever, ever, mention the pending case, or the argument, with him. So Marshall, inevitably, with his impishness and lack of respect for decorum, walked into the room and asked, “So that was a pretty bad argument, was not it?”  (He was right, of course.)

The most important think I remember, however, is that he talked with some deeply felt irritation at the superficiality of the press, recounting specifically when a journalist asked to see him when he was Solicitor General, and how so he prepared with every possible question — and the jornalist came in with “Could you speak at my son’s graduation.”  As we were leaving, I said something to Tony Lewis about how Marshall could see the press clearly and yet still be such a powerful advocate for the First Amendment.  I will remember Tony Lewis’ simple reply all my life.  “That is greatness.”

Marshall told some hysterical anecdotes, such as the time he espied his wife in the gallery watching an abortion case, and had a US marshal deliver a note that said something like:  “Why are you worrying about abortion?” and her sending back the reply “May I remind you that it takes two to tango.”

A great man who never forgot his humanity — and ours.

P.S. Nancy Lively just emailed me  legal bio of Marshall, adding her own personal note:

The law case cited in Anne Arundel County (our neighboring county to Prince George’s) was won by Marshall in 1939.  The man bringing the suit for equal pay for Black teachers was the father of a close friend who is also the pianist in our church.  Her mom and dad were both school principals when we moved to Annapolis in 1968 and we got  to know Valerie in 1972 if memory serves me. This victory was the first in the USA to gain equal pay across race lines and 14 other states quickly followed suit. An elementary school where Mr. Mills was principal is named for him.  Thurgood Marshall made a big impression in Annapolis and is memorialized by a magnificent statue in the most prominent location in town with adoring children across from him also as statues looking with love at his statue. It is located near the place where he often argued cases.

Every time I see Valerie which is weekly I recall her father, his bravery in bring suit and Marshall for the courageous stands this young lawyer took right before the year I was born.  Nancy Lively

A History of African American Hospitals in the U.S.

By Dr. Bud Gardiner

Join resident Dr. Bud Gardiner on February 15th at 2 pm in the Auditorium for this fascinating program.  Sponsored by the Health Services Committee.

ProvidentHospital

The health of African slaves was an issue concerning slave-holders but there was no organized attention paid to this issue.  In 1832, the Georgia General Assembly established a hospital “for the relief and protection of afflicted and aged Africans”.  Thus, the Georgia Infirmary was built south of Savannah. Over the years approximately 200 hospitals were established for black citizens under the auspices of governments, a variety of charitable organizations and groups of African American citizens and physicians. They were often tied to medical and nursing education. The bulk of them, of course, was in the southern states and had varying lengths of survival. With the impact of economic and social influences, (especially racial integration) only one such hospital remains. Their history provides a fascinating glimpse of an oppressed but resourceful segment of our population.

 

Productive and Active

The theme at Collington for this year’s Black History Month is “Productive and Active.” Arts and crafts are now on display showing many products of being active. The glass cases in the Clock Tower contain work of residents including stained glass and needle point. Other products organized by Delores Hawkins are hung in the auditorium corridor. They include a jigsaw puzzle completed by Ron Hawkins and the picture, Fields to Factory, loaned by the Hawkinses. Students of SAGE classes may recognize work of the teacher, Albert Hurley, whose portraits are in the corridor. Pictures created by resident Madeline Wilson are scheduled for the exhibit. Von Willingham loaned her picture of Martin Luther King, Jr. The general effect of the displays is a demonstration of production contributed by the Collington community.

Collingtonian Article on our “Pre-History” Raises Questions about Next Steps

Occasionally, this blog draws attention to articles in our sister publication, the Collingtonian. Peggy Latimer’s piece in the January 2018 issue is deserving of such focus. The piece, tells the history of slaves here at Collington, to the minimal extent that it can be reconstructed from wills and other documents. The story is particular present, because of the graves up on the hill, including one of Basil Warring, who had “inherited” ten slaves from his father.

slave

It is, of course, deeply shaming for a white person to read, and I think Peggy gets just the right combination of factual clarity and respectful perspective:

Marsham’s 1730 will listed them. All but one, however, were identified only by first name [spelling and punctuation through- out are as written in the original documents]: “One Negro Man named Caceour One Negro Man named Hercules one Negro Man named George One Negro Woman named Moll One Mulatto Boy named Charles One Mulatto boy called Robin One Negro Boy named Will Bulger One Mulatto Girl named Sarah One Mulatto Girl named Cate one Negro girl named Lucy and their Increase”

Peggy notes at the end, “With much research, we may be able to learn more of the history of these people. At the very least, shouldn’t we be honoring those enslaved persons who lived and labored on the land where we all now reside?” At the very minimum we should find public ways to recognize and honor that we enjoy the legacy of the labor of their forced and denied lives. Without in any way suggesting equivalence, the need to remember and honor reminds me that a few years ago, I went with my Polish Holocaust surviving aunt to a gymnasium (high school) in Mainz Germany, and for our visit, as part of a larger group, they had put up a mounted display of The Holocaust in Mainz, including a map showing locations.

maint4

Here is a photo of my aunt with some of the display. The kids were deeply respectful and attentive.

Surely we can try to do as much.

Indeed, there must be much else that we could do, that not only reminds of the past, but steers us for the future in these apparently anti-historical times.