Ancestor Callings: Georgia and Mississippi Roots

Saturday, January 16, 2021

The "Legendary" Idlewild, Michigan

Postcard from the collection of Sandra Williams Bush

I have fond memories of Idlewild, Michigan where my grandparents, Richard and Anna Davenport, owned and operated the Golden Hor-Shoe Motor Court. It wasn't until well into my adulthood that I learned that Idlewild was legendary as a vacation destination for African Americans.

I remember making the long drive with my grandfather at the wheel of his station wagon with the wood on the side. The car would be packed to overflowing with food to eat along the way, food to hold us a few days when we got to our destination, some clean linens, and supplies. We made the trip from Buffalo, New York. Popoo didn't stay the entire summer because he had to get back to work at Bethlehem Steel. However, Deety did stay the whole summer, along with Auntie Joan (my father's sister).

While Idlewild was heralded as a summer resort, there were people who lived there year-round. In particular, I remember Sister Young who would drive us into the town of Baldwin to the laundromat, post office and other necessary errands after Popoo went back to Buffalo.

My fractured memories include maintaining a worm "garden" with Deety, who was an avid fisherwoman, helping Auntie Joan change the linens and clean the guest rooms, hanging out with Miss Smith, the teacher from Cleveland who had a cottage next door, going to church with Sister Young -- but mainly playing in the sand and in the water's edge.

Deety made transition April 1970 and when Popoo made transition less than two years later, the property was lost -- unfortunately neither of them had a will.

Historically, Idlewild was a vacation haven for African Americans when we were not allowed in "mainstream" hotels and other resorts. I didn't know any of the history when I spent time there -- for me it was about the fun of being doted on by my grandparents and aunt.

Books about Idlewild:

Black Eden: the Idlewild Community by Lewis Walker and Benjamin C. Wilson

Idlewild: the Rise, Decline, and Rebirth of a Unique African American Resort Town by Ronald J Stephens

Idlewild: the Black Eden of Michigan by Ronald J. Stephens

FYI -- the movie Idlewild was not about Idlewild, Michigan.

Monday, January 4, 2021

Happy New Year Beginnings

When I think of beginnings at this time of year, two of the New Year traditions that I grew up with come to mind.

In many African American homes, the first person to come through the door HAD to be a man -- this would ensure good luck throughout the year. That man would often have the "job" of visiting several homes as the first to walk through the door on New Year's Day. My husband is from the Bronx and told me that there was a neighbor who went from door to door to fulfill this tradition. Within his South Carolina family, an uncle would perform the tradition. In our family it was Uncle Arthur, my mother's brother, who visited our home, among a few other homes of friends and family.

The star of New Year's day dinner is always black-eyed peas and greens -- the beans to bring good luck and the greens for financial fortune. It wasn't until I became an adult that I learned that this particular food tradition was so steeped in the African American experience. There are a variety of explanations on how this meal came to represent good luck and fortune and why it is a New Year's Day staple.

As in most cultures, food and food traditions define the African American experience. Here are some cookbooks that reflect on the history and origins of African inspired cooking throughout the diaspora:

Soul & Spice by Heidi Haughy Cusick

Black Family Reunion Cookbook by the National Council of Negro Women

Sweet Home Cafe Cookbook: A Collection of African American Cooking by Albert Lukas

An African American Cookbook: Tradition and Other Favorite Recipes by Phoebe Bailey

Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking by Toni Tipton-Martin

Monday, November 30, 2020

An 89th Birthday Declaration

Months before her 89th birthday my mother, Evelyn O. Brown Williams, decided she was not going to renew her driver's license. She had already curtailed her driving in prior years by not driving at night and only taking necessary trips to the doctor and the grocery store. Her mother, Lucy Washington Brown, (aka Granny) also gave up her drivers license in her senior years.

I remember when my mother learned to drive in the late 1960s-- taking lessons from a driving school and supplementing those lessons with her brother, Arthur Brown. She was never a long-distance driver and she wasn't a jump-in-the-car-and-just-drive kind of driver. Her trips always had purpose. However, I think the most joy she got from driving was errands such as picking up my daughter from school, taking her to the library, Girl Scout meetings, and anything to do with being a doting grandmother while I was working.

Mommy sold her last car this month -- a sports car that she inherited from the estate of her oldest son and my brother, Flick. When he purchased the car, his colleagues teased that he was going through a mid-life crisis. I found it amusing that in her time owning it, the car sported a handicap license plate and she told me that people were always surprised went she got out the driver's side. She's a true polyester-dressed little old lady -- 5 feet nothing and thin.