BlackProGen LIVE! Ep 95: Birthright: Who Has the Right to Tell My People’s Stories?

“Should there be a stipulation on who has the right to tell certain stories? Is it dependent on the role certain groups play within the historical event landscape? Episode 95 will tackle this difficult topic.”

Watch Live tonight!

The Lynching of Reuben Sims

Mr. Reuben Sims is the only documented lynching victim in Baldwin County, Alabama between 1877 to 1950.

Since he was the “only one” I wanted to try to find out a little more about the circumstances surrounding his lynching. Mr. Reuben Sims’ lynching made it in to newspapers across the country.

Below are some articles I found relating to Mr. Reuben Sims’ murder.

Fri, Apr 29, 1904 – 4 · The Prattville Progress (Prattville, Alabama) · Newspapers.com

 

Fri, May 13, 1904 – Page 2 · The Atmore Record (Atmore, Alabama) · Newspapers.com

 

Sun, Aug 28, 1904 – 15 · The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, Alabama) · Newspapers.com

 

Thu, Nov 3, 1904 – 3 · The Baldwin Times (Bay Minette, Alabama) · Newspapers.com

Afro-American Realty Company

 

Wed, Jul 27, 1904 – Page 3 · The San Francisco Call (San Francisco, California) · Newspapers.com

Trinity Chapel A.M.E Church

Photographed by me

Trinity Chapel A.M.E. Church is located in Bay Minette, AL. According to the little cement block on the front, the church was founded in 1883. My Great Grandfather Scott Cox was a member of the Trinity Chapel A.M.E.

 

Photographed by me

Trinity Chapel A.M.E. Church Sat, Aug 5, 1961 – 7 · Alabama Citizen (Tuscaloosa, Alabama) · Newspapers.com

BlackProGen LIVE! Ep 94: Back Home: Travel to Our Mother Countries

Watch live tonight!

“Visiting our ancestral locations is a deeply transformative experience. In this episode, learn the ins and outs of planning a trip, what to expect, and how to incorporate the experience into your genealogy project.”

Reasons to buy a Ford

Found this 1919 Ford ad in The Citizen-Patriot newspaper.

The Citizen-Patriot
Atwood, Kansas03 Apr 1919, Thu

A Scorcher Bits the Dust

Greensboro Telegram
Greensboro, North Carolina09 Aug 1897, Mon

I know what scorcher means today but in the 1890s and early 1900s scorcher meant another thing when it came to bike riding.  At first I didn’t understand why this 1897 article of an African American female falling off her bike was considered newsworthy.  Then I decided to google scorcher and bicycles and I found out the term scorcher was used to describe a cyclist who rode fast and reckless through the streets and someone who put other riders, pedestrians and motorists at risk of crashing. I did some more digging and found an article of a cyclist who was involved in a bicycle chase with a police officer.  Scorchers were considered a big problem across the county, there are countless articles on newspapers.com about scorchers and how they were a menace to society (lol), some cyclists were even arrested.

The Morning News
Wilmington, Delaware03 Jul 1896, Fri  

 

Don’t worry I be a scorcher.

 

Me in my cycling gear

 

 

 

 

 

Birth Announcement

The Baldwin Times
Bay Minette, Alabama21 Apr 1927, Thu

This birth announcement clipping was in The Baldwin Times Newspaper (found on newspapers.com) in 1927. My Great Grandparents, Scott and Jessie Cox gave birth to a daughter a couple weeks after their eldest daughter Mary Cox Young had her daughter. I didn’t realize that mother and daughter were pregnant at the same time until I saw this birth announcement. Mary Cox Young was born about 1905, a whole 22 years before her younger sister Ruth was born. I am not sure how close Mary and Ruth were since there was such a large age gap and Mary was already out the house raising a family of her own when Ruth was born.

 

 

This is a photo from 2016 of myself, Aunt Ruth’s son and Aunt Mary’s grandchildren, this was my first time meeting Aunt Mary’s grandchildren.

 

 

The Little Things

I’ve posted about this before but newspapers are such a great resource for genealogical research. Newspapers articles about your ancestor or relative can fill in some gaps when other documents are missing i.e  the 1890 Federal Census. Newspapers can also give you a better understanding of their lives and what life might have been for them in their areas. Sites such as newspapers.com, genealogybank.com, chroniclingamerica.loc.gov , nypl.org have hundreds maybe even thousands of old newspapers your ancestors or relatives might have been mentioned in. You can even just google old newspapers in the specific location you are researching and see what you find. I’ve have browsed multiple newspapers for free by just googling.

This might not seem like much to most but I think it’s pretty cool to see my Great Grandfather Dock Walker name in the paper as well as to know he had a subscription to The Baldwin Times newspaper.

For Family History Month I will be sharing articles I found regarding my family in newspapers as well as other interesting articles and ads in different newspapers to give us a glimpse back in time.

The Baldwin Times
Bay Minette, Alabama12 Oct 1950, Thu (newspapers.com)

 

African Burial Ground-Van Cortlandt Park

The African Burial Ground in Van Cortlandt Park (“Van Cortlandt Park is a 1,146-acre park located in the borough of the Bronx in New York City”.)