Update to Funeral Programs Database

It's been a while since I posted the link to my (Mostly) African American Funeral Programs Database. This seems like a good time to share it, since I've just added two more programs, one of which is for a public figure - who was also a dear friend.

Calvin W. Pearson, Sr.

Front cover of Calvin Pearson's funeral program

Calvin was a noted historian and researcher, who was known, first and foremost, as the founder and president of Project 1619, a nonprofit that has played a crucial role in teaching and correcting the narrative about the arrival of enslaved Africans in English-speaking North America, for over 20 years. We became friends through our involvement with the Hampton Roads Chapter of the Afro American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS); and, we subsequently discovered, through DNA testing, that we were also family - although we hadn't yet discovered who our common ancestors were.

Calvin's final arrangements were entrusted to Perkins Funeral Home, in Hampton, Virginia. To sign his guestbook and/or to view his obituary, click here. If you are interested in his funeral program, please visit my database and contact me via the link provided there. 

Here is the permalink to my database: https://tinyurl.com/SandersFuneralPrograms

Frances Lee Alton Hill

Front cover of Frances Hill's funeral program

I mentioned that I've just added two funeral programs to my database: the second was for my beloved Aunt Frances, wife of my mother's late brother, Howell Webster Hill, Sr. My aunt was a very special person, who God blessed to see almost 93 years, here on Earth. She had a quiet spirit (but she loved to talk!) and she loved and was loyal to all of her family and friends. I will likely write more about her on my family-focused blog, Into the LIGHT, so I won't say much more here. Her services were handled by Riddick Funeral Service, of Norfolk, Virginia. You can visit her memorial page, here; and, if you're interested in her funeral program, please reach out to me via my database, which (again) you can access by clicking on this link: https://tinyurl.com/SandersFuneralPrograms

Screenshot of a snippet of my database

As a reminder, my (Mostly) African American Funeral Programs Database is just that - a database. When you visit the link, you will find an excel spreadsheet that gives vital information about persons for whom I hold a physical (hard copy) of their funeral program. The information in the database will include names, birth/death dates and locations, names of spouses, and sometimes additional information such as nicknames or titles. When you see information for a person of interest, simply email me at yarsan@aol.com, to request a scan of the actual funeral program, which I will send to your email address. In some cases, if I have multiple copies of the program, I will gladly send a hard copy via U.S. mail. Also, if you have funeral programs that you would like to contribute or add to the database, please reach out to me at the same email - yarsan@aol.com. Those contributed to me are added to my page of the database; however, you will see that I allow others to add theirs, just as my friend, Adrienne Johnson, has done on Sheet 2 of the database, where she has added 198 (to date) additional programs! Be sure to check hers out, also!

Thank you for reading! Don't forget to check out the database!

Renate

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Mysterious Monday - What's Happening Here?

Back in 2010, I scanned this photo while visiting my cousin, Harold Green, in Louisburg, NC.  As you can see, the picture is "dirty", but still, it depicts a scene of some event, and I believe it may be of significant interest, if I/we could just figure out what that event was!

I posted the picture on Facebook, to the Franklin, Granville, Vance and Warren Genealogy Group, and we've been having a good discussion, there.  Because of that, I thought it would be a good idea to bring the photo here, to get more opinions about it.

I have always thought that this was probably the scene of either a baptism or a burial.  At first, I also wondered if maybe there had (possibly) been a lynching, but I think I'm straying away from that idea.  What I do know/see is this:
1. Almost all of the people appear to be dressed in white/light-colored clothing.
2. There appear to be two main groups of people, walking in opposing directions.  A large group of mostly women are coming up the path toward the camera.  And, a smaller group (of what we can see) of men appear to be approaching the scene from the bottom left.
3. There are two carriages: One looks like it has a flatbed, and the other looks more like it might be a buggy.
4.  A lady with a small child stands alone in the center of the picture.
5.  It looks like there's at least one small child in a basket of some type near the center of the picture.
6.  There is (what we think is) an electric pole with climbing spikes in it near the forefront of the picture (on the right).

This appears to be a baby or small child (with a hat on) in a basket.
It also looks like there are a couple of darker-clothed people in this close up.

Although I can't prove it, I'm sure the setting has to be in Franklin County (Louisburg), North Carolina.  The picture was in an album that belonged to my cousin's grandmother, Mary Helen "Pidgy" Green, who lived from 1876 - 1959.  Other than this, the collection consisted only of family pictures.  This picture was an 8x10.  It was the only one of that size in the album.

My cousin (who is now 89 years old) was very reluctant to show me the pictures, or to discuss family history with me. (More on that, later.)  It had taken me years just to get him to allow me to see these, and other pictures that he has at his home, and to allow me to interview him.  I had taken my scanner with me, and I was going as fast as I could, because I knew that he was going to cut me off (which he did).  I want to try to get him to let me borrow the picture for a short time, so that I can get it professionally cleaned, but first I have to get my nerve up to ask him.

What do you see, and what do you think is happening, here?

Renate