My Book Angel

The death of Meredith Coleman Anding, one of the Tougaloo Nine who helped to integrate the public library in Jackson, Mississippi, leads me to think about my library experiences. The public library in Jackson was probably integrated somewhere around 1964 when I was a young child. My parents were separated during this time period. My father took with him the only car our family owned, which did not matter because my mother did not drive, therefore, I have no memories of visiting public libraries as a child.

My Aunt Alice was my book angel. Aunt Alice was pleased with herself when she landed a job as a custodian in a public school after working several years as a domestic. She would have better wages, health insurance, a Christmas Club bank account, and a pension plan. Since she lived next door to me, her joy spread to our household. I was happy she was happy knowing there might be more oreo cookies in my future.

Alice Durr Dent
1924-2000

During the school year, she would bring home a book or two, but mostly magazines. The children's magazine Highlights was my favorite. The end of the school year was almost as good as Christmas. Boxes of discarded books and magazines, crayons, puzzles, erasers, etc. would be welcomed in our home.

I don't know if she knew how much joy those gifts of love brought to this niece who enjoyed books. Thank you, Aunt Alice, for being my book angel.

George Washington Carver Municipal Public Library

Taking its place at the head of the class with regard to Negro library services, the city of Jackson will formally open George Washington Carver Municipal Library, Friday, April 20, 1956.

This library is reported to be the first brand new building, planned, designed and built with public funds for giving library service to Negroes in the state of Mississippi and possibly the first for any city the size of Jackson in the entire south.

Clarion Ledger, Jackson, Miss. April 20, 1956

Fri, Apr 20, 1956 – Page 9 · Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, Mississippi) · Newspapers.com

When this library was opened in Jackson, Mississippi, I was a few months old. I have no childhood memories of visiting this public library. My family lived outside of the city limits of Jackson and we did not have access to this library.

Here is a current picture of the abandoned building located in the historic Farish Street District on North Mill Street.

Wordless Wednesday Slums 1957

Picture showing slums that were removed in construction of High Street Ext., Jackson, Mississippi, March 14, 1957.

Photograph courtesy of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

Amanuensis Monday Ellis Freeman - Traffic Death

Hit and Run Truck Sought after Fatal Accident to Negro

Ellis Freeman, 71, negro janitor with the Mississippi Baptist Board for the past 27 years was fatally injured early Tuesday morning when struck by a hit and run truck.

Freeman was discovered lying on the ground at North Mill and Fortification streets by police who had been summoned to the scene. Although completely paralyzed and bleeding severely, Freeman was able to give police a few details of the accident.

He said he was en route to work when a truck driven by a negro and occupied by several negroes came along, hitting him. He was knocked to the ground and the wheels of the truck passed over his body.

The truck did not stop but drove away hurriedly. The injured negro was rushed to a local hospital where he died a few hours later. The truck had no tail light and a tarpaulin arched over the back.

Freeman's home is at 173 West Fortification Street and his death was the fourth traffic fatality for the city this year.

Ellis was the son of Pat Freeman and Sophia Irving/Irwin
Husband of Ellen McDaniel
Father of Cora, Daisy, Barbara, Garfield, James, Douglas, Susanna, Luberta, Estell, and Mandy
Per census records, he was born about 1862, likely near Caseyville, then Copiah County, MS

Ellis was a relative of cousins.

Article from Jackson Daily News
September 25, 1945

I've Known Shotgun Houses

Most of the first thirteen years of my life was spent in a shotgun house. A shotgun house has one room leading into the next without a hall way. Opening the doors at each end of the house allows for breezes to circulate throughout the house in hot climates. The style can be traced from Africa to Haitian influences on house designs and is recognized as an African American contribution to American architectural styles.

I don't remember my first shotgun home. Here I am as a baby with the first shotgun in the background. This was in Copiah County, MS, in 1956.

My parents left Copiah County when I was about 2-3 years of age to live in Jackson, MS. Working with pulp wood was hard labor and the pay was too low, my father decided to move to Jackson where he could find factory work.

The first shotgun I remember was similar to the ones below. We lived in a single unit of a row. I think there were about six in a row and ours was in the middle of the row. My memories of this home include a Christmas tree and a baby doll, going to the store to get an orange soda to mix with castor oil to heal a bad cold, learning the alphabet, leaving home to cross railroad tracks to go to school, and eating spaghetti.

My father began to have financial problems and could not pay the rent. We left the single unit to move in with my dad's sister, Aunt Alice, in her single unit shotgun. I think we all slept in the front room, my parents and then three children ranging from six to 2 years.

I don't know if Aunt Alice got tired of having five additional people in her space but we moved again to live with my paternal grandmother and uncle in her side of a double barrel unit. I can remember us all sleeping in the one bedroom. Grandma had a bed in the front room and Uncle Junior slept in the kitchen. When the family on the other side moved out, we, meaning my mother and us children moved to the other side. My father gradually moved out to be with the other family he had created. Grandma's shotgun was similar to the one below, except there was one long porch connecting both sides instead of two porches.

The shotguns below are apart of the historic Farish Street District. The city of Jackson hopes to create an entertainment district similar to New Orleans' Bourbon Street or Memphis' Beale Street, filled with restaurants, night clubs and various other entertainment venues. These shotguns will be refurbished, rented to visitors who will happily pay fees too high for the working poor for which the units were originally made to house.

We moved for more space and home ownership from the last shotgun house when I was a few months shy of my fourteenth birthday. The houses of my youth were destroyed by fire or bulldozed for new housing.

History of the Shotgun House

Images of Shotguns