Old Zulu : Martha Fleming

Artist rendering of Martha Fleming
by Marilyn A. Hudson, 2015.
She stood 6 feet tall; had a low and strong voice;
was a leader in the early
African American community
as business woman,
community activist and colorful character.

Her name was Martha Fleming, but every one called her "Old Zulu", and she ran the prostitution in African-American Oklahoma City until about 1909. Born in Virginia, there is little known about this woman other than the sometimes slanted accounts reported in local news articles and court records. She is profiled, again with a biased brush, in McGill's early, agenda-driven, account of the rough and rowdy early days of Oklahoma City.  She apparently was the dominant figure who kept the girls on "Alabaster Row" (believed to be the local brothels catering to African American men located on California Street) in line, operated in her own establishment or area outside of the city limits, east of the railroad tracks on Grand Ave. (Now Sheridan).

"Zulu" or "Zoo",as she was sometimes called, seems to emerge in the early days of the town.  She was believed to be a either a pawn or a collaborator of a much reviled Madame "Big Anne" (Anne Wynn Bailey). Thus she is seen as either a link to the African American vice and the money that could be made there or as mirror professional who functioned in the segregated reality of the times. Whichever was the truth, together, they managed a sizeable portion of the action to be found in Oklahoma City's "Hell's Half Acre." Her regular domain, the area of east Grand, just past the Santa Fe Depot may have been used by a variety of individuals for multiple purposes. The area, just after the run and for a long time later, was outside of town limits and thus beyond the sometimes inept or political motivated city police force.

The south side of "Hell" was called "Alabaster Row" and it generally assumed this was a line of establishments with African-American or non-white women. This may be true in full or in part.  Not enough objective evidence has been seen by this writer yet to define it strictly along those lines.  It is known, from establishments and writings from other locations (Leadville and San Francisco, etc.) that 'alabaster' was sometimes a term used to describe these women of the night. They were sometimes likened to marble statues of loveliness and perfection. There could have been a little of both involved here. It does seem strange that such a line of houses would exist on California to the south and most identify "Old Zulu's" domain as the E. Grand Ave. area across the tracks. It may be there were two groups catering to altogether different clienteles.  Many of the gambling, drinking, or carousing dens in "Hell" were a broad spectrum selection. Low dives rubbed shoulders with fine Belgian carpets and cheap 'rot-gut' was just across the street from full bodied wines of the finest label. The outside of town places may have catered to individuals who could not afford to come into town, for economic, comfort,  or recognition reasons.
 

Most newspaper and early descriptions seem to agree that Martha was a tall woman of tremendous strength.  She stood approximately 6 feet. She always carried a pistol on her and usually down her dress.  She sometimes wore a jacket and work boots.    She appeared to be many things from petty thief, to drunk, to drug user, political activist, and con artist. What ever she might have become, her Achille's heel was clearly an addiction. She was known to get a little energetic while under the influence of liqueur or heroin/cocaine. One instance, it took several full grown police officers to get her to the tank to sleep off her over indulgence and she tore up the jail and wounded another prisoner before she finally came down from the high of the stimulant.

Descriptions of these women can prove as fascinating and insightful as a photograph.  "Big Annie" was drawn in local papers as a fleshy, mean-faced, man-like woman used to pushing her weight around to keep control in Oklahoma City.  Social attitudes are apparent in the artistic renderings of her during a famous legal contest in 1908.  Likewise, social attitudes are prevelant in the label given Martha, she was tall, powerful, and wild.  Unrest in Africa at the time provided a new vocabulary as the Zulu army battled European armies for dominance.   She was then the archetypal savage black woman, "Old Zulu."  In both instances, part of the problem was they were women operating out of the acceptable boundaries of society, women acting indepently and  having some level of success. Lessor issues had to do with race and addictive behaviors aligned with preceptions of social status. In both women society had outcasts due to the work they did and so less focus was on the race of either woman.

Early Baptism in Canadian River

Both woman were apparently successful (if gauged by length of time they worked in Oklahoma City) in their line of work.  Both women apparently had connections within their social spheres and some degree of influence (although it is unknown if this influence was always legal ; blackmail could have been a tool used by both women).  This, however, was the life society allowed these women who operated outside the law but whose presence was often accepted as a social necessity.  

She was a regular visitor to the city lockup and had one of the longer arrest records in city history.  At one point, she was sent to jail (1895 and to Lansing in Kansas in 1906). Local law may have just grown tired of the swinging door of her pattern of misconduct.  

In 1907,  she was converted in a service conducted by the mission  housed where the notorious old "Blue Front Saloon" had operated. This was no doubt the holiness-pentecostal mission led by Harry Lott that became one of the first Pentecostal churches west of the Mississippi.

Like "Big Annie", "Old Zulu", is a rare and unique piece of the puzzle that is Oklahoma City history. Without all the history - the warts and the tiaras - the story is just not complete. The reality of addiction (sex, liquer, and drugs) is often overlooked when examining behavior of people in certain historic eras. In the middle of the Victorian-Edwardian period such behaviors were viewed as moral weaknesses of the lower classes. No  leeway  was given for addiction problems, life stresses, or social dynamics. 

Who was this early business woman of Oklahoma City? Where did she come from, what struggles did she have, and what happened to her after this brief window of time?  

The women like Annie and Zulu could be marginalized, scorned, jailed, and preached about - but they could not be ignored. People might not have liked the businesses they conducted but they were definitely some of the earliest women in any business in the early days of "Hell's Half Acre." 

--Marilyn A. Hudson (c)
NOTE: If you are a descendent of this woman, I would love to hear from you and share her story in more detail. Contact me at marilynahudsonATyahoo.com

St. Luke's Hospital, Wellington, Kansas

Personal collection of M.A.Hudson

The original hospital opened about 1910 and was sponsored by the Episcopal church.   In the 1920's a larger facility was built and was added to and finally torn down and a new faciluty built there. Today the hospital lives on as part of the Sumner County Medical Center.   Wellington, like many communities, changed vastly from its early foundings to its current form.  I called this location home for all of my life til I was about twenty, yet I never knew the majority of the town had been destroyed in a tornado in the early years. Huge buildings had once dotted its cityscape and fine homes had been built, destroyed, forgotten, and simply not spoken for decades. I think of this when someone decries some conspiracy theory saying no one could keep a secret for very long.   Yes they can.

The Dance of Death : An E.T. Connection?

close-up of figure

In the 1860's a surprising mural was revealed during renovations at Totentanz von St. Marien in Berlin, Germany.  Known as The Dance of Death, the illustrations are part of a 22 foot long mural and are very interesting in light of what is seen as a 20th century phenomenon, the extra terrestrial or E.T.

The nude figures with the lack of facial features (eyes, nose, mouth but that is all) are considered by most to be a personification of death. It was probably done in the late 1400's. It indicates that the large headed blank faced creature of modern myth may be a reflection of a much older concept reflecting the ever present presence of death. Always near and always collecting souls.

Of course, ancient alien enthusiasts might suggest the commonality is based on a shared extra-terrestrial experience spanning the centuries and expressed differently by culture. Thus middle ages artists depicted them as tall, thin while modern societies depicted them as (mostly) short and pale.

A friend traveled to Europe, ran across this interesting find and brought it to my attention. I urge anyone to take the time to visit this fascinating church and learn more of its interesting history as revealed in these, and other, art works.  Learn more here.

Section of a poster

SW HAD SOME CRAZY CULTS

In 1904 Oklahoma City there was a strange sight that  met residents and visitors looked down South Broadway one chilly spring day. Marching casually up from Reno street, yet with a destination in mind, were two men, John Aiken and James Sharp, a woman, Melissa Sharp, and a 12 year old boy, Lee Sharp. 

Declaring himself "Adam God" Sharp would prove an interesting character. What was really unusual about this incident was they were all stark naked.

Arrested, charged with lunacy, and ordered out of the state, they were back in 1906 in a cult community, Eden, in south Oklahoma county.

A few years later, 1908, the group (which now included a second in command, Louis Pratt) had gone to Kansas City.  There, they had caused a riot where five people died.   Sharp, and possibly his wife and others, were ordered to prison for his role in the riot.

The group have been a part of the Morman faith or confiscated some of the terms and teachings of the "Adam God" doctrine of Brigham Young, mixed in some extreme evangelical elements and bits and pieces of a lot of things. Not much has been found explaining the doctrinal aspects of this strange cult but it is clear that they were considered bizarre and out of the ordinary.  For most people in the Edwardian era, amusements were where they could be found and a group marching naked down a main city street had to have been worth a chuckle or two.  

Sources:
Oklahoman
NY Times
NY Times

A WELL REGULATED MILITIA

Ripped straight from today's headlines! Isn't that the way the old movie promos went?  "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." (Second Amendment of the US Constitution). 

We hear a lot of discussion about changing this clause, about its outdated nature and how it conflicts with a modern ethos of society.  George Washington realized one brutal truth of political and social structures and that it is capable of great evil: "Government is not reason; it is not eloquence. It is force. And force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master."   The Bill of Rights and those amendments were intentionally created to act as a buffer to protect the people from that fearful potential of any government to be a dire master.

In the second amendment guarantee of the right to bear arms the argument is often that there is no need for this since we have a military, we have a national guard,  and we have police.

We interpret militia in terms of radical extremism and potential terrorism. Instead it was neighbor with neighbor in time of need.  I would argue anytime people come to the aid of other people they are serving as a militia.  Not all battles involve bullets.

In historical research, however, it is necessary to look at things in their context.  How did those signers of the documents of freedom understand the term militia?

The term militia is derived from an abstract Latin noun and its recognized definition has been an army composed of ordinary - not military professional- citizens. It was the ability of the individual to be the army which was sought in such situations.  They were not fretfully waiting for someone to come to their rescue or their aide. They were not expecting some vague 'someone else' to defend their land, liberty, property, life, and sacred honor.

The idea dates back to early Anglo-Saxon days but the term may date back to only the late 1600's.  It was expected that every able bodied man would be able to pick up his weapon and rush to the aid of King and Country in the event of national emergency such as an invasion or hostile takeover.

The militia of the colonial period was crucial to protect the citizens of an area from hostile encounters of any type ranging from hostile Native tribes, invading armies, or other groups bent on hostilities.  The British army was far away, sometimes too far away to arrive in time to assist, and so locally prepared individuals were a must.  The British depended as much on these locally armed individuals as much as the settlements did.  

Remember communication was slow and a call for help might be answered too late.  Were none armed a clear and easy path to major settlements, supplies, and control of the colonies would have been presented to any hostile force intent on takeover.

Add to the dangers mentioned over time of a threat from the British government itself.   As tensions between British rule and colonial life began to heighten.  As the British raised taxes repeatedly.  As they refused to listen to complaints or grievances.   As they refused any representation of the Colonials in the rules and decision making process.  As Colonials were forced to open their homes to board officers   Forced to share their limited food and supplies whenever a passing British army troop wanted. They were stressed to make enough to pay the increasing taxes and keep their homes, farms, and businesses afloat. 

James Madison said : "A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained in arms, is the best most natural defense of a free country. "

John Adams said : "The fundamental law of the militia is, that it be created, directed and commanded by the laws, and ever for the support of the laws."

Benjamin Franklin said :  "Any people that would give up liberty for a little temporary safety deserves neither liberty nor safety."

John Adams said:  "Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms... disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.   Jefferson's "Commonplace Book," 1774_1776, quoting from On Crimes and Punishment, by criminologist Cesare Beccaria, 1764

Patrick Henry said, "The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government."

A people ignorant of their history are always doomed to repeat the mistakes of their past. (mah)

Given the reality of the government becoming an absolute entity that corrupts absolutely, and the downward spiral of the abusive government seen in the Colonial period rising once more, and the need emerging to protect body, property and family from the forces unleashed in such a setting, is there not still the potential need for a militia?  Especially a militia defined as the prepared, armed and capable individual?  

As to the arguments.

We do not need a militia because we have the military.  The military are professional soldiers under the direction of the government and the law. If such a group, like the British government under King George or the military under Hitler, abuse that privilege and ignore the law, what is the recourse of the individual? If an outside force invaded or the standing military was decimated, what then? Heller has observed that anytime the rights of the people are mentioned int he Constitution it is predicated on the individual.  To paraphrase, "who you gonna call?" A group, a militia, a social anything is always comprised of individuals.

Militias are all just extremists, terrorists and radicals.  Sometimes that is the case, in some rare instances in the Civil War the militias, or state volunteers, disintegrated into marauders under poor leadership. Radical extremists with agendas of hate and terror have emerged. Sometimes there have also been periods when government failed to be the best it could be and devolved into something less than it should have been.  Like Washington noted, government is force and Madsion noted the Constitution was for moral people; sometimes our government and morality have been strangers.  The result was always a time of shame. No one calls for the eradication of the government though and so it must be recognized that there are these 'blips' sometimes.  Course corrections to realign the national moral compass are needed and we go on, hopefully having learned something along the way.

It is a complex issue, made more so by highly charged emotional, political, and social forces at work in the discussion.  Let us hope there is discussion and we do not devolve into shouting, vilifying  and exclusion.  Let us hope, also, that we do not throw the Constitutional baby out with the muddied waters of this highly charged topic.

Read more at
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/militia.html#hGt8lGgEJ349eXAe.99
http://www.dojgov.net/Liberty_Watch.htm

'THE GIRLS' - 1900

In a residence in Oklahoma city owned by the 'notorious' Big Annie Wynn in 1900, were listed a group of women who informed the census taker their profession was 'prostitute'. Scattered among them were some men who were such things as musician or barber.  Living space may have been at a premium in 1900. Listed in Block 37 (near Walker Streeet, all after Wynn were labeled as "roomers." 

Residence 402 or 422 (writing is hard to read)
Annie Wynn, 34,   b. July 1865, Il
Girtie Anderson, 21, b. Jan 1889, Il
Lulu Little, 18, b. March 1882
Gracie Maxwell, 23, May 1887, Il
Dana Goodwin, 22, b. Dec 1877, Ill
Mattie Probo, 33, b. Feb 1867, Ky
Gertie Hodge, 18, b. Feb 1882, Ky
Effie Fisher, 27 b. March 1873, IL
Harry Anderson, 22, b. Oct. 1877, KS "musician"
Ed Roberts, 30, b. April 1870, "Machinist"

Residence 406:
Susie Fields, 28 b. March 1873, KY
Fannie Richards, 27, March 1873 . NM
Laura Evans, 28, March 1872, KS
Girtie Sawyer, 20, Jan 1880, IL
Harry Brown, 32, b. Aug 1867, KS "Barber"
Mrytle Moore, 27, April 1873, TX
Bessie Moore, 25, 1875, TX

There is more than a good chance these names are all false.  It was common for women in such work to create a persona and a history to suit their needs, cover their tracks, or keep them self hidden from those who might be looking for them.  Papers around 1910 will note methods employed to get and keep workers for the sex trade.  Some entered the business willingly, some because of being wronged by some man, but some were tricked into it through a method recorded in London in the 1700's.  Young girls, travelers or runaways, were met at the local depot by a kindly person offering them help, shelter, or a ride to their destination.  Instead, they were taken to a house of ill repute, drugged, seduced, and kept a prisoner until they too joined the "stable."

TROLLEYS AND INTERURBANS

At the turn of the century - the 20th century - sprawling communities were connected through trolley systems and small rail lines that connected to larger lines and the world.

For newly a century these lines moved people swiftly, easily, and cheaply.  A woman told me that as a young woman in about 1920 she had ridden the train from Enid, Oklahoma to Blackwell, Oklahoma for pocket change.

Our love or lust over the automobile, eventually led to the demise of this means of transportation.  Yet, fuel costs, environmental concerns, and parking issues are causing many to look at the older system and see if it can be updated to meet modern needs.  

In an age when health concerns encourage getting exercise, when parking can be impossible in some urban locations and work is seldom close to where anyone lives, the idea looks pretty good.  To be able to drive to one parking lot, park and step aboard a network of fuel efficient or alternatively powered light rails to take us around the traffic clogged highways makes a lot of sense.  

The mystery will be - who will be the ones to call out "All Aboard!!"

For a great coverage of Oklahoma City trolleys check out the rich coverage of OKC History at Doug Dawgz Blog.

A Family Slaughtered

SLAUGHTERED A WHOLE FAMILY.: John Hoy, with His Wife and Two Children, Hacked to Pieces in Their Cabin. Washington Post (May 30 1893),1.  

A New Haven, CT family of John Hoy, living in a cabin on the Youghiogheny River,  were found dead in their kitchen by fellow minors on their way to work.  Hoy, his wife and several children were dead.  Police theorized that he had committed the killings and then slit his own throat.  A mystery remained due to the presence of blood splatter throughout the house and the impression of a hatchet behind the ear of the daughter.

This is especially interesting due to the fact that in the early 1900 a number of families would be killed by person or persons unknown practically from coast to coast.  Notable were the murders in San Antonio, Colorado, Kansas and Iowa (Villasca).  No mention is made of an ax being found, although a razor and knife was found by the bodies.

Like all serial killers - the person who killed the later families - had to have begun somewhere.  Could it have been the Hoy family were early victims?  

For The Other Victims by William Slack

One of the rare delights of research is encountering interesting people whose passion for uncovering the truth of historical mysteries is also tempered by an empathy to all involved in the more tragic episodes.   This was the case recently as a person with families ties to the noted Katie James Murder of 1905 made contact.   William Slack, our guest columnist,  has doggedly searched out the story from his family tree but with still many questions unanswered sought out the rest of the story.  M.A.H.

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Although most of the excitement surrounding the murder of Katie James in 1905 involved the search for Katie and the woman suspected of killing her, there were other victims of which almost nothing is told; these victims were the children of Katie and Fannie Norton; Lulu Blanche James and Roy, Leta & Elsie Ham.


Lulu Blanche was only 18 months old when her mother was murdered. A newspaper article from  The Weatherford Democrat, Thursday, January 23, 1913 says the following: Blanche James Dead

Another chapter in one of the saddest tragedies in connection with Weatherford's early history ended recently with the death of Little Blanche James. A letter received by the Cheyenne Marble Works of this place Monday from Mr. DeWitt at Knowles states that he had just got a letter form his sister, Mrs. Shinsteffer who had been notified of the death of the little girl on Jan. 2nd. So little can be known of the fact except that the girl had been visiting her father and took sick with spinal meningitis from which she died. The letter from Mr. DeWitt closed with the cry of the old man's broken heart, "I think they might have might have let me know. I would like to have been with her.

Many of our readers will remember the gruesome story. Seven years ago Mrs. James, having had trouble with her husband on account of his cruelty, had come to Weatherford to her father, Mr. DeWitt. At Clinton she met with Mrs. Ham who offered to drive her through the country. Some place on that lonely drive she was murdered. The body was afterwards found hidden in the bushes near Deer Creek. A little boy related that a woman driving the wagon called hi and asked him to hold the baby as the horses were fractious, then drove furiously away leaving the little child in his arms. Two years ago a trace of the murderer was found in Colorado but she was wanted for stealing horses in New Mexico, so she could not be brought back here for trial until her sentence expires.

But many have asked, what became of the little babe deprived of its mothers care and left to strangers? The father came and took the child, never letting Mr. DeWitt have anything to do with her or to see her. Mr. James married again, but through the years the child was guarded from any knowledge of her grandfather. Mrs. Shinsteffer, the sister of Mr. DeWitt, lived in the same county, Dewey county, and through neighbors kept track of the child and informed Mr. DeWitt. The old gentleman in the course of time amassed considerable property. Mrs. James was his only child and he has no heir. It was the wish of his heart to have and to help little Blanche. Although he was not allowed to see her he could not resist sending her pretty clothes. These were sent through his sister and without letting them know where they came from. Mr. James always told his daughter that her mother still lived and that the clothes were sent by her. And so the story ends with the death of little Blanche."

The Ham children spent their last days together as a family traveling to Guthrie Oklahoma. On July 11, 1905 they were placed for adoption by their Mother Mary Francis Norton, who then left for Shawnee where she eventually committed suicide. Roy, the older brother was 13, his two sisters Elsie and Leta only eleven and seven.

The records that survive show the children placed with families in August 1905; sadly they were not kept together. The entries state:

*  Roy Ham-  With farmer, good people man and wife of Quaker faith.
*  Elsie Ham-With intelligent family, who will give the child a good home. Methodist faith.
* Leta Ham-With Dr. B. and his wife, no children, fine people. The child will have good advantages. Presbyterian and Methodist Churches preferred.

Roy and his sisters had little contact with one another. All letters between the siblings were sent via the Children’s Home. While the records are incomplete they do show that at least in the beginning the children tried to maintain contact with one another. Transcripts of the few remaining letters show the children adapted well to their new lives. Only Roy seems to make any mention of their mother, and even that is only a short sentence to say he is sorry to hear she is dead.

I haven’t been able to track down anything about the family Roy Ham was placed with. He kind of disappears until October 1918 when dies of pneumonia. Roy’s obit in the Kansas City Star of October 20, 1918 reads:

 

"Ham-Roy L Ham, 26 years old, died Friday at the home of Mr. and Mrs. W. D. Gilmer, 5948 Brooklyn Avenue, of pneumonia. He made his home at that address. His father, Taylor Ham, lives in Turlington, Tex. Two sisters also survive him."   Roy’s sisters never knew what happened to their brother.

Elsie Ham married in October 1913. She and her husband had three children, a boy and two girls. Her son died during World War II; I don’t know what ever became of her daughters or if she ever shared with them the sad story of their grandmother’s life and death.

Leta was perhaps the luckiest of the three Ham children. She was placed with a doctor who eventually adopted her. She wrote to her brother of her little pony and of the four dolls she had. Leta too went on to marry, raise children and live her life.

For more on the story see these Mystorical entrires:

The Enduring Mystery

Is There A Real Event Tied to Dead Woman Crossing?

 

THE LOUIS CASAWAY FAMILY: AX MURDERS OF 1911

In late March 1911 a most foul deed was done in San Antonio, Texas.   It would enter the story of  a horrific time in American history, a time when a murderer, or murderers, traveled the land targeting families and individuals for death by ax.

The Louis Casaway family was particularly tragic given the personal struggles of the family slaughtered.  

Louis Casaway was the local school janitor and an industrious individual well known as a man of honor and dignity. He had been involved in local politics.  His wife Elizabeth  had survived a disastrous first marriage and had started a new life with Louis.  At the time of their deaths there were born three children: Josephine S., Ruby B., and an infant.

What made this union unique in its time was the fact that, despite Texas laws forbidding such a union, Louis was a Black man and his wife a White woman.  Elizabeth Castalow had been married to a man named Layne some 20 years earlier. They divorced and she married Casaway. 

The are probably listed on the  1910 census of Bexar County, Texas in San Antonio's 6th Ward.  There, an Alfred L. Casaway (listed as a white male, 30 years old born in Louisiana) is listed. A wife name Elizabeth, white female, born Texas, aged around 36.  Her parents had both been born in Georgia.  They had gone to Mexico to be married (since it was against the law in Texas and most of the South) and been married twenty years.  Two children were listed: Josephine S. 7 years old, white, born Texas; Ruby B. 2 years old born Texas.

On the 1900 Census they are listed in San Antonio, Bexar Co., TX (election precinct 9).   He is "A.L. Cassaway" and she is "Lizzie".  They are listed as living at 109 Nesbit and are identified as Black.  He is shown as age 40 (1860) she is 35 (1865) and both say they were born in Texas.

One of the theories of their awful death was they were victims of the strange death cult accused of killing other families in Louisiana and Texas. All were families of mixed racial profiles, what was called "Mulatto".  Law officers did quickly surmise the killer, or killers, used the rail lines to enter a community and leave undetected. 

Did the unfortunate Casaway family become targets because they had gone against segregated social structures?  Was a bizarre cult really killing mixed race families in some strange attempt to purify the community? Was a mass killer traveling the rails of the south, hopping off to slaughter before slinking back into the darkness of the long bloody night?  

Most authorities did look at the concept of a white killer but soon ruled that out due to the location of many of the crimes.   A white man would have been seen noted, and remembered.

The truth may never be known.  What is known is that a family was slaughtered, "in a crime, absolutely inhuman in its conception and atrocious in its execution" in the dark of an early spring night. (Chicago Defender, April 8, 1911).  We remember Louis, Elizabeth and their three innocent children - may they rest in peace.

HISTORY - GREENBACKS, REVOLUTION, AND THE PEOPLE

14 August 1880, New Echo (Phelps Co., Mo)

“ It has been said to me by some of my good Democrat friends that they did not want me to leave them. I can inform them I am not leaving democracy, I am only sticking close to it. They are leaving it and following after the monied aristocracy of the northeast.  I am kind of a Davy Crockett type of fellow, both politically and religiously. I look until I know I am right, then I go ahead regardless of man.  I have watched the movements of congress for some time, praying for them to do something to relieve the people.  I could see no move by either of the old parties to relieve an oppressed people.  When there was bill introduced to relieve the tillers of the soil, both of the old parties voted it down. I then saw the toiling masses would need to do something for themselves: I then jumped on the National Greenback platform .  I plainly saw there was no difference in the leaders of the two old parties financially: I looked with anxiety for something on our behalf by our Dick, but lo! Not a word: consequently, I voted for him every time out of the depths of my heart, thinking he would fight for the poor oppressed people; I was mistaken; I kept listing until I decided R.P. ad done as Esau and sold his birthright for a morsel of meat.  After I had all these thoughts, just before the adjournment of congress, our Dick fills the country with electioneering pamphlets.  Dick  I can’t support you any more: I fear you sold out to the money kings. They have stolen enough to buy our congressmen that love money better than they love their country. We must change our class of legislators. I stuck close to the old Democratic party; consequently tought they would not steal, they talk so much about the Radicals stealing. Amid all my troubles, up comes the Gates steal; a man that was blowed up by the Democratic Party, so called, thinks I then when the legislature meets they will judge him sure. I was mistaken again; they went ‘up’ there, and guess enough of them sold out to sustain and whitewash him, and enact laws to make the toilers pay. I lost confidence in the old Democratic Party, so called. Now, brother and sister toilers, we must do something for ourselves and our families; old issues are dead, and now new ones have come which we are all interested in equally.  My impression is we should all jump on the National boat and all pull together.  Oppression has caused every reform; oppression caused the Revolutionary war. Let us show the money kings we have some of the blood of our Revolutionary fathers in our veins. ..” – P.P. (Ptolemy Philadelphus) Brown, 1829-1904.

Most of his comments revolved around the new National Greenback Party platform.  The National Greenback Party emerged from the Grange movement seeking to redress negative agendas, taxes, and economic policies detrimental to American rural farmers and growers. The Greenback Party would be an alliance of organized labor and reform-minded farmer’s intent on toppling the political hegemony of the industrial - and banking-oriented Republican Party that had ruled the North during the Reconstruction period. By 1890, it was evolving once more into the predecessor of the Populist party, i.e. The People’s Party. 

BIGFOOT KIDS?: AN INTERESTING STORY

A few years ago at an event a local woman approached me and shared a story of her own which was indeed strange.  She lived in southeast Oklahoma where the hills grow steep and thickly wooded.  She was of Native American descent and so shared many of her own beliefs about the more unusual things encountered in life and through history.  Then she shared a story from her small corner of the world. 

It was the early 1960's and there was a small gas station hugging a small narrow road amid hairpin turns and surrounded by the thick forests and steep shadowed hillsides.  The woman and her new husband stopped one day for gas and the elderly woman came out and filled the tank until the younger man stepped in to do it.  The woman struck up a conversation with the younger woman as she sat in the old pickup. 

The conversation went something like this:

'You got any kids? I got me a boy and a girl inside. They have to stay in there. They can't come out. Not safe for them at all. You wanna come see?'

The younger woman stepped out to be polite and followed as the woman tottered over to the door into the house at the side of the station.  The smell caught her attention first. It was strong and smelled like wet dog and worse.  Sorry she had gotten out she tried to excuse herself but the old woman dragged her forward. Inside, there was a cage in a corner of the room with a small creature sitting in it covered with hair.  A similar creature sat in front of a small screened television showing a grainy cartoon.  This one was wearing a t-shirt and jeans too short in the legs.  His big hairy feet were without shoes.

"I found 'em in the trees up yonder a winter ago. I'd seen them before in the forests and down by the river. The mama, well she was a human but the daddy was just like them.  He disappeared. The mama was dead and they were starving. So, I brought 'em home. I expect I'll send them back there pretty soon; I'm getting pretty old you know..."

The couple drove off after that.  Sure enough, the old woman did die soon and the house, according to people the young woman asked, was found empty of any other living creatures...just an empty cage in the corner of the room and a pile of old children's clothing.

I thought of that story when watching a documentary on History that suggested what we call Bigfoot might be a lingering species of something similar to a Homo Hidelbergensis - a species known to have been still in Asia when the crossing of the Bering Strait were made.  Thus, making it possible they too make that trek into North America.  This opened up the possibility of widespread native tales of interbreeding with the creatures might be based on real events.  Closer to humans, mating could happen with those incredibly tall humanoids. 

Although the tale may be a tall one crafted by a woman pulling the leg of a visiting author of the arcane, it might be mis-identification of someone suffering from a medical condition known to produce long hair over the body or it might - just maybe - have a kernel of truth in it hinting at something truly amazing and incredibly strange.

Early SE Oklahoma Explosive

Between mining disasters, gas line breaks, industrial accidents and oil field happenings, Southeastern Oklahoma was pretty explosive.

In the 1920's alone there were numerous reports of explosions related to one, all, or a combination of the elements in a minimum of six locations and the pages of newspapers were filled with similar accidents from other states.

In Poteau in Sept. of 1929 an explosion rocked a mine jetting workers out the opening and horribly mangling those who remained inside. Those killed included  Jeff Shelton, William Cates. Seven others were listed as missing, a Herman Cureton, Willoughby Wells, Bob Hanson (Jenny Lind, Ark), --Howard, -- Smith, and two unidentified miners.  In 1906 this same area had been devastated by a similar incident.

In Tulsa, an explosion at a plant, rocked the entire city and frayed nerves. Several oil derricks exploded usually with no loss of life. 

In Bristow, in March an explosion killed  Patrick James Hurley (or James Patrick Hurley) in the 28 Mar 1929 Coalgate Record Register reported:  "James Patrick Harley, formerly of Lehigh, was killed in an explosion at Bristow, Oklahoma, last Friday night and the body shipped to Lehigh for burial. Funeral services were held Sunday afternoon and interment in the Lehigh cemetery. No particulars of the tragic accident are available."   He was the son of Scottish immigrant Patrick Hurley who owned the Shamrock Mine in LeHigh.   

Also in Bristow, but that August, Jess Hudson, (38) \, an employ of the Southwest Pipeline company was working on a Sunday on a city gas line near the entrance to city park at  West 8th street. The line exploded sending a piece of steel into him and knocked him some fifteen feet.  He died shortly after being taken to the Bristow Hospital. He left a widow, two sons, and a step-son (who was also a member of the crew that day and saw the accident). (Bursting Gas Main Kills Jess Hudson, Tulsa World, 12 August 1929, pg. 2)

THE ST. JOSEPH CEMETERY (Bethany, OK)

A large and very nice memorial stands in the now open area of the cemtery. Gone are the fences and gates and many of the headstones. Most appear to be older adults and may some of the elderly brought there to live in the 1920's. The fact so many died in the 1920's is a combination of natural age and disease which ran rampant through OKC in that time. Other news accounts verify many deaths in the era. On the nice memorial at the center of the area are etched the following names:

Cosati, Angela 1916- 1931

Ayres, Robert 1939- 1943

Brice, James G. 1846- 1923

Burke, Pat 1844-1932

Camthorn, Ann 1879 -1939

Cawley, Mike 1876 -1943

Cozrat, Augustine 1915- 1927

Downey, Ellen L. 1849 -1922

Gard, Paul (Rev.) 1922

Giebel, Ernestine M. 1864- 1939

Hardin, Dorothy 1932- 1943

Hardisty, Frank 1867 -1931

Jacobe, Franickovick 1836- 1933

Keller, Anna (Mrs.) 1849 -1921

Lacey, John 1847 1933 -

Lynam, Michael (Rev.) 1871 -1921

Malone, John Edward 1869 -1939

Morrison, Mary Ann 1853- 1939

Murray, Mrs. K. C. 1873- 1921

Richter, Charles 1861- 1942

Rose, Pearl (Mrs.) 1924-

Stine, John 1857 -1936

Sullivan, Cornelius R. 1868- 1950

Sweeney 1930 -

Teyssier, Fredric L. (Rev.) 1884 -1919

Tracey, M. Joseph 1852 -1929

Triennekens, Wm. (Rev.) 1923 -

Wagner, Joseph 1927 -

Wegner, Edward A. 1904 1922

Wegner, Michael 1860- 1930

Weichart, Theresia L. 1896 -1924

Wooden, David 1934- 1945

The inscription reads:

St. Joseph Orphanage Cemetery
Bethany, Oklahoma

In Memory of All Decedents and God's Cherished Infants and Children
We Offer Special Homage to Them For This Is Sacred Ground The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City

Also seen at - http://genealogytrails.com/oka/oklahoma/st_joseph_orphanage_cemetery.htm (Includes nice picture of the memorial itself)

THE BLOODY AX: THE CONTINUING SAGA

One morning in mid November of 1917 the busy mining community of Virginia, Minnesota had its peace shattered by the discovery of the grisly murders of local inhabitants.   What would become known as the " Alar-Trepich Axe Murders" would stir to new life old prejudices, nearly forgotten fears of other slaughters, and destroy the fragile sense of community struggling to emerge from ethnic enclaves and racial fears.

It was the early days of WW1 and the Austrian born victims were walking a tightwire in the community with Anti-Germanic sentiment on one hand and Pro-Austria elements on the other.  The local news paper quickly drew the line in the sand by noting the victims had shown their support of the American war effort by buying liberty bonds. Mr. and Mrs. Alar and Peter Trepich, a boarder, were murder Nov. 16, 1917 by ax blows and knife wounds. The murderer apparently paused in washing up in the kitchen to write a note warning of similar death to any who supported liberty bounds or the red cross.

Like so many of these mysterious ax rampages across the nations landscape, it started when someone found the bodies...but it has yet to come to a solid conclusion.  It joins the corpus of  lingering and mysterious crimes done by ax-wielding murderers.

JOAN CRAWFORD - TEMPORARY OKLAHOMAN

From the "who knew?" files:  Lucille Leseur, who would become the famous Joan Crawford, was born in San Antonio, Texas.  Briefly, however, she actually lived in the southwest Oklahoma community of Lawton, Oklahoma. She is listed on the 1910 census there with her mother and step-father, Henry J. Cassin.  Cassin ran a movie theater in the Comanche County community.  Their residence on April 20, 1910 showed Henry, Anna, Lucille, and Hal all labeled as "Casson".   They were living at 910 "D" Street in Lawton.

Most published accounts locate the family in Lawton through 1917 and within just a few years in Kansas City.  Soon, however, Lucille's acting career would take off by the 1930's Joan Crawford was a full fledged Hollywood Star.

Doug Dawgz Blog: Marilyn Hudson, Bizarre History Genie

Doug Dawgz Blog: Marilyn Hudson, Bizarre History Genie

Just How Infamous?

There is a fascinating character who comes out of Virginia and moves into Kentucky in the very early days of that region. His moniker is interesting.  I ran across him while doing some genealogical work. I knew right away he could not really be a connection - because we have no one famous!  The man's name is Famous Mortimer (sometimes Mortemer, Mortimore).  Since I have a Mortimore line, I wanted to know 'just how famous was this guy?'  He is a much married man - marrying a Mary Blue and a woman named Fanny and possible others. All of which meant a lot of descendants

I ran across a will out of Loudoun County, Virginia in 1779 where a William Mortimer dies of sudden disease while away from home and his last words are described to the court.  His earthly remains and property were left to a mother named Sarah, a sister named Bethelmere, and a brother named...Infamous Mortimer.

So, is Famous really Infamous?  What is this infamy desirable enough to bear their name or to even self-moniker with such appellation?  Apparently in Hertfordshire in England is one clue...  "The Mortimer Trail is named after the infamous Mortimer" who apparently were powerful in the reign of Edward III and later and who plotted, bedded, and schemed to acquire, maintain and add to their political power but in the end achieved a mere passing few notes in history, "family who have been a clan of Marcher Lords. This family ruled the Welsh borderlands for approximately 400 years, starting in Norman times. One of the most  feared and powerful families, their seat was Wigmore and Ludlow Castle  though  they  governed lands from Normandy and all across England and into Wales. These holders of quite a bit of the most influential of the Norman Earldoms influenced the history and geography of the Welsh Marches." ( http://travel-preparation.myvemma4all.com/?tag=mortimer-trail  and  A biographical index to the history of England by Sterling Yancey McMaster).

Did a line of disenfranchised Mortimer's come to the New World with dreams of new success?  Did "Famous" simply drop the "In-" as better PR?  Did he track into the wild of Kentucky with Daniel Boone like visions dancing in  his head?  The frontier had a tendency to make men into myths based on their acts of valor, courage, or daring.  Sometimes their fame remained and sometimes...as records burned, people died, and moved away....history (as it is so often the case) was simply forgotten.

How did they do that?

In those days before sidewalks, cement, and even available bricks at a reasonable price, how did people walk around their houses when it rained or snowed?  This early Oklahoma photograph shows just how they did it.  Long planks of wood, side by side, formed a crude but workable sidewalk.  Taken about 1910 an older man and woman, a young woman and a young man (about 12 with his bike) pose for the camera.  It was taken in Guthrie, Oklahoma and the exact location or the family is unknown.

OKLAHOMA SWIMMING HOLE (Ca. 1920's)

This smiling family group were caught enjoying a swimming area in Oklahoma (most likely either Creek or Oklmulgee County).  Note there is either a windmill or water tank in the upper right corner of the image and three people at the far side of the pond or lake. 

They are left to right: Jesse Marvin Hudson, Effie A. Ray Conner Hudson, Jess Hudson, and Freeman Conner.  Based on the fact Jess died in 1929 in a gas line explosion in Bristow, Oklahoma and the fact the youngest child was born in 1915, this image was taken about 1920. They epitome of swimming fashion, the family looks to be having a grand time beating the heat in eastern Oklahoma. 

Hudson Family, eastern Oklahoma, ca 1920

Grand Structures of McAlester

Known primarily as the location of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, the historic community of McAlester is today a fascinating community.  In many parts of Oklahoma the custom was to create larger footprints and occasionally rise several stories above the broad streets of Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and other communities. In McAlester there is at work different approaches to the classic downtown. The emphasis appeared to be on smaller footprints but taller and more imposing structures.  The result is a city-scape that seems to lurk and loom over the steep and hilly downtown.  In places, they create dark canyons suggesting plans to recreate a Chicago or a New York amid the tree covered and mine rich terrain of the community.

Grand Avenue UMC

The Grand Avenue United Methodist Church, 1922- is one example of the spirit and structure of the city. The Pittsburgh County Courthouse. The Aldridge Hotel, 1929, has been recently renovated and serves as living space for seniors.  The Scottish Rite Temple (a one time hospital). One has to stop and be in awe of the drive to create such massive, towering structures in the tree covered hills of southeastern Oklahoma. What motivated them? Whose visions were expressed in stone and mortar?

County Courthouse

Scottish Rite

An Intriguing Book

I must admit a weakness for old buildings, mysteries, and vintage times.  So I was interested when I ran across a newspaper piece from March 20, 1955 titled, "Mystery Grips Old Hotel."  

I was further intrigued as I read that Jean Waldschmidt, author of The Mystery of the Old Thorndyke (NY:Thomas Nelson, 1955) was from Oklahoma.  It was apparently a young adult mystery featuring two teen boys who have been sent to take photographs of the soon to be demolished old hotel for their father, member of the faculty of Midwestern University. 

The old hotel, set in Carson City, where cattlemen and cowboys had once both found rest and beauty in old prairies of Indian Territory, was a fading grand dame of other times, had been willed to the university.  Soon after they arrive a series of weird and frightening events begin to happen and the tension mounts. 

Source:

Marable, Mary Hays. "Mystery Grips Old Hotel." The Oklahoman (March 20, 1955):67.

Download here. 

Copies of the title are in the special collections of the Metropolitan Library System (OKC), The Oklahoma Department of Libraries, and Oklahoma State University. Additionally, the Library of Congress has a copy along with some dozen other institutions.

TWO ENDS OF THE WORKER SPECTRUM

Marxism, Communism, and Socialism all lifted high the rights of the "Worker."  Many of the first labor organizations were coming from these political and philosophical stances.  In fact, in Mao Tsetung's little red book, Quotations from Chairman Mao Tsetung ( Peking, Foreign Language Press, 1972)  The page before the title page reads " Workers of all countries, unite!"   It is interesting to note that the Progressive Movement actually worked to do away with the amatuer in many fields ushering in the era of the professional, the scientist, and the skilled worker as platforms of their reform movements. Although both functioning as radical reform organiations they approached the worker from two sides of the issue.  One raised the common, muscled worker with shovel, pick, or hammer to an almost mythic superman position.   The progressives did the same thing with the schooled, trained, scientifically based 'new professionals'. This in many ways would greatly marginalize the 'worker.'  In the middle was the American middle class - a new and trying to grow group - who were as much in the middle ideologically as they were socially and economically.

When Socialists Nearly Won The Presidency

In the years between WW 1 and the Great Depression, the socialist party (sometimes also labeled the progressive but this is generally incorrect)  in the United States made strong inroads.  They had become active in the industrial (mining and rail) strikes of the late 1890's, the farmer's revolts and the Grange movement.  Teddy Roosevelt in the 1912 election has witnessed a hostile and bitter election as the three groups struggled for power.   Some historians consider it a close call.

In the 1920's, they won increasing numbers of elections, gaining supporters from all walks of life.  The 2-party platform of the Democrat and Republican was in severe danger from the growing strength of the  Socialist Party and its candidate Eugene V. Debs.  Although, the group was not as vigorous as in the previous decade, there were enough unsettled voters that it was growing issue. It was so worrisome that FDR actually began to integrate many of the ideas and suggestions from the Socialist Party platform into the his own campaign and the campaign of the whole Democratic Party.  The jobs acts, social security, and other activities of FDR's "New Deal" reforms were all initally (to some degree) part of the platform of the American Socialist Party. In essence, he grafted into the Democratic Party the values and goals of the Socialist movement.   It worked, in the end he was able to attract enough Socialist votes to carry the day and the Socialist Party was a minimal independent  political power for many years after that.

Forced underground in the 1950's and the era of McCartheyism, the party begant to reassert itself in the late 1960's and since the 1980's have run a Presidential candidate almost every term.

Sources for more reading:

Socialism in America

Eugene V. Debs Internet Archive

Early American Marxism

Progressive Era in America

INSANE BY REASON OF AGNOSTICISM?

Agnosticism’s strong right arm, Robert G.Ingersoll, figures prominently in two interesting stories from America’s heartland. 

In Oklahoma, a tale comes about a grave and W.H. Sade, of Douglas, Oklahoma  (http://cybermarsx.mls.lib.ok.us/Folklore/Originals/XI-1_009.pdf).  He was reported to have been an infidel whose home was decorated with art and images depicting religious themes in a most sacrilegious  manner and raised his family to despise all things religious. 

His 15-year-old son, whom he had named after Robert G. Ingersoll, soon came down with an illness similar to appendicitis.  He suffered for many days and spat out curses to his father for raising him wrong and telling him, he would suffer.   This appears to have occurred as he developed strange ideas. The man believed his son’s illness arose from eating a peach. He became convinced his son would grow into a peach after death. When the boy died he had first did not want him buried in the regular cemetery but in a pasture across the road from the Douglas cemetery. His daughter convinced him finally but he insisted in carving a peach in the reverse of the stone.  Years later, she had this moved to his feet and replaced the headstone with a more traditional one.  As of 1936, John Miller reported the stone was still there in the cemetery.

One source did identify a grave in the cemetery which matches the description given,  Robert G. Sade, b. 1881 and died 1897 (http://www.okcemeteries.net/garfield/douglasunion/douglasunion.htm).

Near Joplin, Missouri, a most horrific event was linked to Robert G. Ingersoll as well in 1899 (http://www.historicjoplin.org/?p=635).  James Moss was a 35-year-old worker who was living with his wife and children in an area called the “Kansas City Bottoms.”   A stench led some people to the remains of their camp in a tent where the horrific sight of the mutilated bodies of the youngest child outside led to the bodies of the other two children, the mother and Moss.  Police determined he had killed his family and then shot himself.   A Kansas City paper reported he was attracted to the writings of Ingersoll and his views on Suicide.  A general belief seemed to be that his various views all indicated he was insane.

This all leads to the question - can agnosticism, like extremes in of any belief system, make a person mad?  Is it possible the wide-eyed, ranting, ignorant, superstitious Bible believing or religious extremist may need to move over to allow room for the wide-eyed, ranting,and murderous agnonist?  Opens up all kinds of charector possibilities.

BIG ANN'S PLACE : RECRUITING STATION FOR HELL

Doors from the time period

Although it had been around for at least ten  years, in 1903 'Big Ann's Place' became the recognized center of evil in early Oklahoma City.  A court case which made it to the state supreme court forever sealed its place in the more colorful side of history and presented numerous mysteries as a result. In the court records it is called a 'recruiting station for hell.'   A clever turn of phrase given an area in Oklahoma City, just west of the rail deport and Reno was known as "Hell's Half Acre."  The current convention center and gardens cover the same general area.

'Big Ann' was known variously as Annie Wynn, Annie Wynne, and Annie Bailey.  The reason for the sudden notoriety was the occasion of charges filed against Annie and her employee Maud Davis and George Garrison, concerning the alleged rape of two young Dutch immigrant girls, Ann and Lucy Patt (filed February 1903).  The crime was charged to have been done by a couple of small time would be hooligans, George Garrison and Jim Harman, aka the Arkansas Kid. The location was Big Ann's Place on west 2nd street.

The girls said Annie herself had served them small glasses of beer which was strangely bitter and resulted in almost immediate illness.  As they were led away by the young men they thought they were being taken somewhere to be sick, when instead they were taken to two different rooms and were, they said, raped by their male companions and possibly others.  Yet, later court records seem to paint a different picture of these girls.  Another man was also considered in the rape case, Jim Harman.

Annie Wynn Bailey, or whatever her real name may have been, by this time was well known for having avoided several serious episodes, avoided the long arm of the law, and was flagrantly operating in violation of the law.  Since most of Hell's Half Acre was similarly functioning beyond the law it was not too surprising.  It was suspected the money coming into the brothels, gaming dens, and saloons paid law and judges to look the other way.  

This single year would see Annie's name in the news almost every month.  There were numerous reasons for this.  It was time of growing anti-drink movements with people such as Carrie Nation who was ramping up her activities (she would visit Oklahoma in 1904).  It has been alleged some people were becoming aware that a lot of real estate in Oklahoma City and elsewhere (such as Lawton) was being purchased by this venal entrepreneur. It has been alleged it was this wealth that allowed Annie to have a pass for so many years.  She may have, however, been up against a two pronged attack beginning in 1903 and ending (perhaps) in 1909 when it is believed she left the City for California.  This attack may have been from some of the women she had supervised and trained to help her with her OKC operations, possibly aided by OKC men with a desire to acquire the real estate owned by the notorious Madam.

--Marilyn A. Hudson

IS IT TIME TO SAY GOODBYE TO RACE?

They sit there on most formal forms, little boxes asking people to place themselves into small, political, cultural, and biological boxes labeled 'race'. In the period after various legal battles and social corrections these were helpful to equalize and make fair opportunities to groups who had been marginalized for generations. 

Now, however, with growing numbers of people unable to select simply one box - is the labeling still appropriate?

The American Association of Anthropologists in a statement from 1998 said: ""Race" thus evolved as a worldview, a body of prejudgments that distorts our ideas about human differences and group behavior."

Modern studies in genetics, DNA, and other biological factos have shown we are all more alike than different and that once hard held 'racial' traits are as likely to be found in diverse populations and other 'races'. 

An example is the recent DNA discovery that many of a group termed Melungeon derive from  a mating of a Black sub-Saharan male and European white woman challenge the frail house we call "Race."  Maybe it is a clue we should help blow down the structure once and for all and embrace the fact we are all more than we think we are. 

This group of people - which includes often stories of "Indian princesses", Gypsy, Portuguese, or "Black Dutch" to explain a tendency to dark hair, olive toned skin and dark eyes.  These people, it is believed, kept apart in order to avoid being placed in slavery or denied rights.  Although the initial DNA results indicate only the Sub-Saharan connection, it is unclear how wide the testing was and if other results, supporting the Native American or Portuguese claims, might still be made. 

It still does not diminish the question: should race be eliminated on forms and diminished as  major element in social or personal identity?
Is race actually a shackle that keeps all of society tied to a 16th century idea of human value and an outdated social-political structure of colonialism and hierarchy?

Is skin color, hair type, shape of a nose, or a length of leg really the things we should be using as guides to understanding human existence?

We are shaped more by culture than race and once the culture begins to recognize and accept diversity, celebrate children born of two people instead of two races, and have enough self understanding to known that personal self worth is not based on making someone else feel bad, conquered, menial, or inhuman.

I celebrate anyone who is proud of their ancestral heritages, their cultural roots, and their own God crafted uniqueness. I sorrow with those who have been made to be ashamed of their identity, their looks, their social position, their skin color, or other factors used by manipulators to make themselves feel better by marginalizing others.

It is time, I think, to stop focusing on the differences and begin to celebrate the human species who reside precariously on a small blue island planet in the great cosmic ocean. To begin to understand that simply because one is white, black, brown or any other tone they are not special or minimized. To recognize that racial calls to power, privilege, or prominance are about as sensible as granting all redheads the right to vote but not blondes. It simply makes no sense and is indefensible.

Something to think about....the next time you see those little boxes on those official little forms. Does it really matter? Or, can we all siimply join the HUMAN race and be done with it?