February 15, 2019
Hello ,
I'm packing up for my whirlwind weekend of bookstore visits in the Pacific Northwest. I've been following Seattle's snowmageddon, heard it turned into slushmageddon. I'm crossing-my-fingers-mageddon.
Got my chains. Got my boots. Got a triple-shot mocha in my thermos. Got my husband, best driver ever! Snoqualmie Pass, here we come!
Bear with me, as I take you along on Fran McClendon's journey from her WWII days in Europe, to her antique business in Arizona, to the controversy over a growing market for black memorabilia.
Black History Month Debate: Racist Memorabilia or Educational Artifact?
In late summer of 1943, the Allies won important victories in Italy and New Guinea, and the Nazis and Japanese were retreating.
But the war was far from over and the U.S. Army needed more manpower. Congress voted to raise the status of women in the army from supplemental support to official members of the military.
All over the country, the Women's Army Corps recruited volunteers, telling women they could "free a man to fight" and help win the war.
Fran McClendon went with a group of girl friends to talk with a recruiter and they all decided to enlist.
Fran would end up serving 26 years in the military, first the army, then the air force, posted Korea and Vietnam, and retiring at the rank Major.
But it was her WWII assignment in Birmingham, England, where she discovered glass, meaning fine crystal and china.
Birmingham citizens welcomed the WACs and invited them to tea in their homes and out to restaurants. Crystal and china were everywhere. Fran saw it in shop windows at the weekend markets and soon gained a love of fine craftsmanship.
Many years later, after her military career, Fran went into the antique business. “I love the study of the glass industry and china industry,” she told a reporter recently. Yes, recently. To this day, she runs an antique shop, the Glass Urn in
Mesa, AZ, where she deals mostly in American crystal, but has some glassware from Ireland, Sweden and Germany.
Over the years, the Glass Urn has carried a large variety of antiques, occasionally items made in the image of a black person.
These objects, almost always demeaning, have been manufactured in America since the beginning of the slave trade. The items changed through the decades of history, but with the continuing purpose of reinforcing stereotypes that denigrated blacks.
In the 1950s, everyday items from books like Little Black Sambo to cookie jars and salt and pepper shakers were popular with white people. The spice jars below were recently on sale at an Arizona antique shop.
Many people find these black collectibles offensive. Some see them as historical artifacts of history that can be educational.
As an African-American history professor, Donald Guillory, has mixed feelings about black memorabilia. The items can spark conversation about the negative portrayal of blacks, which might be a teachable moment.
“If it’s anything other than learning the context or teaching about it, why would you want something that offensive, or that overtly offensive, in your home?” He concludes.
Most of customers buying black memorabilia at the Glass Urn have been white, and Fran has seen black customers react to the racist nature of some items.
But she sees it as art. “My husband and I loved art and in art you find all kinds of things."
It's not an issue she'll have to deal with much longer. After forty-years of selling antiques, Fran's preparing to retire.
“I’m downsizing,” she said. “I want to do things and I know I can’t hold on to everything.”
I hope she holds on to at least one set of glassware that reminds her of Birmingham, England, and her time in the Women's Army Corps.
What I find startling is that apparently there's a growing interest in black collectibles, not only antiques, but newly manufactured replicas. A documentary on the topic debuted earlier this month on PBS. Read about it here... Or watch the one-hour documentary Black Memorabilia here...
Really excited to tell you I've been chosen February Author of the Month by School Library Connection, a professional development resource for school librarians. This is an amazing honor for Standing Up Against Hate, and includes an extensive interview with me about the book and my writing.
Read a great book? Have a burning question? Let me know. If you know someone who might enjoy my newsletter or books, please forward this e-mail. I will never spam you or sell your email address, you can unsubscribe anytime
at the link below.
To find out more about my books, how I help students, teachers, librarians and writers visit my website at www.MaryCronkFarrell.com.
Contact me at MaryCronkFarrell@gmail.com. Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. |
|
|
