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Free Library of Philly visit the West Philly Senior Community Center.

In December 2015, I visited the “Senior’s Enjoy Reading” book club during the holiday season and presented them with a “Library Summer Reading” tote bag containing three brand new books for each member of the club donated by the Haverford Library Staff. The book club members were surprised when Marvin DeBose (Haverford Branch Supervisor) walked into their monthly book club meeting at the West Philly Senior Community Center located 41^st& Popular St. in the West Philly Section of Philadelphia with a bag containing their gifts.

The “Seniors Enjoy Reading “ book club operates out of the West Philly Senior Community Center. My job, as their advisor, is to assist this group with selecting good titles to read and helping them in acquiring enough copies so that the seniors can borrow the books for free through the “Free Library of Philadelphia”. Many of book club members are in their mid-70s age-range. Mrs. Gloria Persia, one of the Free Library most beloved patrons, is the group's leader. She takes on the responsibly of selecting the titles for each month and drives to Haverford Branch to pick up the books for the group. Without her dedication, many of these elderly members would not be able to receive their books. Mrs. Persia and I have been collaborating for the last four years to keep this book club running strong. Mr.Philly Librarian

Haverford Library present a "SOULFUL CHRISTMAS"

Oprah Winfrey’s miniseries Tulsa Riot of 1921

Oprah Winfrey's OWN cable network is developing stages a mini-series documenting one of the ugliest and least known chapters in United States history. Oprah is re-telling the story of the "Tulsa Riot of 1921".

It was once known as "Black Wall Street”. Some of America's most prominent lived in Tulsa, just north of downtown. There were black owned grocery store, clothing stores, theaters and restaurants, but with a few minutes, it was all destroyed.

The growth of the oil industry made Tulsa, Oklahoma a rich town by 1921. Its predominantly black section, Greenwood, achieved a level of wealth that earned its name as the "Negro Wall Street of America."  African Americans comprised about 12 % of the overall population. Whites’ responded violently to the accomplishment of African Americans began organizing "whipping parties" that arbitrarily assaulted blacks on a daily basis.

Tulsa Riot of 1921,that devastated some 40 city blocks in the mostly-black Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

There had also been several lynching in the vicinity of Tulsa, a major Ku Klux Klan hub, and blacks armed themselves for protection. The riot of 1921 was the culmination of these racial tensions.

In 1921, a 19 year old black man named Dick Rowland took a break from his downtown job as a shoe shiner to use the restroom at the top of a nearby building. Sarah Page, a 17 year old white girl who was operating the elevator there, claimed that Rowland assaulted her. Rowland was arrested the following day and incarcerated at the local courthouse.

Before the incident had been investigated, the May 31 Tulsa Tribune reported that Rowland, who was identified only by his color, "attacked Page, scratching her hands and face, and tearing her clothes off." That evening, a crowd of whites began to gather outside the courthouse in response to the paper's assertion that Rowland was going to be lynched.

The sheriff tried unsuccessfully to disperse the crowd, which by 10:30 PM had grown to nearly 2000. A group of 50 to 75 armed black men, who previously had been turned away, returned to the courthouse to help the sheriff defend Rowland. 

One of the white men tried to disarm one of the blacks, a shot was fired, and the two groups opened fire. Vastly outnumbered, the blacks retreated to Greenwood.  

Records kept by the Red Cross estimate that "1115 houses and businesses

belonging to black people had been burned down, and that another 314 had been looted".

Sarah Page refused to prosecute Dick Rowland: follow-up investigation found that Rowland had stumbled into the girl as he was getting off the elevator, and all charges were dropped.

What’s so unbelievable with the Tulsa Riot of 1921 is that all these people lost their life and all those business and homes that were destroyed based on a LIE. Mr.Philly Librarian

Bibliography

• Scott Ellsworth, Death in a Promised Land: The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1982).
• John Hope Franklin and Scott Ellsworth, eds., The Tulsa Race Riot: A Scientific, Historical and Legal Analysis (Oklahoma City: Tulsa Race Riot Commission, 2000).
• Eddie Faye Gates, They Came Searching: How Blacks Sought the Promised Land in Tulsa (Austin, Tex.: Eakin Press, 1997).
• Loren L. Gill, "The Tulsa Race Riot" (M.A. thesis, University of Tulsa, 1946).
• Robert N. Hower, "Angels of Mercy": The American Red Cross and the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot (Tulsa, Okla.: Homestead Press, 1993).
• Mary E. Jones Parrish, Events of the Tulsa Disaster (Tulsa, Okla.: Out on a Limb Publishing, 1998).

THEFOODTRUST.ORG - Free Adult Cooking Classes

Stilettos in the Sun

 

 

Harvey, Nadel (2013) Stilettos in the Sun. Paperback | Nader Harvey Press | ISBN: 978 -0-991-84009 | $12.89 | 344 Pages

Stilettos in the Sun is the story of Roberto Davila, a young engineer-mathematician from Panama. As a boy, his parents send him to live with an uncle and his family in Philadelphia. He is full of trepidation, having never lived outside his hometown, Colon. He spends his days musing over happier times, writing poems and songs as a way to assuage his longing.

If his accent and his being handsome are not enough to make the boys dislike him, he is a diligent student and excels in his studies. He finds that while one can be as smart as he wants in the classroom, he still has the labyrinth of dangerous streets to negotiate.


The story soon moves to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where Roberto is a college student. The story takes twists with the romances he has, one of which is with Euridice, a beautiful and bright Venezuelan woman. They study and live together, until graduation, when she returns to Venezuela with her parents, who discourage any further association with Roberto, as he is too dark, notwithstanding his achievements and ambition.


Roberto throws himself into his studies, continuing through to his PhD in mathematics. Another short-lived relationship, with Isabel, ends with her death. Back in Philadelphia for a visit, he once again meets Yolanda, with whom he has had an on-again, off-again relationship. They rekindle the romance.


But back in Baton Rouge, he falls for another woman. Then, on assignment in Kazakhstan, he meets a Turkish professor and is smitten by her in every way. They make arrangements to meet in Istanbul. In Kazakhstan, he meets several other women who bring to light the ambivalence he harbors: He cannot make up his mind. This confluence of females leaves him in a quandary. He travels to Istanbul, having decided on Sarah, the history professor. But once there he discovers that Sarah has promised to marry an Argentinean doctor.This book is a great Read, check it out! Mr.Philly Librarian

Journey To Manhood - Part II