Sunday, October 6, 2013

Fr. Dickson Cemetery work day

9:00 am Blessing of the Baby Heaven memorial and commissioning of workers

9:30 am  Planting of the memorial tree, plants and flowers, general clean-up

(Come when you can...leave when you want)

845 South Sappington Road  63126

Bring trimmers, lawn mowers, hand trowels, bulb planters, compost or worm castings. Wear appropriate gardening attire.

A group will be gathering for breakfast at The Barn restaurant (next to the cemetery) at 7:30 am and again for lunch around 12:30 pm, if you would like to join us! (The Barn welcomes gardening attire.)

Sunday October 13, 2013

10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Sappington Historic House Complex

845 South Sappington Road

Parking available for Grant's Trail or the House Complex

We are doing this:

1) to pay tribute and celebrate the spirit and determination of our

               fellow African Americans

     How? Developed walking tour featuring biographies of black                    Americans from every generation.

2) To expose youth (especially at-risk black youth) to the contribution

              of African Americans

     How?  Invited students of Webster high school Peabody teacher of        the year, Julie Burchett, to help with the tour.

              Invited north city youth from Angel Baked cookies to hand out

              their cookies at end of tour (please engage them, this is part of

              the Angel Baked mission)

  3) To partner with a black organization, win their trust, learn from

               their experience and hopefully, build from there.

               How? By helping Ernest Jordan and the board of Friends of

               Fr. Dickson, all black Americans.

4) to learn from history and try to connect with present issues

               How?  By gently introducing the mass incarceration issue into

               our tour, citing Michelle Alexander's book, The New Jim Crow,

               raising awareness in the community.

To the whole SCF community: Thank you for all the contributions of time, money and prayers that have made this communal work happen and have made it so much fun! 

African-American of Endurance:  

researched by  Sue Binzer

Madam C. J. Walker   

1887-1919

The daughter of former slaves, Madam C.J. Walker, was born Sarah Breedlove in Louisiana.  Her elder siblings were born slaves; Sarah was the first of her family to be born into freedom. She was orphaned at age 7.  By 14, she married to escape the brutality of her brother-in-law.  She had only one child, a daughter.  

After her husband died, she moved to St. Louis to join her four brothers, who had become barbers. There she developed a scalp condition which prompted her to explore commercial and homemade products.  She married Charles Joseph Walker, changed her name to Madam, and began marketing Madam Walker's Wonderful Hair Grower, which she said was revealed to her in a dream.  For a year and a half, she and Charles sold products door-to-door in the South.  She moved to Indianapolis and built a factory and school to train black saleswomen. These women became known as "Walker Agents" and built their ranks to 15,000.

Madam empowered these young black women by supporting their educational advancement.  Through her own achievement, she became the first female millionaire in the country.  She moved to New York and continued her philanthropic and civil rights activism work there. Two years before her death, she held one of the first national meetings for business women in the country.  She died in 1919 at the age of 51 and is buried in New York, although there is a memorial to her in Fr. Dickson Cemetery.  On her death, two-thirds of her fortune was donated to black charities.  Her business continues to this day and can be found on the web.