The clothing attire the African American wore in the 1950's.
Mary Church Terrell
- Me in front of one my favorite African American paintings. “The Problem We All Live With”
On May 22nd, I went to visit “The African American Museum” located in Wilberforce, Ohio. In this museum, it has three main exhibits to observe and learn about the African American Culture. A famous African American painting called “The Problem We All Live With: School Integration” is important to send a message to not live in segregation and to have the equal opportunities as everyone else. In the 1950’s, the African American culture was frowned upon society in society and encouraged to live in separate areas away from the white communities. These communities were divided into their own grocery stores, restrooms, and education.
The African American culture diffused their own music “Jazz” from the New Orleans areas to spread to the Southern area. There were not many jobs for African Americans during this difficult time. Many African American men and women worked as tailors, gas stations attendants, and lower employment to help the middle class families. The African American cultural realized how “segregation” was degrading their rights as an individual need to take a stand to speak the truth for equal opportunities. For example, in the exhibit, there were African American leaders who made a difference within the Southern communities. One of the leaders was Mary Church Terrell, she was a famous African American leader who fought for her rights to become a true educator, author, and civil rights activist. She was the president of the NAACP who organized the civil rights movement through the Southern region of the United States to speak “the voice” of ending Jim Crow Laws against African Americans.
The African American painting I addressed at the beginning has significance to the era of segregation. In the painting, there are two body guards walking by a young African American girl who wanted to attend an all White school and details how the Southern community reacted by rioting against the notion of integration. The young girl who was illustrated in this painting was Ruby Bridges. She had the ambition to make a difference by learning how to read, write, and solve math problems. She attended an all white school that had no rules to integrate African American students. Ruby wanted to make a difference and sent out a message to all colored students who had the disadvantages in their education to not give up and to take a stand. In 1965, a famous Supreme Court Case, “Brown vs. School Board of Education”, fought to end all segregation in public schools to give each student the same opportunity to learn the same material and to learn how to be successful to achieve employment opportunities.
After walking through all the exhibits, I was drawn to the 1950’s exhibit to learn more about how segregation diffused through the African American cultural, not just to the people in the community. The painting is one of my favorites for reading the information about how this young girl made a difference to earn a decent education and influenced others to do the same. I do believe this painting defines the transformation form segregation to integration by speaking the truth and taking a stand for equal opportunities.
Reference to:
http://ohsweb.ohiohistory.org/places/sw13/index.shtml#hours
Painting
Steve Urkel Doll
