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It has been my intention to focus all my July #genealogyphotoaday posts on Strieby Church Cemetery, I must add this #memorial and #monument at New Zion Cemetery in neighboring Moore County, NC. I’m afraid I don’t know any more about Sandy than is written here. It is quite unusual to see such a prominent monument from the white community for community members of color who usually worked on the farms and in the homes of the white community. #gpad_feature #genealogyphotoaday #moorecountync https://www.instagram.com/p/CRxvKTqMGjI/?utm_medium=tumblr

Happy Birthday in heaven to my mother, Margaret Lee Williams (1914-2012). My father always had lots to say about my mother’s birthday. His own mother died on 28 March 1914. He liked to say she was reincarnated in my mother the next month when she was born. My mother was, like his mother, strong-willed. It was a running joke between them. That’s okay. He adored her and they stayed married 47 years until his death in 1982. #genealogyphotoaday t#gpad_feature https://www.instagram.com/p/BwfN6gIAeIr/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ylqtgevan5ic

#genealogyphotoaday my parents and my mom’s sister (Vern Lee-Means) and husband (Paul Oden)are “dress”-ed! They were at a formal dinner dance. My mother, Margaret L. Lee-Williams, was a tailor and made her gown. They went to formal dinners enough that my father, Herbert R. Williams, owned, not rented, his formal tails. This picture was taken circa 1940. #gpad_feature https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwd1V8FgrBB/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ehvadt8yxws

A #genealogyphotoaday was “suit.” Here’s my father, Herbert Randell Williams, circa 1918. He had his suit pants tucked in his socks to make it look like he was wearing knickers. He was 14 at the time. #gpad_feature #genealogyphotoadayaprilchallenge #jerseycitynj https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwdxf5lg_YO/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=pevqqxzgjzjz

This #genealogyphotoaday isn’t about a prank, but it does commemorate my parents’ (Herbert R. & Margaret Lee Williams) anniversary today. They were married 1 April 1935. My father did, however, get a lot of mileage over the years on the basis of this being April Fool’s Day. My parents were married 47years and 1 day when my father died in 1982. My mother died in 2012. This picture was taken circa 1940. Miss them always. Happy Anniversary in heaven. #gpad_feature #missmyparents #africanamericangenealogy https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvt5Xh2AO6m/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1jzbgmudblvn7

#genealogyphotoaday letter “Y” is for Frank Yerby. Frank Yerby was an African American historical and romance novelist, born in 1916 in Georgia and died in 1991 in Spain. Frank was married to my cousin, Flora Williams, but eventually divorced. They had 4 children together. Frank received his degree in English from Paine College and his MA from Fisk University. He started doctoral studies at the University of Chicago, but he didn’t finish. He became a best-selling author of romance novels set in the antebellum south, then began writing historical novels. His “Foxes of Harrow” was an historical romance novel set in the south. It was the first novel by an African American author to sell more than a million copies. It was the basis of a 1947 Oscar nominated film, called “Foxes” starring Rex Harrison and Maureen O’Hara. Perhaps his bes- known historical novel is “Dahomean,” published in 1971. Frank moved to Spain in 1955 to get away from American racism and discrimination. He died there in 1991. In 2006, he was inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame and in 2013, the Augusta (GA) Literary Festival created an award in his honor given annually to three fiction writers. (Photo from Wikipedia). #genealogyphotoadaychallenge #gpad_feature #africanamericanhistory #africanamericangenealogy #blackhistory #africanamericanauthors #blackwriters #augustaga #frankyerby https://www.instagram.com/p/BvamavjAd3c/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1a2hqgrv5hn31

“I” is for Islay Walden, 19th century African American poet, minister, and educator from Randolph County, North Carolina. Though nearly blind, he was an 1876 graduate of the Howard University Normal program. He was one of the two of the first, African Americans to graduate from the New Brunswick Theological Seminary of the Reformed Church in America, located in New Brunswick, NJ. He was the first to be ordained. While there, he ran a very successful school for African American children. He returned to NC with the American Missionary Association where he founded the First Congregational Church of Randolph County as well as Common (Elementary) School. When the community around the church grew, Walden petitioned the government for a post office. It was granted naming the community Strieby, and consequently renaming the church and school. He was the first Postmaster. Walden died in 1884. He is buried in Strieby Church Cemetery. The Church, School and Cemetery site are today a Randolph County Heritage Site. Walden’s two volumes of poetry are: “Miscellaneous Poems Which the Author Desires to Dedicate to the Cause of Education and Humanity(1873)”and “Walden’s Sacred Poems with a Sketch of His Life (1877).” To learn more, go to https://margoleewilliamsbooks.com/from-hill-town-to-strieby/ #genealogyphotoaday #gpad_feature #blackhistory #randolphcountync #blackhistorymatters #blackhistory365 #islaywalden #striebychurchnc https://www.instagram.com/p/Buz_yGdAfN3/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=2cvownjb6v92