Thank you so very much for this. I have similar photo albums of the same vintage from my family (white, small town, middle class), and my fear is that no one besides me will ever care about them. I'm so glad that you found this one and took the time to find out about the beautiful people in those crumbling pages--and to share them with us.
6
There is a reference to tobacco being hung in warehouses a along with a link to a photo of a warehouse showing the bales of tobacco on the floor. Tobacco was not 'hung' in warehouses, as far as I know. It was hung in tobacco barns on the farms; in that area of NC it was likely flue cured while hanging in the barns. After the tobacco was cured it was taken off the sticks and taken to the warehouses for sale. The author also refers to someone being listed on records as having a job hanging tobacco in a warehouse. Hanging tobacco perhaps but probably not in a warehouse.
4
Thank you for sharing Eta Mae and Ike's life with us. Such a wonderful story. I haven't had a dry eye all night!
2
What a heartwarming and fascinating journey! Beautiful photos. How wonderful that the photos were able to be reunited with the family members.
4
What a beautiful and well-written story. I really enjoyed peeking at Ike and Etta Mae through the black-and-white photos. Thank you, Annie, for picking up a treasured piece of "trash" and tracking down the story behind the pages.
11
This story needs to either be nominated for a Pulitzer or made into a movie. Compelling storytelling that makes me glad I subscribe. Thank you, Ms. Correal!
24
I loved this piece! I don't know the people in the photos but I know those settings and they resonate deeply. When my mom passed, my siblings and I went through her photo album. My God the memories! my grandpa playing with me when I was baby; my mom and dad bringing my twin siblings home for the first time after they were born; me, my sisters and our cousins in Halloween costumes when we were elementary school; all the pictures from family reunion, block parties and graduations. My mom's album gave me a chance to reexperience all the love captured in those scenes and brought the same tears to eyes then as did this piece. Fantastic! Thank you so much!
10
I loved this piece. Forgotten history. Please write a book about this family's story.
9
Great story! Thank you!
8
I could not stop reading and shed a tear or two before I finished. Ordinary people living ordinary lives with grace and dignity. What a wonderful journey learning about these people.
25
My family migrated from Ireland; this is truly our story too. I feel as if I know Etta Mae and her family and friends. I have so many wonderful memories, just like hers. Your story brought it all back; the clothes we wore, the Irish dances and the close ties where we too passed on information about jobs, apartments and news from Ireland. They worried about the 'whites', we worried if we were fitting in with the Americans, I tried to speak like them and practiced saying my 'th'. We all had jobs, but we worked jobs on the side too, to make ends meet. We really are all the same, just trying to survive with our dignity in tact.
20
This is wonderful! Thank you!
14
This article is like a dream come true! To find the family and learn their history, researching the genealogy. This is what I want to do in my next life! Was her friend Duke, could he be Duke Ellington? So fun and meaningful. Thank you for this gift!
6
This is the kind of reporting that makes me keep reading the NY Times. Thank you.
20
Thank you! This was a heartfelt and heartwarming piece!
What I found so poignant is how many of us, I think, both blacks and immigrants can all relate to Etta Mae's story. I remember growing up in northern NJ outside Newark. We were a large concentration of Slovak, Czech and Polish immigrants or 1st generation Americans who were all forging the American dream together. It wasn't perfect, but a lot of us on working class streets back then had the same closeness and camaraderie as on Lincoln Place.
How so much has changed since then.
What I found so poignant is how many of us, I think, both blacks and immigrants can all relate to Etta Mae's story. I remember growing up in northern NJ outside Newark. We were a large concentration of Slovak, Czech and Polish immigrants or 1st generation Americans who were all forging the American dream together. It wasn't perfect, but a lot of us on working class streets back then had the same closeness and camaraderie as on Lincoln Place.
How so much has changed since then.
7
I think its a masterpiece. It brings some relief to the current shrill from the news makers and lets us think about improving our relationships and discarding our habit of picking sides as in a baseball game.
We are a great country because of people like these, who are followed through this magic history lesson for decades by the author.
Its a counterweight to the uglyness that has emerged in DC.
We are a great country because of people like these, who are followed through this magic history lesson for decades by the author.
Its a counterweight to the uglyness that has emerged in DC.
9
Thank you for your work on this story and the amazing album. You made the people in the photos and the neighborhood come alive and recreated an era.
There's a sadness, though -- how many lives, how many neighbors and neighborhoods do we not see and never know because of separations, discrimination, false barriers, policies, and more.
Again, a heartfelt thanks for bringing this to publication.
There's a sadness, though -- how many lives, how many neighbors and neighborhoods do we not see and never know because of separations, discrimination, false barriers, policies, and more.
Again, a heartfelt thanks for bringing this to publication.
6
Thank you Ms. Correal. For the finding, the hunting, the meeting and the sharing. Simply a sonnet of life affirming, decent moments. Brava!
8
Lovely story. It seems the writer was meant to find the photos and tell Etta Mae's story, and I'm glad he did.
6
She. :)
11
A very touching story! Thank you!
1
Thank you, Annie Correal for this wonderful story. Those folks in the album seemed almost like part of my family that I never knew, and I guess, in a way they were...
2
Just finished reading your story. What fabulous reporting, and what a great story!! I cannot stop thinking about Etta May. Thank you so much Annie Correal for writing and publishing this.
9
What a wonderful article! Thank you Annie Correal for picking the album up, tracking the stories down, and sharing the journey with us.
2
A beautiful story. Thank you.
5
Thank you! Just an inspiring, important to know, story... all of it.
2
Thank you for this, this is my family as well. A working middle class Black family whose story is rarely told. This is normal for us as Black folks, and it breaks my heart sometimes to think that we could be so invisible. Thank you for shedding some truth on us.
11
Thank you for a well written story that took me on the journey with you. I'm from Brooklyn, love in Crown Heights and still have family in Brooklyn.
This story reaffirms why I take pictures of my family and events in my life. When they are put together they tell a story of lives intertwined, of people's happiness despite their struggles.
Thank you for researching this family story!
This story reaffirms why I take pictures of my family and events in my life. When they are put together they tell a story of lives intertwined, of people's happiness despite their struggles.
Thank you for researching this family story!
2
Thank you for an incredible story.
1
Stories like this are why I subscribe to the New York Times.
7
A refreshing read after days of infuriating news
3
Thank you, Ms. Correal.
1
Thank you for this wonderful story. I'm so glad Annie Correal picked up that photo album and wrote about the people in it, for Etta Mae's family and for us.
2
Dear Annie:
Please continue to pilfer garbage drops. Enjoyed your story and the warmth in in your words.
Please continue to pilfer garbage drops. Enjoyed your story and the warmth in in your words.
2
What a beautiful story, what caring and respectful research was done, so lovely to read the history of this beautiful family, to learn more about the times they lived in... thank you, Annie Correal, for your diligent unraveling of the story of these fine people. Loved it! Amazing, that you happened to see the album, that you decided to pick it up, and that this journey is where it took you!!
3
Thank you!
Articles like these are one of the reasons I read the Times. Annie Correal, thank you for this wonderful article.
2
Thank you Annie Correal for a lovely story and your persistence in pursuing it.
2
Oh my god....I want to at once cry and wonder at what happened to us...black people in America.
This album, is like so many in black families. Starting out with photos of rural living...and then city life.
My people came from Virginia too, on my mother's side. My grandfather got a job in plant in Los Angles during WW2, he was too old to serve. Otherwise, he and my grandmother and their five children, lived in various places. TN, VA, OK...and eventually CA.
This is an amazing story, of someone who cared enough about those in the photos, to reunite this album with a family and their memories.
This is one of the most touching stories I've ever read in the NYTimes.
This album, is like so many in black families. Starting out with photos of rural living...and then city life.
My people came from Virginia too, on my mother's side. My grandfather got a job in plant in Los Angles during WW2, he was too old to serve. Otherwise, he and my grandmother and their five children, lived in various places. TN, VA, OK...and eventually CA.
This is an amazing story, of someone who cared enough about those in the photos, to reunite this album with a family and their memories.
This is one of the most touching stories I've ever read in the NYTimes.
12
Thank you for one of the most moving stories I have read in a long time. How good of you to pick up the album; how fantastic of you to become curious and follow up on this long road. The result is a treasure.
2
Does the conviviality of neighbors and sense of community still resonate or is this a bygone notion?
3
Beautiful, absolutely beautiful. When I was a young girl, I took an old family photo album to a boyfriend's house in Poughkeepsie, NY. I left the book there and I think about it often, as I would love to have those old photos again. I can now only hope and pray that someone like this warm-hearted historian finds it and seeks to find the occupants in those old black and whites.
3
Stories like this is why I pay to have a subscription of the Times. The reference to some families migrating to New York reminded me of the story of my father and his younger brother who migrated to Detroit for only a couple of nights from NC but had to return because we didn't have relatives to help them resettle there and they didn't have money to stay.
1
This article was so intriguing ! As a former New Yorker who grew up in Brooklyn, Bed-Stuy, and attending junior high school in Crown Heights, this story took me to a warm
Place in my heart. I take it that the writer of this article is quite young and many of his peers have also never witnessed such photos as these in the article. I have many of my family but not in such defined order as ETA Mae's album. Everything is digital now and the young have no interest in what "used to be". Personally, I love old pictures which takes me back to the era of yester year and to places where I can only imagine what being there in that very moment. What a caring gesture this writer executed as most would have given up early on and would have tossed the album! Thank you for your perseverance. What a beautiful story!
Place in my heart. I take it that the writer of this article is quite young and many of his peers have also never witnessed such photos as these in the article. I have many of my family but not in such defined order as ETA Mae's album. Everything is digital now and the young have no interest in what "used to be". Personally, I love old pictures which takes me back to the era of yester year and to places where I can only imagine what being there in that very moment. What a caring gesture this writer executed as most would have given up early on and would have tossed the album! Thank you for your perseverance. What a beautiful story!
3
I Love This Story.
1
Beautiful story. And thank you for opening my eyes to what was happening during "white flight". It was portrayed to me as negative, as a forced march of white people from this city. Yet it was not. Wonderful folks like this flourished and had amazing lives. Why do we historically-at times-paint black progress as a negative for white people? I think all NYers should read this lovely story. Thank you again.
5
There are so many stories of middle class African-American and Latino families making it here. Imagine if these lives and their struggles had been acknowledged in our newspapers in real time, instead of so many decades later. I feel the same way about the lives of Puerto Ricans in the city; I made sure to get my parents' stories down. If you just relied on news coverage, it was just crime stories and camels in East Harlem on Three Kings Day. A great swath of the city was always ignored; now that metro coverage is disappearing, what stories will we miss in our own backyard today?
5
The story of Etta Mae and her pictures echo my own family's life in 1950s Brooklyn. Only my family were Irish and German whites. Otherwise, the very album itself, the clothes, war time interlude, smiles, portraits, proud new tv, family gatherings are all exactly the same. Amazing to see my family here and how we are all the same.
3
Wonderful story. There are probably hundreds of thousands of untold stories like this and many just as moving. As noted, this is part of black America that whites generally no nothing about and assume doesn't exist. It does. It has been written about by black novelists and others for decades. Perhaps this story will encourage more people to make the record complete, to get out those old albums and fill in the details.
Many years ago I rented the top two floors of a house near, but not in, the Georgetown section of DC. Once I ventured into the basement and was poking around in whatever I could find and came across the wallet of a black man with his driver's license and other photos. I did no detective work to find out who he had been and who the people in the photos were, but I did find one sad, telling feature.
The man had evidentially been arrested at some point in his life and there, inside the wallet, was the record of his release from jail, his clearance papers, as it were, to be walking about in the world. I gathered that he kept that record with him just in case he was stopped by the police and his old arrest record discovered. He had proof that he was a free man. I found it very sad that this man felt he had to carry around the paper to help ensure his future freedom. This, then and now, is part of what it means to some to be black in America.
That paper in the old wallet was a tiny shield, an effort against harassment and being hauled back in.
Many years ago I rented the top two floors of a house near, but not in, the Georgetown section of DC. Once I ventured into the basement and was poking around in whatever I could find and came across the wallet of a black man with his driver's license and other photos. I did no detective work to find out who he had been and who the people in the photos were, but I did find one sad, telling feature.
The man had evidentially been arrested at some point in his life and there, inside the wallet, was the record of his release from jail, his clearance papers, as it were, to be walking about in the world. I gathered that he kept that record with him just in case he was stopped by the police and his old arrest record discovered. He had proof that he was a free man. I found it very sad that this man felt he had to carry around the paper to help ensure his future freedom. This, then and now, is part of what it means to some to be black in America.
That paper in the old wallet was a tiny shield, an effort against harassment and being hauled back in.
corrected:
Wonderful story. There are probably hundreds of thousands of untold stories like this and many just as moving. As noted, this is part of black America that whites generally know nothing about and assume doesn't exist. It does. It has been written about by black novelists and others for decades. Perhaps this story will encourage more people to make the record complete, to get out those old albums and fill in the details.
Many years ago I rented the top two floors of a house near, but not in, the Georgetown section of DC. Once I ventured into the basement and was poking around in whatever I could find and came across the wallet of a black man with his driver's license and other photos. I did no detective work to find out who he had been and who the people in the photos were, but I did find one sad, telling feature.
The man had evidentially been arrested at some point in his life and there, inside the wallet, was the record of his release from jail, his clearance papers, as it were, to be walking about in the world. I gathered that he kept that paper with him just in case he was stopped by the police and his old arrest record discovered. He had proof that he was a free man. I found it very sad that this man felt he had to carry around the paper to help ensure his future freedom. Degrading. This is part of what it means to some to be black in America.
That paper in the old wallet was a tiny shield, an effort against harassment and being hauled back in.
Wonderful story. There are probably hundreds of thousands of untold stories like this and many just as moving. As noted, this is part of black America that whites generally know nothing about and assume doesn't exist. It does. It has been written about by black novelists and others for decades. Perhaps this story will encourage more people to make the record complete, to get out those old albums and fill in the details.
Many years ago I rented the top two floors of a house near, but not in, the Georgetown section of DC. Once I ventured into the basement and was poking around in whatever I could find and came across the wallet of a black man with his driver's license and other photos. I did no detective work to find out who he had been and who the people in the photos were, but I did find one sad, telling feature.
The man had evidentially been arrested at some point in his life and there, inside the wallet, was the record of his release from jail, his clearance papers, as it were, to be walking about in the world. I gathered that he kept that paper with him just in case he was stopped by the police and his old arrest record discovered. He had proof that he was a free man. I found it very sad that this man felt he had to carry around the paper to help ensure his future freedom. Degrading. This is part of what it means to some to be black in America.
That paper in the old wallet was a tiny shield, an effort against harassment and being hauled back in.
8
I absolutely loved escaping into this beautiful story for awhile. You told it with such reverence and yet made it so personal. I feel connected to the family as if I knew them. Thank you for investing in this story and sharing it with us.
3
This is a movie! Titled "The Photo Album", and what a wonderful movie (perhaps documentary?), would be, because this article is wonderful. I hope it can happen.
1
Beautiful. How the middle class has changed. I'm struck by the fact that they were able to have what seems like a pretty decent standard of living on middle class wages. Never happen today.
3
This is just incredible. I, too, have one of those black paper albums, full of family photos going back to the 1920s. My mother would write the descriptions on the backs of the photos—and then glue them in, so even if you peel them off the backing, you can't read what's there. Maddening!
At least, now, I've scanned in and shared with other distant family members many of those old photos. I have more photos, many of which my or younger generations can't identify, and when I go, what will happen to those photos? At least in my case, they won't end up in the garbage.
I remember white flight, which went mostly to Staten Island. In the mid-1960s I worked in an office at 10 East 40th Street with a bunch of older Italian guys, who were so horribly racist. I kept quiet about my own religion, knowing they were all "good" Catholics. "The ----s are coming!" they'd say over and over again.
This was in the days when such racist talk was perfectly fine, as long as you got your work done on time. They were the reason the neighborhoods changed. They were set in their ways, hated blacks and anyone different than they were, and refused to live alongside anyone different than they were.
At least, now, I've scanned in and shared with other distant family members many of those old photos. I have more photos, many of which my or younger generations can't identify, and when I go, what will happen to those photos? At least in my case, they won't end up in the garbage.
I remember white flight, which went mostly to Staten Island. In the mid-1960s I worked in an office at 10 East 40th Street with a bunch of older Italian guys, who were so horribly racist. I kept quiet about my own religion, knowing they were all "good" Catholics. "The ----s are coming!" they'd say over and over again.
This was in the days when such racist talk was perfectly fine, as long as you got your work done on time. They were the reason the neighborhoods changed. They were set in their ways, hated blacks and anyone different than they were, and refused to live alongside anyone different than they were.
3
What a wonderful story. It brings me back to when everyone sat outside in the summer and children played in the street. There is no color in this story just working people living their lives and having fun. I can close my eyes and see my parents and their friends. This story is what we needed in the times we live in today. Thank You!
1
Thank you for this terrific article. The author and the Times Staff are great researchers. The author is a beautiful story teller. I was born in Crown Heights. I am white. I vividly recall both the respect and distance we had for our black and Jewish neighbors. I just learned how much we had in common. The article is a great Brooklyn tale, told as my home borough goes through great change. By coincidence I was going through old pictures and albums this past week.
2
I enjoyed this piece and was touched by the writer's gentle persistence in uncovering the stories depicted in these photos. Thank you for illuminating so much about these individuals, the history of New York, and of our country. We need writers with this type of curiosity and caring.
One of the most beautiful amazing essays I have ever read. Cried my eyes out at the ending. Thank you so much for this.
An amazing and beautifully written article, thank you so much. Having read "The Warmth of Other Suns," I regret loaning it to someone and losing it. Now I must get another copy or keep a print of this article, which is it's parallel. It is sensitive and timely, and truly a beautiful picture of our American Dream come true. I participate in OLLI (Lifelong Learning) courses at Brandeis University and will share this article with others tomorrow.
3
What a treat to read a story that chronicles the great migration of southern Black families mid century to cities in the North East. As the story unfolded, to see mention of my hometown, Wilson, NC, was an added bonus. I wish I had opportunity to share this piece with family that may have remembered the family mentioned. Thank you for posting an intriguing, well constructed story.
2
I loved reading this. Thank you for honoring the people in the album and inspiring me to continue my own familial research.
This is a beautifully written and well-researched story -- almost like a novel or social history. The photos remind me of those of my own parents, who were white but lived in the South, made it through World War II and sent their boys to college up north. The "gentrification" that can tear down these urban black, ethnic or working-class communities is going on here in Chattanooga and a lot of other cities.
Anyone who enjoys the story should try to see the movie "Fences." Denzel Washington produced it, and he has been nominated for an Oscar for best actor. The film is based on the classic August Wilson drama "Fences."
Black, white, Muslim, Hispanic -- we're all Americans.
Anyone who enjoys the story should try to see the movie "Fences." Denzel Washington produced it, and he has been nominated for an Oscar for best actor. The film is based on the classic August Wilson drama "Fences."
Black, white, Muslim, Hispanic -- we're all Americans.
4
This is one of the most captivating stories that I have read in a long time. It should win an award.
4
Wonderful story! Appreciate the writers persistence here, truly beautiful tale was to be told.
1
Here, curiosity in a moment of chance revealed a beautiful window into the past. This story captured two personal journeys, that of the reporter and of everyday life. This is exactly the kind of story I needed to read at this moment, one which stated that there is unexpected wonder and discovery to be found in our daily lives. Ms. Correal, thank you. This is the sort of stuff that should also be part of news. When people look back at us years from now, they will look to newspapers as a source not only for events, but as a source for how Americans thought and lived. This article does exactly that.
4
What a lovely and warm article by Annie Correal on the Black migration to NYC and the families involved. It reminded me when I lived in NYC in the late 1940's and early 1950's in Spanish Harlem with my relatives. My parents migrated to Richmond, VA (when I was 4) until my mother took ill. My two brothers and I (8 yr old) lived with relatives for a yr until my father could established himself in DC as a professional photographer and my mother improved. They were tumultuous times till we were all reunited in DC & then moved to Maryland. But I still fondly remember the brownstone homes and apartments in NY & the Bronx. Roller skating down Amsterdam avenue and into the park by myself was thrilling. What carefree relatively safe times. A. Brookens 1/29/17.
3
What a beautiful story. This was my parents' generation. Although they lived in North Jersey, they spent many weekends at the Savoy Ballroom or playing Whist and Pokeno at the homes of others, who came north from Georgia, like they had done. They still had to face Jim Crow in the north but they made a way to have a good life despite his presence.
2
This is a beautiful piece, one of the best I have read in a long, long time. Wonderful work. Lovely, heartbreaking, joyous, life-affirming.
4
Wonderful article! And one that really hits close to home for me. My grandmother and best friend passed away 5 years ago in January 2012. In the past few weeks I have finally began the process of going through all of her old papers and documents, in an attempt to piece together what I can of our family history. Looking through old photo albums, birth and death records, letters and journals has been an emotional, and yet illuminating process. Despite very real hardship and struggle there is evidence of a very strong and spirited community and lives full of family, love, church, and upward mobility. Thank you Ms. Correal for your diligence and determination to tell such a wonderful story and for reminding us why our personal histories matter.
10
The tale of this incredible journey brought tears to my eyes but ended with a smile and gratitude for Ms Correal's persistence and for the extraordinary tale of warmth, loyalty, and goodness of the neighbors whose lives are chronicled in the album.
3
Wonderful story.
2
Thank you so much, made me tear up. My dad sold our house in Williamsport, PA about that time. I was young, knew nothing, like growing up with a bag on my head. Blacks moving in was reason given. My family dynamic went down since. They remain Republican, I never looked back when I left.
5
The title of the article caught my attention and I thought I would just read a paragraph or two. What a beautiful journey!!! I could not stop reading, just waiting to see how the pieces came together. Thank you for caring enough about the smiling faces on the pages to bring their story to life. Thank you for sharing their story.
7
What a wonderful story! Thank you for your humanitarianism! At the end of the story I found myself in a face full of tears.
4
Thank you for the beautiful piece. It brought tears for a lost and beloved past.
4
Wonderful story and enlightening. Thank you.
1
This story just had me hanging on every word. I enjoy the photos, and the people that look through the photo album. This is a wonderful story.
3
In these dark post-election days it is truly gratifying to read this story about ordinary Americans. Thank you for being persistent in your search. The people you found are very much alive in my imagination.
6
Thank you so much for picking the album up and following through. Yes, an amazing detective job and beautifully written story.
4
I thoroughly enjoyed this piece, which I read from start to finish and looked at every picture. I just wanted to add my gratitude to the writer for taking the time, love, interest and care to create such a touching story.
11
This captures an amazing time in history. It is absolutely fascinating and wonderful to hear about the sense of family, friends, community that existed.
Perhaps this album will one day make its way to the National Museum of African American History. Thanks to the writer and to those neighbors and family who helped her piece this puzzle together.
Perhaps this album will one day make its way to the National Museum of African American History. Thanks to the writer and to those neighbors and family who helped her piece this puzzle together.
7
What a fabulous story! A nice counter-balance to the misery that necessarily arrives in the paper every day. But a story like this (and I don't know if I've ever actually seen another story like this one) makes my day...maybe my month! It certainly makes my subscription that much more worthwhile.
11
I am so glad you pursued this photo album mystery as I enjoyed reading about the families and your journey to get to the bottom of the story. What great memories for all the people involved to relive. Thank you for sharing as I learned a lot about that time in history.
7
What a beautiful story. I'm 66, I have an album like this and pix as well, my Mom, Dad and her sisters and brothers. My dad wasn't around long, but my Mom, her brother and sister bought a house together in Highland Park, MI. She had one more brother in Detroit and one in Cleveland. My Mom outlived her brothers and sisters; when she was no longer able to live by herself she moved in with me until she passed at 91.
I would not have dreamed of moving to another city and leaving my Mom,, although I moved to D.C. a month after she passed. But my kids left me, and Detroit years before that. Wry amusement now that although I'm still working full time at 66 they're trying to get me to retire and move to Atlanta with them I'm still holding out but I guess history repeats itself.
I would not have dreamed of moving to another city and leaving my Mom,, although I moved to D.C. a month after she passed. But my kids left me, and Detroit years before that. Wry amusement now that although I'm still working full time at 66 they're trying to get me to retire and move to Atlanta with them I'm still holding out but I guess history repeats itself.
8
I'm a glass half empty guy. The family was pushed out by a wealthy white family or investor and they had to throw out physical possessions and be left with memories of better times
According to the story, none of what you imagine happened. I urge you to read the story. It's full of interesting memories and is a beautiful story.
1
The owners of the album died, they were not pushed out by anyone. other family members lived out of town.
What a wonderful story. After all of the sadness and fear of this week, this story gave me hope for humanity. Thank you for your persistence in tracking this history.
21
I was going to write something similar but your comments said what I was thinking.
I hate to say it, but family toss things all the time. I was at an estate sale, the woman's father was in a nursing home, and she was selling her grandfather's college diploma. Knowing the hard work and sacrifice that goes into earning those pieces of paper, I was appalled. But, go to any Goodwill or Salvation Army store. Heck, look on eBay. Marriage certificates, photos, diplomas, family bibles... I used to use Ancestry to let people know something was for sale, but even though I stated I wasn't the seller, I'm sure no one believed me. One man asked why he should pay $5 for the original framed marriage certificate, with pictures and lockets of hair, when he could get the same information free from familysearch.org. I call such people name collectors.
This story reinforces my mantra, NO ONE ever led a boring life. NO ONE. I cringe when I hear "just a farmer" or "Just a steelworker." No one was "just" anything, and if people aren't interested in the stories, perhaps they need to find an interest other than genealogy, which isn't just matching names for lineage societies, whose members tell you "Aunt Edith did all the research," when asked about their ancestor, and can tell you nothing about him/her. It is about tracing the paths and telling the story. Research is meaningless unless the story is told.
I copies of the pictures, and the article, were given to the appropriate historical societies. History is also to be shared.
This story reinforces my mantra, NO ONE ever led a boring life. NO ONE. I cringe when I hear "just a farmer" or "Just a steelworker." No one was "just" anything, and if people aren't interested in the stories, perhaps they need to find an interest other than genealogy, which isn't just matching names for lineage societies, whose members tell you "Aunt Edith did all the research," when asked about their ancestor, and can tell you nothing about him/her. It is about tracing the paths and telling the story. Research is meaningless unless the story is told.
I copies of the pictures, and the article, were given to the appropriate historical societies. History is also to be shared.
21
I love the story of the photo album and the journey taken by the person who ended up being the keeper of the album of Etta Mae's life. It's the individual journeys which tell the stories of our community humanity.
5
This was the first article I read in today's paper. After a week of horrible news that affects both my personal and professional life, I slipped into this like a comfy sweater on a cold day.
This is a valuable reminder of the America I know and want to know better.
Thank you.
This is a valuable reminder of the America I know and want to know better.
Thank you.
13
amazing research and tenacity on this. the highlighted cultural and historical context is fairly thorough. it would have been perfect had there been a substantive paragraph on what is the latest chapter in that neighborhood's story. that neighborhood, and that block particularly, were the genesis of a targeted effort by real estate interests to turn that side of the park into a mirror image of Park Slope. and although Etta Mae lived her life out on that block, tens of thousands of people of color and of lesser economic means have been or are currently being priced out of their neighborhoods all across this city. this is effectively "white return." but "white return" seems more benign as a term than "white flight" with none of the racist implications. the argument is, people are moving where there are more affordable rents. yet Harlem is turning white at an alarming rate. but no one would dare venture into Brownsville or Hollis....yet. when exactly is the point where a neighborhood is sufficiently white to start to move in? when was that point for author whose knowledge of black people seems limited at best. I mean she's never seen a black family photo album?
2
Thank you for a beautifully written and loving story. It speaks volumes about the human spirit and friendship.
8
Thank you for this beautiful story. So many of us ignore the ordinary things we see in our lives.  With the simple act of picking up this treasure you, Annie Correal, have given me hope. Hope that even in the dark times of segregation lives such as Etta Mae and Ike can flourish.  Reading the other comments confirms that the other consumers of this article fell just as I do.  With that in mind, I hope our feelings of enjoyment can be passed on to the remaining family members. They are truly a piece of Americana that needs to be shared.Â
6
What what a sweet and remarkable story of coincidence and the thread of Etta Mae holding it together across generations and decades of history.
2
What a beautiful project you undertook and completed for this special family! And to think that it all began with something in a garbage can. Sometimes I hear of someone finding albums like this in a thrift shop, but never have I heard of the story being told in such detail and beauty. I just loved reading it!
4
thanks so much to the author for recognizing this treasure, and sharing it with us - I will keep this article always.
5
Thank you for all the hard work you did, to piece this beautiful story together!
I am reading The Warmth Of Other Suns, and just saw the film, Hidden Figures.
Every person needs love and a reason tho live, no matter what your DNA is.
I am reading The Warmth Of Other Suns, and just saw the film, Hidden Figures.
Every person needs love and a reason tho live, no matter what your DNA is.
3
Beautiful article. Fitting testament to lives well lived of some "ordinary" New Yorkers.
2
Without knowing whence we came, we cannot know who we are. To kill one man, one bullet will suffice. But to destroy an entire culture, one must wipe out the past.
American slave owners like Jefferson not only took away their slaves' liberty. They robbed them of their history and of their identity. Slaves were renamed after their white masters and mistresses, sold and bought, sold and bought again. There had been no literary tradition in the West African cultures, and the Atlantic Slave Trade wrecked the oral storytelling that had passed on down through each successive generation a list, learned by repetitive rote, of one's forebears, and that gave the listener, young and old, a renewed sense of his or her place in their family, clan and tribe, time and place.
Consider by contrast the Jews, whose close attention to the written details of their own history has maintained the Jewish identity through more than two millenia of captivity in Babylon, persecution by the Latin and Greek Churches, hardship and extermination in the camps.
When we throw away a family photo album, we do more than throw away a worn out trinket, a broken kitchen device, or an old car. We throw away a vital part of ourselves.
Those who do not recognise the importance of the past will fail to see the importance of the present and of times to come.
This beautifully researched and told tale immediately reminded me of Shooting the Past, created by Stephen Poliakoff, the child of Jewish immigrants to the UK.
American slave owners like Jefferson not only took away their slaves' liberty. They robbed them of their history and of their identity. Slaves were renamed after their white masters and mistresses, sold and bought, sold and bought again. There had been no literary tradition in the West African cultures, and the Atlantic Slave Trade wrecked the oral storytelling that had passed on down through each successive generation a list, learned by repetitive rote, of one's forebears, and that gave the listener, young and old, a renewed sense of his or her place in their family, clan and tribe, time and place.
Consider by contrast the Jews, whose close attention to the written details of their own history has maintained the Jewish identity through more than two millenia of captivity in Babylon, persecution by the Latin and Greek Churches, hardship and extermination in the camps.
When we throw away a family photo album, we do more than throw away a worn out trinket, a broken kitchen device, or an old car. We throw away a vital part of ourselves.
Those who do not recognise the importance of the past will fail to see the importance of the present and of times to come.
This beautifully researched and told tale immediately reminded me of Shooting the Past, created by Stephen Poliakoff, the child of Jewish immigrants to the UK.
8
Fortunate people to have had so many close friends and relatives and the rich social life they possessed.
3
What a beautiful essay! And what a wonderful bit of serendipity that on a city street joined a family history with an open and inquisitive mind. We (people) have moved our country on the issue and recognition of gays/lesbians as real people with life expectations that are common to us all. First we feared the "otherness". Then as more gays came out, we realized they were our neighbors, our peers, our relatives, our friends.
It is time that we recognize that the racial divide and discrimination can be minimized when we see the sameness of people of all races and ethnic identities. We fear that which we do not know.
A quote from Josephine Baker: The white imagination is sure something when it comes to blacks.
When we don't have to imagine, but instead realize that we all love the same, create our children the same way, mourn the same, dream and hope for the same peace and achievement in our lives, perhaps we can bridge the divide between us. When we can really know each other, we can surmount the fear and replace it -- not with tolerance or condescension, but with understanding, appreciation and love. There will always be bigots and racists, but the more we know about each other, the fewer of them will be able to have any meaning in our lives -- and the richer we all will be.
It is time that we recognize that the racial divide and discrimination can be minimized when we see the sameness of people of all races and ethnic identities. We fear that which we do not know.
A quote from Josephine Baker: The white imagination is sure something when it comes to blacks.
When we don't have to imagine, but instead realize that we all love the same, create our children the same way, mourn the same, dream and hope for the same peace and achievement in our lives, perhaps we can bridge the divide between us. When we can really know each other, we can surmount the fear and replace it -- not with tolerance or condescension, but with understanding, appreciation and love. There will always be bigots and racists, but the more we know about each other, the fewer of them will be able to have any meaning in our lives -- and the richer we all will be.
8
Unless the author didn't mention it I didn't see any mention of police, jails and prisons. No one mentions that someone was addicted to drugs. No one had been shot or otherwise wounded.
Instead I noticed that everyone went to work some in the hot steamy garment plants pressing clothing. Hair dressers were mentioned. One man owned a bar.
Eight of them formed a club and held dances. The photos show people who knew how to dress and behave in public. The homes were maintained.
What happened? I imagine the period between that time and gentrification it started to look like my old neighborhood in Bushwick. The Brownstones on Bushwick Avenue started to really look bad. Some were boarding houses. Police always seemed to be at some house. Drug dealers all over the place.
What happened?
Instead I noticed that everyone went to work some in the hot steamy garment plants pressing clothing. Hair dressers were mentioned. One man owned a bar.
Eight of them formed a club and held dances. The photos show people who knew how to dress and behave in public. The homes were maintained.
What happened? I imagine the period between that time and gentrification it started to look like my old neighborhood in Bushwick. The Brownstones on Bushwick Avenue started to really look bad. Some were boarding houses. Police always seemed to be at some house. Drug dealers all over the place.
What happened?
1
The "Great Society" happened. LBJ and his cronies decided to create a permanent underclass which would vote Democrat in order to get a few free scraps to ease their misery, and they would then vote Democrat in perpetuity. Mentioned in this article were many workers, and intact families and the mention of an adopted daughter. When people earn money to pay for their own support, they are careful with their money. When the husband is sent out of the home and the female breeds with every stray passer by in order to produce more children to make the welfare benefits larger, the life shown in these beautiful photos disappears.
1
Thank you for publishing this story. It's wonderful on two levels--the story of the family pictured in the album and the story of the finder's search for them. These people lived through an epochal period in American life. If you enjoyed their story here, I recommend "The Warmth of Other Suns" by Isabel Wilkerson. It chronicles the Great Migration from the agricultural South to the industrial centers of the North, Midwest and West.
4
Thank you for sharing this wonderful story and enriching all our lives.
2
THANK YOU, for the most wonderful piece of writing I've read anywhere in years! (And I used to live near Church & McDonald on The F Line in Brooklyn for a very long time myself. AND...I would have picked up that photo album, had I seen it.)
6
This had me teary by the end. I love photo albums and hate when people only store their photos in a cell phone. I can't remember how many times the phone are lost or broken and that record is lost. I so enjoyed the work the author did in tracking down this story. Thank you so much for writing it.
1
A fascinating and wonderfully well written history of lives and times. Ms. Correal is a sensitive and caring detective. Made my day.
4
this was real life: the joys illustrated and the troubles implied. the people and the homes were beautiful, the dignity real and the lives so familiar. are these truths still alive and lived somewhere in our country today?
2
¡ Qué texto tan hermoso y conmovedor! I remember these photo albums of my childhood. Many puertorricans families moved to Brooklyn in our first migration. My husband's grandmother and aunt lived there for decades. Later they moved to Florida fleeing the kind oof place their neighborhood has turned out. Love the care this writer took to recapture a moment in history, and also to revisit the lives os Ike and Mae. He became their son.
3
This could have been my family's album although their migration from the South took them from Louisiana to the Bay Area shipyards of California in the early 1940s. My parents had every intention of returning to Louisiana where they had already built a house on a large lot. Somehow, while they went back to New Roads and New Orleans to visit relatives, they never returned there to live. They too carved out a community that was in their case, Creole-speaking and revolved around dances (for which everyone was elegantly dressed) with zydeco bands, bridge clubs for the ladies, church - in our case Roman Catholic - with weddings, baptisms, and First Communions.
5
A lovely story and beautifully written.
1
What a relief it is to read such a story and see these photos as this scary year gathers its terrible momentum. Every year must have been scary for these people but they abided, lived their lives, loved one another and helped each other out. This is all that any of us can really do. Thank you for this.
3
This is the Pulitzer-worthy journalism we have come to expect from the Times.
Annie Correal's work here is a gem.
Thank you!
Annie Correal's work here is a gem.
Thank you!
6
That was wonderful, touching, and food for so much thought ... emotions coursing all the while, about Etta Mae and her family, about myself and mine ...
2
This is an incredible article written with such respect and warmth. I feel myself 40 years from now as I read this piece. I'm 42. My partner and I bought (and still live in) a beautiful brownstone in a changing Stuyvesant Heights 10 yrs ago. We are both 1st generation Americans of West Indian immigrants. Our parents made it here, we are trying to make it here. As we witness the change in our neighborhood, for all it's good and all it's bad, I know it's just a cycle. And, in a very similar way, this piece stirred up the same existential questions for me, of will I be here in that next cycle? Will my Love? What will it look like? Where will people who look like me fit?Should we all be so lucky to have an Annie in our neighborhood then, a perfect embodiment of the truth that we are all part of each other's history sharing a physical space that transcends time. If, as neighbors, we can start from there, maybe then we can, actually, truly see one another...and that's a fine place to begin.
Thank you Annie.
Thank you Annie.
5
Thank you for this story I was just thinking about my families pictures and nick nack I'm an only child and my moms sick now but your story gave me hope maybe our story can continue somewhere. I believe this is a reminder to all people don't let your family history just fade away.
1
Great piece. What a nice story. Thank you
1
Born in the last year of WWII, your beautifully written article deeply touched me. It warmed up my heart and brought back a lot of memories. I read it from the beginning to the end. Thank you Ms Correal. I really loved it. Thank you so much.
May God Bless you always!
May God Bless you always!
1
Thank you for sharing this story. All of these wonderful people lived rich lives and their story can live on because you followed your curiosity. I hope Etta Mae and Ike are somewhere smiling because we know them.
1
timely piece, the eternal immigrant. an immigrant's story
1
My 12 year old daughter and I were enraptured by your article "Searching for Etta Mae Taylor." We were blown away by the effort and research that obviously went in to such a detailed and fascinating story about a time in our city with which were not familiar. Kudos to a country whose press is so professional and enlightening. Shame on those who decry the integrity of the press, the most effective check against corruption, ignorance and alternate facts. Keep up the good work and thank you again for that article.
6
Beautiful story - glad you were able to write and share it.
1
Lovely story but I wonder in this electronic age how many other photo albums like this have ended up in the trash with no one to pick them up and tell their st0ries? Who will still care after we die?
1
Loved reading this piece. It was mesmerizing. Obviously , the photos told a story that needed to be unearthed. Thank you for your due diligence and sharing Etta Mae's story.
3
I forgot where and when I was, reading this article. What a magical story, all the more so because it is real. Thank you.
1
What a moving, beautiful piece! It makes me think of my childhood in Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn in the '60's and '70's, and want to go back and "interview" my mother on tape to record her memories...
1
Yes! My grandparents moved from the South, lived in Harlem then settled in Crown Heights. I need to document their story! They too were came to NY in the 50's.
Thank you for writing this story and capturing/preserving such rich history. Envious of New Yorkers who are fortunate to have such talented journalists.
1
A beautifully written story of perseverance, respect and love. I am working with black veterans to save the Mountain View Colored Officer's Club at Fort Huachuca, Arizona built as a part of the largest concentration of African American army personnel during World War Two. I hope that Ms. Correal and others who are interested will contact me. or Google Mountain View Colored Officers Club for additional information.
2
I chair the Department of Art Conservation at the University of Delaware; my field is photograph conservation. For nearly four decades, I have had the great privilege to advise families and collections worldwide - from Benin to Bogota and Beirut - on the care of their photographic treasures. These images – like those pictured in the article - connect our world in powerful ways. For those inspired by this wonderful story, please ensure your photographic albums (black-and-white and color) are stored in acid-free boxes and protected from high relative humidity and temperature levels. Store them in an interior closet, for example. Consider scanning to share digital copies with others (be very careful with the binding when doing so) but preserve the original albums as an artifact to be cherished today and into the future. If the album pages are disbound, house them in clear polyester or polypropylene sleeves. (Polyester is more rigid and may be preferred but both plastics are safe.) Handle the pages gently as they may be brittle. Do not separate the photographs from the album pages – they tell a story together. Contact the American Institute for Conservation (http://www.conservation-us.org/membership/find-a-conservator#.WI0rq2frvS0) for additional preservation advice or reach out to conservators regionally. We are honored to offer our assistance in any way possible.
4
Seldom do I have the attention span to finish an entire article, but I was tremendously interested in this one. What a find in the trash and what great sleuthing to get to your goal to find out the story behind the pictures. My mom is 90, in poor health, and I've been going through her enormous pile of photos, sorting and discarding. Who knows what will become of her albums? Thanks so much for this story of black mid-century America.
3
Your article reminded me of my parents and led to many fond memories. Thank you for this excellent piece of journalism.
1
I can't thank you enough for this article. Reading it is like flipping through my own family history, as my maternal grandparents--who died when I was a small child-- were in the same generation as the Taylors. I have whiled away afternoons perusing old photos of them, their friends, and family in Harlem and the Bronx, marveling at the beauty and richness of their world, despite the fact that their lives were conscribed by racial barriers and limited finances. There was truly something magical about this generation of African Americans, and you have captured it here. Thank you for picking up that photo album.
1
Thank you Annie and NYT for curating Etta Mae's album and for this beautifully written article! There is most certainly a screenplay waiting to be written here. I'd love to see a film about the everyday lives of African Americans like the Taylor's set against the outward migration from the southern U.S., the black experience of Harlem and WW2, the "white flight" from their neighbourhood in Brooklyn. These stories need to be told. Black history is not something that should be relegated to February; these "everyday" stories are meaningful each and every day because they are the narrative of a nation. There are stories like Etta Mae's that are vibrant, gritty, soulful and hint at a raw emotion just below the surface. The last photo in the album, showing the connection between Etta Mae and Ike, brought me to tears. I want more of this. And, for the record, I'm a 40 year old white Canadian woman, the descendent of Irish Catholic farmers.
2
Very sweet, thank you
1
I was having a really bad day. This article helped me to remember good people and good times. Thank you.
4
What a fascinating story! Thank you so much.
1
Beautiful article. I was drawn in by the research work of opening up the stories behind this photo album, as well as the lives revealed through it.
Black family photos and scrapbooks have a long and rich history that anyone drawn in to this album can enter further. The film Through a Lens Darkly http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/through-a-lens-darkly/ tells the story of some. The brilliant essay "In Our Glory: Photography and Black Life,” by bell hooks, explores the importance of black family photos as resistance to hateful and stereotyped images. Ellen Gruber Garvey's book Writing with Scissors: American Scrapbooks from the Civil War to the Harlem Renaissance examines ways black people saved media in albums and scrapbooks.
Black family photos and scrapbooks have a long and rich history that anyone drawn in to this album can enter further. The film Through a Lens Darkly http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/through-a-lens-darkly/ tells the story of some. The brilliant essay "In Our Glory: Photography and Black Life,” by bell hooks, explores the importance of black family photos as resistance to hateful and stereotyped images. Ellen Gruber Garvey's book Writing with Scissors: American Scrapbooks from the Civil War to the Harlem Renaissance examines ways black people saved media in albums and scrapbooks.
5
Thank you for a wonderful and moving story. I highly recommend reading "The Warmth of Other Suns" for those interested in this area of American history.
8
Loved this story ... it was just beautiful! Thank you for your curiosity and for taking the album home. It would have been a shame to miss such a lovely story.
11
Congratulations to the author on a wonderful piece of research and understanding.
9
This is such a wonderful and moving story. I love the history and the mystery of these interesting lives. Thank you for researching this album and writing such a beautiful piece. This is one of the most interesting, informative and descriptive articles I have ever read.
6
Bless you a thousand times Annie Correal for picking up the album and sharing this wonderful story. I hope you will be able to post all of the pictures online?!
If the family doesn't want the album, please donate it to the Schomburg Museum in Harlem.
Melancholy runs throughout story, but so does hope, and history. But then I became sad at the end because I think of how half of my photos are in albums, and the other half are online - scattered over the cloud, a few laptops, smartphones, and hard drives. I'm sad because I wonder what will happen to our images and stories as they are reduced to ones and zeroes in cyberspace...will the AI robots care about us?
If the family doesn't want the album, please donate it to the Schomburg Museum in Harlem.
Melancholy runs throughout story, but so does hope, and history. But then I became sad at the end because I think of how half of my photos are in albums, and the other half are online - scattered over the cloud, a few laptops, smartphones, and hard drives. I'm sad because I wonder what will happen to our images and stories as they are reduced to ones and zeroes in cyberspace...will the AI robots care about us?
14
I first came across your story in the newsfeed on my phone. I wanted to comment on it, so I found it on the website. I was so glad I did, as I was able to see many more of the photos from the album.
What a wonderful job of putting together a story, finding the descendants connected to the album and bringing it all together. I enjoyed it very much and will be looking for more from you.
What a wonderful job of putting together a story, finding the descendants connected to the album and bringing it all together. I enjoyed it very much and will be looking for more from you.
12
Loved this! This is just the type of feature the "failing" New York Times does so well... How wonderful the Ms. Correal followed her instincts and followed the story; it truly touched my heart.
15
Thank you for this wonderful, illuminating story.
6
This article is so beautiful. I treasured it beyond words. I lived in Crown Heights around that same time period and am amazed by this reporter's instinct to pick up this album and thereby enabled us, the audience, this beautiful story to reflect on. An America where no one in Brooklyn locked doors, the landlord didn't raise rent above $200 out of love...precious. Thank you for this.
16
My wife and I like to look in antique stores, and sometimes there are boxes of pictures not unlike the ones shown. Weddings, family portraits, a variety of scenes evidently from the around the US and the world, and we wonder why such pictures end up in a store. Thank you for answering the question in one case, and for sharing the history of one family.
The description of her apartment brings back an experience when I was young, renting a garage apartment in Oklahoma City. I told the landlord that some of the furniture wasn't in very good condition and he said it was no problem to swap it with anything that I found in the house. It was a large house, the landlord was evidently a caretaker, and the residence was one of number of places whose age was becoming apparent as new construction sprang up. The house looked like someone had just left, but it hadn't been lived in for what seemed like a decade or so. I initially felt uneasy as if I was intruding in someone's house, but my curiosity got the better of me as I explored what seemed like a time capsule of an earlier age. In the end I felt humbled by what appeared to be a comfortable, forgotten life.
The description of her apartment brings back an experience when I was young, renting a garage apartment in Oklahoma City. I told the landlord that some of the furniture wasn't in very good condition and he said it was no problem to swap it with anything that I found in the house. It was a large house, the landlord was evidently a caretaker, and the residence was one of number of places whose age was becoming apparent as new construction sprang up. The house looked like someone had just left, but it hadn't been lived in for what seemed like a decade or so. I initially felt uneasy as if I was intruding in someone's house, but my curiosity got the better of me as I explored what seemed like a time capsule of an earlier age. In the end I felt humbled by what appeared to be a comfortable, forgotten life.
7
The warmth our world has lost exudes from this story. I started crying from the minute I started reading this until the end, right now. I was born in the later '50s in NYC and know this neighborhood feeling. Miss it. Glad you revitalized a world with your determined detective work and great writing. That revitalization is very healing.
10
I loved the beautifully written article. I grew up in NYC and as a child immigrated to the US from Asia in the mid-70s. While the era you write about was long gone when I arrived, I could still taste it's lingering flavor as a child growing up. The mixture of outbursts of racism filled with the excitement and promise of the city was something I grew up with as a young child. This article helps me relate to a time that is now a memory, though in some ways not so distant.
9
A few years ago while we were moving my mom to assisted living I came across a letter to my dad who died when I was five. The letter was thanking him for finding the gravesite of a soldier he fought with in the Pacific during WW II. In the letter the young widow mentioned her baby son who would never know his father. Letters were exchanged and it sparked my curiosity enough to search for this family. I thought surely the son (if he was still alive) would want these mementos of his mother and father.After weeks combing through cemetery records,census lists birth and death records miraculously I heard back from the nephew of the dead soldier. He put me in touch with another cousin, the keeper of the family history. She told me that yes the son was still alive but doubted he would want to talk to me. I was so excited to finally have made contact and I was sure he would want to read his mother's words and understand the grief and gratitude she felt. Of course I was also experiencing my own emotions, feeling great pride that my father who had experienced his own trauma in the war (he manned the amphibious tanks that ferried soldiers to the beaches for battle) had taken the time to search for, and photograph, the gravesite of this fallen soldier so that his family would have the solace of knowing where he was buried.But, to my great disappointment the son had no interest in taking to me or seeing the correspondence and the letters remain with me, carefully tucked away in a drawer.
8
Truly moving piece... thank you for bringing life back to these photographs... may they never be forgotten.
1
What a beautiful story! It brings out a family's bitter-sweet experiences spread over a tumultuous swath of American history. For those of us who were not present in that particular time and place, it is all too easy to generalize a whole community's experiences in broad brush strokes. Thank you for the sustained and hard research it took to piece together this detailed and touching narrative.
3
In a time of disheartening news stories every day, I am deeply grateful for this beautiful homage to real people who lived a lovely life. NYT, please make stories like this a priority in the coming years, so that we can be reminded of the humanity and simple threads that connect us all.
3
I traveled back in time. We are all Está Mae's now.
2
Thank you for this moving portrait of a family, a community, and so much more. Through Mrs. Etta Mae Taylor's album (and your research, persistence, and lovely way with language) we see the story of America. Oh, if only the white neighbors had been able to overcome their fears and stick around to welcome and get to know their new neighbors, what a different story we could tell. This weekend is the last time to see the stunning work of Kerry James Marshall, "Mastry," at the Met Breuer. His gorgeous paintings amplifies the takeaway from your article: Black history is American history. Now more than ever is the time to appreciate this.
3
This was absolutely marvelous. So touching. Thank you, you made my month. I have to share it with someone.
4
What a wonderful story to read in these disturbing times. Thank you for caring enough to seek out and find the family
5
This is a beautiful captivating story. Thanks for sharing this with the NYT readers. I hope that Etta Mae's southern family will enjoy and revere the photo album for now but consider donating it someday to the new Smithsonian African American Museum in Washington, DC. Surely the photo album and the background story are a wonderful period piece of the Great Migration and documented history of the United States.
5
Thank you for this story of people who my family could have known. It is beautifully told and the photos are such reminders of a time before we were thinking about things this significant. I will pass it along to many of my friends and family to remind them too.
2
What a nice Saturday morning read with a nice cup of coffee. I commend the author for investigative and journalistic work well done.
And one day for most of us... our digital photo libraries will not resenate with newer generations who did not know us well and cannot relate. They won't purposely delete the old images, but they won't be saved when a hard drive goes bad or a photo storage service is abandoned.
And time marches on.
Most instinctively don't want to be forgotten -- as it could make our lives seem so trivial.
Buy in 2-4 generations, there will only be a few who have any awareness of who you were and the nature of your being.
Thankfully, as we age, we tend to slowly accept the reality, and gracefully pass the torch.
And the memories are proverbially set out on the curb with the trash.
Make time for happienss, bring happieness to others.
And one day for most of us... our digital photo libraries will not resenate with newer generations who did not know us well and cannot relate. They won't purposely delete the old images, but they won't be saved when a hard drive goes bad or a photo storage service is abandoned.
And time marches on.
Most instinctively don't want to be forgotten -- as it could make our lives seem so trivial.
Buy in 2-4 generations, there will only be a few who have any awareness of who you were and the nature of your being.
Thankfully, as we age, we tend to slowly accept the reality, and gracefully pass the torch.
And the memories are proverbially set out on the curb with the trash.
Make time for happienss, bring happieness to others.
3
I really enjoyed this story, and learning about this family's history (and a little more about New York and American history during this period). Thanks to all the Taylors' family members and friends who took the time provide the information; thanks to the author for writing it.
1
Thank you for this wonderful story. I just finished the book Homegoing by Yaa Gysasi and this article enhanced Gysasi's story for me. I'm grateful to you.
1
Extraordinary look into history. I shared it with friends in Wilson, NC and Suffolks, VA. Thank you for sharing it with us!
4
I began my weekend ritual with the New York Times a half hour ago with dread. Scanning the front page, my eyes averting all the disturbing articles of this awful new era we have suddenly found ourselves in, I quickly focused n "Love and Black Lives"....I didn't need to finish reading the title before I clicked on the story and all of these beautiful photo's of rich loves gone by appeared. The story was captivating, the photographs, warm and nostalgic, brought a couple of tears. The sleuth in you Ms. Correal just warmed this heart and I am sure, hundreds more. Thank you for a truly lovely read.
15
What a joy to read. Thank you for being curious on that stroll down Lincoln Place and for your dogged research! And tender storytelling. As I sit in the kitchen of a BedStuy brownstone bought by my Caribbean forebears who came to New York in the mid-1900s, I am moved by their own struggles and sacrifices. I am also keen to point out that a lot of the white flight from gorgeous brownstone Brooklyn was engineered by government-sanctioned policies such as redlining that began before the 1950s >>http://www.brickunderground.com/blog/2015/10/history_of_redlining
Also, I can only imagine what rich family history one might uncover from Mrs. Taylor's fellow Berean Missionary Baptist menbers whose congregation dates back to 1850 and even older black houses of worship in Brooklyn such as Bridge Street AME which was established in 1766.
Also, I can only imagine what rich family history one might uncover from Mrs. Taylor's fellow Berean Missionary Baptist menbers whose congregation dates back to 1850 and even older black houses of worship in Brooklyn such as Bridge Street AME which was established in 1766.
6
Beautiful story, so glad you felt the pull of the pictures to discover the lives behind the celluloid.
4
Please stay in journalism; we need more people like you writing stories like this. Please – for as long as you can – avoid the temptation to go into public relations.
7
If you liked this story, you might like these NYTimes stories:
https://www.nytimes.com/video/multimedia/100000004526979/fragments-of-a-...
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/20/rescuing-discarded-images-of-ev...
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/01/magazine/the-digital-afterlife-of-los...
https://www.nytimes.com/video/multimedia/100000004526979/fragments-of-a-...
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/20/rescuing-discarded-images-of-ev...
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/01/magazine/the-digital-afterlife-of-los...
1
Loved this wonderful glympse of Etta Mae's life and times. Wonderfully written of a time not so long ago. Many years ago my husband received an estate collection of books and inside was an old report folder of a family pre WWII. I knew this was not something to toss out also! A 3 page essay on a family's life and times including their genealogy up to that date. Fortunately I was able to track down relatives just weeks before a large family reunion and send it to them. I so understand the feeling of responsibility of history, no matter how ordinary.
10
A beautiful story that is beautifully written. It captivated me to the end. Thank you, Annie Correal, for your persistence and talent and thank you, New York Times, for recognizing it and publishing it. Your work as journalists is extremely important. Never forget it. It is a high calling.
10
Thank you so much for this wonderful story. In this age, it is so refreshing to know that people still care and are willing to share. Thank you for taking the time and following the story through.
Awesome job! Thank you, and God bless!
Awesome job! Thank you, and God bless!
6
Thanks, you made us all their happy neighbors for a little while.
7
It's impossible to read this beautiful story without thinking about the ugliness that is asserting itself in our country. It is a tale of good modest people creating a better life for themselves over several aspirational periods. The new era for this nation looks to be punitive instead.
10
"It's impossible to read this beautiful story without thinking about the ugliness that is asserting itself in our country." How strange that you should feel this way! We're entering a new era, when Americans are treated better in America than illegally entered foreigners. Low skilled Black men have been shut out of the job market by illegal aliens who work off the books for less than the Black men would be paid to work on the books. We have a leadership with great expectations for the success of all Americans, and a leader which will bring back jobs to our country and to American citizens. I am so optimistic about the next eight years, America will become energy independent and a greater energy exporter, there will be more jobs, lower taxes, and prosperity. American workers at Disney properties (including Blacks) will not be replaced by H2N1 foreigners who work cheaper. Business taxes will be cut so American businesses will repatriate huge sums to our country which are lurking over seas because our business tax is 35% and overseas it can be only 15%. Hold onto your hat DLNYC, you're in for a wonderful ride! If we can dismantle the "Great Society" which destroyed the Black family by improving the lot of Black wage earners, this idyllic life might come back. With Black husbands and Black working wives bringing in good money, intact Black families will not need welfare, welfare workers, social workers, people to dispense "benefits".
1
Absolute fascinating article. I'm a 79 yr old white woman from St . Louis. I, too, have seen very similar pictures in old family albums. Oh, how I wonder what has become of them!! Thank you for the absorbing peek into history.
6
Wow what a beautiful tori gate in Asia with two men under it.
One thing I'm no expert, but are the pictures and backing paper from an era before corrosive acid paper was used in albums in the 60's and 70's?
One thing I'm no expert, but are the pictures and backing paper from an era before corrosive acid paper was used in albums in the 60's and 70's?
1
The pictures drew me to this story, which is as elegant and as delicately told as the photos.
As a Harlem resident, I'm always aware of the history around me. For years, I lived across from the house where the iconic 1950s photo of jazz musicians was taken. But these photos of Ike and Etta Mae show the intimate details of regular people's lives - the love they shared, the community they built despite the odds.
It was only after I finished reading that I thought about my photos. I have a few of my parents and other family members. But like most of us now, the ones that chronicle my life are on my computer and are as easily disposable as were the Taylors'.
Thanks for this beautiful story. I'll use it as a nudge to get my photos in order.
As a Harlem resident, I'm always aware of the history around me. For years, I lived across from the house where the iconic 1950s photo of jazz musicians was taken. But these photos of Ike and Etta Mae show the intimate details of regular people's lives - the love they shared, the community they built despite the odds.
It was only after I finished reading that I thought about my photos. I have a few of my parents and other family members. But like most of us now, the ones that chronicle my life are on my computer and are as easily disposable as were the Taylors'.
Thanks for this beautiful story. I'll use it as a nudge to get my photos in order.
4
Amazing chronicle of a life lived. Had you not looked down that day all this would be lost to time. Well done.
2
Great photos. Full of life and style.
3
These pictures document the lie of the Victim Identity promoted by the NAACP and other so called Civil Rights Organizations. While statistically Blacks might have been poorer and less educated than Whites, the Black Community was culturally rich and vital as well as relatively economically prosperous. In the 1950's, the Black community was advancing economically and educationally. I suspect, American Blacks, descended from slaves, were probably probably the group least helped and most harmed by Civil Rights laws.
I think why the 50s worked well for Black Communities like this was that educated and non educated all lived together. The was nowhere else to move. The different classes provided role models. After reading, Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance, he points out that there are no role models now. Those that make it move out and they don't come back. The rest stay together and the culture doesn't change. It's a negative but locking people together for might be perceived as good reasons is not the answer.
I just want to acknowledge my thanks for the author's efforts and also the story. Really lovely and universal.
3
You've made a whole lost culture come back to life, through one discarded photo album. Bravo!
4
Unlike most other comments and readers I looked at the wooden album. My father was a fireman and drove the tiller at the back of a hook and ladder, engine company 132- which I believe was on St. john' Place in Crown Heights. The firemen actually made those wooden albums in a wood shop located in the basement of the firehouse to augment their income. Many of the albums were personalized with the family name made from cut out plywood. I went with my father many times to sell local storekeepers on showing and selling the albums in their stores. Thanks for the story.
7
A wonderful story. It should be shared with everyone. It makes me nostalgic for the good times in the '50's--though there were many bad times too. The story makes me wish I had known Etta Mae and her friends.
2
Beautiful piece. What I appreciate the most is your care and loving dedication to unfold Etta May's story. It is a wonder the fate that put the album in your way, and for the readers the amazement on a life that as any life it is extraordinary. it is a reminder that any life matters, that any life is a universe to be cared for.
3
Thank you for taking the time to chronicle this family's forgotten history. It is as if you adopted the family as your own and loving documented their legacy. I appreciate the ties to historical events and personal anecdotes. Who knew this rich text would be inspired from a discarded photo album? I hope this blessed your life as it has blessed mine in reading it. Thank you.
4
My daughter moved to Brooklyn in 2010 and lived on Lincoln Place. The neighbors all came out to see who was moving in to "their neighborhood."
There were families who came out on the block. I wonder if Ms. Jones was among those who came out on their stoop to see my daughter moved into her neighborhood.
What a delightful read about families who made their life better and knew the importance of family, laughter and hard work.
Thank you for taking the time to investigate "the album." This could be a movie and you could call it"The Album."
There were families who came out on the block. I wonder if Ms. Jones was among those who came out on their stoop to see my daughter moved into her neighborhood.
What a delightful read about families who made their life better and knew the importance of family, laughter and hard work.
Thank you for taking the time to investigate "the album." This could be a movie and you could call it"The Album."
3
Sat reading this wonderful American family story. I am 64 and my mom is 91 she has a similar background of the war and settling in a close neighborhood in the 50s and 60s. Funny thing is I just moved back to the city I was raised in. small world. Thank you for such an up lifting story. Hope the future learns from the past.
2
Brooklyn Historical Society has a great collection of oral history on Crown Heights. The Crown Heights History Project includes interviews by Craig Wilder (a source in this story). Some discuss the migration north and families leaving Harlem for Crown Heights. In another Crown Heights collection, Judith Lovell talks about her first-hand experience with the Lincoln Place Block Association.
http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/bhs/arms_1994_006_crown_heights/
http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/bhs/arms_2010_020_crown_heights/dsc...
You can read descriptions about these interviews and visit BHS to listen. An online portal streaming many of these oral histories will be available in February.
http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/bhs/arms_1994_006_crown_heights/
http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/bhs/arms_2010_020_crown_heights/dsc...
You can read descriptions about these interviews and visit BHS to listen. An online portal streaming many of these oral histories will be available in February.
2
Beautiful work and excellent reporting.
2
Wow, so amazing! Thank you for sharing!
1
Just look at what one person, picking up what someone else might think was just garbage, found about a life, a family and a neighborhood ... thanks so much.
4
Wonderful, richly detailed story and reporting. Thank you for this article.
3
This could have been my family. I have a similar photograph of my parents around a table at a club in Harlem, looking as chic and beautiful as these people. These are the photos of the black America my parents were part of. That world shaped the person I am today, living in a much different world. My father served in a segregated Navy during World War II, and was stationed in the Pacific for a time. He might well have known some of these men. My mother, whose family came north during the Great Migration, was a contemporary. Both of my parents worked hard in a New York City that promised much, but often gave little to people of color.
The Crown Heights connection really resonated, as well. I lived in that community for many years, and wrote about it often. When many of these photos were taken, most of Crown Heights north of Eastern Parkway was considered to be Bedford Stuyvesant, the largest urban black community in America. Because of redlining and housing segregation, all social classes of black folks lived in this vast area. Some were poor, but most were working class, working in factories, in civil service jobs, and in service jobs. There were maids and teachers, nurses, machinists, doctors, lawyers and secretaries. They are the unsung heroes, they are the families shown here. They held together the brownstone communities so desired now. I applaud Annie Correal for her tenacity and her talent in sharing this wonderful story.
The Crown Heights connection really resonated, as well. I lived in that community for many years, and wrote about it often. When many of these photos were taken, most of Crown Heights north of Eastern Parkway was considered to be Bedford Stuyvesant, the largest urban black community in America. Because of redlining and housing segregation, all social classes of black folks lived in this vast area. Some were poor, but most were working class, working in factories, in civil service jobs, and in service jobs. There were maids and teachers, nurses, machinists, doctors, lawyers and secretaries. They are the unsung heroes, they are the families shown here. They held together the brownstone communities so desired now. I applaud Annie Correal for her tenacity and her talent in sharing this wonderful story.
7
This story is fascinating and a bit personal for me. I kept reading carefully trying to figure out if I knew these people.
My family had a similar story to this family's. Our migration from Virginia and North Carolina start in the 1940's also.
I arrived in Harlem in 1957 from Virginia to live with my aunt and her daughter's family but when my aunt's daughter died in 2005, unbeknown to me, her son left all the treasured family photos, my personal life story, baby pictures, birthdays, graduations pictures and everything else in her apartment at 93rd and Columbus and mentioned nothing about the abandoned contents of her home; just locked the door and left.
If only someone finds our pictures; hope is eternal; I still mourn.
My family had a similar story to this family's. Our migration from Virginia and North Carolina start in the 1940's also.
I arrived in Harlem in 1957 from Virginia to live with my aunt and her daughter's family but when my aunt's daughter died in 2005, unbeknown to me, her son left all the treasured family photos, my personal life story, baby pictures, birthdays, graduations pictures and everything else in her apartment at 93rd and Columbus and mentioned nothing about the abandoned contents of her home; just locked the door and left.
If only someone finds our pictures; hope is eternal; I still mourn.
2
So many of the comments here say thank you and express gratitude for the story. Add me to the list! This is one of the most touching stories I have ever read. I am filled with both tears of joy and sadness. The journalistic persistence you displayed is remarkable, and I am grateful to you and all of the other journalists who do remarkable work in these difficult times. You deserve a Pulitzer Prize!
4
What a wonderful piece. Thanks for sharing your experiences with such insight and sensitivity.
2
Thank you for this wonderful story of people who are also of the "Greatest
Generation" but are often forgotten. I truly enjoyed it and want to complement the author on her passion and persistence in bringing the story to our attention. These are people who helped make this a great nation. And by the way it still is.
Generation" but are often forgotten. I truly enjoyed it and want to complement the author on her passion and persistence in bringing the story to our attention. These are people who helped make this a great nation. And by the way it still is.
4
There are multiple reasons why I subscribe to the New York Times. This poignant, beautifully written article is representative of one of them; it is as much literature as journalism. Ms. Correal, thank you for your curiosity, your fortitude and your persistence.
2
What a fantastic article, I am so glad this album was picked up and has given the family memories to hold on to. I am reading this article in Edinburgh and was fascinated to read the history behind the couple though shocked to read about the segregation in the army. So insightful. Thank you
1
My heart sings at the site of the photos. A time long gone, but the hearts and souls of Etta Mae's family shine through.
Thank you for following your heart and finding her family.
Your article is beautifully written and the joy you shared with the family is undeniable.
This is why I read The Times. Every now and then an article is published that makes me smile.
Thank you for following your heart and finding her family.
Your article is beautifully written and the joy you shared with the family is undeniable.
This is why I read The Times. Every now and then an article is published that makes me smile.
2
Such a wonderful story about photography, people, place and memory. So uplifting at such an uncertain time in America.
1
With this beautifully composed and well researched piece you made me connect emotionally to this family from across the ocean and from a different era.
Amazing.
Thank you very much for that!
Amazing.
Thank you very much for that!
3
I wanted to know more about the photographer, without whom this would not have been possible.
1
I have read the NYT almost every day of my adult life but until now have never thought to post a comment on reading an article. I'm 57 years old. This is the most moving story I can recall. The beauty, joy and sadness that comes through the staged telling of this family's history is palpable, and made so by the persistent inquisitiveness of, yet tender telling by, Ms. Correal. Thank you so much for your efforts and your skill. You have really made my day!
4
What is truly remarkable in this story is how working class people, Black and likely to have been frequent targets of discrimination, were able to live a materially and spiritually successful life. Yes, American workers did once enjoy more of the national wealth. Trump was on to something, as unacceptable as his 'solutions' are. Sanders was on to it too-- and with the right solutions. Let's take this country back-- on behalf of wonderful people like these and all of us.
5
Thank you for picking up an album someone else would toss. Your passion as an writer and historian shows through beautifully. Well done.
2
What a wonderful and beautiful story, eliciting my first comment on this website despite having been a subscriber for well over a decade. I hope that the family eventually places the photos and this lovingly curated story in the new museum of African-American history.
1
wow. So lovely! THANK YOU!
1
Thank you for this! I came upon this story on this sleepless night feeling overwhelmed and anxious about the undertaking of a major home renovation.
I was ready to discard old photos and memorabilia of times long ago. I inherited my aunt's and my mother's 'treasures' that I considered junk.
After reading your story, I will now preserve, curate and warehouse that which I consider precious. Perhaps it will tell a story too!
I was ready to discard old photos and memorabilia of times long ago. I inherited my aunt's and my mother's 'treasures' that I considered junk.
After reading your story, I will now preserve, curate and warehouse that which I consider precious. Perhaps it will tell a story too!
2
This is one of the best stories I've ever read. Great reporting and research. Loved the dogged diligence. The article gives me a rich history of a street that I currently live two blocks from. It also tells me that I need to print those thousands of photos that are stored in the cloud and put them in a photo album! Hopefully my album won't end up on the curb, but photos definitely tell a story.
1
Thank you for this lovely story. I'm so glad that you picked up that album. My mother still lives in Crown Heights and I have been a little 'annoyed' to see how the neighborhood has changed/is changing. Your article helps me understand why I felt that way.
2
I have more subscriptions than I can keep up with, and sadly read the NYT far less than I used to. Thank goodness the title of this article piqued my interest! Finding this article was worth at least a year's subscription price!
3
Thank you for persevering and following your intuition about this beautiful photo album from an era gone by. Your passion for bringing the photos to life is a gift for others and the family of Etta Mae and Ike. Your story gives me hope after a long week of uncertainty.
2
This is the second story I've read on the NYT today. The first one is that about how the accuser of Emmett Till recanted her story after six decades.
All in all, very moving. Thank you!
All in all, very moving. Thank you!
2
Amazing photos of everyday lives of grace and beauty. Thank you, Ms. Correal.
2
This was one of the most heartwarming stories that I've read in ages. Not only is it historical - covering the great migration as well as white flight - but it also transformed it into a deeply personal story.
This should be required reading by anyone new who moves into these neighborhoods and brownstones. They should know the history of the neighborhoods as well as why these buildings were so well maintained.
This should be required reading by anyone new who moves into these neighborhoods and brownstones. They should know the history of the neighborhoods as well as why these buildings were so well maintained.
4
Thank you for taking the time to research and share this beautiful story. With so much negative news around, it's inspiring to read a story of such optimism and joy. The contrast between neighbors then and neighbors now comes through. I'll take time to say hello to my neighbors.
3
Thank you for sharing this story. It is the story of so many Black families and almost identical to my own parents story. It's even possible that my parents knew the Taylors since we lived one block away on Eastern Parkway, my mother attended the same church, Berean Baptist Church, where I was christened in the early fifties and they had the Virginia connection, my parents were from the area around Suffolk Virginia. I felt as if my parents lives were documented in this piece. Thank so much for honoring these lives.
5
A Great American story.
Thank you, NYTimes.
Thank you, NYTimes.
2
What a wonderful story. Thank you for your hard work and persistence. And thanks to Etta Mae for making this record of her life.
1
As the others have stated, I am so grateful for this wonderful piece of journalism. It brings an era, an important aspect of the American experience to life at a time in our history when we need to be reminded of what is good and beautiful. Thank you, thank you! I needed this.
1
Very well written. I just complete a tour of the new African-American Museum in Washington, D.C. and this Album and your story deserves a place in the collection. Please notify the curator. This is a beautiful piece.
1
What a beautiful story. The past came alive while I was reading it.
2
Beautiful article. I just love how you connected with Etta Mae and delivered her memories--not just to her family but to all of us. Now I feel like I met Etta Mae. Thank you for persevering and writing such great story.
1
Lovely pre-Black History Month salute which helps me to remember my aunts and uncles and inlaws making their way in the Great Migration. Well done and thank you.
2
Thank you for such a well written and touching article. This family is so much like my parents and extended family who came of age during the Depression and World War II . They were hard working, honest people who also knew how to have fun. As one person said, their stories go untold because they don't include drugs, crime and violence. The African American experience is complex and rich and oh, so American. You captured so much of our story in a respectful way. God bless.
2
I cried through this entire story. Beautiful.
3
I'm an old white guy, and looking through these pictures I wonder how anyone could speak of any of these people using any expletive, especially that 'n' word. I wonder, looking at the pictures, why there's racism at all. These people are us and we them.
I wondered too why that occurred to me. I'll tell you . . . it's because that racism, though not widespread then (in the 50's) or now amongst my acquaintances, strikes hard when it rears its nasty head and it remains rather unforgetful. I can still hear what some of those "pals" would say.
I wondered too why that occurred to me. I'll tell you . . . it's because that racism, though not widespread then (in the 50's) or now amongst my acquaintances, strikes hard when it rears its nasty head and it remains rather unforgetful. I can still hear what some of those "pals" would say.
5
Part history, part detective story, part affirmation of the value of every life. Thank you to the New York Times for allocating the resources to do this story. In an era when corporate news companies want quick turn around and ask journalists to disseminate catchy short pieces via three or four different media, this singular focus on the life of one family stands out. So kudos to the journalist, to the editors, and to corporate management.
2
Thank goodness this remarkable -- and hugely uplifting -- album was rescued. The cover is so fine, you can tell it was special and cherished.
If the family ever wants to part with this, what an exceptional addition to the recently opened National African American History Museum, as one example, it could make. Especially with this article and all the background discovered.
That the photos are so perfectly preserved makes one want to make sure they stay that way ... donating to a museum who can archive and store properly can be one way to make sure this wonderful family history doesn't get lost or discarded again.
But for now, I expect this family will want to keep and cherish it themselves. Understandably so.
Bravo to NYTimes on this story. So needed right now.
If the family ever wants to part with this, what an exceptional addition to the recently opened National African American History Museum, as one example, it could make. Especially with this article and all the background discovered.
That the photos are so perfectly preserved makes one want to make sure they stay that way ... donating to a museum who can archive and store properly can be one way to make sure this wonderful family history doesn't get lost or discarded again.
But for now, I expect this family will want to keep and cherish it themselves. Understandably so.
Bravo to NYTimes on this story. So needed right now.
4
What a wonderful story you have shared about a time long ago. I always feel
so badly when I go antiquing and find album after album of long forgotten memories. Photos of friends and family who were important once and now just sit on a dusty shelf in a second hand store. Etta Mae's photos were some of the lucky ones. The memories evoked by these photos are now being shared with family and the rest of us. Interesting insights in to ordinary lives well lived. Thanks Annie
so badly when I go antiquing and find album after album of long forgotten memories. Photos of friends and family who were important once and now just sit on a dusty shelf in a second hand store. Etta Mae's photos were some of the lucky ones. The memories evoked by these photos are now being shared with family and the rest of us. Interesting insights in to ordinary lives well lived. Thanks Annie
1
Learned more about the place I now live-Wilson NC, from this article than I learned in eight years of living here. Thanks so much for the insight.
2
What a wonderful story. Thank you for your determination to ensure that the people in the photos had their stories told.
1
Thank you so much for preserving history.
Black history.
Was the value of these "good times" for blacks escaping the south not to be considered worthy at the time?
Or, in retrospect, it was just a magical time.
In these troubled times, too much erasing is going on: ISIS destroys monuments, artifacts.
Republicans set out to dismantle (=destroy) Obama's achievements, too.
Thank you for preserving history.
Black history.
Black history.
Was the value of these "good times" for blacks escaping the south not to be considered worthy at the time?
Or, in retrospect, it was just a magical time.
In these troubled times, too much erasing is going on: ISIS destroys monuments, artifacts.
Republicans set out to dismantle (=destroy) Obama's achievements, too.
Thank you for preserving history.
Black history.
1
I loved reading this story. I grew up in Brooklyn not far from there and I remember my parents going to those dances. My folks moved to NY from Virginia. It always amazes me when white people are surprised that black people have the same lives as them. We really are not different. This was a wonderful story that took me back in time. Thank you so much for writing this. This generation was amazing. So much love, pride and happiness while making good lives out of the little they had. The best things in life really are free.
3
This is such a wonderful story. It really hit home with me. When my grandmother passed away I ended up with hundreds of photo albums and slide carousels - with some of them dating back to the late 1800s. I had always known a great deal about our family history, but only "the basics" per se. The pictures were a treasure of insights into so many people I had known or only heard stories about. It brought them back to life in my mind and heart. Ms. Correal was an angel to do what she did. The people she got in touch with got to relive happy times and places that they otherwise might have never remembered. Such a lovely thing to have done. And now Etta Mae lives on in our hearts and minds as well
4
What a lovely life story. Thanks for the great reporting.
Sure wish I could have known them.
Sure wish I could have known them.
1
Thank you Annie, a wonderful story told with the tenderness it deserves. It reminded me of an old friend, Walter. Walter would have been pretty old when I knew him in the late 70's, he use to pick through the garbage in Brooklyn Heights looking for things he needed to save himself from having to buy them. One night he found a box of family photos in the garbage, he thought that this must have been a terrible mistake, no one would have intentionally done this.
The next day Walter went back to the house and found out the family had moved to the West coast. He got the address and mailed the box back to its owners. I can only imagine what the people thought when the package arrived, a funny joke, a sad reunion or maybe a second chance to see all of the smiling faces again.
Congratulations,
Phil
The next day Walter went back to the house and found out the family had moved to the West coast. He got the address and mailed the box back to its owners. I can only imagine what the people thought when the package arrived, a funny joke, a sad reunion or maybe a second chance to see all of the smiling faces again.
Congratulations,
Phil
5
Fantastic story!
2
Fascinating, touching piece that hinges on the magic of photography... and good journalism.
I loved this story. Best piece of literature I've read in a long time. It should be archived for future generations to enjoy. However, as an African-American, I did find it pretty humorous that the author was so shocked that everyone was happy, even though they were black and surrounded by other black people. Contrary to mainstream media and the current President of the United States, most black people are really happy and are enjoying every minute of their lives. Even in the 1950's, we were happy and we knew how to enjoy our friends. In spite of what Trump says, we aren't all in crappy schools and getting shot whenever we walk down the street. Thanks for writing this and sharing these pictures, stories, and lives with us.
67
I appreciate and accept your statements about the happiness in your life and in the lives of others whom you know so well.
But, with respect, I must disagree that Annie Correal was 'so shocked' in reporting the happiness she found in the lives of the people who are the subject of her article.
As an old white guy who remembers the '50's and '60's, it is good news to read Annie's plain statement that the oppressive racial reality of those distant days didn't dim more of the joy of life for the family about whom she has reported.
But, with respect, I must disagree that Annie Correal was 'so shocked' in reporting the happiness she found in the lives of the people who are the subject of her article.
As an old white guy who remembers the '50's and '60's, it is good news to read Annie's plain statement that the oppressive racial reality of those distant days didn't dim more of the joy of life for the family about whom she has reported.
2
I can hardly add to these wonderful tributes except to mention that it has inspired me. 27 years ago my wife and I bought a country house in Umbria, Italy. The former owner left many pieces of furniture purchased from a pensione somewhere. In one of the drawers I found a wonderful photo album from the 50's. Beautiful pictures of groups of people traveling in the Dolomite region. I don't think I can track down the album's origin but this article has helped me to recognize how important these artifacts are as documents of everyday life they are precious. Thank you Annie for this beautiful piece.
1
This is a great story and, as usual, the "NYT Picks" comments only make it better.
Several hours after reading this, I still feel a joyous melancholy. This is why I subscribe to the Times.
3
I wish the NYT would do more stories about "normal" people instead of the lives fo the rich and famous.
3
This is the first story that I have commented on. When I got to the end I just said "Wow" and spent a few moments savoring the feeling. Like Etta Mae, I walk regularly and try to smile and say "Hi" to everyone I meet. I keep hoping it will make someone's day a bit nicer. Nice to know other people appreciated Etta Mae doing it.
Thank you so much for bringing her life and yours into mine. ;-)
Thank you so much for bringing her life and yours into mine. ;-)
4
I always find it interesting that The Times seems to be preoccupied with the Brooklyn, that produced relatively few Brooklynites of note, that is the Brooklyn, North of Prospect Park, while The Brooklyn South of Prospect Park, places like Flatbush, Bensonhurst, Coney Island, old Borough Park, and the like, which nutured an unusually large number of Nobel laureates, noted athletes, entertainers, business leaders, and writers, always gets short shrift! And so it goes...
2
Just to add , the article itself, is meaniful, poignant, and typical of the overwhelming decent folks, who were nurtured in the borough of Brooklyn!
2
This story is a gift. And a reminder that every human's story is worth telling.
1
Thank you.
1
I am so moved by this beautiful family story. How easily it could have been left untold. How elegantly it WAS told. Thank you.
2
I've really got to stop the nasty habit of chopping onions while reading articles such as this...
5
Love Sharon Dorr's comment below - "You cared about people that you did not know." Thank you so much, Annie, for picking up the album, for being curious about these beautiful faces, and for sharing the unfolding story with all of us. It's so hard to read the news these days, but you have given us deeper, unbreakable news, and we needed it. Our family just got bigger.
3
I enjoyed this so much! Re-reading it, and I hope I'll know these people better.
1
What a great read on a Friday night! Punch-filled with history in so many dimensions.... I have similar types of photo albums I can't get rid of and now I'm inspired to dig them out and figure out who everyone is! Excellent research, thank you.
2
I love this story so much! Thank you for telling it.
1
Thank you so much for writing this story and pursuing your interest in the album. Unfortunately so much of our personal and family histories are lost. It is so interesting that you were inquisitive and put together the biography of this couple and a picture of the times. Wonderful and nostalgic.
2
Thank you for sharing what it means to be human, and for witnessing so beautifully Etta Mae's life.
2
Beautiful decency people
1
thank you for not giving up and for giving us all the opportunity to know these people, their history and our history
1
What a rich tribute to Etta Mae, her family and a window on the lives of ordinary people from a time past...who also happen to be African American. Kudos and gratitude to Ms. Correal for her perseverance to create a whole picture from many pictures. A gift to the Taylors, their friends, neighbors and to me. Reading a story affirming family, friendships and community through the decades after this week filled with news from DC, which for me sound like crimes against humanity, was a very helpful antidote.
2
I love that you rescued this story and shared it with us. All our stories are important. Thank you for telling this one.
1
If the author or the family of Etta Mae is looking for a repository for the album and the story that goes with it, you might consider the Society for the Preservation of Weeksville and Bedford-Stuyvesant History, also known as the Weeksville Heritage Center. Though Weeksville was several blocks east of the Taylors' home, I believe it is the kind of neighborhood history they are interested in preserving and telling.
2
Wonderful article Thank you Ms Correal.
From a found photo album you brought all those folks
Back alive again!!! Wonderful!!!
From a found photo album you brought all those folks
Back alive again!!! Wonderful!!!
1
What a wonderful story. The amazing writing tells a story so familiar to African American families - I grew up in Florida and my father had an album just like this one.
1
I love this story. I am a fan of personal history. I grew up in Queens and Brooklyn in the 70's and remember the last of these kinds of families and homes. Even back then it was still a time and place similar to the memories of this life. What a great time capsule of a lovely, real life of lovely real people. Well done!
2
Beautiful article. Brought me to tears. Thank you
1
As a man on the cusp of fatherhood and avid film shooter, something tells me that a hard drive found in the trash wouldn't be this romantic. Great story...simply beautiful.
1
Incredible, someone should make a movie about their story.
1
As this magnificent article makes clear, there are no "ordinary" lives.
3
Outstanding story; warmed my heart and made me smile.
1
That’s a very warm and touching story about Black Americana. We should all turn off the distorted evening news (“What bleeds, leads”) and start reading novels written by Black writers to learn even more about that very rich culture.
1
Why oh why didn't the NYT link the faces in the photos to names if tapped? Great bit of genealogy.
Beautiful.
1
What a beautiful story!
1
Thank you for a beautiful, joyous and insightful look into the lives of the people described.
Written history is too often political not social, about rich people not the rest of us, about whites not blacks and other 'minorities'. Your article and most of all, your dedicated research help to remedy that.
Written history is too often political not social, about rich people not the rest of us, about whites not blacks and other 'minorities'. Your article and most of all, your dedicated research help to remedy that.
1
Thank you so much for sharing this story about the story behind the photo album found in Brooklyn. It reminded me so much of my own family's journey to New York City. Most of all , I love the connectedness that the Black community shares, and the knowledge that despite the hardships that our past generations endured, they still managed to work, make a living, raise families, have fun, and persevere. Thank you, once again for a beautiful story.
1
The late playwright, August Wilson is smiling from Heaven as you weave this wonderful epic story of the real lives of black families then and now. A taste of the South fills our hearts whether we reside in Brooklyn and Long Island, New York or Newark and Maplewood, New Jersey. This is truly, the "Warmth of Other Suns" anew; thank you Isabel Wilkerson. NYT readers certainly extend our gratitude to Ms. Correal for this magical feature.
2
What a beautiful piece. So glad I read it.
1
Note to self: Shred everything.
Thank you Annie for your diligent digging for the humanity taped to some crumbling black paper. Like a session with Henry Lewis Gates Finding Your Roots. The best stories are the ones that make you laugh and cry with reality. Great stuff (from Suffolk)
1
I love stories like this! I appreciate the detective work. We found a small discarded photo in my neighborhood, but our detective work lead to dead ends. I salute you. And I hope you will print out the photos you've saved on your phone and notate them for future generations.
1
A breathtakingly beautiful story. Thank for you sharing this with us. Black life has its challenges but our communities are not the dystopias some would like to believe.
1
Well done, Annie. Thank you.
1
I'm white, and from Texas, which, contrary to its legislature's rock-ribbed insanity, does have some good, caring people living in it. Etta Mae sounds like people I grew up close to but not with, as we were different races. What loving, lovingly built writing. Thank you so much.
1
You have a good eye and an inquisitive mind, my friend. Thank you for the story.
3
What a wonderful story, thank you so much for sharing it. Oh the tears for so many reasons both good and bad. The album of snap shots - what a familar feeling. But the journey - so glad it and the people that became a part of it have not been forgotten. Thank you Annie, and to the friends and members of Etta Mae's family.
2
This is the best thing I've come across in a news story in what seems like forever. Lovely, touching, and important.
1
This was the best thing I have read in weeks. Nostalgic and beautiful. A nice reprieve. Thank you for the timing of this article.
1
I enjoyed your work. Woderful reserch. Thank you.
1
Such a lovely, moving story. The last picture of them together is so touching. Thank you for investing your time on this piece - what a treasure.
1
Thank you.
1
A great piece. Thank you for writing it.
Thank you.
I was struck by how very much the photos in this album reminded me of ones from my Midwestern grandmother. At a time when capturing images came at a cost, the people and events cherished enough to preserve on film seem to have transcended region and race.
9
this article and photo album deserves a place in the new African-American wing of the Smithsonian. It is history. It is personal. It is scholarly research. It is eminently respectful of African -American family and culture. Bravo to the author.
14
I loved this article and have passed it along to my brother-in-law who lives in Clinton Hill. I specifically want to pass along some info about Wilson as my husband's Lebanese family settled there after WWI.
There were 3 Brothers who had a cart and horse and sold goods around the area. Eventually they became successful enough to build a department store in Goldsboro. One son opened a damaged freight store which operated well into the late 20th century in Wilson. His name was Kannan Kannan so they called him Junior.
I love your writing style and your investigative skills. You should write a book!
There were 3 Brothers who had a cart and horse and sold goods around the area. Eventually they became successful enough to build a department store in Goldsboro. One son opened a damaged freight store which operated well into the late 20th century in Wilson. His name was Kannan Kannan so they called him Junior.
I love your writing style and your investigative skills. You should write a book!
5
This achingly lovely piece deserves to be published nationally, not merely relegated to the metro section of the the New York edition. I'd have displayed it on the front page to counter the existential dread that saturates our daily news report these harrowing days.
12
Thank you so much for the pictures and the story. The pictures flooded my mind with thoughts. My grandparents had a console TV like the one in the picture in the 50's. Families living in close proximity reminds me of the old I Love Lucy show with Fred and Ethel.
One thought stood out and that was all of the happy beautiful smiles with their Sunday Best on, having a great time wherever they were. Something else -- it sounds as though the people in your story had somewhat "lowly" jobs yet as evidenced in the pictures they had beautiful homes and money to spend. What is wrong with us these days? Lowly jobs today do not pay enough for the rent even with two incomes much less dress clothes and a night out. This country and the politicians should be ashamed.
One thought stood out and that was all of the happy beautiful smiles with their Sunday Best on, having a great time wherever they were. Something else -- it sounds as though the people in your story had somewhat "lowly" jobs yet as evidenced in the pictures they had beautiful homes and money to spend. What is wrong with us these days? Lowly jobs today do not pay enough for the rent even with two incomes much less dress clothes and a night out. This country and the politicians should be ashamed.
13
I'm a little teary. This reminds me of the many family albums from my childhood. The sadness is due to my childhood pictures being carelessly discarded by a stepmother and her daughter. I no longer have the albums I use to sit and lovingly peruse when I was a girl. These pictures and this article, have brought joy to many, including me.
11
Wonderful account. When I browse in antique shops and malls and see many isolated old family photos and portraits for sale, I wonder about all the family stories that have been lost.
8
What a wonderful story from something that most people would ignore laying on the ground.
6
Thank you for this trip to the New York of my youth, and for the story of people whose courage enabled them to endure the humiliations inflicted on them and to find joy in their lives.
I have told my children so many times that the New York of the 1940's and 1950's was as segregated as any town in the Jim Crow South. As a child, one of my favorite activities was to ride the double decker buses which once ran from Broadway in Washington Heights to Fifth Avenue and Eighth Street. If I closed my eyes at 105th Street and Fifth Ave and opened them again 96th Street and Fifth Ave, everyone in the world who was black when I closed them has become white.
I still have a particularly vivid childhood memory of reading about an example of the pernicious effect of defacto segregation in New York City. When Lena Horne, the stunningly beautiful and gifted singer performed at the Latin Quarter night club, she was prevented from sitting with friends after her performance because the Club denied African Americans service.
I have told my children so many times that the New York of the 1940's and 1950's was as segregated as any town in the Jim Crow South. As a child, one of my favorite activities was to ride the double decker buses which once ran from Broadway in Washington Heights to Fifth Avenue and Eighth Street. If I closed my eyes at 105th Street and Fifth Ave and opened them again 96th Street and Fifth Ave, everyone in the world who was black when I closed them has become white.
I still have a particularly vivid childhood memory of reading about an example of the pernicious effect of defacto segregation in New York City. When Lena Horne, the stunningly beautiful and gifted singer performed at the Latin Quarter night club, she was prevented from sitting with friends after her performance because the Club denied African Americans service.
11
Great story. I hunt through trash and unfortunately this is not at all a rare occurrence. I find photo albums and diaries with full and interesting history pretty often. (I found photos of a former Soviet Era family vacationing at the Black Sea) One always wonders how such personal items reach this point.
Sometimes an internet search hints at drugs, broken homes, mental illness etc.
You could write an article like this a week if you just peaked at at trash pile in front of a "clean-out apartment" or hit up flea markets.
Sometimes an internet search hints at drugs, broken homes, mental illness etc.
You could write an article like this a week if you just peaked at at trash pile in front of a "clean-out apartment" or hit up flea markets.
6
I also would see a lot of albums in consignment shops, resale places, etc. when I used to frequent same. Or framed portraits, being resold for the frame, of course.
It was always so sad to me to see these turn up that way.
But, as I age, and have no children myself, nor even extended family that would want to take on the multiple chests full of family photos that landed with me -- and none of them labeled, or organized -- I fear many, many decades of family history will just be wiped out. But again, small family, only one young-enough blood relative, who is now building her OWN family, with her husband and their small children ... life moves fast, it's crowded, both in available physical space and digital time/space, do I really see her wanting this added to her life's plate?
Nope. If I die first, my husband will likely have no choice, nor inclination, but to put them all into a dumpster.
In that vein, trying to embrace the Zen/Buddhist(?) teaching of 'impermanence.'
It was always so sad to me to see these turn up that way.
But, as I age, and have no children myself, nor even extended family that would want to take on the multiple chests full of family photos that landed with me -- and none of them labeled, or organized -- I fear many, many decades of family history will just be wiped out. But again, small family, only one young-enough blood relative, who is now building her OWN family, with her husband and their small children ... life moves fast, it's crowded, both in available physical space and digital time/space, do I really see her wanting this added to her life's plate?
Nope. If I die first, my husband will likely have no choice, nor inclination, but to put them all into a dumpster.
In that vein, trying to embrace the Zen/Buddhist(?) teaching of 'impermanence.'
1
Other than wishing that the photos were labeled with their names, I wish I had know these people. It is sad that all their joy and happy living died with them.
I have two large dress boxes filled with photos of my family and their friends dating from the late 19th century up to the 1950s. My mother did not know all of the friends' names,and I am now inspired to go back to their Ohio town to do my own search.
I have two large dress boxes filled with photos of my family and their friends dating from the late 19th century up to the 1950s. My mother did not know all of the friends' names,and I am now inspired to go back to their Ohio town to do my own search.
4
I have been researching Ohio family history and may be able to help,
Thanks. Since the election I've been desperate for a good story. It's nice to hear about good folks who were happy and lived a good life.
21
My family fought over photographs. It breaks my heart when photographs are separated from their families and loved ones, especially given African American history in this country. Sometimes one image can remind us of who we are, who we were intended to be, and who we belong to. I'm grateful you cared enough to do the work.
17
Ike Taylor was one helluva sharp dressed man. He wasn't wealthy so this suggests that looking good and strutting your stuff was a big part of life in 1940's Harlem for both the men and the women.
6
This story is worth my NYT subscription! This moving and charming article about a real American family, loving and scattered and hardworking and very beautiful (love those clothes!) raised my spirits and renewed my sense that there are still millions of good and decent people living their life and making friends and creating a community.
Thank you Annie Correal, for bringing Etta Mae, Ike and their extended family into my life.
Thank you Annie Correal, for bringing Etta Mae, Ike and their extended family into my life.
35
A wonderful story and great research work. Thank you. Real lives are such an important part of history, often swept away because they're so ordinary we take for granted. Those days are different than now, but we don't see the gradual change going around us. This was a joy to read. Thank you.
15
What a treat! Thank you.
To remark on the topic of “white flight” mentioned in the article: I say – right on! The absence of “white” does not equal poverty, crime, and blight. To even think that, is to practice white supremacy. (So, can we stop raising Black children to think that they must sit next to a White child to get a good education or live in a White neighborhood to be safe?)
“White flight is often associated with the poverty and crime … and urban blight… But these photos too were images of the white-flight era…”
“It was a real neighborhood, and a black experience no one talks about, because it wasn’t filled with drugs and it wasn’t filled with poverty,” Mr. Bates said. “It was public schools, it was playing ball, it was playing music.”
To remark on the topic of “white flight” mentioned in the article: I say – right on! The absence of “white” does not equal poverty, crime, and blight. To even think that, is to practice white supremacy. (So, can we stop raising Black children to think that they must sit next to a White child to get a good education or live in a White neighborhood to be safe?)
“White flight is often associated with the poverty and crime … and urban blight… But these photos too were images of the white-flight era…”
“It was a real neighborhood, and a black experience no one talks about, because it wasn’t filled with drugs and it wasn’t filled with poverty,” Mr. Bates said. “It was public schools, it was playing ball, it was playing music.”
33
A great story. It should be printed on acid-free paper, and the album hermetically sealed to prevent decay, and put it in a time capsule.
Along with the internet address and password for someone's current "family photo album".
And in two hundred years they'll see who sits downs and "pages" through what.
Along with the internet address and password for someone's current "family photo album".
And in two hundred years they'll see who sits downs and "pages" through what.
10
Absolutely loved this fantastic feature. Wonderful story.
I would agree with other commenters that pairing "White Flight" and "Great Migration" only as a racial issue ignores a broader context - both were movements of people looking for better opportunities and social mobility.
I would agree with other commenters that pairing "White Flight" and "Great Migration" only as a racial issue ignores a broader context - both were movements of people looking for better opportunities and social mobility.
8
Lies! The blacks were seeking a better life, the whites were mostly racist. Don't ignore the motivation behind their flight.
Nonsense. There were multitudes of reasons - growing families after the Baby Boom, cheaper housing in suburbs, jobs not available in cities, more stable real estate values, etc. No doubt racism was a part, but certainly not the whole story. The term "White Flight" is itself prejudicial and/or racist, as it presumes to know the motives of a whole group of people. It's also demeaning, castigating those who left cities and ascribing narration to their emotions. On the other hand, "The Great Migration" is aspirational and positive.
But this is a minor nitpick, still overall a fantastic story.
But this is a minor nitpick, still overall a fantastic story.
What a fascinating story. I live near Etta Mae's block in Brooklyn. The unsung heroes of the Brooklyn Renaissance are the black working and middle classes, like the Barnes's and the Burtons, who lovingly maintained the brownstone belt after white people decamped for the suburbs. Their story deserves to be told, as much as that of the largely white Brooklyn "pioneers" of the post-white flight era.
31
Thank you SO much for this story.
My late father was of this same generation. He moved from South Carolina to the big city of Washington DC where he made many friends, met and married my mother (She was from Iowa).
I am in such admiration of that generation.
We have a very similar photo album with very similar pictures of the era. Dad was a professional photographer.
All praise to the snapshot and the photo album, and those diligent enough to document the times. There is nothing so palpable as turning the pages of a photo album.
My late father was of this same generation. He moved from South Carolina to the big city of Washington DC where he made many friends, met and married my mother (She was from Iowa).
I am in such admiration of that generation.
We have a very similar photo album with very similar pictures of the era. Dad was a professional photographer.
All praise to the snapshot and the photo album, and those diligent enough to document the times. There is nothing so palpable as turning the pages of a photo album.
19
Thank you Ms. Correal for giving voice to these people. You've done exactly what so many of us who collect vintage photos hope to do with our finds. I once had a woman sneer at me in an antique store as I looked through a box of old snapshots. She told her husband that she thought it was disgusting that I was sorting through photos of dead people. I didn't say anything to her, but I've always thought what a stupid thing to say about the people who came before whose stories never made the front page. The actual people who built the country. They were just as important as the posh ones in the big houses, but even in death they are ignored. You proved there are stories to be told. Thank you.
52
Looking at these photos was amazing. My parents were born in 1912 and 1914 respectively and grew up in Brooklyn. I have all their old photos. We are a white family. The pictures I have are so very similar to the ones in this article. The clothes, the furnishings, the poses, the settings, the groupings, the expressions. Except for the skin color the photos are interchangeable.
23
Profoundly grateful for this story. That's all. Just totally, deeply grateful.
93
Thank you for sharing a beautiful story of African American history. Often the stories of so many people are cast aside in history. Black people in this country have contributed to its success and shared in its struggles. There are more bonds that unite us than divide us. Thank you for investing the time to give voice to the lives of those who have passed on. We need more of this to remind us of our beautiful stories and shared experiences as a people. Lincoln Place won't be the same.
50
This old photograph album is a dead ringer for my mother's, which I still have. The poses, the clothing, Except that our family is white.
These are the black men and women I remember from my Brooklyn childhood, and from my mother's high school yearbook. The men on Tinian look like my father's shipmates on their destroyer escort, anchored off Tinian -- except, of course, that the military was segregated, and my father and his shipmates were white.
Some pose in front of houses, with their lilac bushes, that look very like the homes my in-laws had near Brooklyn Avenue.
While things were worse, perhaps, in terms of civil rights, in so many ways, they were darned better.
(Not that I am looking forward to being dragged backward by our new world order.)
These are the black men and women I remember from my Brooklyn childhood, and from my mother's high school yearbook. The men on Tinian look like my father's shipmates on their destroyer escort, anchored off Tinian -- except, of course, that the military was segregated, and my father and his shipmates were white.
Some pose in front of houses, with their lilac bushes, that look very like the homes my in-laws had near Brooklyn Avenue.
While things were worse, perhaps, in terms of civil rights, in so many ways, they were darned better.
(Not that I am looking forward to being dragged backward by our new world order.)
4
I love stories like this one. When I hear them it makes me feel that my life and stories will not be lost .....Good work... I really enjoyed reading your story and can see all your hard research...
8
This story merits submission to the African American Museum
There is so much history of this sector of American society lost or ignored. Every snippet of that history is a gem and should be honored and recognized .
There is so much history of this sector of American society lost or ignored. Every snippet of that history is a gem and should be honored and recognized .
1
Thank you Ms Correal for writing such a touching and beautiful article. From an old discarded photo album left on a street in Brooklyn you had the compassion and heart to piece together a history of a beautiful family. You made their lives matter to me and you gave us a glimpse into the history and struggles of a proud black American family.
12
Annie,
Thanks for your work. I'm a life long New Yorker, and this story is my story. My parents, from the Caribbean, were one of the first black residents on Woodruff Ave off Flatbush Ave in the mid 60's. In the late 60's we settled on Midwood Street off Nostrand. It was a community where everyone knew everyone, of block associations, of black working families making do by opening their homes and bring in boarders and relatives. Una Clarke, the mother of congresswoman Yvette Clarke, took me to church on Sundays.
This is the story of huge swaths of Brooklyn, and america, that some of the current generation want us to forget, or not to know.
Thanks for your work. I'm a life long New Yorker, and this story is my story. My parents, from the Caribbean, were one of the first black residents on Woodruff Ave off Flatbush Ave in the mid 60's. In the late 60's we settled on Midwood Street off Nostrand. It was a community where everyone knew everyone, of block associations, of black working families making do by opening their homes and bring in boarders and relatives. Una Clarke, the mother of congresswoman Yvette Clarke, took me to church on Sundays.
This is the story of huge swaths of Brooklyn, and america, that some of the current generation want us to forget, or not to know.
6
Ms. Correal:
A quite similar thing happened to me a couple of decades ago. I was walking in my neighborhood (Brooklyn, at the threshold of the Manhattan Bridge) and noticed what appeared to be an old scrapbook on the sidewalk. It was filled photos of African American men, women and children, as well as a few notecards and even a couple of old utility bills. The photos are from an era astonishingly similar to the one in your article. I still have this scrapbook. I have never felt I had the time or wherewithal to find out whom it belonged to or who might still have interest in claiming it. Would you like to play detective all over again?
A quite similar thing happened to me a couple of decades ago. I was walking in my neighborhood (Brooklyn, at the threshold of the Manhattan Bridge) and noticed what appeared to be an old scrapbook on the sidewalk. It was filled photos of African American men, women and children, as well as a few notecards and even a couple of old utility bills. The photos are from an era astonishingly similar to the one in your article. I still have this scrapbook. I have never felt I had the time or wherewithal to find out whom it belonged to or who might still have interest in claiming it. Would you like to play detective all over again?
7
Such a moving article. So happy you decided to pick up the photo album. Brought this jaded New Yorker to tears.
15
What a wonderful historical story about a black family, and how a discarded photo album reveals their story. A few years ago I had a similar experience, the difference was that I knew the family, and being a shutter bug, saved the photos from the trash. I passed them on to a great, great, grandson. Annie Correal has put together, with her dogged investigative talent a great story.
11
Amazing and very touching read. Thank you for this, I will remember it a long time.
14
This beautifully written story is both heart-breaking and joyous. The photographs are mesmerizing and capture a time and place that one can only dream of. We seem to have lost our way in this era - that special bond of a close and loving neighborhood is almost gone. Reading this story makes one long for such a feeing of security and love. Thank you Annie Correal - for this amazing and never-to-be forgotten story.
12
Beautiful story. Thank you for pursuing the history of the album.
9
A lot of history here. Wish I could travel back to that time - a lot of good people, good times on Lincoln Place.
3
Wonderful, wonderful story,
9
Delicious! Worth all the great effort that this wonderful reporter made to flesh out this couple's life and times. Another example of the ordinary/extraordinary lives we live. Thank you!
5
Thank you! This is why I (and so many others) love The New York Times. What a lovely reminder of how an accidental find can be such a treasure to the one who found it and for so many others. Also, it is a gentle reminder that there is so much beauty to be found if we take the time to ask questions and engage in each other's lives. Bravo!
6
What I wouldn't give to have photos of my family. I was born in Germany after WWII. My parents, displaced persons from Poland, could only speak about their memories of those friends and relatives whose photos were destroyed in the bombings of Warsaw. I was touched to tears by these photos and this beautiful story. Thank you!
11
Thanks you for such a wonderful, insightful story. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
6
What a lovely article. It combined so many of my favorite things - researching genealogy, finding people, saving other peoples' pasts. (I'm an antiquarian book & paper seller...) It also ties directly into Lincoln Place, where my German American father was born in 1922. His building looks the same as it did back then, with the same twisty wrought iron fencing on the side walk, with an added safety fence at the top of the stoop, the only nod towards our safety conscious decades. Thank you for sharing this gem of memory with us.
6
Loved this story and how it paints a picture of a life well lived ! This is what makes the New York Times great and why I read it. Too bad that in an age of fast paced digital journalism articles like this are few and far between !
6
What a truly touching and thoughtful piece - thank you Annie Correal! I probably would not have been able to walk past that album on the trash heap either, but I'm not sure I would have pursued tracking the story down as Ms. Correal did.
I grew up in a similar lifestyle in a mostly white, middle class small town in Ohio in the mid-fifties and sixties. I have always wondered how different America might be if it had welcomed and assisted more black people into the middle class instead of slamming that door. Maybe more people might have enjoyed a life like that all over the nation.
I grew up in a similar lifestyle in a mostly white, middle class small town in Ohio in the mid-fifties and sixties. I have always wondered how different America might be if it had welcomed and assisted more black people into the middle class instead of slamming that door. Maybe more people might have enjoyed a life like that all over the nation.
9
Fantastic, this coincidence of chance found on a street corner. This family is every family, and every family is this family. The pictures and the prose, the stories and back stories, the known and the unknown: all of it touches me deeply, and makes me realize - finally! - just what matters, and what doesn't.
7
Many years ago there was a photograph exhibit up in Greenfield MA at the community college, showing many farmers here at the beginning of the 20th century, sitting on the porches of their houses, or doing other things people do, just living normal lives- and all were black. It doesn't seem like there would be a trace of that part of history without those photos. This story reminded me of that show.
6
Many thanks to the author for a lovely, well-researched story and also for the respect, care and gentleness of how it is written as well as the use of her personal resources. So many family photo albums are lost, as with my paternal grandmother's photo album. It is often all that is left as an inheritance. I will pas this story along.
3
What a wonderful, beautifully written chronicle of two lives. They would be proud.
3
I love this article! It is so important for these stories to be featured, a life to be told, pictures to be seen by all of us. I would love to know more of Etta Mae's story, to know more details like what music she listened to, what were the books she read, what were the color of her dresses? It is sad to think of all of her belongings being thrown away, memories from her life now only in pictures. It would be wonderful if this article were turned into a documentary. Please write more articles like this!
4
Thank God for people like you, Ms. Correal. It was providential that you walked by that trash heap on Lincoln Place when you did, but it was the goodness in your heart that caused you to pick up that photo album and take it to where it belongs, as arduous a journey as that turned out to be.
I thoroughly enjoyed both the pictures and the story of those they portrayed. What a walk through the ages it was, and how lovely that the story of the Taylors was told in this way. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I thoroughly enjoyed both the pictures and the story of those they portrayed. What a walk through the ages it was, and how lovely that the story of the Taylors was told in this way. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
6
I am sincerely grateful to the journalist who took the time and energy to research and write such a beautiful account of "everyday" life in mid 20th century America. It shows that all wasn't, and is not to this day, Gloom and Doom in US cities, on which some prefer to dwell.
As a Black American living abroad, Ms. Correal's portrayal of a little-known slice of our life is greatly appreciated.
As a Black American living abroad, Ms. Correal's portrayal of a little-known slice of our life is greatly appreciated.
85
Beautiful story. Beautifully told. Thank you for writing it.
1
Thank you for unearthing this great story about wonderful people! When you address the demographic change, you describe "white flight" solely in terms of "white fright". Which it was not exclusively. Many left Brooklyn, whether brownstones or apartment buildings (which were too expensive to renovate for the people living there and those moving in between the 1950s and 1980s) for a more convenient living in the suburbs with more green, more modern and spacious (& air conditioned) houses and the great American dream: cars & mobility!
3
Bu -
You are simply wrong. Many of the white families sold their homes at a loss. Banks intentionally refused to give loans to qualified applicants once a neighborhood got too black. The new suburban tract homes in places like Levittown didn't allow black residents. It was racism and fear of blacks that caused white folk to run.
You are simply wrong. Many of the white families sold their homes at a loss. Banks intentionally refused to give loans to qualified applicants once a neighborhood got too black. The new suburban tract homes in places like Levittown didn't allow black residents. It was racism and fear of blacks that caused white folk to run.
1
And here comes the attempt to revise history. That "liberal" train is never late.
Jesse Williams, the professional photographer who took many of the Taylor family pictures, made some beautiful images! Great story!
3
Ms.Correal,
Thank you for taking the time and effort to write this story. What a beautiful portrayal of an ordinary family that in their own way were extraordinary. You wrote an amazing piece that was tender , thoughtful and fill of love and kindness. You cared about people that you did not know and that made for a wonderful story.
Thank you for taking the time and effort to write this story. What a beautiful portrayal of an ordinary family that in their own way were extraordinary. You wrote an amazing piece that was tender , thoughtful and fill of love and kindness. You cared about people that you did not know and that made for a wonderful story.
90
What a wonderful story. Love how it all came together - I think it would make a great novel!
1
Beautiful photographs! Such a different era. Look how slim and fit everyone seems. Thank you NYT for this extraordinary story. More like it please.
Thank you, Annie Correal and the New York Times. Failing you are definitely not! These articles are why we subscribe.
Stories about normal black lives, normal Muslim lives, or really, just normal human lives, are crucial for helping us understand one another and how historical trends and economic forces have shaped our communities. Thank goodness that album was tempting, and happened to fall into the hands of a researcher with connections and funding and drive!
(Everyday wild animal lives would also be enlightening, by the way, if naturalists and biologists could help write those.)
A winning presentation of a charming cast of characters, with regular jobs, and lots of close non-kin and kin-based networks, thriving in 20th century America. Thank you!
Stories about normal black lives, normal Muslim lives, or really, just normal human lives, are crucial for helping us understand one another and how historical trends and economic forces have shaped our communities. Thank goodness that album was tempting, and happened to fall into the hands of a researcher with connections and funding and drive!
(Everyday wild animal lives would also be enlightening, by the way, if naturalists and biologists could help write those.)
A winning presentation of a charming cast of characters, with regular jobs, and lots of close non-kin and kin-based networks, thriving in 20th century America. Thank you!
81
So muc to love bound up iin this article. If only all tose of us wo think being white makes us superior could read this. Etta Mae and her friiends and family were every biit as worthy of love, respect and a fair shake as any one else. Black Livess Matter as muc as whie lives.
3
To have found the album and stuck with it until you got the backstory is a little treasure right on the front page of the NYT! Last couple of months I've put blinders on to avoid the headlines! Then this must read story pops up. Thank you!!
8
This story proves that we all part of one big family.
So glad you reminded us.
So glad you reminded us.
3
A wonderful story that parallels my family, South Carolina, WWll, Harlem.
Thank you for having the courage to pick-up album, (trash) and follow thru to completion. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for having the courage to pick-up album, (trash) and follow thru to completion. Thanks for sharing.
4
Drying my happy tears from the feelings this saga generated about the power of the family album to tell stories. At the same time, I am saddened that the origin of this article is the abandonment on the street of this precious collection. Keep your photographs people! They are touchstones for future generations as this one so poignantly shows. The contemporary photo of Craig Barnes Jr. is magical too.Thanks for the journalistic perseverance.
61
There are many organizations that seek such photos or albums. I know the University of Michigan sought photos etc of past grads and the Jewish Historical Societies/Museums do as well. What I love about the photo of Mrs. Taylor with her husband and friends, is not only the exuberance and happiness, the great clothes, but her wonderful smile. She could have been a model.
1
Thank you for such a wonderful journey through time and beautifully woven story of ordinary lives.
2
Thanks for this glimpse into American history. The happiness jumps out in those photos. Well done.
1
What a beautiful piece. Thank you for writing and posting these wonderful pictures of a time past. Each photograph has a story to tell, and the elegance of the men and women says a lot.
Even without the back story, and thank you for your research,
the composition, the details, the people and the joy they exhibit in the photos evoke such heartfelt and wonderful memories of my days in Brooklyn, New York.
Thanks for this essay,
Even without the back story, and thank you for your research,
the composition, the details, the people and the joy they exhibit in the photos evoke such heartfelt and wonderful memories of my days in Brooklyn, New York.
Thanks for this essay,
5
Simply & elegantly excellent. Thank you...
3
Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful story. I was captivated the entire way through and transported to another time and place as you took us on a journey with this family. Your perseverance and journalistic integrity are very appreciated!
4
Thank you for this. It moved me deeply.
3
Annie Correal's gripping narrative in today's The New York Times outlines the life of a deceased neighbor she never met, explores the golden era of a now fading New York community through the lens of an abandoned mid-20th century photo album, and chronicles a family's pursuit of the American Dream.
Correal's tale of struggling to investigate the provenance of the mysterious portfolio and bring it home to the family whose lives it contained resonated with me; the author's story resembles my own challenges (as a genealogist) with connecting and communicating with families who could inject life into old still portraits and place flesh on the skeletons of long-departed ancestors. Despite the technological advances that reduce the size of our world, we often find huge persistent gulfs continue to separate one human from another, even when they reside on the same city block.
Inspired by this article, I researched Etta Mae's family. I might be one of her maternal relatives.
Correal's tale of struggling to investigate the provenance of the mysterious portfolio and bring it home to the family whose lives it contained resonated with me; the author's story resembles my own challenges (as a genealogist) with connecting and communicating with families who could inject life into old still portraits and place flesh on the skeletons of long-departed ancestors. Despite the technological advances that reduce the size of our world, we often find huge persistent gulfs continue to separate one human from another, even when they reside on the same city block.
Inspired by this article, I researched Etta Mae's family. I might be one of her maternal relatives.
5
Thank you! That was lovely.
2
Wonderful. Such a rich history. I'm so glad you took the time to research it.
2
So many have already said this, but I want to say it again: this article is so beautiful, tells such an interesting and compelling story, and honestly, it made me feel hopeful after so many days of such terrible news. I feel like these people are part of my family now. Thank you!!
6
Thank you for this gift, Ms. Correal.
3
This is a great wonderful story. Thank you bringing the Taylor's to life again. You have made me wish I had known them.
1
A wonderful story that brought me to tears. Not tears of sadness but tears of joy that a chance encounter was able to tell the story of ordinary lives that could have been anyone from that era (who happened to be black) when despite the hardships, America was full of promise. Thank you!!
2
I love these photographs. It harks back to a bygone era. Look at how elegantly the people dressed. The clothes they wore were tailored, beautiful and attractive. And look at how happy they all seemed to be. Fills me with sentimentality, nostalgia and longing for those wonderful, simpler times.
4
What a lovely article! I am a Tar Heel from eastern NC myself who relocated to the Midwest as a young adult, and this family could well have been my own. I would love to see more of this kind of journalism in the NYT.
2
This was a beautifully written article, and it was easy to imagine the lives of those forever captured in the photos. It's truly a gift, and what it says to me is the importance of documenting and treasuring those lives.
2
A wonderful story that brings to mind memories of what I knew of Black life in Winston-Salem. My grandparents kept two grocery stores in Black neighborhoods. In the late 40s I was eight, nine and ten years old and "helped" them in a store in the summer. Time was spent mostly playing in various back yards, and spending hours at someone's kitchen table nursing a glass of iced tea and eating peanut butter cookies. I enjoyed listening to stories about their neighbors and families. Their homes were different from than mine, but what I could see of their lives and their concerns were like those of my parents and friends. They seemed to live lives of quiet dignity and some of them, particularly my grandparents' employees, I remember fondly and often. Thank you for the story.
7
This morning I bypassed the latest installment of our national nightmare and went to this wonderful story. Thank you for reminding me of the resilience of people, be they black or white, who left the economic impoverishment of the south. We may have been poor but we were rich with dreams, family, friends and the discipline to put our shoulders to the wheel and take advantage of the great opportunities this great melting pot of ambition, New York City, has to offer. As a girl growing up in Jim Crow Texas I always looked to the North Star of New York City and dreamed of living there one day. I made it. I made life long friends there. I met my Yankee husband and married there. Our child was born there. I have never, ever been sorry for one day that I left Texas behind in 1972. Even though I now live in Maine, I am and always will be a New Yorker.
5
My parents kept albums like this in the 50's, with the pictures attached to black paper with those little corners. That was what everyone did back then. These albums were replaced by new magnetic ones that held pictures by a cover sheet of plastic. That was not as good, since the pictures sometimes stuck to the plastic.
I inherited numerous albums and boxes containing hundreds of loose photos from my parents and grandparents. In addition, I had several albums of my own. Occasionally a picture would become damaged while sitting in a drawer. Several years ago I saved all these photos to my computer. I consider backed up computer files to be the best was to preserve old photos: you save space, and can organize the pictures any way you want, and easily make as many copies as you want. I have also used my computer to print out some pictures for framing, and to restore the color of some that were faded.
I inherited numerous albums and boxes containing hundreds of loose photos from my parents and grandparents. In addition, I had several albums of my own. Occasionally a picture would become damaged while sitting in a drawer. Several years ago I saved all these photos to my computer. I consider backed up computer files to be the best was to preserve old photos: you save space, and can organize the pictures any way you want, and easily make as many copies as you want. I have also used my computer to print out some pictures for framing, and to restore the color of some that were faded.
4
It'd be nice to see a follow story about a few other blocks in other neighborhoods in Brooklyn that have been solidly Black middle class for decades like some areas in Fort Green and in Bedford Stuyvesant.
A neighborhood crying for a book and a movie to show it off is Hollis in Queens. Hollis is where a lot of HipHop stars grew up -- their parents and grandparents were jazz musicians in NYC -- and many have sung its praises, but there's a lot more to be said and seen.
Most of the census tracts in Hollis (and nearby) are the only places in the USA where the average Black household has more income than the average White household. Demographers say that's because most of the Black households are headed by parents who are both working civil servants; most often a policeman married to a school teacher. The White households are most often broken homes; a divorced mom raising her kids alone.
A neighborhood crying for a book and a movie to show it off is Hollis in Queens. Hollis is where a lot of HipHop stars grew up -- their parents and grandparents were jazz musicians in NYC -- and many have sung its praises, but there's a lot more to be said and seen.
Most of the census tracts in Hollis (and nearby) are the only places in the USA where the average Black household has more income than the average White household. Demographers say that's because most of the Black households are headed by parents who are both working civil servants; most often a policeman married to a school teacher. The White households are most often broken homes; a divorced mom raising her kids alone.
2
Such a wonderful story!! I love old black & white photos, and often wonder about the people in them. Annie Correal gave a second life to the people in a discarded photo album. Family and neighbors were able to reconnect over the joys shared in the photos. And, readers are seeing life in a time in history they may not know. So happy Annie Correal pursued the search.
2
Fantastic research and story told with such heart. Beautifully done!
1
Ms. Correal, what a fine article. What I noticed the most is that if you change the black people for white, and Harlem for the Mission district in San Francisco, you could have easily been telling the story of my parents lives. What I take away from this is that we are all more alike than different. Thank you.
3
A fascinating story that portrays a way of life now largely gone and dispersed in the economic cauldron of late 20th century America. So good you were able to connect the dots and bring it together for those in the photos and this audience.
I'm fascinated, too, because it tells the tale of economic displacement and deindustrialization that proceeded the decline of the Rust Belt that's received so much attention due to Trump's successful exploitation of it in terms of its impact on "average white folks." At the same time, Trump has painted the African-American community as virtually pathological, on a path apart from what white families have suffered.
Truth be told, blacks endured these declines and displacements at the leading edge of this process. If Trump thinks we should care about white folks (and we should, regards of any baggage he attaches) who've endured the declining prospects for working people, he should care even more for black people, who've endured it for far longer and with greater difficulty, setting aside the other issues they face due to the continuing existence of systemic racism.
Yes, Harlem became middle-class prosperous for many after WWII. It's too bad that political rhetoric still defines more difference than in common between working class whites, blacks, whoever, when in fact we've shared much more in common. Those who seek to exploit and heighten such differences for their own gain are what keeps us from being great. Imagine if we became one?
I'm fascinated, too, because it tells the tale of economic displacement and deindustrialization that proceeded the decline of the Rust Belt that's received so much attention due to Trump's successful exploitation of it in terms of its impact on "average white folks." At the same time, Trump has painted the African-American community as virtually pathological, on a path apart from what white families have suffered.
Truth be told, blacks endured these declines and displacements at the leading edge of this process. If Trump thinks we should care about white folks (and we should, regards of any baggage he attaches) who've endured the declining prospects for working people, he should care even more for black people, who've endured it for far longer and with greater difficulty, setting aside the other issues they face due to the continuing existence of systemic racism.
Yes, Harlem became middle-class prosperous for many after WWII. It's too bad that political rhetoric still defines more difference than in common between working class whites, blacks, whoever, when in fact we've shared much more in common. Those who seek to exploit and heighten such differences for their own gain are what keeps us from being great. Imagine if we became one?
3
And...JOURNALISM.
Fantastic piece; thank you for sharing the stories!
Fantastic piece; thank you for sharing the stories!
4
This is just beautiful. Thank you so much for your diligence in researching and tracing and investigating and reporting; more importantly, thanks for noticing the album. It's a gift - to see something like that and stop and take a look at it. You should be proud. Even more of a gift to follow through. I occasionally need a reminder that behind every statistic, there is a someone, and a someone's story. I also needed a reminder that these someones behind these statistics have dignity and hope and families and history.
3
A delightful story that resonates with many African American families. Our new neighbors to communities often feel that they have 'discovered' area these areas that were 'disadvantaged or economically distressed'. However, there is a rich legacy and culture formed by families in those neighborhoods just like this one that unfolds from the discarded photo album. Many families have memorabilia of survival and thriving despite the injustices and economic discrimination.
Growing up in the south in the 60s, seeing these photos of life in NYC's elegant affairs and escape from the oppression or racism which African Americans endured in this country, attracted me to NYC. Also those memories inspired me and other young Black professionals to move to Harlem and Bed Stuy to help rebuild these historically significant neighborhoods that had been devastated by disinvestment, drugs and results of discrimination.
It was people like the Taylors and Burtons, their block associations and churches that helped nonprofits reclaim these areas' social and civic fabric as NYC and other public and private sources invested in rebuilding the housing stock. This story should remind new residents of the foundation of the change that you now enjoy in your neighborhoods, and to acknowledge the existing residents and the cultural legacy.
Thank you NYT for the beautiful chronology of American lives and families that differs from all the negative images of African Americans.
Growing up in the south in the 60s, seeing these photos of life in NYC's elegant affairs and escape from the oppression or racism which African Americans endured in this country, attracted me to NYC. Also those memories inspired me and other young Black professionals to move to Harlem and Bed Stuy to help rebuild these historically significant neighborhoods that had been devastated by disinvestment, drugs and results of discrimination.
It was people like the Taylors and Burtons, their block associations and churches that helped nonprofits reclaim these areas' social and civic fabric as NYC and other public and private sources invested in rebuilding the housing stock. This story should remind new residents of the foundation of the change that you now enjoy in your neighborhoods, and to acknowledge the existing residents and the cultural legacy.
Thank you NYT for the beautiful chronology of American lives and families that differs from all the negative images of African Americans.
128
Oh My Gosh!! this is so cool. What that women did to find who the album went to is so cool. I'm glad that the ancestors got to see what happened back in time then what they are living. I sent this link to my friends. Its so amazing that this happened.
3
Looking at these pictures was amazing. This could have been my father's family, and I'm sure many other African Americans of a certain age feel the same way. Thanks for for finding, researching, sharing!
3
How beautiful. I am an Italian American from Bensonhurst and your story touched me deeply. I'm crying. Thank you so much.
3
What a fabulous story. Very much appreciated and needed in these distressing times. Thank you.
4
What a great story. I am in tears! Thank you for writing it.
2
This is the best piece I have seen the the NYT since "The Lonely Death of George Bell." What a bounty the writer found, tossed away on a pile of rubbish! Kudos for having the curiosity to pick it up, and follow up.
Those handmade details on the album cover speak volumes. The album was clearly treasured at one time, the photos carefully taped in. It is archived joy.
When someone dies, late in life, without progeny, spouse or partner, it can feel painfully final. Who will remember her, and carry on her story? In a world that worships celebrity and wealth, it is important to remember that all lives matter. All lives are interesting. We are all important to someone.
This discarded album was likely tossed out by an estate buyer, a real estate agent, or a cleanup crew hired to get the home ready for sale. It is something I have witnessed myself -- death viewed as an opportunity to make a killing on long-held real estate. The vultures fly in from all directions, to feed. Thank you, Annie Correal for honoring Mrs. Taylor this way.
Those handmade details on the album cover speak volumes. The album was clearly treasured at one time, the photos carefully taped in. It is archived joy.
When someone dies, late in life, without progeny, spouse or partner, it can feel painfully final. Who will remember her, and carry on her story? In a world that worships celebrity and wealth, it is important to remember that all lives matter. All lives are interesting. We are all important to someone.
This discarded album was likely tossed out by an estate buyer, a real estate agent, or a cleanup crew hired to get the home ready for sale. It is something I have witnessed myself -- death viewed as an opportunity to make a killing on long-held real estate. The vultures fly in from all directions, to feed. Thank you, Annie Correal for honoring Mrs. Taylor this way.
95
yes, I remember the Bell piece as well. Both articles moved me to tears.
1
Nope, the photo album was not put on the curb by an estate buyer--Mrs. Taylor's landlady, Jackie Jones, put it out on the curb after cleaning the apartment following Mrs. Taylor's passing. Check the last few paragraphs of the story.
2
You didn't read the rest of this wonderful article. The family member who cleaned out the apartment didn't want the album, didn't appreciate it. The landlady (with the blessings of the heir) gave away the contents of the apartment. No one wanted this marvelous book of photos. The landlady tied up the book in twine and put it on the curb from where the author rescued it. No vultures were involved in the abandoning and rescue of this book.
2
What a beautiful story. That's the America I like, peaceful, loving, tender.
Reminds me of the work of the great Teenie Harris, who documented African-American life in PGH for decades: http://digital.library.pitt.edu/images/pittsburgh/teenieharris.html
1
What a delight! After having read 'Warmth of Other Suns' last year, this article was a nice bookend, tying the Great Migration experience through to today. Adored every minute spent reading this. Kudos.
1
Absolutely fabulous article! It was a joy to read and share.
1
Wonderful story. It is a book in itself.
2
Pictures tell us so much about the past and yet there are vast voids in the details. They are snapshots of a moment. We want the larger story. Thank you for telling us this wonderful story of an American family.
2
What a wonderful read in the morning. Thank goodness for prints, not just "pictures" but actual physical prints made at the camera store, Walgreens or from Kodak. Those days are . . . over.
Simply wonderful, thanks for the story!
2
What a unique and absolutely delightful story this was! From the author's journey through the remnants of memories others had left behind, to the rare peek into an era and region in black history that otherwise would have been missed, this article provides food for the head, heart, and soul. She deservedly owns my admiration and appreciation.
2
An enjoyable article and wonderful walk down their memory lane.
1
i loved this story!
1
This is a lovely piece and just what I needed when so much of the news is so depressing. You wrote the piece beautifully, I was with you on your journey of discovery.
I think it should also be mentioned that people moved north for jobs and culture but also out of fear for their safety due to the violence and lynchings in the south. The north had the pull of jobs but there was also a push factor for many families/communities.
I think it should also be mentioned that people moved north for jobs and culture but also out of fear for their safety due to the violence and lynchings in the south. The north had the pull of jobs but there was also a push factor for many families/communities.
1
Incredible story telling and piecing together through research the lives of average citizens. Old photo albums are always amazing, but when done this well it really transports you to a time and place. The reporter should present this to Gates Jr. to do a episode for the show PBS show Finding your Roots. I see no reason why a show like that has to be only about the lives and history of someone who is famous. This could be presented as an example of an average family from the "great migration." Great work!
1
Thank you! This is a wonderful piece of reporting on an absolutely beautiful story. It so much reminds me of my journey from North Carolina to Harlem and beyond. I just love your research, persistence and engaging story telling. So uplifting when all other news seems so depressing.
3
I loved this story! Kudos to Annie Correal for being such a super sleuth and historian. Such a rich history that few of us really know. I hated to get to the end--- I have to admit: I cried and cried. Thank you so much for this wonderful chronicle of two New Yorkers and their families.
4
Fantastic story. A balm for our troubled, superficial era.
4
I love this story!! Thank you. I'm our family genealogist and this just makes my heart happy. Thank you for your thoughts and your research and your story telling. Eamon Queeney gets a big thumbs up for a captivating photo. Wow! That photo alone tells such a story. You made my day!
2
Wonderful story. It saddens me to know that this sort of discovery of every-day history is less and less likely to happen now that most of us have our photos and correspondence stored on a hard drive somewhere. Even if an enterprising reporter were to look, who knows if the digital formats will even be readable 50 years from now.
3
May this rich and beautifully-told story be an incentive to many to look up from a cellphone once in a while and notice your surroundings.
2
What a treasure to find! I loved your article, and how you took the time, and diligence to contact relatives and friends of this couple. Thank you for sharing with us your journey, as it gives us a window into history of the migration from the south to the North.
I loved this story... How fortunate that we have a national paper who feels it important to pursue and publish it. Thankful there are still people like the author who notice their surroundings, and feel compelled to follow such an intimate portrait of a family's history. We don't hear enough about the evolution and lifestyles of the African American population, one tends to just focus on the stereotypes that people have ingrained in their minds. Thank you for making my day with this story!
1
i read this article--all the time I was thinking, "What is so wonderful as people?" The way they live--love--laugh--die?" And records of people--scraps of old notes, diaries, photo albums. As if they were all standing on a corner somewhere--fixing us with a long stare--"We are here! We exist! Notice us! Listen to us! Care about us! We're PEOPLE!"
I am a retired Latin teacher. Now and then, reading some little bit of Latin, I feel a tiny shiver down my spine. The centuries evaporate--some ancient Roman is SPEAKING to me, addressing me personally.
Like future Emperor Marcus Aurelius, a teenager, writing his tutor. "I thought," he says, "I would tell you what I did today. Prius in latus convertar ut stertam." "Before I turn over and go to sleep." And there it is! You can all but SEE the young man--sitting up in bed--scrawling his little note. Marcus and his tutor have been dust now--not even dust!--for eighteen centuries. The years went by. The Roman Empire fell into ruin.
. . .but we still have that little note. Just as (now) we have this photo album. I love it! People! How wonderful they are. How wonderful WE are! ALL of us! Thank you, Ms. Correar! Thank you so much!
I am a retired Latin teacher. Now and then, reading some little bit of Latin, I feel a tiny shiver down my spine. The centuries evaporate--some ancient Roman is SPEAKING to me, addressing me personally.
Like future Emperor Marcus Aurelius, a teenager, writing his tutor. "I thought," he says, "I would tell you what I did today. Prius in latus convertar ut stertam." "Before I turn over and go to sleep." And there it is! You can all but SEE the young man--sitting up in bed--scrawling his little note. Marcus and his tutor have been dust now--not even dust!--for eighteen centuries. The years went by. The Roman Empire fell into ruin.
. . .but we still have that little note. Just as (now) we have this photo album. I love it! People! How wonderful they are. How wonderful WE are! ALL of us! Thank you, Ms. Correar! Thank you so much!
157
Well said.
I studied Latin and Ancient Greek (you had to come in an hour early to study Greek) in the 70's. I assume I was one of the last group of student cohorts to have these options. I can't agree with you more and feel sorry for people who show no curiosity about the past.
I'm a professional documentary and portrait photographer. My oldest memories are of looking through the family album. I'm always drawn to images of faces I know and those I don't. My uncle will look through those images and like a kid with a baseball card collections will say "dead, dead, dying, dead" when he looks at them. This story resonated with me as I remember visiting my aunt not long before she died. I was looking at her photo albums. It was fascinating to see images of events that I had seen but from someone els's perspective. Thank you for sharing this experience it is the very thing I love so much about photography and why photos tend to hold such value for so many.
75
Half way through, great story & work!
2
I loved this article. We are always bombarded with every detail of the lives of celebrities. It gets tiresome. I am always in interested in reading about the lives of regular people. When I was a child and young adult, I could listen for hours to stories about the lives of my parents and their family before they married. I like hearing stories about the lives of friends and neighbors, of their parents and families. I like hearing stories of about the families of my sister in law and my two brother in laws. I am not a writer so when a person dies, all the stories they knew die with them. Then I have to rely on my memories of them. Thank you. The story of Etta Mae and Ike touched me deeply.
13
It is touching. It is sad. This story reminded me of my maternal grandparents who fled eastern Tennessee in 1936 for the auto factories of Detroit. They were white with limited education and multiple family members living under the same roof. My grandparents never returned to Tennessee but their siblings later would. Segregated times and yet their lives are so similar to those in this article. Prejudice, fear, culture and hatred would keep the races apart for many more years which is sad. If only people had talked and listened more...
5
Thank you for writing this wonderful story.
6
Like so many people who will read this beautiful piece, these photos from those days remind me of the photos from my family in California. To me, it doesn't feel like so long ago... that same TV, the furniture, the clothing, the poses, the smiles.
It was a difficult time to black in America, but on the other hand our communities thrived and held representatives from all social strata.
I'm probably not alone when I think wistfully of those times and I'm so happy to see these lives on the pages of the NYT. When all the press about us is either negative or "the First", it's so heartening to see ordinary black people living ordinary lives and I'm sure so enlightening for non-black people to see what that looked like. More please.
It was a difficult time to black in America, but on the other hand our communities thrived and held representatives from all social strata.
I'm probably not alone when I think wistfully of those times and I'm so happy to see these lives on the pages of the NYT. When all the press about us is either negative or "the First", it's so heartening to see ordinary black people living ordinary lives and I'm sure so enlightening for non-black people to see what that looked like. More please.
183
I was filled with nostalgia while reading this beautiful piece and sharing the photos. It reminded me of my own old albums: When we finally got a car, we posed with the car. When we finally got a TV, we posed with the TV.
Would love to see more--please.
Would love to see more--please.
Thank you for this alive and touching story. A great antidote to the feelings we are all having at the present moment of divisiveness and dismay.
9
We need more of these stories, especially now, to teach all of us that each human has a story that matters. Simply stunning. Glad you picked up the album. This must be part of the history curriculum in schools and colleges.
6
This is such a lovely story. The stars aligned and this was meant to be. Thank you for picking up the album.
4
The stars were aligned indeed.
Astonishing perseverance to keep following this story, which is a story that begged to be told.
8
Beautiful story. Thank you for your perseverance.
5
Thank you for this wonderful article. The story, so well told, I feel like I was in the Burtons home too. What a treasure, I hope this story and photos will make it's way into the new African American Museum.
Thank you for sharing their lives and the times they live in.
Thank you for sharing their lives and the times they live in.
6
Thank you so much for this wonderful story! It reminds me of the stories I heard growing up of family members who moved up north from the south for a better life. This piece really put a smile on my face. It was meant for you to find that album!
3
Fantastic story, and thank you for sharing more about mid-20th Century Black life in Brooklyn!
2
Thank you New York Times for showing the world that there are many black people in America who live rich, fulfilling lives filled with love and family and not the pathology of crime and dysfunction we are bombarded with on the news everyday.
Black people, like all other people are not monolithic. There are millions of us who are patriots, work hard, serve in the military, have jobs, own property, are good neighbors, love their children, and live the American dream.
Here's to reading more of those stories.
Black people, like all other people are not monolithic. There are millions of us who are patriots, work hard, serve in the military, have jobs, own property, are good neighbors, love their children, and live the American dream.
Here's to reading more of those stories.
23
What a lovely story. The pictures remind me of how families lived back then, and how the women dressed and kept beautiful homes. Thanks you for sharing.
2
We just de-cluttered our basement and threw away hundreds of pictures like these. The editors know how to reach me.
2
No family member wanted any? No local history groups were contacted? Shame on you.
Thank you Annie Correal for making the effort to remind us through words and pictures what humanity really means.
3
This is what a reporter should be: insatiably curious, endlessly tenacious. That's how great stories happen. Ms. Correal saw important yet ordinary people in those photos and she brought them back to life
9
What a deeply touching story. It moved me to tears for its beauty. Thank you for putting Etta & Ike together again, and sharing their journey with us.
6
I enjoyed the article but am made uneasy by the wide-eyed astonishment that is its very premise: Why, yes, Virginia, black people have lived full, beautiful lives, and loved their lives enough to document them and cherish those memories. It has always been so. But the reporter "had never seen a black family’s photos from this era," despite there being a long tradition of historians and scholars of photography excavating the under-examined complexity of these black lives (prior to Isabel Wilkerson, one might add). This reporter happened to have discovered this most basic, pedestrian, fact of black humanity while strolling her gentrifying block. Some others have only noticed because of blood spilling recently on American streets. The problem here isn't only the drippy nostalgia, it is the horrifying fact that black lives, well lived are considered a novelty by the paper of record.
13
I agree that the "wide-eyed astonishment" in the article and of the comments is a bit over the top. But I love the pictures and the story behind them. I also love the stories behind my black family's albums and the stories of the millions of other black families, who also kept similar albums. Black Lives have always Mattered to black people.
2
This bugged me, too. How can the writer live in America and have never seen photography of black people from this era? Never anything from Gordon Parks? Nothing from Abyssinian Baptist Church? Harlem Renaissance. Tuskegee Airmen?
If anything, this story illustrates that black people are invisible to her. This woman walked her dog every day and she never saw her.
Someone recently came to my house and couldn't stop talking about how "fascinating" my family photos were. She, too, apparently have never seen generations of middle-class black people doing ordinary things like going to the beach, enjoying vacations, walking around museums or dressing up for the symphony.
If anything, this story illustrates that black people are invisible to her. This woman walked her dog every day and she never saw her.
Someone recently came to my house and couldn't stop talking about how "fascinating" my family photos were. She, too, apparently have never seen generations of middle-class black people doing ordinary things like going to the beach, enjoying vacations, walking around museums or dressing up for the symphony.
Told so well and truly relished this story. Thank you!
3
I love this story. Thank you for your dedicated research to bring these people to life for all of us. I grew up in Crown Heights in the 40's and 50's, a little white girl who loved living in the diversity that was our neighborhood. I lived on Pacific St. off Nostrand Ave., and passed Lincoln Rd every day on my way to school. Etta was the same age as my mother, and I can imagine we might have passed one another walking on the Avenue.
7
A transcendent story. I am moved to tears at how extraordinary each life is. The arc of history is clearly outlined in the lives of the Taylors, their family, and friends. Thank you.
126
Absolutely fantastic article
i don't know how many people reading this saw Hidden Figures. If you haven't please do. Look at the homes of the women. For many of you, you have no idea how to many African Americans that was home.
i don't know how many people reading this saw Hidden Figures. If you haven't please do. Look at the homes of the women. For many of you, you have no idea how to many African Americans that was home.
1
"Lemonade"....
First, Thank you for picking up this AMAZING TREASURE into the past, saving it and then writing this fine story and sharing it. What a terrific look into the life, times and lives of these Americans. What a great movie it would make.
1
This might be the best example I have ever seen of how journalism -- through the lens off living, struggling human beings -- can to light and life a major current in our history.
My guess is that, if it hadn't already happened, this extraordinary tale was optioned for a film within minutes of its appearing on the Times website.
My guess is that, if it hadn't already happened, this extraordinary tale was optioned for a film within minutes of its appearing on the Times website.
1
A riveting "detective story", told warmly and respectfully. Loved it.
3
Where I live there is a cemetery with a section that used to be segregated. Within it there are many headstones with enameled photos upon them. It occurred to me that researching their lives and publishing some portion of their life stories would perhaps interest the general public. This article takes my idea to its logical elaboration. What a beautiful story of America!
To the editors of the NYT, this type of story makes your publication worth reading, not your opinions presented as facts on the front page.
To the editors of the NYT, this type of story makes your publication worth reading, not your opinions presented as facts on the front page.
3
Thank you for writing the story of Etta and Ike. It was refreshing to read something full of life, laughter, and love. Keep up the great writing NY Times.
1
Great article BUT don't stop now! This could be the start of a great series of articles about this family and what happened to them from The Great Depression until today. What was life like for them? For Ike in the army in WWII? I am sure they didn't make a great deal of money but how did they survive? A true American story, not about Kennedys or Sinatras or Oprahs, but people who make do with the world they live in. When did it change, how and the big question - why? That's a story worth telling. That's a story that our 'paper of record ' should be telling.
3
Beautiful story. Great research and caring heart.
1
A beautiful story. Lovely family and neighbors. Thanks for sharing.
1
@Linda Burke-Galloway, MD
My family is from Dinwiddie as well. This story reminded me that I must organize my 107-year old aunt's pictures!
My family is from Dinwiddie as well. This story reminded me that I must organize my 107-year old aunt's pictures!
1
Oh my, what a wonderful journey for you and me, a reader.
Thank you for your perseverance. So well "told", I could picture everything.
Thank you for your perseverance. So well "told", I could picture everything.
3
I want to thank you and the NY times for printing this wonderful portrayal and chronical of black life in NY. I was born in Crown Heights (1957 Kings County Hosp) and lived on Albany Ave with a Jamaican family until we moved to Queens, buying our own home. I can remember walking down Lincoln Place many times. My Godmother owned a hand laundry on Albany between Lincoln and Eastern Parkway and many of her customers were from Lincoln Place. Although I was raised mostly in Queens, Brooklyn is to this day, the place that I come back to year after year. And yes I have seen the changes in the neighborhood as well.
3
Annie Correal's research and sleuthing and love for the people in her article are astounding, worthy of a Pulitzer. Such care and compassion about a subject reassure me that not everyone is ready to bury the past of segregation. The characters in Annie's story are vivid and real, and show how a community can find love and caring and fun despite all odds. Now I feel hopeful.
3
One of the best stories I've read. I was really touched by this story; it's a great history lesson and a great lesson on found treasures.
5
I loved it!
Thank you!
Thank you!
3
Wonderful! Thank you!!
3
This is absolutly beautiful. The author takes you on an amazing journey with her "never give up, find out" determination. I have not enjoyed an article as much as this one in years. Thank you!!
1
Great story. When I was ten, 1952, my family moved from Prospect Place to Queens, I guess with the rest of the white people.
1
What an amazing story! It was told so eloquently. I didn't want it to end. It's as if I was getting to know and love Ms. Etta. This would be GREAT movie :-)
3
I love this! But it makes me sad to think that now all our records, both written and photographic, are now housed in the digital realm. Who knows if they will even survive the evolutions of technologies, but certainly this kind of serendipitous discovery and exploration of history won't happen. What a loss that will turn out to be.
92
This is a beautiful story.
I once purchased in a used book store an old album of a British opera singer from around 1910 who did some world traveling and performing. It was fascinating to figure out what was going on.
I once purchased in a used book store an old album of a British opera singer from around 1910 who did some world traveling and performing. It was fascinating to figure out what was going on.
Beautiful piece and stunning images. Though the journey is a different one, this album reminds me of those that I have from my Jewish grandparents in Brooklyn. In some ways they had a very different life experience, but in others - the clothing, working in the garment district, the social clubs, day to day life in brooklyn - it's very similar. Thanks for publishing this story.
I've lived on lincoln place for 13 years and most likely passed Etta Mae myself.
I've lived on lincoln place for 13 years and most likely passed Etta Mae myself.
2
What a beautiful story. I am trying to keep from crying. Thank you for all the work you did to illuminate the lives of these wonderful people.
1
Thank you for this. For a few moments I was not worried about the current sad state of affairs in the world today and reminisced about the many photos and stories that families used to take of gatherings and important moments over the course of generations. I shared this article with my family. A reminder of a time when we took care of and looked after one another. Wouldn't it be nice if we all spent more time taking care of and looking after one another...
4
What a beautiful story, all the more deeply compelling for its exploration of "ordinary" (but underreported) lives, from a time and place far from my own. Thank you for this.
The article was emotionally moving. Many of us have photo albums with unidentified people interlocked with our known family members.
So the researching and attention to detail along with caring about the subjects was awesome.
Thank you for honoring and cataloging the lives of this family.
So the researching and attention to detail along with caring about the subjects was awesome.
Thank you for honoring and cataloging the lives of this family.
1
Amazing story. Thank you.
This was such a heart felt story. It brought tears to my eyes. My mom lived on Carroll Street (crown heights) she passed away and I was unable to get her pictures.
The story was so enjoyable and such beautiful pictures. Life during those times look like so much fun...
That was living.
The story was so enjoyable and such beautiful pictures. Life during those times look like so much fun...
That was living.
3
This story made my day as it was the first thing I read this morning.
5
A beautiful, beautiful story, and an important piece of social history for those of us who didn't know it already. Thank you!
1
Excellent story. Very moving. Thank you for sticking with it for all of us. Gratitude
1
After hesitating a moment...Thanks for taking the right decision and your hard work on investigation and smooth writing - what a journey! And we were only able to live it because you took the first step.
4
Really wonderful story. Thanks for doing this
This article warmed my heart. Reading this I could visualize the struggles and joys African American endured and maintained within their community to maintain happiness. Beautifully written.
3
Beautifully done. This tells the story that rarely gets told. So human and warm
1
Reminds me of going through my grandma's albums with her, from the same time period, but different parts of the country. Thank you for this wonderful story about ordinary people and putting everything into historical context. Great job researching and also being sensitive to people involved.
In tears at this fascinating tale, wish I had known these ppl but I do have friendships with so many others like them. The greatest part of our humanity, thriving where u end up.
Thank you so much for this story.
In 1969, outside of Eureka, Kansas at a truck stop on highway 35, someone stole a large paper bag I had purchased to carry an old photo album my grandmother had given me. The bag had nothing of value except a few pieces of jewelry she had also given me. I would love it if someone found that album, as you did and call me.
In 1969, outside of Eureka, Kansas at a truck stop on highway 35, someone stole a large paper bag I had purchased to carry an old photo album my grandmother had given me. The bag had nothing of value except a few pieces of jewelry she had also given me. I would love it if someone found that album, as you did and call me.
1
What a delightful article!! I normally am impatient with long reads but this one was worth it. Thank you Annie, this was special.
7
Thank you for bringing this family and their times to life for us. Except for the different color of our skin, it's like looking through an album of my own family as well; clothes, celebrations, furnishings, storefronts, WW2 uniforms... all recorded with love by Etta Mae, who couldn't have known how joyful and important it would be for strangers to read her story. (This album is so much more meaningful than thousands of photos stored on a computer!)
134
Photos offer so much more than the thousands of digital images that fill our computers and hardly if ever shared with those in the images. Nothing beats passing photos around the kitchen table.
Annie Correal is an amazing woman who by her efforts in pursuing and finding the family members portrayed in this photo album has made the promise of equality one step closer to reality.
Annie Correal is an amazing woman who by her efforts in pursuing and finding the family members portrayed in this photo album has made the promise of equality one step closer to reality.
1
And isn't that point? That everyone does the same thing, more or less. They just live lives and try to do their best. So sad about the white flight and what our neighborhoods could have been.
2
This was a breath of fresh air in an uncertain time. Thanks for making the effort to track down this wonderful story. I've seen family photo albums at swap meets and thought there probably was a story there. You made my day.
4
One of my favorite stories in the New York Times. Of course I know this world intimately from the other side--the side of the Taylors, the Burtons, etc.--and wish it were depicted more, on TV, in films, etc., so it's good to see that the Times is taking some notice. This is America too; as Mr. Bates puts it so beautifully and succinctly, "Who do you think maintained [this world, this borough, this neighborhood]? Where were you?"
9
This story was so moving, as written it draws you into the intimacy and beauty of family life and,- the history of important things of all kinds. Ms.Correal's character and tenacity in painting this vignette, sensing the importance of the story behind the obvious, is to be admired. I hope this document can be preserved and shared for years to come. For those of us who love NYC it does a great job filling in some gaps and connecting the dots. It's made me feel like part of the family. Thank you.
5
Growing up in NYC in the early 1970"s on the Ulper East Side, this article brought tears in making me think of all the great people and culture I was never exposed to. It also brought me joy in knowing that there was a beautiful alternate narrative to the story I was exposed to. Thank you SO MUCH for this uplifting piece about our true identity exactly when we needed it the most!
7
Thank you for researching the old photo album and for writing this wonderful story. The pictures brought back memories of my grandmother's albums. She migrated from Jonesville, N.C. to Washington, D.C. in the 1950's and was born in 1915. When her third husband, who she predeceased, died, I did not collect any of her things. For that I will be forever regretful.
It's not often that a person invests the time and resources into solving a puzzle. Reading this story enriched my life.
It's not often that a person invests the time and resources into solving a puzzle. Reading this story enriched my life.
10
What a terrific article and so respectful of the families who lived those lives. I really appreciated the historical context and how it never overwhelmed the very human personal stories.
5
Lovely piece. I read the article as I sat under a photo of my parents, Dad's arm around Mom, well dressed, smiling and happy seated at a table with friends and glasses at an unknown dance hall in NYC in the 1940's. I was pleased to see mention of Isabel Wilkerson's brilliant book about the amazing black people who lived, loved and left a legacy of family and accomplishment in the face of systemic and un-relenting racism. Thank you.
8
Thank you, Ms. Correal, for the tenderness, respect, curiosity, and doggedness with which you approached this important and moving topic.
7
I've been collecting images of African Americans for over 20 years. I have hundreds of images but only a very small portion of them have any kind if identification. Last year I started a page on FB called Lost Relatives and I have been successful in reuniting a few of these lost images with their relatives so I can imagine your immense joy in returning these images. Great work!
9
Echoing the thanks of many other commenters - thanks for realizing that what you had never seen was worth learning about and sharing. And thanks for the reminder that in cities' ebbs and flows there are always stories untold - where white fears of homes losing value and crime, etc might be what some remember of the 60s, on this block there was, for a working class family, opportunity and some contentment. How lucky that they had a photographer friend, too - the first of several documentarians to this story.
4
This is just lovely. My family made it out West. Black and White photos still exist- but sparingly. Most of the Treasure Keepers in my family are now gone and with them- many of the visual histories. Today's generation will have to remember to save the photos and gather oral histories. Digital pictures are now kept by the millions on various drives and phones and then deleted. Please same some.
3
Every picture tells a story. I love you Etta Mae! I love all those that you shared your life with in this photo album. Thank you for sharing this treasure book with us that was put out with the trash, Annie Correal. All those faces smiling at the table just spoke to me " just sit right down with us and join in our joy!" So poignant and I'm so deeply moved. It nearly washed this filthy week away. Nearly. Uplifting my spirit in joy and wonder and sharing in the mystery and poetry of lives we would never feel this near and dear to. A supreme pleasure! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Trump doesn't know it, won't read it, won't feel it either. But we are ALL family and so deeply connected to the human experience.
Trump doesn't know it, won't read it, won't feel it either. But we are ALL family and so deeply connected to the human experience.
27
Awww, you had to go and ruin it with your last sentence.
Just kidding. I feel the same way - it washes away the stench of this last week. What a wonderful story.
Just kidding. I feel the same way - it washes away the stench of this last week. What a wonderful story.
2
Such a great story capturing the intimate along with documenting the changes to our society that still underlie may of our divisions today By capturing a time and place, you have shown us a picture of a family in a neighborhood that is seldom seen or appreciated.
4
"...picked up her album and carried it home."
And good for you. Thank you for this beautiful touching story. We so often miss how people got where they are today. We've seen glamorous pictures of Black lives before, but this personalizes one family's journey.
And good for you. Thank you for this beautiful touching story. We so often miss how people got where they are today. We've seen glamorous pictures of Black lives before, but this personalizes one family's journey.
6
Lovely.
4
White flight? How strange that white folks were fearful of black folks. Our black brothers and sisters fled the south and real horror to move north. This great article shows how wonderfully alike all humans are. Same love, same hopes, same concerns, same patriotism, same happiness! Thanks for a great uplifting article!
15
This story warmed my heart. It reminds me of the community I grew up in on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s and '60s, before such predominantly black areas became known as "ghettos" or "the 'hood." All the families were two-parent, girls didn't get pregnant, and many homes didn't have locks. Young black people today have no idea such communities existed. Stories like this need to be told during Black History Month.
14
So beautifully done. Thank you for sharing!
3
At the times the best treasure that are find aren't silver nor gold. But love, family, and friends have a good times through life. And this was a treasure worth sharing.
9
Thank you for this beautiful article and preserving the life of Etta Mae Taylor and the history of so many Black families that lived during this era. I feel like these could be my relatives. Just hard working people, in search of a better life.
9
Beautiful story, need many more of these!
7
Thank you!!
4
Great research and beautiful story-telling. It reminded me of my own family who relocated from Dinwiddie,VA to Brooklyn during the great migration. Pictures are invaluable. They represent visual history. Thanks for trusting your instincts and picking up that treasured album. Very happy the NYT provided you with resources to do the story. Well done!!
13
What an amazing life & story. Thank You!
7
Thank you so much for this story! The pictures are beautiful.
11
I loved this story and cried more than once, moved by the poignancy of the details. Thank you! I will never forget Etta Mae and Ike and am inspired by their joyful living and the loving community they helped create on Lincoln Place!
17
This was such a great story! It's always interesting to look at pictures from back in the day. What people wore, and the way they dressed up when they went out. Seeing people dancing with each other. Everyone looked happy and the author really highlighted that "sense of community".
6
People made an effort to smile for a photograph. Now, no smiles. Especially men. Not cool. So sad. If you can't make an effort to smile for my posed photo, I tend not to keep it.
Beautiful story. Wow. Think of the millions of wonderful stories all of us are in.
6
I live in Florida where surveying old family records takes up much of my time. The study of Genealogy opens many family memories both positive and negative. I am shaken and awed by this compelling storytelling. BRAVO! "Thanks for the Memories."
Patricia James Cheavers
Tallahassee, FL
Patricia James Cheavers
Tallahassee, FL
4
this story is so touching... thank you!
8