Mother + Daughter History

My breath was taken away when I first saw this picture. I had never seen it before. My uncle gave it to me. It's one of the photographs that I treasure the most. Four generations. Me, my mom, her mom, and her mom. That's a lot of mothers and daughters!

Recently, I mentioned that I've been researching my family tree. My great-grandmother was born in 1878 in Virginia. My grandmother was born in Boston in 1911. My great-grandmother was the daughter of a slave. I'm trying to learn more about her life in Virginia and how she decided to move to Boston. Those years between 1878 and 1911 were a pretty profound time in our nation's history. And I can see the that time in actual lives looking at my family.

On my father's side, I have similar questions for that time period. My paternal grandmother was born in 1906. Number 12 on my life list, pertains to her. I never got to ask her questions about her life directly, but I have learned more from speaking with my father. I do remember her voice. She had an accent that sounded Jamaican. I was always very confused by that, because I knew that she was born here in the United States.

Now I understand. She was born in the Low Country in South Carolina. African-Americans from this area are called Gullah or Geechee, and speak an English based creole, which is actually related to Jamaican and other creole languages. The culture is strongly influenced by West African traditions. The movie, Daughters of the Dust, explores this culture and shows the beauty of the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina. My grandmother left there and moved to Boston. What a huge cultural difference that must have been for her!

Well, these are some stories that I'm thinking about today. I'm getting ready to bake a cake for my mom, which is now her favorite cake of all times. I make a chocolate layer cake using an adapted version of this cupcake recipe and this frosting.

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there! Tell your children some stories today and help to pass down your history. Because you are living history!


Anali's First Amendment © 2006-2010. All rights reserved.

This Post’s Link

Like what you see? Subscribe to this blog by clicking here.