Oldies But Goodies: A Little Natural Hair History
LatestI spend so much time looking forward, sometimes I need a reminder to look back, marvel, and appreciate how far we’ve come.
I got a wonderful reminder from esteemed Caribbean-born author Nalo Hopkinson, who sent me a link to Yale’s online Beinecke archive of rare books and manuscripts. In the Randolph Linsly Simpson African American Collection there are “vivid pictures of black life and American racial attitudes from the 1850s to the 1940s.” Some are astounding, some are surprising, some are sad. All are worth seeing, absorbing, and appreciating.
This full length portrait of Zumigo; lady in very fancy dress and huge Afro, standing next to gigantic basket prop” was taken in 1880. WOW at her stunning hair! And her style is giving me inspiration – a ruffled skirt with a pair of flat boots might be in order this spring, for real.
This is titled “Sissaretta Jones, “the Black Patty” singer, entertainer, leader of a musical company.” The photograph is undated, but Sissieretta Jones lived from 1868 to 1933, and she was a popular opera singer who performed at the White House for Presidents Harrison, Cleveland, McKinley, and Roosevelt – as well as the British Royal Family. Her life story is amazing.