Author Archives: museummark

As my students and I have been studying early African American and African figures in the history of South Hadley and Mount Holyoke, we were fascinated to learn from Ms. Deborah Richards (Head of Archives and Special Collections) that a historical researcher ( Adenike Ogunkoya ) had brought to the attention of the Archives herContinue reading “In Search of Moloto Oshodi, from Mount Holyoke to Yorubaland”

In his 1905 book, History of Hadley, Sylvester Judd writes, “On March 6, 1778, David Mitchell of [South Hadley] gave to his negro man, Caesar Cambridge, his freedom, in consideration of 85 pounds paid in cash, and of an order for his wages in a cruise to the brig Defence, supposed to be 40 pounds.Continue reading “In Search of Caesar Cambridge, a former enslaved man in South Hadley, Massachusetts”

A striking indigenous Anishinaabe robe made of buffalo hide (Accession # MH SK K.116) in the Joseph Allen Skinner Museum at Mount Holyoke College has an intriguing caption: “Buffalo Robe. Presented by Mrs. Henry H. Bennett. Mrs. Bennett received the robe from an uncle, who in turn received it from an Indian in about 1877.Continue reading “Tracing an Anishinaabe Buffalo Robe in the Skinner Museum Collection”

George Benedict (“Dick” or “Dickie”) Zukerman, was born February 22, 1927, in London, England. He died February 1, 2023, in British Columbia, three weeks shy of his 96th birthday.  He and his longtime partner, violinist Erika Bennedik made their home in White Rock, South Surrey, British Columbia. Erika was with George at the very end,Continue reading “George Benedict Zukerman (1927-2023)”

In our continuing efforts to trace the family histories of the victims of the October 1878 racial terror lynching in Mount Vernon, Posey County, Indiana, what can be determined about the antebellum background of the family of Jeff Hopkins (who was one of the four men hanged in front of the County Courthouse on OctoberContinue reading “Seeking the Enslaved Background of the Hopkins Family of Posey County, Indiana”

As we continue to try to reconstruct the family histories of the seven men brutally lynched in October 1878 by white vigilantes in Mount Vernon, Posey Couny, Indiana, I have been curious about the family background of James (Jim) Good. As previously noted in my overall discussion of the descendant lines, James Good in PoseyContinue reading “Enslavement and the Antebellum History of the Good Family of Jennings County, Indiana”

c. 1820 birth of Gerschon Ausländer, Sadagora, Chernivisti, Austrio Hungarian Empire c. 1825 birth of Hennie Salzman, Bukovina c. 1840 ? Gerschon Auslander marries Hennie Salzman c 1847. Birth of Moses Aron Ausländer, son of Gerschon and Hennie Ausländer. in Sadagora, Chernivtsi, Bukovina. Austrio Hungary c. 1865? Moses Aron Ausländer marries Esther Resch. c.1867 BirthContinue reading “Descendants of Gerschon Ausländer and Hennie Salzman: Timeline”

The poet and storyteller Andre Wilson and I have been contemplating how oral historical narratives passed through his father’s African American family about racial terror might be meaningfully compared with textual sources, nearly all of which were created by white authors. Wilson is the great great grandson of Jennie Harris (or Harrison) Lindsey, whose brothersContinue reading “Relating Family Narratives and Textual Sources of Racial Terror: The 1878 Lynching of the Harris Family in Mount Vernon, Indiana”

Through my research on the legacies of the horrific 1878 Mount Vernon, Indiana lynchings, I’ve become familiar with the remarkable work of Andre Le Mont Wilson, poet, essayist, and storyteller, who has been exploring his family’s rich and complex history in multiple registers and genres. I am especially moved by his 2005 performance piece, “TheContinue reading “Photography, Memory, and Slavery Time in the Storytelling of Andre Le Mont Wilson”

My students at Mount Holyoke College and I have been enormously moved to learn of the memorial event held in October 2022, in Mount Vernon, Posey County Indiana, to commemorate the racial terror lynching of seven African American men in October 1878. Propelled by the activist work of local high school student Sophie Kloppenburg, theContinue reading “In Search of Descendants of the Victims of the 1878 Mount Vernon, Indiana Racial Terror Lynching”