Browse Items (6 total)
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Warren Taylor Discusses Folding Cup and Penny
Mr. Taylor presents two artifacts from his maternal great-great-grandmother: a metal folding cup and a penny. Both items belonged to her during her time of enslavement in Mississippi, and were passed down to him from his great aunt, who also created handwritten notes describing the origin of the items.
You can find this and other stories on the History Harvest YouTube Channel.
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1925 Business Guide, Colored Commercial Club of Omaha, Nebraska
The Omaha Colored Commercial Club was formed in 1920 to aid African Americans in finding employment and learning which businesses to support. It was important for the community to know which businesses were black-owned or willing to hire employees from the black community so that they could support positive businesses. Later on, other North Omaha organizations, including the Omaha Urban League (established in 1928) and The Omaha Star (a newspaper established by Mildred Brown in 1938) and would assist African Americans in learning which businesses to work for and patronize.
Source: “Multi-Ethnic Guide,” Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, 2006.
For interviews and oral histories of this and other items please visit the History Harvest YouTube Channel
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Slavery Artifacts: Metal Folding Cup
A note from his grandaunt accompanies the folding cup brought in by Mr. Taylor. This is his great-grandmother’s folding cup that she used in the field while enslaved in Mississippi. This artifact would have been essential to his great-grandmother, who would not have been allowed to share the same utensils as her slavemaster, and needed to drink while at work in the fields all day.
For interviews and oral histories of this and other items please visit the History Harvest YouTube Channel.
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Slavery Artifacts: Penny
Mr. Taylor brought in this penny to the History Harvest to share with us, accompanied by a note from his grandaunt. This penny is a 'braided hair coronet'-style penny, dated 1840, and Mr. Taylor informed us that his great-great-grandmother held on to this penny until she passed away. He said it was a highly treasured object for his great-great-grandmother, as slaves were not allowed to have money of their own.
For interviews and oral histories of this and other items please visit the History Harvest YouTube Channel.
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Russel Taylor's Letter to the Secretary of the Interior, September 19, 1913
Russel Taylor wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Interior, explaining his inability to build a house and make the proper improvements to his homestead land by the proper date, as required by law. Russel was a school teacher, as well as a farmer, and when his wife fell ill he was unable to keep up with all the tasks of homesteading. He wrote to the Secretary of the Interior inquiring if he could use the new law extending the improvement time to 12 months instead of six months, as he would have time once school was out of session.
For interviews and oral histories of this and other items please visit the History Harvest YouTube Channel.
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Russel Taylor's Homestead Application, May 20, 1913
Mr. Warren Taylor provided some homesteading documentation from his paternal grandfather, Russel Taylor. This is Russel Taylor's homestead application, approved for 160 acres of land near Cheyenne, Wyoming on May 20th, 1913. Wyoming had a large community of African American homesteaders, which was a motivation of Russel's to move. He hoped to farm the land, while also working as a school teacher. The land proved poor for farming, and Russel and his wife Henrietta later migrated to Omaha with a large portion of the African American community from Wyoming.
For interviews and oral histories of this and other items please visit the History Harvest YouTube Channel.